Delta/KLM vs BA/Virgin from Heathrow to Boston – ADVICE PLEASE!!!

surflou

Hey all

Just wanted some opinions before I booked a flight.

We’re travelling to Boston from the UK in August and we will be staying with a friend so it’s just flights that I am concerned with here.

We live in North Wales so the natural option would be to fly from Manchester, however, from doing some research, it looks like it will be better for us to travel down to Heathrow by car and fly direct from there, otherwise we will be paying more money (Petrol to Heathrow is approx. £80 in my car return, parking is the same in either airport whereas a flight from Manchester will take at least 3 hours + longer to travel, and with a 4 year old that really isn’t worth it, even if it is the same price, besides, we though we would start the holiday early, travel down the morning before, visit the Harry Potter Studios in Leavesden before staying in a Travelodge for the night and catching the flight to Boston the next day).

Now, obviously there are differences in all airlines, price, value for money etc… we were worried about things like comfort and food and experience so we though that we might be better off flying with British Airways (although one way is American Airlines through BA) or Virgin, purely because of their reputation, flight prices were originally hitting the £1,400 mark for the three of us return and we were happy with the prospect of a meal onboard, a film if we wanted to watch it, leg room and ample luggage allowance for both cabin and hold. But then the prices shot up overnight! So now to fly one of the bigger airlines we are looking at £1,500+.

There are other cheaper airlines which will get us there for £1,200+ and these are Delta and KLM – my question is this…

Does anyone have experience of flying with or without kids, from Heathrow to Boston with ANY of the airlines I have mentioned?

Are we ok to book with the cheaper airlines? Will we still get he luggage allowance we would with BA or Virgin? Will we get fed for free? Are there REALLY plug sockets on board the planes on our route and films if we want them?

If it helps, the planes are as follows (all are economy class):

Delta DL 623 OUTGOING
Delta DL 624 RETURNING

BA 1502 OUTGOING
BA 212 RETURNING

VS 11 OUTGOING
VS 12 RETURNING

Or a mixture of Delta and KLM –

DL 623 OUTGOING
KL 6184 RETURNING

Many thanks, I really appreciate any help you can give me!

photome

You havent listed the planes you are flying on just the flight numbers.

Look on seatguru for types of video screens etc once you know the plane type.

You mention legroom....there is none in economy.

I have flown BA, Virgin, KLm and Delta to the USA, there is very little if anything to choose between them, I would go with the cheapest/most convenient.

I have had good and bad with all of them but the worst 2 flights I have had were with BA and Virgin

Not sure what you mean about "cheaper" airlines..Delta are a huge US carrier and KLM is the Dutch airline

surflou

Ah sorry, they are all 757-200 planes I think, except the Virgin, they are air buses...

When I say legroom, I don't mean that I am 6'5" and that I need all I can get! I am only 5'9" but I get a sore knee which I can usually fix by popping my leg into the aisle, the Delta plane I was looking at I think has seats of 3 in the middle of the plane and 2 either side of it so we will be going for that as there are 3 of us...

When I say cheaper. I mean cheaper, Delta are the US version of a budget airline aren't they? Value for money I mean, just better than Easyjet over here lol!

So long as I get a meal and there is in-flight entertainment and so on I will be happy!

neilbond007

surflou wrote: »

When I say cheaper. I mean cheaper, Delta are the US version of a budget airline aren't they? Value for money I mean, just better than Easyjet over here lol!

No. They're a US version of BA / Virgin.

Southwest are the US version of Easyjet and don't fly transatlantic.

EDIT - Delta are actually the biggest airline in the world -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World%27s_largest_airlines
Although that's nothing to shout about. The 757's are horrible, but the 767's perfect for the 3 of you.

malkie76

757s are narrow bodies.

The flights you mention are on 767-400s with Delta, which are 2-3-2 in economy. These are older planes which most likely have overhead screens not head back screens, but check on seat guru. They won't have in seat power either.

As above - all carriers are basically the same in economy transatlantic. You will get fed, you will get drinks, there will be entertainment. Head for price unless you are earning miles.

I actually took a Delta flight from Beijing to Tokyo a year or so ago. Only a 2.5 hour flight so I booked economy. We got a full meal, and two drinks runs. There was seat back video, but we were in a newer Airbus A340.

alanrowell

You've missed an option - Aer Lingus from Dublin. Either use Sailrail and take the ferry to Dublin or fly from Manchester. More importantly you get the shouting at / prove you aren't a terrorist over with by using pre-clearance and if they do turn you back you haven't wasted the day

surflou

No you are correct, although according to seatguru they have been updated...

USB power, which is fine for me as I have 2 PSP batteries which will both be full and an iPod with films on it so that's grand, my wife will have a book and her iPod and my daughter will have her DS and the netbook with a film on it, although if it doesn't have sockets on board then I may have to borrow my Dads DVD player lol!

surflou

alanrowell wrote: »

You've missed an option - Aer Lingus from Dublin. Either use Sailrail and take the ferry to Dublin or fly from Manchester. More importantly you get the shouting at / prove you aren't a terrorist over with by using pre-clearance and if they do turn you back you haven't wasted the day

Proved to be waaaaaaaaay more expensive than Delta from Heathrow and to be honest, we did look at that because my wife is from Dublin and we could stay with her Mum but I hate Aer Lingus with a passion!

Doshwaster

surflou wrote: »

BA 1502 OUTGOING
BA 212 RETURNING

Just to point out that BA 1502 will be operated by American Airlines as a codeshare (there's no free bar service on AA)

If fly to Boston regularly with work and BA operate a mixture of B777 and B747 on the route depending on the season. Personally, I like to get the mid-afternoon flight out of LHR (BA 215) as it arrives in Boston early evening so you still have time for dinner before collapsing and then return on the late flight (BA 214) to maximise the amount of time you can have in town and the sleep you get on the plane.

photome

Doshwaster wrote: »

Just to point out that BA 1502 will be operated by American Airlines as a codeshare (there's no free bar service on AA)

If fly to Boston regularly with work and BA operate a mixture of B777 and B747 on the route depending on the season. Personally, I like to get the mid-afternoon flight out of LHR (BA 215) as it arrives in Boston early evening so you still have time for dinner before collapsing and then return on the late flight (BA 214) to maximise the amount of time you can have in town and the sleep you get on the plane.

I thought all transatlantic flights had free bars at least for beer and wine

ferf1223

photome wrote: »

I thought all transatlantic flights had free bars at least for beer and wine

AA's site still says they charge for alcoholic beverages in economy...it's been our experience, though last trip (Feb) we were in business so couldn't say what went on at the back of the plane*.

http://www.aa.com/i18n/travelInformation/duringFlight/dining/onboardBeverages.jsp

*which we will now return to quietly and with significant sadness having blown all our miles.