Flights to London
 

Hi All. I am traveling from New York to London and then Barcelona back to New York. I was curious as to what airline combination to take. My choices are American Airlines (direct flight to london ...on the way home connect in Madrid on Iberia and the home to NY on Iberia as well), British Airways (direct to London...on the way home connect in London on BA and then home to NY on BA), and lastly Virgin Atlantic (direct flight to London...on the way home connect via EasyJet to London and then home to NY on Virgin). THANKS for all your help!

What programmes do you have miles in already? Do you have status on any airlines? What class of service are you flying?

It looks like you are based in NYC. Therefore, I would guess AAdvantage (American Airlines) would be your best bet for miles. But Iberia coach is pretty awful.

You can't earn AAdvantage on transatlantic BA flights.

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Thanks for your help Redhead. I am from NYC and I currently earn the greatest amount of miles in my AAdvantage account and my Delta Skymiles account. Iberia coach is not good? I thought I had heard some good things about it? Also, do you know anything about BA coach? Thanks!

Hi TylerLyn1,

You will not be able to earn AAdvantage miles on BA transatlantic flights ( but you will on BA flights LON-BCN)

You will be able to earn Skymiles on Virgin Atlantic flights.

Regards

TBS

It really depends for what purpose you are trying to choose the carriers. If you want to get to BCN A.S.A.P.then Iberia from the U.S. is the go BUT this airline has a shocking service and comfort history, so it may be very wise to avoid it at all costs.

If I were you, then I'd go after the maximum amount of miles and maximum comfort. My solution would be AY (Finnair). You fly from JFK-HEL and from there onto Spain. AY's trans-Atlantic service is very good and intra-European is great in comparison to SK, for example.

Whatever you choose, just avoid Iberia and as you already have been told, you will not earn any AA miles on BA flights unless they are AY codeshares from Canada.

I would reccomend that you do not take the Virgin, easyjet option. Not because of Virgin but the fact that you will have to change airports. The Easyjet flight leave from STN about 1 hours bus ride from LHR. Beacause of this you will have to collect your bags and recheck them in for the connection.

Also this itniery would have to be purchased on two tickets and as easyjet is a low cost airline things can and do get out of shape and you will be on your own.
For this reason I would book it all through BA or AA/IB.


Regards

Think of your travel future. If it is mostly domestic U.S. travel, stick with AA and IB. If you plan to visit Europe often, you might prefer to join BA's program. But be warned that it's only good if you pay for Business class or First.

Alternatively, you can go with United and the Star Alliance, of which Spanair is a member.

Personally I do all of the above, but I fly way too much!

Thanks for all your help. In terms of miles I have the most accumulated in my AAdvantage account. However, is American/Iberia worth the extra $96 for about 8000 miles? Also, I have hear bad things about Iberia...are they true? I am also having trouble finding info about BA? I will be flying in the regular economy class (world traveler). Thanks!

Hi again,

If you colectr miles I would say $96 is worth it for 8k. Also AA will give yiu the largest seat pitch out of any of the options. I wouldn't worry too much about IB as this will only be a short hop in the EU correct?

I can't believe you cant't find any info on BA. There are loads of reports on it on this sight. under FT MILES and reports on airlinequality.com epinions.com etc.

I think you will like BA for the IFE and service but the seat pitch is a lot worse than AA. All food is much of a muchness in coach and not worth being a factor in your choice.

If I had to fly coach then I would take the AA/IB option. Its only a few hours out of your life anyway.

Watch out for IB on ff miles! I got 1/3 of what I'd expected. Coach was crowded and the food limited.

If you want to avoid IB and earn AAdvantage miles the whole way, why not fly JFK-LHR on AA, and LHR-BCN roundtrip on BA? Remember that you can earn AAdvantage miles on BA's intra-European flights, albeit not their transatlantic service. AA has "More Room Throughout Coach" so that definitely would be my preference on the transatlantic sector.

[This message has been edited by cAAl (edited 04-15-2003).]

Iberia is nothing short of godd damm awful. AA trans atlantic is pretty bad in coach and so is BA.

However, there are some serious deals to be had right now with the trans atalantic operators and I would look at KLM,( Iceland Air has very good BC across the pond )and also BMI. Both KLM & BMI can get you to Spain as well as part of your travel plans all on the same ticket

Not sure if you're traveling alone, but Virgin Atlantic just came out with this promotion where your travel companion can fly with you for $1.

http://www.virgin-atlantic.com/promotion.view.do?id=622

Thanks so much for the advice. With the Virgin sale I am saving almost $200 dollars and I will get Skymiles!!! My only question now is how am I going to get from Barcelona to LHR for my flight back home on Virgin? Where should I be looking for the BCN - LHR flight? THANKS AGAIN EVERYONE!

Make sure you check on that...one of the rules for this promo states "flying club miles or tier points will not be earned on this offer" Maybe it only pertains to Virgin and not a partner? I don't know...



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