Any chance that you (or your employer - I'm not sure who is paying for this trip) would be willing to pay for premium economy. If so, then I'd recommend Virgin (1st choice) and BA (2nd choice). I've found with BA that about 1/3 of the time that I fly in Premium Economy on a revenue fare, I get upgraded to J. I expect that the chances of a similar op-up in Virgin are comparable; the premium economy cabin is relatively small, and if they need to op-up some people from Y to Y+, then they often need to opup some peopl from Y+ to J. Since you can collect miles with US on a Virgin flight, I'd go with Virgin. Also, BA has a lousy seating policy for "ordinary folks" (anyone other than Silver, Gold or full-fare J) - you can't pick your seats until about 24-72 hours before departure. Reason enough to boycott them. Also, on Virgin, I think they have separate check-in desks for their premium economy class (although no lounge privileges), so your trip will go a little smoother than on BA.