BA or Virgin - flight to Los Angeles

richardlionheart

FluffyFiFi wrote: »

Lastly, we are looking at touring from LA to Vegas and up to Yosemite and back to LA, anyone got any hints about what is worth seeing and what is best to avoid.

Thanking you in advance for any help you can give.

Fifi

Having done the Triangle ( LA , San Francisco , Vegas ) i would definate go back to San Francisco ( its prob my fav city in USA)
a bloke thing is the Martime park pier 45 and get aboard the WW2 ships
including the USS Pampamito :rolleyes: http://www.maritime.org/hours.htm

what we did last time was fly into San Francisco and hired a one way rental
and flew out of Los Angeles.

apart from the famous 17 mile scenic drive,
one of our stops was a town half way down called LOMPOC (famous for its flower seeds ) and with the Vandenberg US AF base near by ( i think the old Titan missile silos are now home Nasa's projects )

then later of course Santa Barbara , with the Pacific in front of it and the Ynez
mountains rising majesticly behind it

we also did a mini Pacific cruise from Los Angeles port ( San Pedro )
there are usually unfilled cabins and good prices , these sail to Catalina Island , San Diego , then a stop in a Mexican port ,

i Found Vegas a little tacky , but well worth a couple of nights
But a must is the close by Grand Cannons , maybe even a journey on the Steam train (Cassey Jones style )
at Willaims http://www.grand-canyon.com/steam.html

anyways what ever you decide its a lovely part of the world
have a wonderful time

Rich

moneysavingmatthew

Unless you have a BA SIlver card or are paying a high fare you won't be able to preassign seats with them at all until you check in (or maybe at 72hrs before flight if travelling with children) Check out BA.COM for their current policy. Booking on Expedia doesn't make this any better or worse.

Both carriers are fairly tight in economy. Best economy service to LA is Air New Zealand imho.

bagand96

sturll wrote: »

What would one prefer?

A learjet maybe?

Please!

Ok maybe I did over exaggerate, but its still a fair point. I think Virgin are a great airline, however one of their main selling points which is often celebrated (as on this thread) is the V:PORT entertainment system, which is fantastic. However, people often forget that Virgin do not have this on all their fleet. All A340-600s have it, none of the older A340-300s have it, and only about half the 747s have it. Flying Virgin's A340-300s is a very different experience than the -600s thats all i'm saying.

I'd go Virgin if its the A340-600, BA if Virgin were offering the A340-300. That said LA from Heathrow will almost certainly have the good entertainment system. At the end of the day though they are both very good airlines and there is little between them (even BA are rolling out an on demand entertainment system, which I *think* ALL 747s now have.)

becominganobsessivesaver

I'd second the Air New Zealand suggestion - loads of room and excellent entertainment on board. Best airline I've flown with (and consistently good - we did a RTW with them)

urbancookie1

As i said in an earlier post id go for Virgin, but to be honest i would'nt know what type of aircraft i was flying on, how do you find out? I know i like the seat configeration of 2-4-2 better than the 3-4-3 as it seems more spacious but thats just because its usually only the 2 of us flying.

sturll

bagand96 wrote: »

Please!

Ok maybe I did over exaggerate, but its still a fair point. I think Virgin are a great airline, however one of their main selling points which is often celebrated (as on this thread) is the V:PORT entertainment system, which is fantastic. However, people often forget that Virgin do not have this on all their fleet. All A340-600s have it, none of the older A340-300s have it, and only about half the 747s have it. Flying Virgin's A340-300s is a very different experience than the -600s thats all i'm saying.

I'd go Virgin if its the A340-600, BA if Virgin were offering the A340-300. That said LA from Heathrow will almost certainly have the good entertainment system. At the end of the day though they are both very good airlines and there is little between them (even BA are rolling out an on demand entertainment system, which I *think* ALL 747s now have.)

I get what you're saying but im certain all the LHR fleet has V Port.

moneysavingmatthew

urbancookie1 wrote: »

As i said in an earlier post id go for Virgin, but to be honest i would'nt know what type of aircraft i was flying on, how do you find out? I know i like the seat configeration of 2-4-2 better than the 3-4-3 as it seems more spacious but thats just because its usually only the 2 of us flying.

Most booking sites will tell you the aircraft type - it is subject to change though. I use www.kayak.co.uk which is usually good at providing this info.

Virgin aircraft will generally vary more than BA - BA are all 747s to LAX but they have two configurations that affect seats forward of row 39.

If just two of you are travelling then may be worth considering United. They use 2-5-2 seating on their 777s which is great for couples - also you can buy Economy Plus access for $349 which is good for two people for a year. This gets you into the Economy plus section which offers exta legroom, first choice of meal and quicker off the plane.

Finally - if you have a choice of flying to LAX, SFO or PHX for your trip I would choose PHX, SFO then LAX in that order - LAX absolutely sucks on arrival.

Tricia_^^

One very little word of warning, be very careful going into some of the casinos with children - we went in with 14 year old boys and were pounced on (literally) when we stopped on the designated carpet walkway to get our bearings in the hotel (we had only just got there - Mandalay Bay). You will love it in LV and LA there tho - so much to see and do!

steveo3002

urbancookie1 wrote: »

As i said in an earlier post id go for Virgin, but to be honest i would'nt know what type of aircraft i was flying on, how do you find out? I know i like the seat configeration of 2-4-2 better than the 3-4-3 as it seems more spacious but thats just because its usually only the 2 of us flying.

its the airbus a340 600 , it has been for some time now , and it said on my booking page on expedia and also on the virgin site

Voyager2002

I still think that Air France offer a standard of passenger comfort and customer care in the air that BA and Virgin can only dream about! However, the process of buying a ticket and checking in is tedious, and their ground staff in Paris are just about the least friendly and helpful to be found anywhere in the world in any section of the travel industry!

I find the "style" of Virgin cabin crew rather smarmy and it irritates me. They even play pop music in the cabin at times when I am trying to work! BA seem far more professional.