ysolde

I'm beginning to make next year's travel plans (yes, mama bear is that good ), and the Big Business Trip to Europe in the Fall (October) is on the roster.

This year, we want to go on AA rather than Star Alliance. We travel in J, and pay our own way. I had originally thought of going JFK-LHR-FRA, with the JFK-LHR leg on the 77W. Easy enough, and a great ride. OTOH, are we going to be better off doing one leg JFK-CDG? What about JFK-AMS? Should I be considering other routings? Am I overthinking this? We've done the JFK-LHR-FRA thing before, in both J and F, and it is perfectly pleasant (and J is perfectly fine, though F is a lovely upgrade, particularly on the way home).

Once we are in Europe, we are there for the month (give or take a few days), and must visit Germany and Austria for business purposes. We also add in a few other places for fun/romance (the "Ysolde leg of the trip").

I don't know what the best way to get to Europe on AA is, really. Should we stick with what we know? Suggestions and advice are much appreciated, all!

roberto99

Where is the trip originating?

Where do you really want to visit?

Are you aware that Europe is actually pretty big?

Are you aware that Northern Europe has plenty of cold, grey, rainy, cold, grey, rainy days in October?

ysolde

LOL. Trip is originating in NY.

We're pretty familiar with Europe, as we are both European. And perhaps I did not make it clear in the OP, but this is a yearly trip.

We have to visit Germany and Austria. As for the rest, we like to keep it Western/Central/ Southern (Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, France, Holland, Spain). We keep thinking about Eastern Europe, but don't go that time of year.

ETA: Since we are in Germany every October, yes, I am well aware of the cold, gray, rainy days. Not something we can avoid.

As I wrote in the OP, all advice is appreciated, so thanks!

Centurion

Agree with you 77W is great

ysolde

I'm thinking it's the best option. Husband saw that there is a CLT-FRA flight, which sounds tempting. But that means flying JFK-CLT, and the CLT-FRA flight is not on the 77W. Not convinced it's a better option than JFK-LHR-FRA (even if LHR can be a pain in the posterior).

arollins

CLT-FRA is on a 330, which also has lie flat seats, though a bit older plane, but similar to the 77W. Also, another thing to consider is that JFK-LHR is under 7hr flight, as opposed CLT-FRA which is about 9hrs, this giving you more chance to rest. I've flown both types of aircraft, in coach as well as BUS, and I find both of equally good. There is also a DFW-FRA, which is currently operated on a 777, not sure if it is a refurbished cabin or not, but that flight is about 9.5hrs long. Me personally, I prefer to have a longer transatlantic leg that allows me to rest, as opposed to a shorter one. Another thing to consider is that most likely booking this far in advance there will be be numerous schedule changes that can work for/against you, but you can always call and reschedule if the changes is in substancial time or aircraft change. Just my .02 good luck

JonNYC

Mistake right there (for Germany and Austria.)

ysolde

LOL! Husband not thrilled with LH's strikes (we've been caught more than once), and the food quality there was not to his liking recently. SQ's JFK-FRA schedule is good, but FRA-JFK leaves much too early. Otherwise, it is our favorite. LX is good, but limited schedule (and there's the whole Zurich thing). OS we have yet to try on TATL.

ty97

Keep in mind within booking this far in advance, equipment changes could happen, so you will want to monitor your reservation periodically in case your flight gets booted from the 77W to a different plane you don't like.

DoctorORD

I highly recommend against transiting (esp London), and you can easily do an open-jaw trip on Star Alliance. LH F is a lot better than LH biz (both of which, in my opinion, are light years ahead of AA). OS has fantastic food (and an on-board chef!). Seats in biz are all about the same OS/LX (Thompson), which I find comfortable.

If I were you, I would do something like JFK-VIE // FRA (or ZRH)-JFK.

If you like JFK-FRA on SQ, see if you can combine it with an open-jaw return from another city, like ZRH-JFK or MUC-EWR, since SQ is also star alliance... a good travel agent should be able to help you to best take advantage of the fare rules.

Club Europe on BA makes me want to vomit, and I would try to avoid it as much as possible. If you really really want to take oneworld, why not QR through Doha? Both legs will be very luxurious, and you can open-jaw return from a different city. Or, backtrack on AA JFK-DFW and take a long DFW-FRA flight.

mikelat

Having flown the 77W and the US 330s, I notice a big difference in seats. The range on motion and the controls on the 77W seat are much better than the 330. If you only care about full upright and full flat then they're OK, but trying to get to a semi-reclined position with legs well supported was not possible for me on the 330. I personally will avoid the 330s if I can.

DataPlumber

I agree with the notion that AA is not the way to go here. The connections and making what is a short TATL hop into something longer just isn't worth the time lost. I would stick with LH/Star. The worry of a potential strike LH 10 months from now or seeking good airline food (HUGE oxymoron) just don't seem rational. You also have other Nonstops on UA from EWR or even DL from JFK.

3Cforme

Saver Award availability for four - or willingness to pay AAnytime rates and be restricted to AA-metal airports - is largely going to determine routing. The idea one will be able to optimize for aircraft or flight times is fanciful given all the complaints about AA's long-haul business award scarcity.

ijgordon

OP said she is paying for tickets.

Agree that OW isn't really ideal for this, but I don't think it's necessarily terrible. I've connected a few times in LHR over the past year, always doing the T3<>T5 shuffle (even on BA-BA <sigh>), and it hasn't been bad at all (I think the early arrival time on AA's 77W helps).

Also, if you can get down to PHL easily (not sure I'd fly/connect), there should be some additional nonstop options to the continent.

ysolde

Lots of food for thought here. This is why I like to start early. Well, this and the fact that we have a lot of figuring out where to go within Europe, some of which has fixed dates, so I have to work around that (and book those hotel rooms, like now, believe it or not).

I do agree that airline food is an oxymoron. However, it used to be that my husband had no preference between LH's and SQ's food, with a slight preference for LH's breakfast and, obviously, breakfast at FRA's Welcome Lounge. The last couple of times we flew on LH, the food was decidedly not to his liking, making the food on LH and AA equal.

So now it's a matter of schedule (LH and AA about the same, with LH losing on the strike issue and AA losing on the connection issue), seat type and comfort (AA wins, sort of), whether we are "elites" (we are at oneworld, not at Star Alliance, so the miles/points will count a bit more on AA, for however little that will be worth in the foreseeable future, plus we may be able to upgrade to F on at least one leg of the trip -- though husband thinks it's unnecessary), and price (all airlines about the same).