BA, Air NZ or United, Business class to LA?
 

Hi everyone - first time poster here. I have done a lot of short haul business, mainly BA from LHR to european capitals. In May i'm flying to LA, and have budget for business class, but only from a few providers assuming I want to fly direct.
The shortlist appears to be Air NZ, United, and BA. BA is slightly over budget.
Any thoughts on which I should choose?
NZ appears to be a 777-300, so the herringone formation?
United's site shows a 777-200 with the front/rear facing lie flats
BA looks to be the A380-800

I won't get the chance to do this very often, so I want to make the most of it!
Many thanks

I thought UA's 772s (at least the PMUA ones) were 2-4-2 in J, which I'd probably avoid.

I cannot comment on NZ.

I'd probably go with the BA A380.

I think you are right about UAs 2-4-2, and it seems that it's only seats in the '4' section that are available.
How reliable is seatguru in giving the actual plane configuration for a specific flight?

If you're comparing it to united.com, I'd think seatguru is fairly accurate. Last minute changes can, of course, happen.

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What is AA charging for LHR-LAX, either on their own nonstop, or on their codeshares operated by BA?

£4k minimum for direct
BA £3.2 and NZ £3k

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Not sure if your employer will reimburse you for the purchase of frequent-flyer miles, but if you can find a "SAAver" award seat on aa.com for any of the LHR-LAX nonstops, it would be significantly cheaper to buy the necessary miles from AA and pay the APD, PSC, (and surcharge if you ended up on a BA flight), compared to paying 3K GBP on a cash flight. (Of course, you would not earn any miles on an award flight.)

Of the three choices, I would recommend Air New Zealand unless you really want to be on the A380. If you choose BA, budget in the extra for seat selection unless you don't mind risking getting a middle seat in business.

Would definitely avoid United.