Flights to NYC questions.

Raymond Lin · 15 Jun 2012 at 00:00

Firestar_3x said:
I wouldn't pay for Business myself, the prices can be mad it's not worth the cost, Sometimes it's worth looking into a Premium Economy upgrade, in the past i've only paid a very small amount to upgrade but those have only been Manchester to Southampton flights, worth a look non the less.

It's also worth looking if anyone flys an A380 out of Heathrow to NYC.

Just checked, Virgin's Prem Eco is £958 return vs £494 (Eco) so its practically doubled. BA is £480 each way so works out almost exactly the same.

I think the extra £500 can go towards a new lens.

Firestar_3x · 15 Jun 2012 at 00:02

Yep too expensive, oh well worth checking.

Raymond Lin · 15 Jun 2012 at 00:04

Firestar_3x said:
Yep too expensive, oh well worth checking.

Before i checked I was thinking I could stomach it if its 25% more but 100% is noooooooooo.

Rotty · 15 Jun 2012 at 00:17

Raymond Lin said:
Just checked, Virgin's Prem Eco is £958 return vs £494 (Eco) so its practically doubled. BA is £480 each way so works out almost exactly the same.

I think the extra £500 can go towards a new lens.

When I go to Vegas (occasionally

) I fly out economy but pay the 30 quid for the 34 inch pitch seats, this is ok because I am going on hol, had a few beers etc

on return I use Premium as I get easier check in, a comfortable flight home when I am grumpy and double the baggage allowance to cover the wife's shopping :eek:

Simon · 15 Jun 2012 at 00:26

Top deck of a 747 is nice

Westyfield2 · 15 Jun 2012 at 00:28

BA.
If you're paying, go for premium economy. If client is paying and expecting you to work the next day, go business class.

ESTA is the immigration thing these days, just remember to smile sweetly as the immigration lot at JFK are a right bunch of ****ers.

As Fox said, if your going public transport you want the Heathrow Express from Paddington rather than the tube. Though my preference is to drive up the night before, park, and stay the night at a hotel. T4 Hilton is the normal one, but there's another that was alright but I can't remember which it was.

Scuzi · 15 Jun 2012 at 00:28

For such a short flight I'd buy based on schedule and price. The differences in IFE and seat pitch aren't worth choosing a less convenient time or higher fare for.

One thing I will say, Virgin Atlantic aren't the great airline they once were. They're on par with the rest of the US carriers. A lot of people base their opinions on flights they took years ago. They've changed.

As for immigration, are you travelling on a UK passport? If so, you need to apply for ESTA.
Do it on this site and this site only. Others will scam you. - https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/esta/

The Green I94-W forms are obsolete and were replaced with ESTA ages ago.

Simon said:
Top deck of a 747 is nice

Only in a Business configuration IMO. The only bonus of the top deck is privacy and when they cram Y seats in there, privacy is lost. Some people enjoy the smugness of going up the stairs but I never seen the attraction myself. The side lockers can be pretty damn handy too.

cheechm · 15 Jun 2012 at 00:33

Business, I'd fly with British Airways. Economy, in my opinion Virgin and BA are basically the same.

Bear in mind that the queues at immigration upon arrival to JFK can be horrific. Depending on when your flight arrives, and where you are on the plane, you could be looking at anything from 15 minutes to 2 hours (even when you're going).

Flying out of Heathrow, T5 is always going to be a nicer experience. T3 is shabby, but that doesn't really matter does it.

PS. Check out http://www.seatguru.com/ for the "better" seats when checking in.

Raymond Lin · 15 Jun 2012 at 00:36

Re: A380

http://flights.lufthansa.com/uk/flight-New_York

It seems only they do it, checked the day i am going, they are only flying 757, and only goes to Newark and not JFK.

EDIT - Air France does too i think but i need to change in Paris...

Westyfield2 said:
BA.
If you're paying, go for premium economy. If client is paying and expecting you to work the next day, go business class.

ESTA is the immigration thing these days, just remember to smile sweetly as the immigration lot at JFK are a right bunch of ****ers.

As Fox said, if your going public transport you want the Heathrow Express from Paddington rather than the tube. Though my preference is to drive up the night before, park, and stay the night at a hotel. T4 Hilton is the normal one, but there's another that was alright but I can't remember which it was.

It'll be just me traveling for pleasure so i am paying...thus don't want to waste money on a seat a few hours when it can go elsewhere towards the trip.

But if i do stay in the Hotel, do I get cheaper rates for parking?

Scuzi said:
For such a short flight I'd buy based on schedule and price. The differences in IFE and seat pitch aren't worth choosing a less convenient time or higher fare for.

One thing I will say, Virgin Atlantic aren't the great airline they once were. They're on par with the rest of the US carriers. A lot of people base their opinions on flights they took years ago. They've changed.

As for immigration, are you travelling on a UK passport? If so, you need to apply for ESTA.
Do it on this site and this site only. Others will scam you. - https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/esta/

The Green I94-W forms are obsolete and were replaced with ESTA ages ago.

Only in a Business configuration IMO. The only bonus of the top deck is privacy and when they cram Y seats in there, privacy is lost. Some people enjoy the smugness of going up the stairs but I never seen the attraction myself. The side lockers can be pretty damn handy too.

Thanks for the link, that's the one I found and saw the .gov so it was the only one I looked at. I can't apply yet since I haven't booked a flight yet.

It seems Virgin or BA is still the most convenient to me at the moment with regard to timing, Delta leaves way too early unless I stop over in London on Monday night.

Simon · 15 Jun 2012 at 00:43

A380s are awesome planes. I went business last year to Oz, such a huge but quiet plane with great entertainment kit and beds. 747 top deck was on way back from my New York life and did feel rather smug yes.

To be honest though the continental domestic flights US flights are good. They let you watch films as soon as you sat down until you left the plane. No boring taxiing around airports.

Raymond Lin · 15 Jun 2012 at 00:44

cheechm said:
Business, I'd fly with British Airways. Economy, in my opinion Virgin and BA are basically the same.

Bear in mind that the queues at immigration upon arrival to JFK can be horrific. Depending on when your flight arrives, and where you are on the plane, you could be looking at anything from 15 minutes to 2 hours (even when you're going).

Flying out of Heathrow, T5 is always going to be a nicer experience. T3 is shabby, but that doesn't really matter does it.

PS. Check out http://www.seatguru.com/ for the "better" seats when checking in.

I go through T3 every year to HK so I am used to it, it is old and cramped but it's not be all and end all.

T5 is nice, been there once and I do like it, I'll see whoever put on a sale in the next couple of weeks and I'll book either BA or Virgin.

Scuzi · 15 Jun 2012 at 01:08

Simon said:
To be honest though the continental domestic flights US flights are good. They let you watch films as soon as you sat down until you left the plane. No boring taxiing around airports.

They're all United now! The pre-merger CO planes (737 and some 757) have DirecTV which is awesome for longer domestic flights or even transcons and like you say the massive bonus is that you can watch it from gate to gate. You have to pay for it although I can't remember the price (maybe $7?) as I've had 100% upgrade success on the old CO routes this year

Rotty · 15 Jun 2012 at 01:41

Scuzi said:
One thing I will say, Virgin Atlantic aren't the great airline they once were. They're on par with the rest of the US carriers. A lot of people base their opinions on flights they took years ago. They've changed.

.

absolutely the year on year cut backs are beyond a joke, they are average by any measure these days

Rich_L · 15 Jun 2012 at 01:42

Virgin every time, not that I've had a bad experience with other carriers but because Virgin have always been brilliant, I've missed my flight back from the US twice now (LA and NY

) through entirely my own fault and they just put me on the next one without batting an eyelid :cool:

And yeah fly direct, changing is just a waste of time and effort that almost never justifies the money saved IMHO.

Rotty · 15 Jun 2012 at 01:44

Scuzi said:
Only in a Business configuration IMO. The only bonus of the top deck is privacy and when they cram Y seats in there, privacy is lost. Some people enjoy the smugness of going up the stairs but I never seen the attraction myself. The side lockers can be pretty damn handy too.

Upstairs has been PE on LGW and MAN but UC from LHR

however some VA planes now split upstairs 50/50 with economy and PE :eek:

DcD · 15 Jun 2012 at 02:19

I'm flying on Delta in September/October:

London Heathrow to NYC
Washington to Nashville
Nashville to Myrtle Beach
Myrtle Beach to Dallas
Austin to London Heathrow

All the internal flights and the final Austin to London Heathrow have a layover in Atlanta. Atlanta is pretty much the Heathrow of America.

Total came to £900 for all flights which I thought was brilliant - Delta have apparently finished upgrading all their fleet now - but I've got a perfectly good iPod for films and music so i'm not reliant on their entertainment.

Mikeyboy · 15 Jun 2012 at 06:36

I flew Virgin from LHR to JFK in April, even though I vowed never to fly with them again after my experience to Orlando from Gatwick, but everywhere I read said that the planes out of LHR are better, so I thought I'd give them another chance.

Flight out was an old plane, with IFE on a loop and the cabin was in a dire state, screens were scratched, presumably by some little oik and his plastic knife and the economy cabin was largely ignored by cabin staff. My flight a few years ago with American Airlines was better!

I very much doubt I'll fly with Virgin again.

As for Cathay and their shell seats...good idea in principle, just too uncomfortable.

Singapore Business to Australia this year, so what if it costs £4k.

POB · 15 Jun 2012 at 09:23

Mikeyboy said:
Flight out was an old plane, with IFE on a loop and the cabin was in a dire state, screens were scratched, presumably by some little oik and his plastic knife and the economy cabin was largely ignored by cabin staff. My flight a few years ago with American Airlines was better!

Virgin's planes are actually not old and younger then most BA ones. They just forgot to clean them or refurbish them for years.

After a delay they are sorting the interiors of the planes and upgrading the IFE.

TheDean · 15 Jun 2012 at 10:03

Raymond Lin said:
Just checked, Virgin's Prem Eco is £958 return vs £494 (Eco) so its practically doubled. BA is £480 each way so works out almost exactly the same.

I think the extra £500 can go towards a new lens.

I know when we flew to LA, BA were doing an awesome deal and you could upgrade to premium economy for £199 I think. The only benefits I could see were the legroom, and the meal upgrades. You get the business class food & wine, which may be worth it for some. Entertainment system is exactly the same

Firestar_3x · 15 Jun 2012 at 10:42

Simon said:
A380s are awesome planes. I went business last year to Oz, such a huge but quiet plane with great entertainment kit and beds.

Top deck of an A380 is simply the best way to fly at the moment, in Emirates configuration you had a nice pod, lie flat beds, every station had a 26 or 30" screen, docked touch screen remote for your entertainment system, seat controls etc, mini fridge, and that’s before we get onto the sky bars, an 8 hour flight has never gone so quickly.

Configuration is so much better than business in the A320 / A340 / 757 or 777.

I wish every plane was like the A380, i really do!