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-   -   BA vs AA in Y (https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/british-airways-executive-club/1975374-ba-vs-aa-y.html)

etiene Jun 24, 2019 1:25 pm


Originally Posted by Sam Bee (Post 31234233)
Slight detour from your point, but when BA flights are available from £330 inc tax, wondering what advantage you have in using Avios on a Y flight of this distance? Aren't the Fees & Surcharges in excess of this amount?

Never. The cash price is all the fees and surcharges, plus the fare... The Avios are in lieu of the fare - the point with Y long haul is that the fare is often in the tens (or less) so paying ~20k Avios is generally terrible value assuming you have the option to do something else.

You point stands, though - unless OP is returning before Saturday or need flexibility then Avios is a poor way to go.

expatboy Jun 24, 2019 2:35 pm

Thanks for all these replies, and some extra review and challenge - love FT :). I was originally looking at LAS and that was about £1000 for the dates I was looking at, hence I thgiuyght about Avios...then we switched to LAX and I continued looking at Avios, forgetting that LAX is somewhat more competitive.

For the dates I'm looking at - Thurs 5th-Sun 8th Sept - ABZ-LHR-LAX-LHR-ABZ prices up at £635 if I maximise my time in LA (the mid-afternoon departure shaves £200 off the price but I'm maximising time with friends), so £300 more than the cheap return price as I cannot stay 7 days. And for anyone who thinks going all this way his crazy for a few days, there are three of us meeting from Aberdeen, Brisbane and Calgary respectively for a much needed catch up, so had to pick somewhere we could all reach with minimum fuss :D

Excellent points about there crew @:-) - had forgotten to factor that in :eek:. That probably clinches it for BA, plus T5 to T5 makes the connection back to ABZ easier.

flatlander Jun 24, 2019 2:37 pm

The A380 is a greatly superior experience to any other aircraft in Economy - best seat, best cabin pressure, etc - so take BA. You can make up for any other deficiencies with items you bring on board - entertainment, food, pillows, etc.

Gig103 Jun 24, 2019 3:15 pm

BA will also have EU-261 protection the whole way, something to keep in mind. And yeah, I second mikem's note about 10-across in AA's 777, that's about as miserable as 9-across in any 787 (including BA's).


Originally Posted by etiene (Post 31235071)


Never. The cash price is all the fees and surcharges, plus the fare... The Avios are in lieu of the fare - the point with Y long haul is that the fare is often in the tens (or less) so paying ~20k Avios is generally terrible value assuming you have the option to do something else.

You point stands, though - unless OP is returning before Saturday or need flexibility then Avios is a poor way to go.

I didn't think "YQ" shows up on cash fares and those can be infamously significant on award tickets. The APD and all those legitimate taxes would, though.

MikeBOS Jun 24, 2019 3:20 pm


Originally Posted by salut0 (Post 31234497)
AA service is surly and unpleasant: cabin crew are there “primarily for your safety”. Note this thread I posted recently and specifically this post by someone else.

BA cabin crew are courteous, hard working, often come round with extra drinks, never complain if you go to the galley to ask for something specific, and are unfailingly polite.

I disagree on these points. Both are extremely variable; I have had surly crews and great crews on both. This is over hundreds of flights covering several years; I would consider the two equivalent for in-flight service (more bad than good), with neither being consistent in any way.

salut0 Jun 24, 2019 3:38 pm


Originally Posted by MikeBOS (Post 31235528)
I disagree on these points. Both are extremely variable; I have had surly crews and great crews on both. This is over hundreds of flights covering several years; I would consider the two equivalent for in-flight service (more bad than good), with neither being consistent in any way.

I modified my post to specify comparing transatlantic crews: AA’s are not nearly as happy with their jobs, in my experience, as BA’s and that filters down to how they treat passengers.

CKBA Jun 24, 2019 6:47 pm

If it were me, it would be BA over AA - and certainly if you get a 'nice' aircraft. As others have noted, the AA crews let it down (even in PE) - first it is difficult to know who they are (!) and really are surly! In addition, I find the AA food poor - difficult to describe what they are aiming at, but not good quality (I've even had it when they have come around an hour or so later to say they had forgotten to give out the main...!).

wolfpacktrojan Jun 24, 2019 11:47 pm

I’ve taken both AA’s 777-300ER and BA’s A380 LAX-LHR-LAX in the past year, and BA wins hands down. To echo what others have said, the food is far better on BA (I found the food on AA nearly inedible) and their crews were far friendlier.

windowontheAside Jun 25, 2019 12:41 am

I fly AA TATL several times a year and for me the clincher (most other things being equal in my book) is that on daytime flights AA always dim the cabin lights for several hours encouraging people to sleep, while BA sometimes do.

I deal well with jetlag if I am able to stay in the zone of wherever I am at that moment. But darken the cabin and I will sleep, throwing me off for a day or so. If there's a decent chance I can spend the whole of a daytime flight in daylight I'd grab it - over food choices, drinks, IFE etc.

salut0 Jun 25, 2019 1:41 am


Originally Posted by windowontheAside (Post 31236774)
I fly AA TATL several times a year and for me the clincher (most other things being equal in my book) is that on daytime flights AA always dim the cabin lights for several hours encouraging people to sleep, while BA sometimes do.

I deal well with jetlag if I am able to stay in the zone of wherever I am at that moment. But darken the cabin and I will sleep, throwing me off for a day or so. If there's a decent chance I can spend the whole of a daytime flight in daylight I'd grab it - over food choices, drinks, IFE etc.

It’s nice to get confirmation that other people have noticed, and dislike, this darkening of the cabin on AA142, a practice which I believe has changed in recent years. I posted on another thread about bad AA service on that flight a few weeks ago:


they insisted the shades be lowered even though it was a day flight.

I've discussed that issue on FT in another thread, but my hunch now is that they do that to encourage passengers to sleep so they have to work less hard. I say that because I also often find AA transatlantic flight attendants chatting on their own in the galley, curtain closed, practically bristling when “disturbed” by a passenger for a request.

This all adds up to a feeling that on AA the priority is flight attendant convenience not serving passengers.

etiene Jun 25, 2019 1:51 am


Originally Posted by Gig103 (Post 31235510)
I didn't think "YQ" shows up on cash fares and those can be infamously significant on award tickets. The APD and all those legitimate taxes would, though.

Random example, but it's there [with apologies for mahoosive screenshot, as ever]:

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...b43e9a7d38.png

Cap'n Benj Jun 25, 2019 4:16 am


Originally Posted by salut0 (Post 31234776)


Disagree — meals and drinks are infinitely better on BA. I just had an Asian Vegetarian meal on BA which rivaled a really decent restaurant Indian meal: a small chapati, Rice, lentil and spinach dal and a cauliflower and vegetable curry. It was pleasantly spicy and served with a delicious lime pickle and raita.

On a recent flight they even served FeverTree tonic water (which is better than Schweppes) with my G&T

What is the AA comparison?

gustavmahler Jun 25, 2019 4:29 am

If you can get 80A/B/J/K (A/K if poss) on the A380 I think it would be ideal. Row 70 is similar, but the very back is an even smaller cabin. I did 80K back from HKG a couple of years ago and there was loads of room to put my carryon bag as a foot rest. I have a back problem so would hope to avoid LH Y again for a work trip, but otherwise it would have been fine. It was quiet, and I had a great crew, too.

Duck1981 Jun 25, 2019 5:50 am

I also like to add a few pennies from my side :)

My experience is about 25 flights from the UK to the US last year:
- I had on both AA and BA flights excellent crews, and awful ones
- e.g. my last flight with AA was the first time where I met the well-known 'AA dragon'
- I think the Premium Y seating of AA is superior to BA given the foot rest
- I also like the IFE of AA slightly more, I think the screens are better on most AA aircraft
- given that I am OWS I am blocked from selecting bulkheads at BA, but often got nice MCE seats at AA
- I never ran out of alcohol with either crews :)
- A380 is a good choice if you can sit upstairs, or pay for a Y seat upstairs in the back
- the FS lounge is IMHO the best one you can get at LAX, but I wouldn't depend on BA/ AA anyway
- I don't see any difference in food (ok, the BA ice cream run is good :)
- BA flights tend to be slightly more busy, but that's maybe just my idea
- Comp in case of irrops is a joke with AA (they only refunded me a part of my hotel and no food expenses for a 22hr delay)

So if we talk about Y, I would probably go with the A380, but otherwise based on timings/ schedule/ price. I think both provide roughly the same service so difficult to distinguish between them.


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