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[spicoli]

I'm traveling from the Mainland to England soon.

Which airline has the best service, most legroom, and clean cabin?

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[spicoli]

And it's not for the Oxford Roundtable.

[starfleet_grad]

These sites might help:

http://www.airlinequality.com/Forum/brit_awys.htm

http://www.airlinequality.com/Forum/vir_atl.htm

http://www.airlinequality.com/Forum/ual.htm


Also check out http://www.seatguru.com for pitch and width and layout and http://www.airlinemeals.net/indexMeals.html for meals.

[expatinuk]

Except for the leg room it's just 'on any given day'

Seriously... just pick the cheapest flight.

[wegie]

BA's got slightly better legroom than Virgin. Virgin has better food. United always used to have better legroom than both, but do you really want to pay five bucks for a beer (both Virgin and BA still do a full bar service in Economy), and the last United flight I was on (OK this was in the continental US) was the filthiest aeroplane I've been on in a decade.

[expatinuk]

I thought Virgin was the worst food I've eaten... and the plane was really old. But that was just the plane that I was on! I've had good flights on all airlines and I've had bad flights on all airlines.

OK.. I've never had a good flight on British air.

[science_expat]

BA still has free drink, United doesn't.

I think Virgin is pretty picky about carry-on weight though you should check.

Unlike ExPat, my BA experiences have been comparable to those with other airlines.

[expatinuk]

BA still has free drink, United doesn't.

I think Virgin is pretty picky about carry-on weight though you should check.

Unlike ExPat, my BA experiences have been comparable to those with other airlines.

Well... I've not flown BA in 9 years... so maybe I just had a run of bad luck.

Honestly, there's really no difference. I've had good AND bad flights on any airline... and that includes Ryan Air.

I'm getting ready for a trip in June to Romania on Wizz Air... Polish cheap airline.

[scotia]

It may also be worth looking at destination airports - I will fly with most carriers to avoid the horrors of Heathrow.

[yemaya]

Virgin has the worst service I've ever encountered.  The plane was dirty, the flight crew and counter staff were incredibly rude and we were almost 14 hours late arriving.   BA's a little rough on luggage (I've had tears in my bags both times I flew them). 

[prof_tournesol]

I recently flew to and from Heathrow on BA and United on the same trip when my BA flight was canceled due to weather and they put me on a United to get me home. The BA flight was 100% better - the seats more comfortable, the plane newer and the film selection not insulting to the intelligence.

Caveat: some of my hostility to UA may stem from being re-routed into the US and having to deal with US customs on my way back to Canada.

But the movie selections really were just atrocious

[realbusacad]

BA have got a sale on business class seats so you can get REALLY good deals right now.

Totally flat seats ahhhhhhhhhh

[rhetorical]

I have a pretty strong preference for BA.  Having taken a group of students to London on Virgin, I can say that the slightly greater leg room on BA helps.  Actually, it is the attitude of flight attendants that makes a difference.  For example, on my last flight back from London, my movie screen did not work (only one on the flight not working - typical), and there were two films I particularly wanted to see.  The attendants made repeated efforts to "re-rack" to nudge it into working and checked to see if I could change seats (full flight, unfortunately).  Their pleasant, apologetic attitude was a welcome change from the surly non-compliance I tend to expect.  Although disappointed, I was quite mellow about such a minor inconvenience, so they could have just ignored me.  Instead, different attendants slipped by to bring me magazines (plus a couple of small bottles of champagne which I tucked away for later consumption at the hotel).  We had a pleasant little time chatting at different times, and the flight passed quickly.  I probably will have enough miles on United for a free flight for research next summer, but it will be difficult to go back to United even for one trip when going to London.

[wegie]

I probably will have enough miles on United for a free flight for research next summer, but it will be difficult to go back to United even for one trip when going to London.

If they're still flying as they are now (which, alas, seems increasingly unlikely) you could at least try to use your United miles on BMI, who have (in general) even better service than BA. Of course, if by then they've been subsumed into Lufthansa, you'd better like your cheese and ham sandwiches and Warsteiner . . . or else!

[science_expat]

Yep, Lufthansa is pretty grim. But Wegie has a good point - look at Star Alliance, not just UA, to use your air miles.

A few years back I flew to New Zealand with United frequent flier miles. Lufthansa (yeck!), Air New Zealand (very good), Singapore Air (very very good)