Business Trip NYC - LHR
 

I'll be flying business class from NYC to London and am looking to have the best experience (first time flying J out of the US). Right now I'm thinking of taking a 77W with AA outbound and fly home on the upper deck of a BA 747 (first time being on a 747 so want to fly one before they disappear forever).

Does anyone have better suggestions as to who offers a better club, onboard product, overall experience? I'm closer to EWR but think I'll have a better experience out of JFK.

An alternative is JFK-LCY on the babybus. It is still a rather unique experience flying into LCY is easy and you'll be through immigration in a flash. Flying out of LHR upstairs on a 744 is good too though I'm not a fan of BA's J product.

So one of my other options that's pricing out decently is a return on LH's 748 in business from FRA-EWR. The only issue there is it would be a flight from LHR-FRA with a 2:20 layover in Frankfurt. Would that be enough time for me to transit? I have not gone international so I don't know if I need to grab my bags and clear security again after landing LHR-FRA and if that would afford me enough time (As you can see, I really want to go upper deck on a 747, that's the goal).

Any advice would be appreciated!

Plenty of time if one ticket. No immigration at FRA but you probably will have security which is efficient enough. You'll be in the lounge waiting to board soon enough.

You also pick up 800 more miles, multiplied by whatever you get for J on that fare and airline. That much closer to the next status level ...

I'd go for Lufthansa via FRA or Swiss via ZRH over AA or BA, seven days a week. Air France is nice too, but nobody wants to transfer @ CDG.

While LH and LX are fine airlines, I don't think they are worth the risk and time of adding in a connection when the OP can fly non-stop.

To the OP, if you're going with AA/BA, actually consider doing them in reverse. BA from NYC so you can take advantage of their sleeper service on the way to LHR. Then AA on the way back from LHR. While it sounds odd, the business class lounges available to you in LHR T3 are better than what would be available to you if you flew BA from T5.

Also, from NYC you can also consider DL or VS.