coplatsat

Forgot about the wine. I agree, wine is better on LH. IMHO-food is better in UA and fancier service. Plus, ice cream sundaes on UA. Aside from the food, more privacy if flying alone and better AVOD.

LH A380- better storage. A whole locker between the seat and wall. I have never sat on the middle 2 seats on UA 777. On 777 either aisle or window. I prefer aisle. if only middle were left, and I did not know the person on the aisle, I would not fly UA.

UA-NYC

Pre-Check...can't get that w/LH

PsiFighter37

I flew EWR-BRU earlier this year...if you've flown J on UA before on a 772, it's pretty much what you'd expect. Plenty of pitch, and as someone of rather modest height, the length of the lie-flat is more than enough to lay flat on a catch a snooze. Haven't flown the LH plane so can't give my opinion on that.

Other considerations would be if you need the PQD for status, etc...

EWRtoSFO

FRA being a terrible transfer point seems to be the consensus. Why so bad?

I'm leaning towards EWR-BRU

jmanirish

Only comparatively bad. I've done 15-20 connections in FRA in the past 12 months, and about 5 in ZRH (all to MAD as a matter of fact). FRA you just walk....and walk....and walk. Only once have I had a bad immigration line (and it was going from schengen to non schengen; i.e A>Z) and unfortunately it was really bad. I wouldn't let the FRA connection be the deciding factor - it's only more of a "all else equal" decider (but to my mind, schedule, etc, are never equal).

One last suggestion that I know you didn't mention but should look into is LX EWR-ZRH-MAD. I'm a big fan of their J product as a solo traveler (the odd K seats are my favorite, and even As; you can search for the later easily as they are referred to as "throne" seats)

I'm also surprised that the direct EWR-MAD is more expensive given UA prices all *A fares over the atlantic
EDIT: My rookie mistake, while I'm still fairly confident they do, UA isn't opening and P or Z for the direct EWR-MAD for originating in EWR. Z is available for connecting PAX, i.e, married segments.

Cargojon

FRA is a piece of cake compared to LHR or CDG, IME.
In addition to LX, I'd throw OS out there as a possibility EWR-VIE-MAD. Business product on Austrian is pretty good in my opinion/experience.

FTstudent

I know we re-litigate this particular comparison every 5 months or so, and I’m surprised to see the greater turn-out is for UA BF on this go around. Of course we all universally hate LH old J. The sheer panic I experienced last year when boarding an A333, seeing the second cabin filled with old J. I thought I had done my homework. The horror.

LH 748 J, LD, center section is my stand out favorite. None of the TATL UA BF seats have that much physical separation with your neighbor. I’ll add that it seems rare for UA BF to not go out full, or 95% full. LH seems content to let J go out less full.

I tried to get that seat on LX once, and they wouldn’t allow it. The seat was blocked for their high elites. OS does allow me to pick the throne seat. I’m not exactly in love with either the LX or OS coffin style seat. I feel really pinned it.

itsMoe

Having recently had the pleasure of experiencing LX J on an A333 I can only agree. Window seat with aisle access, tons more room around your seat, great food, excellent champagne, and truly fantastic service. I was in awe.

And getting that seat was no problem. I booked through UA, got my LX record locator from the UA website, called LX and had the seat assigned. At T-23 I was able to do OLCI and move my seat around, and that too allowed me to pick the K row singles.

enviroian

Would you rather fly LH in C on a 744 (DEN-FRA) or UA BF in a 787 (IAH-FRA)? Right now I'm booked on an award ticket next week on UA for 57.5 business saver (phx-iah in Y, iah-fra in BF, fra-lhr in C). For an additional 12.5K miles I can fly phx-den in Y, den-fra in LH C, and fra-lhr in C).

I flew the LH DEN-FRA last month and I tell you there is nothing like being on the upper deck. The flight attendants were amazing as was the food and overall service.

Also something to take into consideration I would be looking a 2 hour layover at DEN vs a 4 hour layover at IAH.

Boo_Radley

J is downstairs on LH 744s. Was it maybe a 748? That said, I would pay the extra simply because I have a glut of miles right now. It all depends on how you value them.

RandomBaritone

I say go for it, given that you can repurchase the miles easily for about $240. I'd pay that for an "upgrade" to LH J, as well as to shorten your layover.

Cargojon

To me? No

Also consider the possibility of weather this time of year in DEN

enviroian

No, I was in J and upstairs trust me

It wasn't a 748.

dcsnowwake

some of LH is not lie flat, so I would not unless I know I am on the updated bird.

enviroian

All LH J are lie flats