Best Business Class to London
 

This will be our (wife & I) 1st. trip overseas and going to Heathrow in July.
Traveling out of Kansas City (MCI) so any flight taken has to connect somewhere such as Chicago, Dallas, Detroit etc..
I'm leaning towards American Airlines or Virgin Atlantic.
However might consider Air Canada or Delta as well.
We aren't big people 5'4" 150lbs., so don't need excessive leg space, However when typing out loud one thinks there isn't "excessive leg space" anywhere in the skies these day.:rolleyes:
Probably thinking our best experience would be on a 777 with what I've seen.
Wondering what others might think??
Thanks in advance,
Steve

Unless I am missing one, there are 6 one-stop options. While you should definitely consider pricing, routings and timings, in broad terms I would rank them:

- British Airways
- Virgin Atlantic
- Air Canada
- Delta
- American
- United


But the rankings could change quite a bit depending on what actual flights you are on. For example, the AA 777-300ER has a much better seat than the AA 767s with the older seat. Many would agree that the AA 77W seat is the best J seat of the 6 airlines.

British Airways is the most expensive of the ones you listed.
However with American they do share the long-haul leg of the flight with BA.
Do you happen to know if I will be able to select our seats when purchasing
(on the BA flight)??
I'm concerned they will only assign them 72-24 hours before departure.

For BA, unless you have status, you have to pay to select seats in advance even in business class.

If you don't have status you pay to choose your seat on BA, even in J.

AA you don't. Go through Dallas and do flight 50 going and 51 back. Best seat in J across the pond.

I've always thought it would be fun to fly BA 3 and 4, the all business class A318 to LCY from JFK.

Unfortunately me an Ma Kettle don't have any status with any airline.
And even before paying for seat assignments BA is significantly more expensive than any of the other lines.
I've heard good things about Virgin Atlantic, however I do have a few miles with
American and I'm thinking about rolling that way with the 777.
Thanks for the advice.
Steve

Best Business Class to London
 

United has a 787 flight out of Houston. I'm flying them on 22nd and can report back, but I don't think the service will be any better or worse than other domestic airlines flying international.

If you have miles that can offset the cost use that, otherwise for domestic use whatever is cheapest. I assume you'll be taking a evening flight so I assume you're most worried about the hard product which on the one international J trip I took on United was pretty good.

Best Business Class to London
 

Virgin, for the lounge experience, service and pajamas.

Make sure it is the 777-300, the business class seats on the 777-200 are inferior.

[QUOTE=TWA884;26391720]Make sure it is the 777-300, the business class seats on the 777-200 are inferior.[/QUOTE

I'm thinking to select seats in the front mini-cabin (rows 3-4)
Will the seats in the middle allow for me to see and visit with my wife easily, or should I just book the window seats on one side (one behind the other)?

I've only been in F on American's 777-300.

For the definitive answer, check this thread in the American Airlines forum:

Best Business Class to London
 

BA isn't always more expensive but the seats are not as good as the modern lie flats on other airlines.

One factor, most airlines have gone to isolated "pods" which are great for business travelers but don't have any good option for a couple traveling together who want to sit together. I believe that's true for all of the airlines listed above.

Best Business Class to London
 

Just booked a work trip with a colleague to AMS and LHR on aavacations.com. Price was great for J and a hotel. Flying BA over and AA back in the 77W. I'm less concerned about the "bad" BA seats on the 777 since I can utilize the direct AUS-LHR and the single stop is more important to me on the way to AMS.

I do prefer the J seat with AC to the older BA. AC service can be hit or miss, however in my experience. United experience is, generally, predictable but I do not prefer the seat. Can't speak for Delta overseas.

Just my thoughts.

The only aircraft in the AA fleet worth flying to LHR in J is the 77W (777-300ER). The rest are all complete garbage. The 772 is great in the F cabin, but the J cabin is very poor. The 767s, well, yikes.

Personally, if I were in your position and required a one-stop itinerary, I would fly DL from MCI-DTW and VS from DTW-LHR. The VS herringbone J seat isn't the best product out there in the world, but on that route it's definitely one of the better ones when coupled with the slightly increased level of service generally found on VS. In addition VS operates its newer A330s on this route so the seat is a slightly updated one compared with the older aircraft in the fleet. I also find it considerably nicer than the narrow J seats that DL crams into it's 767s.

BA is overpriced. They think very highly of their ancient J product and to be honest it's just really not that good anymore. Service, while generally better than most US airlines, is still pretty spotty as well.