Who is the best to fly to europe (dl, af, nw, co, klm)?
Dec 9, 2008, 6:32 am
#1
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Who is the best to fly to europe (dl, af, nw, co, klm)?
I will be travelling to europe next month and I was looking at the different airlines on skyteam that flies to paris. Out of DL, AF, NW, CO, KLM which one would be the best to fly on? Comfort in economy? Best seats, best AVOD, food offerings? Free Alcohol? Lowest passenger load? thanks!
Dec 9, 2008, 6:57 am
#2
Join Date: Jan 2005
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Best seats? All much of a muchness in economy, and will vary by aircraft. A mock booking should give you an idea of what aircraft are being used on certain routes, and you can check seat width and pitch on Seatguru.
Best AVOD? Again it will depend on the aircraft as to whether it will be AVOD, screen in the seatback but not on demand or screens in the cabin. The airline web sites will tell you which aircraft have proper AVOD and what they offer. I know NW, KL and AF have AVOD on certain flights, I don't think CO or DL have rolled their's out yet in Economy (but might be wrong).
Free booze? AF, KL and NW
Food? Again all much of a muchness. I've heard complementary things about AF's food and wine but won't being flying them long haul til early next year. I recall CO being surprisingly good!
I've flown NW, CO and KL across the Atlantic and at the moment NW is a personal favourite overall in Economy (esp. the A330 rather than the 757-200). Based on what I've read on Flyertalk and comments from friends, AF might be better and DL might be worse! YMMV
Best AVOD? Again it will depend on the aircraft as to whether it will be AVOD, screen in the seatback but not on demand or screens in the cabin. The airline web sites will tell you which aircraft have proper AVOD and what they offer. I know NW, KL and AF have AVOD on certain flights, I don't think CO or DL have rolled their's out yet in Economy (but might be wrong).
Free booze? AF, KL and NW
Food? Again all much of a muchness. I've heard complementary things about AF's food and wine but won't being flying them long haul til early next year. I recall CO being surprisingly good!
I've flown NW, CO and KL across the Atlantic and at the moment NW is a personal favourite overall in Economy (esp. the A330 rather than the 757-200). Based on what I've read on Flyertalk and comments from friends, AF might be better and DL might be worse! YMMV
Dec 9, 2008, 8:44 am
#3
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CO has AVOD on all their 757-200s and just over half their 777-200s. They do not have it on their 767s at all.
DL offers one free alcoholic drink with dinner on their TATL flights; CO gives you none and the other three are open bar.
Flying in Y none of them are going to be phenomenal experiences.
DL offers one free alcoholic drink with dinner on their TATL flights; CO gives you none and the other three are open bar.
Flying in Y none of them are going to be phenomenal experiences.
Dec 9, 2008, 1:39 pm
#4
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Ah, I knew CO were planning to AVOD, but did not think they had started yet for some reason. Did not know DL did booze, but all my personal feedback on them has been terrible, so they are not high on my 'let's give them a try' list!
But as sbm12 points out, Y is Y so go in with very low expectations on any airline!
But as sbm12 points out, Y is Y so go in with very low expectations on any airline!
Dec 9, 2008, 4:13 pm
#6
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I will be travelling to europe next month and I was looking at the different airlines on skyteam that flies to paris. Out of DL, AF, NW, CO, KLM which one would be the best to fly on? Comfort in economy? Best seats, best AVOD, food offerings? Free Alcohol? Lowest passenger load? thanks!
I was pleasantly surprised by recent flights on DL in Y ATL-LON. Still only main cabin IFE, but the food was edible (a major improvement over 2 years ago) and the seats adequate. I am flying NW in Y LON-DTW/MSP in December, and will be able to compare.
Dec 9, 2008, 5:45 pm
#7
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headed to paris. then to prague and milan. I have flown business class on all of the carriers to europe before, but only have economy class once on Delta to europe. It was okay but missed the AVOD. I have to fly economy because of the person flying with me, for they have a award seat in economy and does not want to sit alone on the flight. So I think based on some research it looks like either NWA A330-300 or the AF A330-200. I see that NWA has power ports and greater pitch in the front section of economy class. Are the seat on both pretty much the same (regarding recline and seat padding/support)? AF might serve higher quality of food. Which do you think would have a lighter passenger load for a mid January flight? Best day to fly for passenger load on a international flight (Tues,Wed, Thurs, etc)?
Dec 9, 2008, 11:52 pm
#8
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For me, hands down NW.
They with a few exceptions on small markets fly A330 which are new, nice planes, each coach seat has AVOD, the front economy cabin has plug-in, comfy seats with adustable head rest with wings. Foods decent for airplane food and free booze. The Chilian red they serve is quite good given it's airplane status....
They with a few exceptions on small markets fly A330 which are new, nice planes, each coach seat has AVOD, the front economy cabin has plug-in, comfy seats with adustable head rest with wings. Foods decent for airplane food and free booze. The Chilian red they serve is quite good given it's airplane status....
Last edited by NOLAnwGOLD; Dec 10, 2008 at 12:45 pm
Dec 10, 2008, 7:35 am
#9
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I have flown NW, AF, and KL in economy 2-3 times each. They are pretty comparable, but I would prefer AF by a slight margin; the food was better (including free alcohol, with drinkable wine) and they have on-demand entertainment. (My experiences were on 777s.)
I had a nice experience on a NW A330 from AMS-DTW, but a painful flight on a 757 AMS-IAD.
I had a nice experience on a NW A330 from AMS-DTW, but a painful flight on a 757 AMS-IAD.
Dec 10, 2008, 1:43 pm
#11
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which do you think will be less loaded with passengers? NW flights or AF for mid January? Also being Continental Platinum elite (gold with delta), does AF allow elites to select exit and bulkhead seats at booking?
Dec 11, 2008, 4:04 pm
#12
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Without a doubt the best Y service TATL right now is NW, provided you can get a seat in the front half of the Y cabin. They do offer personal IFE, free drinks and the seat are very comfortable with adjustable head rest. Plus, if you can snag an exit row seat as a Plat, you will get a truly awesome experience.
Aside on AF: they apparently have problems with some of their IFE units. I think the problems are with those units manufactured by Rockwell; the units overheat and they have to shut down IFE planewide. I do not know how on which metal these are deployed, and how frequently this happens, but it is sufficiently frequent that an AF FA did mention it was a issue flagged by AF.
Aside on AF: they apparently have problems with some of their IFE units. I think the problems are with those units manufactured by Rockwell; the units overheat and they have to shut down IFE planewide. I do not know how on which metal these are deployed, and how frequently this happens, but it is sufficiently frequent that an AF FA did mention it was a issue flagged by AF.