Flights to NYC questions.

MuvverRussia · 14 Jun 2012 at 21:28

Seriously don't bother with Hayes and Harlington. Take train from Reading straight to Paddington then get Connect / Express out.

Other option is Railair from Reading to LHR. It stops at the central bus station (T1, T3) and T5.

Both are good options. If on an earlier flight consider going up to LHR the night before, you can sometimes get decent hotel deals.

TJM · 14 Jun 2012 at 21:33

The Heathrow Connect calls at Hayes and Harlington; T1,2&3 is the next stop.

I'd take the earlier flight. The delays with immigration, etc, on the other side can be unpredictable (it's varied between 15 minutes and three hours for me), so an earlier flight will give you more time to play with in the evening. Getting up early is a pain, but it isn't going to be a fun day regardless.

Speaking of immigration, have the address of your hotel to hand, be ready to answer questions about what you do with your life and do not make a joke unless they make one first. American immigration officials (actually, virtually every American in a law enforcement role) will act like Little Hitlers if you give them an excuse.

Raymond Lin · 14 Jun 2012 at 21:34

MuvverRussia said:
Seriously don't bother with Hayes and Harlington. Take train from Reading straight to Paddington then get Connect / Express out.

Other option is Railair from Reading to LHR. It stops at the central bus station (T1, T3) and T5.

Both are good options. If on an earlier flight consider going up to LHR the night before, you can sometimes get decent hotel deals.

Well, it is 3 hours to paddington, and another hour from Paddington to LHR, so it makes the journey about 30min longer (plus any walking/waiting at Paddington) I am not sure on any Railair from Reading to Terminal 3, is there?

btw, the current price on all the sites so far is showing £500 return. Is that good or bad?! I went to Hong Kong for less than £600 in April, i didn't think October is a popular month to NYC.

PMKeates · 14 Jun 2012 at 21:36

When you leave Atlanta are you just going to London via New York? If so, just do London > New York > Atlanta > London - Delta have a non-stop flight for £610 on Kayak, for example.

Rotty · 14 Jun 2012 at 21:38

Raymond Lin said:
Delta/Virgin/BA are all around the same price, £20 difference between them on skyscanner. So i might as well go with Fox's suggestion and one with most leg room and convenient flight time.

Legroom pretty much identical on all of them, anyway what do you want lots of legroom for?

Virgin and BA have free booze, you have to pay on the US carriers

Raymond Lin · 14 Jun 2012 at 21:39

PMKeates said:
When you leave Atlanta are you just going to London via New York? If so, just do London > New York > Atlanta > London - Delta have a non-stop flight for £610 on Kayak.

Ideally, I like to fly direct from Atlanta to London, I don't want to fly Delta if I can fly Virgin though, but i might be imaging how bad Delta are.

[TW]Fox · 14 Jun 2012 at 21:40

Raymond Lin said:
another hour from Paddington to LHR,

No its not - its about 20-25 minutes on Heathrow Connect. The Tube takes an hour, dont go by tube.

I am not sure on any Railair from Reading to Terminal 3, is there?

3 is right at Heathrow Central Bus station along with 1. Don't worry about that.

btw, the current price on all the sites so far is showing £500 return. Is that good or bad?! I went to Hong Kong for less than £600 in April, i didn't think October is a popular month to NYC.

Thats expensive. I paid £399 last year into NYC and out of Miami and that was October. Had I only wanted NYC it would have been about £360.

Wait until Virgin next have a flight sale. They have them all the time - dont book at £500, its just too much for an economy return. It'll come down.

Raymond Lin · 14 Jun 2012 at 21:40

Rotty said:
Legroom pretty much identical on all of them, anyway what do you want lots of legroom for?

Virgin and BA have free booze, you have to pay on the US carriers

I don't drink so its about how good the in flight entertainment is and how comfy the seats are and customer service.

PMKeates · 14 Jun 2012 at 21:41

Raymond Lin said:
I don't drink so its about how good the in flight entertainment is and how comfy the seats are and customer service.

In my opinion, economy is economy. It's not like you're flying to the moon!

MuvverRussia · 14 Jun 2012 at 21:42

Raymond Lin said:
Well, it is 3 hours to paddington, and another hour from Paddington to LHR, so it makes the journey about 30min longer (plus any walking/waiting at Paddington) I am not sure on any Railair from Reading to Terminal 3, is there?

btw, the current price on all the sites so far is showing £500 return. Is that good or bad?! I went to Hong Kong for less than £600 in April, i didn't think October is a popular month to NYC.

Yep, there's Railair from Reading to T3 - http://www.railair.com/timetables_monfri.php

Paddington to LHR isn't an hour. It's 15 minutes (on express) or half hour or so (connect). Hour maybe if you take the Piccadilly line.

500 quid return is OK. Flights aren't that cheap these days sadly.

Rotty · 14 Jun 2012 at 21:43

PMKeates said:
In my opinion, economy is economy. It's not like you're flying to the moon!

that's it, they are all ****, take a tablet for films etc so you can choose your own, the rest is virtually the same on all transatlantic carriers

PMKeates · 14 Jun 2012 at 21:44

Indeed. Worrying about a few inches of pitch and a few hours of slightly less rubbish entertainment, when you aren't 6ft 6 and have ADHD, seems pointless to me.

[TW]Fox · 14 Jun 2012 at 21:45

PMKeates said:
Indeed. Worrying about a few inches of pitch and a few hours of slightly less rubbish entertainment when you aren't 6ft 6 and a moron seems pointless to me.

There is a choice of carriers, why wouldn't you make this choice based on things you perceive important to you? I mean whats the alternatve, picking a carrier by playing Pin the Tail On the Donkey or something?

Flying to the States economy can land you on anything from a Virgin A340-600 with on-demand entertainment to a Delta 767 with no entertainment at all beyond communual screens showing a **** film on a loop. Now if you couldn't care less which of those you endure for 7 hours then good for you, but some of us do care

PMKeates · 14 Jun 2012 at 21:47

[TW]Fox;22142028 said:
There is a choice of carriers, why wouldn't you make this choice based on things you perceive important to you? I mean whats the alternatve, picking a carrier by playing Pin the Tail On the Donkey or something?

I'd suggest picking the direct flight so you have a degree of convenience, reduce the risk of losing a bag (which is quite annoying) and have a shorter return journey. I think more people would find this important than virtually imperceptible differences in seat spacing.

[TW]Fox;22142028 said:
Flying to the States economy can land you on anything from a Virgin A340-600 with on-demand entertainment to a Delta 767 with no entertainment at all beyond communual screens showing a **** film on a loop. Now if you couldn't care less which of those you endure for 7 hours then good for you, but some of us do care

I guess I find 99% of IFE completely rubbish anyway! I just read during take-off, listen to my iPod and read during flight, eat/drink, listen and read some more. On occasion I might watch a film if there's something really interesting, but it's rare!

Raymond Lin · 14 Jun 2012 at 21:55

I don't really have a problem with the extra connection on the way back, i have the Friday off anyway so it makes no difference to me, the only concern is losing luggage....fingers crossed eh!

I think i will go with Virgin, most people seem to prefer them and if i can get it on sale at around £400 then with the internal flight it'll come to less than £600 for both which isn't bad.

Raymond Lin · 14 Jun 2012 at 21:56

PMKeates said:
I'd suggest picking the direct flight so you have a degree of convenience, reduce the risk of losing a bag (which is quite annoying) and have a shorter return journey. I think more people would find this important than virtually imperceptible differences in seat spacing.I guess I find 99% of IFE completely rubbish anyway! I just read during take-off, listen to my iPod and read during flight, eat/drink, listen and read some more. On occasion I might watch a film if there's something really interesting, but it's rare!

I watched 6 (six) movies on the way back from HK in April lol

Rotty · 14 Jun 2012 at 21:59

Raymond Lin said:
I watched 6 (six) movies on the way back from HK in April lol

Take an Ipad/Tablet and you can watch the ones you want to

Raymond Lin · 14 Jun 2012 at 22:00

Rotty said:
Take an Ipad/Tablet and you can watch the ones you want to

let me rephrase.

6 movies i've not seen

I have seen all the films on my iPad though (or in my library)

POB · 14 Jun 2012 at 22:22

The screen quality on most of Virgins fleet is terrible though, so don't book Virgin for inflight entertainment, its pretty un-watchable.

However if they are cheapest book them, as its only a shortish flight.

However same price I would choose BA everytime as T5>T3.

Raymond Lin · 14 Jun 2012 at 22:24

POB said:
The screen quality on most of Virgins fleet is terrible though, so don't book Virgin for inflight entertainment, its pretty un-watchable.

However if they are cheapest book them, as its only a shortish flight

Their screen are all pretty naff tbh, Cathay Pacific's is bad but it is still better than none.