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BA vs AA in Y
I'm burning some Avios to head over to LAX for a few days in September, and sadly only Y is available both ways (despite trying to get creative with routes). I can pick BA or AA flights, and wondered if I should have a preference one way or the other? I'm only a lowly Blue these days - my globetrotting-in-J expat days are behind me (for now) so haven't been on AA for ages. Any thoughts on which I should plump for in terms of food, service and sleepability in Y (minimal I know...)?
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Wow - what's the difference in price with Y on Avios and Y cash ticket ? You can buy cash for £325 and then reduce the price somewhat with Avios :
https://www.google.com/flights/#flt=...02*2.GBP.33502 |
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?
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For me...
(1) Aircraft type is a big factor, especially if the BA A380 (^) is an option. However, IFE varies more between BA aircraft types. (2) Do you drink a lot while flying? I believe AA only provides beer and wine, so you'll want BA if you require inclusive spirits.. |
For me:
AA - access to CX lounge (assuming status), MCE (with status - but now just a few seats as opposed to a mini-cabin in the past), fairly slow WiFI (forget about streaming), OK IFE selection. BA - BA lounge (unexciting), less legroom, fast WiFI or no WiFi at all, IFE - depends on a/c. I'd probably go AA. |
Lounges & MCE irrelevant for a Blue on Y ! I'd go A380 UD
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No status means paying for early seat selection on BA but not on AA if that’s important to you. In your position I would go west on AA and back on BA for the EU delay protection. |
BA for true gate to gate IFE without the endless annoying AA interruptions AA if there is any danger you’ll be on a non refurbed BA plane |
BA 777s except for some from Gatwick are 3-3-3 in economy (for now). AA have unfortunately converted all their 777s to 3-4-3. MCE doesn’t mean much anymore transatlantic as far as I can see. Where the MCE 3-3-3 mini-cabin used to be, they’re now selling 2-4-2 premium economy which looks like a nice hard product (akin to domestic first) but it’s a significant price jump, like BA’s WTP. AA transatlantic 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. IFE is decent especially the newer equipment although the old planes don’t have many films available. Avoid the underseat equipment boxes which restrict your legroom. Otherwise legroom is good on the 777. As a longtime AA flyer and FF loyalist I now feel I will try to avoid them transatlantic in favor of BA. The comparison is that unfavorable for AA. |
Go by schedule if you are in Y and with no status. Meals and drinks will be better on BA but only slightly; and while BA charges for all advance seat assignments AA only releases a few aisle/window seats for free so the 'free seat selection' is very likely to be a middle seat at the back of the plane. The good MCE seats have long been gone from AA planes, and you may score WTP at a special airport upgrade prices on BA for what you'll pay for what is now MCE on AA.
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I prefer BA. For LAX you’ll most likely be looking at an A380 or super-hi J 747, both of which have good IFE and are more comfortable than AA’s 777s. AA economy seats are not only narrower that BA ones on these aircraft types, they also barely have any headrest, only a very slim one which doesn’t make any difference for me (I’m 6”2). BA, on the other hand, have bigger and more adjustable headrests. I agree that BA’s crews are typically friendlier and more approachable, which does make a difference on such a long flight. On my most recent LAX trip I woke up seven hours into the flight and went to the galley to ask if I could have a cup of tea. Two lovely crew members responded with a warm “of course”, a couple of biscuits and a long chat. |
Originally Posted by Andriyko
(Post 31234558)
and while BA charges for all advance seat assignments AA only releases a few aisle/window seats for free so the 'free seat selection' is very likely to be a middle seat at the back of the plane.
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Originally Posted by Andriyko
(Post 31234558)
Meals and drinks will be better on BA but only slightly.
On a recent flight they even served FeverTree tonic water (which is better than Schweppes) with my G&T |
I would Pick BA. I have recently flown Longhaul Y on both.Food is slightly better on BA (but honestly not much better they are both somewhat flavorless mush), but honestly you are more likely to get better seats on BA. Especially if you get stuck on one of AA 3-4-3 777 (which are horrible).
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Avoid the 10-across 777 on AA. Other than that, I suppose you need reasonable connection times for domestic-international.
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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?
You point stands, though - unless OP is returning before Saturday or need flexibility then Avios is a poor way to go. |
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. |
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.
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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. |
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. |
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.
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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...!).
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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. |
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. |
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. 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. |
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.
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...b43e9a7d38.png |
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 |
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.
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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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