shortest flight USA to europe?
#16
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Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: NY Metro Area
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Posts: 48,908
Good point. AA and others run widebodies out of JFK to LHR. Another possibility, which is a bit longer, is to take UA out of Washington to London. On UA they could pay the slight extra charge for economy plus on an 777 widebody. This would give them substantially more legroom compared to coach.
#17
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Join Date: Dec 2003
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My advice if the OP wants the shortest transatlantic sector is to get a daytime flight such as leaving the east coast in the morning and arriving LHR in the evening. Those short overnight transatlantic are brutal as you have a very short amount of time to sleep.
#18
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Central Mass
Programs: Independent
Posts: 4,826
Not knowing the OP's exact issues, I still stand by the idea that Iceland Air will give you a break when flying. As it doesn't look like overall time is a crucial factor, then you can even work it out with a days stopover in Iceland (although not what I would likely do in December). coming from SFO, I would probably recommend a flight with a layover to one of the east coast cities (Boston, NYC, or Washington), and book that separately. It might be more expensive, but take the extra day for more comfort and a little sightseeing.
Another idea is to look into Premium Economy flights. Christmas Break might be expensive, but off season they can be had for a decent amount. Most European Carriers are going to use a domestic for travel within the US anyway, so go economy on those seats, with a connection, and then get Premium for the long leg across the pond. That gives you the benefit of a larger plane and less claustrophobia.
Another idea is to look into Premium Economy flights. Christmas Break might be expensive, but off season they can be had for a decent amount. Most European Carriers are going to use a domestic for travel within the US anyway, so go economy on those seats, with a connection, and then get Premium for the long leg across the pond. That gives you the benefit of a larger plane and less claustrophobia.
#19
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Join Date: May 2004
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Or indeed discounted business class. If you look hard enough and book in advance, you may well be able to find sub-$2000 fares between NYC and most parts of Europe. In fact, the current cheapest published fare NYC-PAR is just $1087 return plus taxes and charges (L'Avion/OpenSkies).
Last edited by graraps; Sep 22, 2008 at 5:24 am Reason: added pricing info
#20
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2008
Posts: 17
Wow, thank you very much everybody!!!
I very much appreciate all your kind advice. Right now, my head is spinning from all the different options we could take.
I decided to make a spreadsheet (yes, I'm a nerd like that) to try and make heads & tails over everything.
I'll keep y'all posted. Just in case anyone else has any other ideas, please, please keep posting since we need to examine each and every angle before we book.
Just a few of the things we need to focus on are:
-circulation problems
we have several people with problems, so the shorter the flight, the better. we don't care if it takes 2-3 days to go from SFO - London or Nice, our goal is take as short a flight as possible to lessen the health issue.
-cruises are out.
we did the math & so far, found the QE2 out of NY is the shortest I've found so far to cross into Europe, 6 days. that would have been fine, but we have to back too & that'll be another 6 days, which doesn't leave us much time for the actual land experience in Europe.
Thanks again and please keep posting. Take care. :-:
I decided to make a spreadsheet (yes, I'm a nerd like that) to try and make heads & tails over everything.
I'll keep y'all posted. Just in case anyone else has any other ideas, please, please keep posting since we need to examine each and every angle before we book.
Just a few of the things we need to focus on are:
-circulation problems
we have several people with problems, so the shorter the flight, the better. we don't care if it takes 2-3 days to go from SFO - London or Nice, our goal is take as short a flight as possible to lessen the health issue.
-cruises are out.
we did the math & so far, found the QE2 out of NY is the shortest I've found so far to cross into Europe, 6 days. that would have been fine, but we have to back too & that'll be another 6 days, which doesn't leave us much time for the actual land experience in Europe.
Thanks again and please keep posting. Take care. :-:
#21
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Salish Sea
Programs: DL,AC,HH,PC
Posts: 8,974
Just a few of the things we need to focus on are:
-circulation problems
we have several people with problems, so the shorter the flight, the better. we don't care if it takes 2-3 days to go from SFO - London or Nice, our goal is take as short a flight as possible to lessen the health issue.
-circulation problems
we have several people with problems, so the shorter the flight, the better. we don't care if it takes 2-3 days to go from SFO - London or Nice, our goal is take as short a flight as possible to lessen the health issue.
JFK-KEF scheduled duration is 5:45, which is an insignificant saving over BOS-DUB scheduled at 6:00. I would advise a daytime flight so that you can sleep in beds and not cramped airline seats.
BOS-DUB nonstops are all redeyes (overnight flights) so I'd go for BOS-LHR scheduled duration 6:20 in the daytime. British Airways and American offer these and both arrive in London around 8pm so you don't have try and keep awake for hours until the sun sets.
To break up the SFO-BOS leg, try Minnesota (NW) or Chicago (UA or AA). You can probably get a multi-city fare on AA (SFO-ORD-BOS-LHR) much cheaper than buying individual point-to-point tickets.
hth