Originally Posted by
foredogg
@JDiver thanks for links and tips. I've looked at flying into LHR first as it is cheaper, the only problem with that is our friends who bought tickets earlier are flying into CDG and doing that leg first and our kids may want to do that to hang with them. We are all meeting in Spain later so not a big deal to me to do LON first. Yes I'd agree the shorter the better, I looked at the SEA flight but I hate small planes so one leg I considered was PDX to AMS to CDG but it was on Delta first which I won't get miles after April when Alaska cuts the partner ties. Decisions decisions.
Just to note: you're concerned about prices, but flying
out of London to the US will add at leat $500 to your costs, with four people.
I do recommend reading the Economy threads for the specific aircraft linked to in the help desk thread; you will get more in depth information than you will here.
Perhaps it's time to even consider a different trip and using Norwegian or Icelandair (the latter offers a free stopover in Reykjavik as well), if you want to save. As for BA catering in Coach, I can't imagine a significant difference between AA and BA in Economy - though a quick read in the BAEC forum reveals that on some BA Economy flights you will now pay for even hot water. £2.80 comes to mind.