Originally Posted by
florin
I do prefer EU airlines for TATL travel for these reasons (in no particular order):
1 - stupid security rules (see the answer to
iahphx below)
2 - US pilots using the seat belt sign stupidly (e.g. after take off, the seat belt sign stays on until the plane reaches cruising altitude - which can take up to an hour to reach - and if there is any rumor of turbulence anywhere on Earth, it stays on forever and you can't go to the bathroom; on EU airlines the seat belt sign is turned off when the plane reaches 10,000 ft and it only comes on if more serious turbulence is encountered)
3 - boxed wine (e.g. Delta)
4 - US carriers fly way too many raggedy 767s
5 - EU carriers [almost] always have to have IFE available; some US carriers are still stuck in 1990
6 - EU carriers clean the bathrooms during the flight
7 - Some EU carriers (e.g. AF) leave the IFE on during taxi. Where taxiing can take a really long time (e.g. JFK, CDG) it's nice to be entertained.
Service is hit or miss on both; I've had exceptional service and sub-par service on both,.
I have. Case in point - I used to fly between CDG and CVG quite a bit. On DL there was an announcement about pax not being allowed to congregate (because it was seen as a security threat). On AF there was no such issue. There are also fewer restrictions when a pilot has to use the bathroom.
About the "security" dog and pony show, I fly TATL multiple times a month and the chances of check-in and gate "security" questioning by "security" contractors and other "supplemental" "security" is far, far higher with US airlines than with EU airlines on TATL routes.
About service in the face of irregular operations, there is also a difference and a reason to tend to book away from US carriers at least for TATL service: in the event of long flight delays or cancellations, the EU airline members of the big 3 airline alliances are more likely to take better care of passengers than US airlines in the same alliances. They both may fail in this regard, but the US airlines are less likely to pay up on routes serviced by bother kinds of carriers.
Originally Posted by
tommyleo
Stereotype? Have you ever been to Asia?
I recently was offered pajamas on flights on OZ and CA. The pajamas given to me were both marked "XL" and they both fit perfectly. During both flights, I was wearing a common Ralph Lauren Polo shirt: each was size Small and each had been purchased in the U.S.!
Your experience on OZ and CA aren't that different than what I have seen with LH pajamas on flights that don't serve Asia.