I have a couple of friends that love LY and another couple that fly it because they find it convenient. These are all regular C flyers. It's beyond my understanding but each to their own...

Well, until recently I was convinced that EL AL was giving me the best deal for my requirements. However, after some careful research, assisted by a number of helpful forum members, I have concluded that I can get a significantly better deal flying BA. If I REALLY need to get to the USA direct I could take the odd EL AL flight, fly with someone else or (what is getting more and more likely) hope for AA to re-enter the TLV route (as they are in OneWorld alliance with BA).

I fly almost only C or F. Using BA saves me on average $500 on a LON-TLV round trip, and $2000 on a TLV-NYC round trip (all in C earning full tier points). I can see ourselves flying F much less than we did with EL AL, because although the C cabin in BA has more passengers than F and is consequently busier, I find the BA C seats far superior to the EL AL F seats.

I looked carefully at all the pros and cons, and there will be things that I will miss with EL AL, but nothing that can approach such a price difference, and BA has many pros as well.

So, yes, until recently I really did think that EL AL was 'the best'. I have been a PL for 10 years. But having seen what else is on offer I am definitely not convinced.

When C or F flyers conduct a 'Milky' style protest, someone wake me up.

Till then...peoples are gonna fly them LY's tin cans for whatever reasons (i personally like their scheduling- of course not that it matters, as they dont care enough to take off on time either).

Mikebg, you do know that AA already flies PHL-TLV (operated by US)?

I am pretty sure iit won't count for BA tier points though as US is not in Oneworld.

Well, I can tell you that from the conversations I have had with senior EL AL customer relations staff recently, they are noticing a strong outflow of premium passengers to other airlines. One comment made to me was 'if even mikebg is moving, things must be bad' ... I think that is a 'Milky style protest'

But it is AA flight numbers - So of course it counts for BA tier.
Please correct me if I am wrong

Depends on where you want to fly directly to in the USA. If you want a direct flight to BOS or LAX, you're only option is LY. If you want a direct flight to JFK or EWR, you have alternatives: DL and UA respectively. True, neither of them will earn you Avios, but they are in many ways superior to LY (though not every facet) and while SkyPesos are worthless, MP miles still have value.

That being said, while AA does not yet fly the TLV-USA route (and certainly not JFK), they do fly TLV-PHL under the US brand. That should help if you just want to get to the US and then connect there, or if PHL helps at all.

In addition, Envoy (US C product) is the best C product among all North American carries.

Sure it will: Collecting Avios and Tier Points on Flights | Executive Club | British Airways

Click on US: "Executive Club Members can collect and spend Avios and earn Tier Points on all US Airways flights. This includes transatlantic flights and British Airways codeshare services operated by US Airways booked under the BA code."

Oneworld's website also lists US as an affiliate member through AA, meaning that they are another airline that provides full OW benefits.

Thanks!

LY BOS?

Yup - begins June 28, 2015

That being said, those flights have yet to be loaded into the LY booking system it would seem

While I'm families with what it looks like, I've never experienced it, but is it really better than AA's latest C product?

TBH, I have yet to try AA's brand new C product (I presume you refer the 77W product).

IIRC, that's heavily based on the US product and therefore quite similar. As the airline is merging, the service levels on both (which has been good on both airlines) should be similarly high.

They're basically the same. I tried the US product only once, but had a few flights with American's 77W. The seats are great and you get endless privacy, but I'd have to go a bit in favour of AA as the seats are a bit more modern, they have a DND button (which I do not remember seeing on US) and you get noise-cancelling headsets. Plus, I like AA's food better, but I realise it's maybe just me on that one.

Haven't tried AA's new product on the 772. Hopefully soon.

Similar (pretty sure they're based on a similar cirrus design) but not exactly the same if I understand correctly.

AA's 77W is identical to CX's (I've tried both) and it's an excellent product.

Should be good too.