timbre

I am heading to Munich to drink at few beers at Oktoberfest. It appears as if the best biz class fares are on AC and LH. Has anyone tried them out in Biz Class? Any thoughts or preferences?

I have flown Biz First on many occaisions, but never flown the new Biz Class on UA and have not tried Biz on AC or LH.

Other ways to get there that are better choices?

Thanks.

aacharya

Looks like you're looking for "who's best to Munich on *A". Your thread is better placed in the *A forum then.

rolov

I have done AC to EU and South America and while the seat is comfortable to sit and sleep, the service was ok, the food was not great and the IFE had tons of problems.

CO to MUC is on a 762 so I would probably take the 8PM LH flight from EWR just for convenience.

UA - Im not sure if newer C product is used to MUC.

where are you flying from? I think that would play a big role in which carrier to select. Also you can consider LX they have a new C product from JFK and now have started SFO.

IAATM

AC, no question IMHO about it. Lie flat beds, great lounge in YYZ/YUL when you connect, good food, etc.

LH is like sitting in a dentist's chair all night, and the food is meager.

CO would be nice, because it's non-stop from EWR, but a) you're in San Diego, so you've got to connect, and b) the 762 ex-EWR won't be lie-flat.

Go with AC and have a great time!

Where in MUC are you staying?

tasnam

I also will be booking a Business Class seat (Company is paying) and need to decide.

Thanks for the comments. This helps.

What if we throw SAS in the mix (because of the lie flat) how do they compair?

Tasnam

daron4000

If your employer is paying for a full fare ticket in business class, then remember you can use miles to upgrade the flight to First Class. I would highly recommend using this option on LH, as you will have access to the spectacular First Class Lounge on arrival.

gordo6

CO flies to MUC with the old business class, UA with the new one (if the flight is operated by 767). AC has good business class, but I don't like the fact that you can't look out of the window.

US airways operated the A332s to MUC - 5 of 7 has the new envoy. However, they usually send it to TLV (requires 1-2 planes), LHR (require 1 plane), CDG (require 1-2 planes) - so you have a low chance getting into the Envoy Suite class.

My rankings:
US Envoy Suite > AC > UA 767, 747 business > LH = US 767 Envoy = SAS > CO old business > UA 777 old business = US old Envoy

BigPoppaCO

I just booked my 2nd trip to LHR in the past 4 weeks on AC (C class). Flying LGA-YYZ-LHR-YYZ-LGA and the fare was $2300 w/corp discount. The same dates for EWR-LHR on CO in Y was $1700 and BF was $4800.

I really, really like the AC product and could have booked BF on CO but feel good about saving my company some $$ (despite our $224B market cap)

ijgordon

I would never take an unnecessary connection on an employer-mandated business trip just to save them money.

BigPoppaCO

Totally understood. I neglected to mention that we have some new leadership in place and I'd prefer to keep a low profile.

ijgordon

If a $4800 business class ticket to London "raises your profile" at such a large company, there must be bigger issues at play!

BigPoppaCO

There are many,many fiefdoms (sp?) at my large company

tasnam

I booked PWM-ORD-CPH-BHX on SAS then AMS-CPH-IAD-PWM all on SAS for $3500 (tax included).

Thoughts on the choice? AC was not available for less than $4200+

timg

In the past month or so, I've flown AC, UA, and CO business class (not flown LH for a few years). My preference:

AC - by far. (flew YVR - PVG) Yes, there are problems with the angled seats, and you can't see out the window without turning your neck, and the commercials at the start of movies are annoying, but the seat is great. You can get a window AND and aisle, the service is good, the IFE is good. I'd have no problem taking AC again.

UA - (Flew ORD-LHR), with the new seats, facing backward. A little awkward, but overall, not a bad experience. I am frustrated by some of the new pod-like seats that don't have enough storage. For instance, there is no place to put your laptop. There is a little shelf in front that holds a book, but the magazines are stored in a tiny shelf behind your head. Seat was OK, but I had hoped for more.

CO - Flew CGD-IAH on a 767, and NRT -IAH on a 777 - both were the old style. I've mentioned in other threads, that CO's business class product (I refuse to call it first class) is relatively terrible, and years behind the competition. In my opinion, this is closer to economy plus on qantas, than it is business class on another carrier. The seats are terrible, and especially on the 767, the four inch video screen is brutual. Unless I was flying to/from LHR, and guaranteed the new seats, I will try to avoid flying long-haul CO.

LH - Again, this was 3 years ago, IAH-FRA, and not sure if they've changed since then, but seemed similar to the old-style on CO.

Hope this helps. For what it is worth, all of these carriers, in my mind, are years behind SQ business class. SQ was better than I expected, and I had high expectations going in.

--TG

entropy

from SAN, IMHO, your best bet is to do the quick hop to SFO and fly LH on a nonstop to MUC. You can upgrade using miles or paper SWU to F. I find the east-coast to europe flights too short to sleep well, from the west coast you can enjoy the meal, pop an ambien and sleep well the whole flight.