I have to go from Madrid to LHR on a personal trip and am paying for it myself. I have the choice of flying either British Midland or Lufthansa -- earning United miles(I much prefer oneworld but their flights are much more expensive).

Which would you experts recommend and why?

One key element for me is legroom. All my height is in my legs and I hate being cramped.

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I Love New York -- Viva Espa�a

Your choice is between BD operating nonstop services several times each day, or LH operating via Frankfurt or Munich. LH do sell tickets for nonstops between LHR and MAD, but this is on a codeshare basis (you end up on the BD flight).

BD mainly use Airbus 321's to MAD, especially in summer. Legroom is not bad (32-33 inches) for coach. No seats are allocated in advance so ask if they have exit row seats available when you check in (they will often give you these if available, even without status - unless they get the impression you're demanding the seat rather than asking for it). Sometimes the exit row falls in front of the (moveable) curtain, putting it in business class and beyond your reach. They may not decide how many business class seats to have until shortly before the flight, so no way of telling this in advance.

LH use similar planes to BD, excpet that occasionally you will see A300 widebodies being used within Europe. Legroom (unless you get an exit row) is no better than BD though.

I'd say go for the nonstop unless LH are offering very cheap fares for connecting in Germany!

On the nonstop you will get a meal. With LH you will get a sandwich between LHR and Germany, and most likely the same again on the conecting flight to Madrid.

In both cases, business class isn't really worth it - the food is better, but the seats are the same!

If legroom is your main concern, go for the shorter flight MAD-LHR on BM. If you take LH, you have to connect in FRA which results in more flights (but you could earn more miles with the connection).

With a view to legroom I'd definitely prefer LH over BD. I have been on a handful of BD flights both in Y and C, all served with 737s, and the legroom was much less than on board LH, possibly even below 30 inches, and that's for both classes.

Last time I looked LH had codeshare flight numbers on LHR-MAD... Either case it's a BMI British Midland/BD operated flight.

Point of reference:

BD = British Midland

BM = what I do when I go to the bathroom.

You really don't have a choice between LH or BD as the flights are code-share on BD metal. For some reason, internet booking for the same LH/BD flight is cheaper on the LH web-site than on the BD web-site.

You have to be careful with the exit rows on some aircraft which have two exits side-by-side. To facilitate emergency evacuation, the front of the two exit row seats does not incline.

By the way, if cost is an issue, easyJet will be starting a new daily MAD-LGW service on Sept 3.