ermis177

Hello guys,

I am planning to fly to Mexico in July and i am going to fly either with BA in WT+ or Lufthansa PE. I have not flew before in PE or WT+. Any suggestions? Which one is better?

P.s i have Star Alliance gold status. No status with BA.

ratypus

BA WT+ is fine, but I have never done LH PE to compare it to. However, if you have Star Alliance Gold, the incremental benefits of LH over BA for you are considerable if flying in premium economy:


- priority check-in
- priority security
- (premium) lounge access
- priority boarding


You will get none of these in BA WT+. BA WT+ will give you some extra luggage allowance, but not as much as Star Gold would anyway.


Also, premium economy cabins are small and therefore more frequently over-booked - I don't know how LH run their systems, but on BA upgrades from WT+ to business class are not uncommon; and, in that situation, I'd rather be on the airline I have top tier status with and a chance of being front of the queue


BA WT+ is fine, but I doubt the product is sufficiently superior to LH (if at all) to warrant giving up your Star Alliance benefits for this trip

windowontheAside

From where are you flying?

I have no experience of LH PE, but schedule and the possibility of a direct flight would be important for me.

Prospero

BA uses a mix of 52J and 86J configured 747s on the LHR-MEX route. The WT+ seats are broadly similar but the 86J has refreshed seats with the latest Panasonic inflight entertainment system.

See http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/19928944-post5.html
(Refer to the WT+ 2000 seat for the 52J type)

ermis177

i can fly with BA direct or LCY-FRA-MEX with LH. To be honest i do not mind flying from LCY.

mec72

Exactly - if one of them were a direct flight, this is what I would pick.

knit-in

I have flown both and feel like BA has an edge in the Premium Economy cabin, if only a very slight one, depending on the equipment. LH, however, in my experience is more consistent over the fleet.

To ratypus's point though, I have been upgraded- without status- from LH PE on a A330 to Business, while never on BA even with status. But that is purely anecdotal.

ratypus

I can't speak for the transfer experience in FRA - though with fast track and lounge access for Star Gold it should be easy enough.


But being able to depart from LCY rather than LHR is actually worth making a connection in Europe for: it's a really quick and small airport, and you can save back some the time you will lose in connecting because you can turn up at LCY quite shortly before departure.


I'd still choose LH for you on this basis.

windowontheAside

On a quick google it seems the LCY-FRA-MEX is 15h10m, LHR-MEX is 11h25.

Depends how long it takes you to get to LHR vs LCY, and as above you can probably shave an hour off the difference by turning up much closer to the flight time at LCY over LHR.

That said, I'm always keen to get home asap, and don't like connections after TATL arrivals, so I'd be going with direct every time. But YMMV.

Are they both a similar price?

NA-Flyer

I have tried LH PE seat on the 748i and I find it more comfy than BA one.

:D!

If you need to requalify for your A3*G, the LH flight should fulfill the miles requirement if you have four A3 flights (or get you over halfway if requalifying on all miles), so I might choose LH on this basis if the fares are similar, and especially since you have no BA status. If BA is a lot cheaper then it probably makes sense to go with BA.

While the LH connecting flight takes longer, the connection won't be too painful since on the outbound, there will be no security at FRA when arriving from LCY, and you have lounge access at FRA in both directions. Coming from MEX (i.e. west), arriving home at 6pm UK time will be fine, whereas it would be more difficult if travelling from the east. LCY departures and arrivals are also generally pain-free compared to LHR unless you live in Hounslow etc

I doubt you would get upgraded on LH unless travelling on an extraordinarily busy day.

I've only flown BA WT+ and LH PE on the A380, and nothing really stood out to make one airline better than the other; in fact I often regret booking LH PE because my flights often have low loads, and the economy pax get to take over 4 seats and lie flat while I remain stuck in the less comfortable tilted sloping position that a PE seat forces you to take, but I only really fly LH when I want the increased miles from a PE fare class and the fare is good

ermis177

Pretty much yes. Ok guys thanks alot for your rapid and useful advice! I think i will book LH tonight.

IAN-UK

Pleased you reached the sensible decision!

but remember that for both airlines it's slightly enhanced economy, not an almost-business.