schwarm

For the overnight eastbound flight, a longer international leg is better to give you more time to sleep (e.g, connect through DFW or IAH). Going from east coast or even northeast to ORD will make the flight too short to sleep much.

For the return day flight, a shorter total flight time would probably be better, but still best to maximize flight time on international leg and have domestic leg be short as possible.

I'm not an expert on which plane is flown from each airport, but the best seat that I've seen is the American 777-300 (77W). I believe this plane is used DFW-LHR.

355F1

British Airways has "couples seats" in J on the A380. They are part of their own "pod."

Gringa

Totally agree. Looking forward to my 2nd trip on this plane.

Sunny 1

Yes. I second this.

kthpence

This is a bizarre observation - the retrofitted 767s and 772s are quite nice, and definitely in line if not above industry standard...

cmd320

The retrofitted 767s have the same narrow flat-beds that DL puts in their 767s though on AA they lack AVOD entirely, even after the refurbishment. The backwards/forwards seats on the refurbished 772 also feel tighter than the 77W seats, plus you can feel your connected neighbor moving around.

Of course this is also all overlooking the general poor and extremely inconsistent service found on AA.

Is it manageable for a TATL flight? Sure, but why bother when there are better options out there..?

ohmark

Or pay nothing and choose your seat in the 24 hour window prior to flight.

kthpence

It amazing the things that FTers find to complain about now. I doubt most people who don't fly all that often wouldn't be bothered by any of those things that you mentioned, other than perhaps the bad service from AA. Further, there are seats on the 772 that aren't connected (some people have reported that you can't even feel anything) and you are supplied w/ tablets on the 767. I'm not an AA apologist by any means, but I think that some of the things you bring up are very first world issues.

cmd320

Of course they're first world issues. You're paying a first world price to sit in a premium cabin, this isn't some $1000 TATL Y ticket we're talking about. When I'm spending $4000-6000 I'm going to be noticing every detail there is.

Like I said, the aforementioned products are manangeable with their flaws, however as the OP states they're looking for the "best J class to London" and I certainly couldn't in good conscience say that an AA 767 or 772 is the best product out there.

kthpence

Yes, I agree, my point though is that if you aren't up-to-date on J products, you may not even know that most J classes have lie-flats and some have direct aisle access. For many people, UA's J is amazing, and for others, it's obviously dated and not up to industry standard.

Forklift Steve

We've flown first on United & American to Hawaii and both were on the 767.
The seat on United was recliner and had decent legroom for us.
The seat on American was the angled lie flat (if one could call it that),
and was slightly better.
After those two flights I am avoiding the 767s.
Regarding the service side of things the service on United was better for the Hawaii run than American, however neither of the flights was the champagne and caviar experience I was hoping for.
I know (from reading flyertalk) that first domestic is significantly less than 1st. or business international.
I am hopeful that our international experience in a premium cabin will be markedly better.
In the end it came down to the combination of plane & seat type coupled with price and schedule.
So we've selected American and I'm hoping the service will be better than usual for this run.
Thanks to everyone for the helpful guidance!
Steve

Xnuiem

Sitting on a 77W LHR - DFW ( AA51 ). The service is decent on this flight, food ok. Going to LHR on AA50 was much better service, food about the same.

BA tends to have much better service, but not as good food. The AA seat is great, but if you are flying with someone, it is an issue. My wife and I did DFW -> LHR before on AA50, and even sitting together in the middle, it was not super easy to talk or even see each other. You have to scoot the seat forward and then still lean forward to talk.

BA is easier to talk to your seat mate, especially if you are sit in the middle on a 772 or main deck of 744, then you are pretty much sharing a seat.

Never tried Virgin, i have status on AA, so i stick to OneWorld pretty much other than occasional flights on LH because their food and service is just amazing compared to AA/BA. Seats not as good, but depending on the schedule and where i need to go, worth it, as long as it avoids UA.

All of this chat is talking about J class.

Madone59

Have you considered routing via LAX and catching NZ LAX-LHR? Their Business class is great!

ou81two

Quite honestly, the cheapest overnight business class flight with a lie flat bed. A lot of airlines have flights leaving between 10 and 10:30pm. Take that. Sleep as much as you can and you'll hit the ground running.

The difference between different business classes is negligible as long as you have a lie flat bed and can sleep. Some might have better food or wine but if you actually stay up to enjoy that in any real way, then you'll just be a mess when you get on the ground. I'd even take a sleeping pill if you could. If you insist on eating, see if they'll give you your meal right away. The flight itself is only 8 hours and that only gives you about 7:15 for sleep. Try to get at least 6.

Again sleep is better than a better business class. Cheapest overnight lie flat you can get. You'll land at 11am. Adjust to UK sleeping hours when you get there.

lhrsfo

It's great from LCY to JFK (via SNN) but it's not flat bed so I wouldn't recommend it overnight.