iflyuaaa

most carriers are available on my date...CA, LX, LH - which is best? i'm going beijing to europe (will end in berlin, but can take any flight for the long haul)

Madone59

If you are looking for best Business class with UA miles you should be looking for TK via: IST.

lhrsfo

LX is pretty good too, in some ways better but the food on TK is far better. Do you want comfort or food?

Tblack15

Isn't this the most subjective question of all time?

"Which is best XYZ".. you'll get 10 responses all saying a different thing.

But I'd just hone in on what's most important to you:
- Timing (I need to be in XYZ by 9am, from door to door, etc.)
- Seat (You're really tall, you want aisle access, etc.)
- Food
- "Experiences" (IST lounge, 747 upper deck, etc.)

Weigh all these together and you'll have your own answer, or give us some more info to work on regarding what is "most" important.

RobOnLI

This.

While TK is nice it's also the shortest long haul from PEK to Europe, leaving you with a longer "domestic" flight in Europe. Does that matter? Because the IST lounge will be the best of all of them, IMO.

Give us more data to work with. However, based on your initial question most here would rank them in this order: LX, LH, CA.

-RM

rufflesinc

TK appears to fly widebodies between IST and TXL

Duke787

I'd put OS (which appears to serve PEK 5 days a week though is not on OP's list so may not be available) over LH as a solo passenger for the throne seat (if available). That and VIE is a really easy transfer airport (and I'm a big fan of OS food).

EmailKid

You mean the chef they have on board for Biz

WineCountryUA

As this is a question about choice of *A carriers (but not UA due to routing) will move this to the *A forum.

WineCountryUA
UA coModerator

iflyuaaa

who is OS?

I think I personally value seat comfort the most. Aisle access, flat bed. travelling alone. I'm going on Sunday July 17th.

So sounds like TK is the best seat? And then OS i should consider as well? I'm going to check TK availability now.

EmailKid

Austrian (Vienna as connect city should be a clue).

Biz is lie flat, though not ALL seats have isle access, but the seat next to me was empty, so it was a great flight. It's some sort of staggered seating where some rows have one seat, others two.

oskidunker

If not, what is the best way to book them using United Miles?

Seby12

If you are a tell gentleman (>6ft) I would advise against LX. The seat really isn't wide enough to sleep comfortably. I personally am a huge fan of the new(ish) Lufthansa business class seat.

oliver2002

TK takes a rather long southerly route via KZ avoiding RU (not so much for political reasons, but rather financial) so it takes 10-11 hours too.

4-8am is peak rush hour in the IST lounge, I'm afraid. Hence its not the usual quality everyone raves about.

YuropFlyer

Ex-PEK, unless you're flying to a *A hub, CA is the only carrier to offer direct flights, which contributes a lot to "best" in my opinion. Flying to, say, MAD, and having the last 3 hours in a terrible Economy seat on Lufthansa or Swiss vs. having a direct flight on CA, I'd obviously chose CA.

CA's new C product is perfectly fine and imho better than most competitors.

http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.c...is-to-beijing/

"At my seat were an extremely comfortable pillow and blanket, possibly the best I’ve had in business class."

"Because of the way the seats are angled, your foot “cubby” is actually between the seats in front of you. While it’s not a huge space, I didn’t find it to be nearly as restrictive as the “throne” seats on Austrian and Brussels, for example."

"Also waiting at the seat were some headphones, which were reasonably good. Not Bose, but not bad either…"

"The contents were about average for what you’d expect for a business class amenity kit."

"Lastly, a cart with pajamas was rolled through the cabin. That’s right, Air China offers pajamas in business class. Now they’re not especially high quality and I had brought my own, but that’s still impressive given that there are very few airlines that offer them in business class."

"The seat was actually really comfortable, and I slept for a couple of hours. For whatever reason I couldn’t sleep more than that, so woke up with just under five hours to go to Beijing.

I headed up to the galley to look at the snack selection, which was nicely displayed."

His conclusion:

"Anyway, on the whole Air China totally exceeded my expectations on the new 777-300ER. The hard product was phenomenal (both seat and entertainment), food was mostly edible, and service was generally friendly. I wouldn’t hesitate to fly them again, and would actually like to try their first class product next time."

My own experience is similar. CA isn't as good as SQ, but I'd rate them equal to most other carriers, and in some points above them. This, plus good award availability and a direct flight (without terrible economy seats on the short haul) make a clear vote for CA Ex-PEK.