I am a not so frequent traveller looking for advice on flights to london. At this point, my choices are probably Delta or Air Lingus from JKF. I am able to fly business class.
The remarks I have seen have been pretty negative on Air Lingus. I booked it originally because the seating configuration included a solo seat, but am having second thoughts.
Any advice on whether there are personal TV monitors, computer plug ins, good food, nice service on either of Delta or AL would be very much appreciated!!
Can't comment on DL I'm afraid - although I'm sure there are plenty of people here who can - but I'm a very regular traveller with EI.
EI business class is not great compared to most other carriers I fly with. They have leather seats, which can get really uncomfortable after a few hours. There are personal TVs, but there are only 5 channels. Their DUB-LAX flights use an A330-200 which has EmPower PC sockets, but none of the other routes have this.
Regarding inflight service, this is probably their strongest point. There's a good choice of meals which are usually all good. Their cabin crew are also some of the best around.
If you're flying direct to London, the best choice by far is BA. They have flat beds now on the JFK-LHR route, and their service is excellent. Other than that, I'd recommend either Virgin - by far the best service around, and they're in the process of upgrading their Upper (business) Class - or United.
Location: Cork, Ireland. Aer Lingus (in the bin), BA Gold (woo hoo!), EBB Blue, HH Diamond, Starwood Plat, Hyatt Diamond
Posts: 1,335
I agree with star_world. However, before I go any further, I am an Aer Lingus Fan.
You have also posted on General Traveltalk about travelling to Dublin. I'll comment on both.
Dublin
Aer Lingus flys from both JFK & Newark direct to Dublin. (Some flights stop in SNN on the way, which is a pain, so check this out !)
A330s business class is reasonable from a comfort point of view (for the 5 1/2 hours or so that you'll be on-board). However, the seats aren't the most comfortable in the world. 5 TV channels as mentioned before, with generally a good selection of new and recent releases. Also have 12-15 radio channels with pop, classisal, humour etc. etc.
Food is certainly the best part of the "Premier" service - great quality, great variety & plenty of it. Also note that I have found the EI cabin crew to be the most pleasant of any airline I have ever flown !
I generally travel the IRL - USA leg of my journeys in Premier and the return in coach, as I'll usually sleep all the way anyway - this generally gives a very good pricepoint.
Note that the EI fares Vs BA are generally quite an amount lower !
London
Direct BA seems to be the obvious choice here, as connecting through Dublin, while not difficult, adds quite some inconvenience to the journey.
All are from JFK to LHR
VS 26
AA 142 & 106
BA 178
UA 976
try http://www.americanexpress.com/travel that is where I found them. There are other sites as well. Hope this helps.
