Enhanced in Austin

I'd love my fellow FT'ers opinions on a trip for July. Doing a 1 way reward in July AUS LYS and currently holding the following two tickets:

Option 1:
AUS IAD (CRJ 700, Y, 3hr10 flight)
2h47 layover
IAD BRU (UA777, F, 7hr35 flight)
2 hr 40 layover
BRU LYS (SN RJ100, J, 1hr35 flight

Option 2:
AUS IAH (UA CRJ 700, Y, 30 min flight)
2 hr layover
IAH FRA (LH A380, J, 9h50 flight)
3 hr 40 layover
FRA LYS (LH 737-300, J, 1h15 flight)

I'd LOVE to get LH F on A380 IAH FRA but have heard that's virtually impossible.

Question: would you do the 2nd itinerary, with the longer TATL flight in LH J over the 1st itinerary shorter TATL flight in UA Global F? I did Global F to Asia last summer and, honestly, wasn't blown away. Plus I'd love to try the 380. Plus the 3 hr CRJ700 AUS IAD isn't my idea of a great start to my Provence holiday!

By the way, the outbound flight date is July 3.

THANKS!

work2fly

BRU = Brussels

I'd do the GF itin, if only for the lie-flat seat on the overnight flight. LH's 380 has slanted seats in J.

LH may be slightly advantageous with respect to food. UA's GF menu is on par with the bar menu at Applebees

MatthewLAX

LH C is much worse, in terms of seat, service, and food. UA even wins in IFE. That's "IME" of course, but it is my experience.

Take UA GF.

Kacee

For me it's a close call only because of the 3 hrs plus on the CRJ. I'd probably go for UA GF nonetheless, but would keep an eye open for late releases (T-14) of F on LH.

dfs24

LH C on the A380 has the old seats, and nearly a hundred seats on them. So service is slower, and the seat unimpressive.

Besides F is F, C is C. Unless it's SQ/NH/LX C vs UA F, then there might be a need to consider.

Been reading somewhere that LH F opens up a week before or something. So just monitor. (Unsure about this)

Enhanced in Austin

I've been seeing some close in availability LH F but not on the 380. Lots on DEN and DTW 747's but maybe they keep it tighter due to the new aircraft.

endrond

For me, it would be a no brainer to take UA C over LH's A380 C, which is angled not flat bed. So to answer OP's question: take the UA GF.

dfs24

Well then I would go via DTW in LH F. Just got off LH F JFK-MUC last week. Very good premium product. I am unsure if DEN still frequently sees the old product, so I'd go with DTW.

Basically, since you are going to spend the miles on F, do it with LH.

To clarify, I have never flown with UA in F, but have friends who do and tell me do it with LH. I however have flown in UA internationally in C a couple of times and given how mediocre the service is, I can't imagine how much better F will be. As mentioned above, C class seats on UA is better than LH though.

Oh 1 more thing. You get to use the FC lounge if your incoming was in LH F. It quieter and has got a better selection of food. (At least in MUC)

mauiUAflyer

I did the A380 in LH C FRA-SFO. Like others have mentioned, not the best C seat out there.

I would take option A, and have dinner during the lay-over at Vino Volo. Possibly a night-cap at the IFL... Then get on the plane and get all ready for bed. At "wheels up", unfold the bed, and go right to sleep (Ambien can help).

Spend some time to see if you can't get into F on the CRJ-700 flight!

UA-NYC

Even though it's F vs. C, I would disagree on the service & food quality.

stevenshev

Fair enough. And the lovely thing about being in a free country is that you're entitled to an opinion...even if that opinion happens to be wrong!

Enhanced in Austin

That was one of my concerns. The first time I did UA F SFO to SYD in 2004 it was AWESOME... last year, not so much. Either I'm getting jaded or the product has gone down significantly.

My goal is to spend as much time as possible in the premium cabins. DTW is interesting but it's a b*tch to get from AUS to DTW (usually via IAH) and would add a lot of time to the domestic portions.

Thanks for all the insight. I'll keep my eyes peeled for better options closer in.

bob_the_d

if you're routing through IAD and FRA, why not see if you can hop on LH's 747-8i? they got lie flats in J and it's just personal opinion, but that plane looks pretty awesome to me.

CASAFlyer

If you can get a 747 with the new first, I suggest you to really consider it over the 380. The refurbished upper deck is truly amazing, bed+separate seat make for a superior experience.

Personally, I would take UA C (PMUA flat bed) over LH C with the slanted seat (not tried LH new C yet).

MatthewLAX

I'm just curious, have you flown LH C lately? I think it has really deteriorated.