BA, AA or Virgin Economy

Starrystarrynight

I'd choose to have the connection at Heathrow so I didn't have the worry about the long queues at US immigration.

I found BA and Virgin to be pretty similar. There was a slightly wider choice of entertainment on BA. Both do free drinks, though Virgin shone in this because they just kept on bringing them round, rather than a first circuit with them then having to buzz to ask for more on BA. I'd still choose BA, though, as I liked Terminal 5 at LHR :-)

duchy

The Virgin flights to LAS are more "bucket and spade" than their Other flights-older planes (not sure if that applies to Manchester) and they attract a lot of stag groups going to Vegas who like the free booze option. Not what everyone wants on a 10 hour flight.

If I had to choose between transiting at Heathrow with a terminal change and Chicago-Chicago wins every time.Heathrow is a mess -Chicago whilst also huge is better organized and it's easier to get about. The clearing immigration and customs is a no brainer-get off plane -through immigration -pick up bags (usually already waiting ) walk through customs -hand them over and enjoy stretching your legs before getting on the next plane (I often , if I have time, go through security and get outside for some fresh air before flying on). I also like once I land on the west coast I just grab my bags and run rather than clearing immigration at SFO (which I've found to be slower than Chicago too).

I rather like the Delta connection (often cheaper under a KLM codeshare) via Atlanta though -which you've not mentioned.

The US carriers in general have older (so more experienced) flight attendents -I'm unimpressed with Virgin's who range from excellent to schoolgirl biatchy (the last flight I had was notable for one FA who talked about passengers -deliberately loud enough for them to hear-it was truely pathetic-). BA I avoid now as I don't trust them not to strike again and I don't see the point of risking stress that they might when there are other options available-plus I was was utterly disgusted with some of the BA cabin crew's comments to the media during the last strikes. The airline I find best for service is Delta -with Continental coming second (not sure if CO has a MAN base though). In your shoes Delta or AA woul;d be my choices.

richardw

The Virgin option may be with bmi and you'd have to get from LHR T1 to T3 which might be a bit of a kerfuffle compared to BA at T5.

richardw

duchy wrote: »

Chicago whilst also huge is better organized and it's easier to get about. The clearing immigration and customs is a no brainer-get off plane -through immigration.

Which airline did you fly to ORD on from the UK? How long did you queue for immigration?

delwynshd

Im not too sure I dont think so Richard

Del


QUOTE=richardw;43972818]Is that available as a through ticket MAN-LAS-SFO?[/QUOTE]

phatbear

We went to san fran with virgin in march from lhr.

Never flown ba so cant compare but the flight was as good as ever their onboard entertainment system made the flight a tad more manageable, drink was free flowing and the food was standard flight fodder

bagand96

It's pretty much all been covered above, but I reckon BA, it's the least hassle option.

American Airlines will mean having to reclaim your baggage at Chicago and then having to check it in again for the connecting flight.

Virgin means you have to change terminal at Heathrow. You won't have to worry about your bags but you have to physically get from one terminal to the other.

With BA you will land in Terminal 5 at Heathrow and leave from there. It's the simplest option and T5 is great.

In terms of on board experience, in economy they are all broadly the same, none are head and shoulders above the other. Booze is free on BA and Virgin though which is nice!

Vikki_74

If all options are similarly priced and with similar flight times, I too would probably choose BA of the three. Better IFE and seating than AA (they use smaller planes on the MAN-ORD route which are 3-3 seating - a personal hatred of mine - and yes, only have overhead TVs) and as others have said easier than Virgin at LHR as you will be in and out of T5 rather than having to change terminals which is a complete faff.

I have to say though, I'm really surprised that either BA or Virgin are the same price as AA or any of the other US carriers - especially this year, and especially to the west coast I've found prices for both BA and Virgin pretty extortionate. What kind of prices have you got for your various options? And are you absolutely sure that the BA flight is actually with BA and not a codeshare on an AA flight which I've seen come up a few times when searching recently?

It's already been said, but I would definately suggest you have a look at the various Delta / KLM / Air France options as another alternative - I've seen some great prices from them recently, especially booked via 3rd party sites like Opodo, lastminute.com etc.

Just as an example, we're going back to California in September this year and both Virgin and BA wanted well over £800pp to go via LHR (I think from memory one of the Virgin options actually came out at over £1000pp, ridiculous!), with Delta and US Airways both around £660 with a change in ATL, JFK or PHL but with issues of old/small planes, limited IFE and so on.

After a lot of searching, we've ended up instead on an Air France flight from MAN to LAX via CDG for just over £500pp with pretty good flight times (arrive LAX at about 4pm, don't fly home 'til about 9pm so we get pretty much a whole extra day there), better seating (I think the configuration is generally 3-4-3 but we've nabbed one of the few sets of 2 seats at the back) and better IFE. The prices on both Air France and Delta were a fair bit higher so booked via Opodo instead - I think the actual price was about £517pp but with £15 cashback in total (already tracked) so more like £510 in the end. Never done Air France before but for that kind of saving we figured it was worth a try!

dmg24

Starrystarrynight wrote: »

I'd choose to have the connection at Heathrow so I didn't have the worry about the long queues at US immigration.

I found BA and Virgin to be pretty similar. There was a slightly wider choice of entertainment on BA. Both do free drinks, though Virgin shone in this because they just kept on bringing them round, rather than a first circuit with them then having to buzz to ask for more on BA. I'd still choose BA, though, as I liked Terminal 5 at LHR :-)

You can move and get drinks yourself!

neilbond007

dmg24 wrote: »

You can move and get drinks yourself!

I did that on US(eless) airways and got told off!
"Can't you people just sit down and go to sleep?". My complaint got me $350 off my next flight

But on to the original question.
There are 2 trains of thought.
1. Fly AA to Chicago. Break up the journey in to a 8 hr / 4 hr flights.

2. Go to LHR to avoid stress of the US security in-transit.

Personally I'd do the latter. It's 10 - 11 hours from LHR to SFO. Any time spent in LHR is better than time spent in a craphole of a US airport.
I've done both and last Christmas flew BA from ORD - LHR - MAN. LHR might not be the best airport but the BA left and arrived from same terminal so it was a piece of cake (well, it was several bacon butties from the BA lounge!!)