New York to London in May - which carrier?

[grimmrad]

Here is the question: I have to go for a short trip to London. I have milage accounts with UA and LH (so basically Star alliance). Which airline to take? With BA I don't get miles and they frequently loose luggage, I never used Virgin (so I am curious - but no Miles). With United I have to go via DCA, with LH via FRA (and their quality got poorer and poorer) and with Swiss via Zurich (or Geneva - but good quality). With US Airways its via Philly and don't even get me started with that airport... Since it is a short trip of few days I am considering upgrading Eastbound to Business.

Any tips, ideas (with respect to routing, departure/arrival, in flight entertainment, pricing). I have never used UA on transcontinental, always LH, Swiss, BA. And no - Singapore is not an routing option (unfortunatly) ;-)

I usually go EK to Europe (my parents live in Hamburg) but they will stop in April their service JFK - HAM.

[Standard Noise]

Virgin economy, then upgrade to premium when you check in, they were doing the upgrade for $250 late last year. Better than BA.

[Donkey497]

A few questions before making any kind of recomendation are:

1: Is London your final destination?

2: Do you absolutely HAVE to pass through LHR :\:ouch::mad::eek::eek: or LGW:eek::eek:?

3: Where are you leaving from?

4: Is this a company paid for flight or from your own pocket?

[PAXboy]

Donkey497 asks the right questions.

I would say that, if you are planning to upgrade, then Premium Economy (VS) or World Traveller Plus (BA) are well worth considering if you are paying your own way, on the east coast (so not too long a flight) and have no FFMs to use. Full biz is very nice but quite a price.

If you consider using PE/WTP then consider booking as such. The cabins are not large and are very popular, you may not be able to upgrade at check-in.

I have used PE a fair amount in the past ten years and took it last year LHR~JNB and it was very good.

[grimmrad]

Donkey497

1: Is London your final destination?
2: Do you absolutely HAVE to pass through LHR or LGW?
3: Where are you leaving from?
4: Is this a company paid for flight or from your own pocket?

I have a meeting somewhere close to London, LHR seems to be he closest

I am leaving from New York, so either Newark or (preferred as closer, I live on the East side) JFK

I will be reimbursed for the flight (not in business but in medicine so no big money to spend, NIH does not like biz class)

Virgin and upgrading for $250 might be an option, bot not sure if I will get that back (and we are expecting #2 in spring, so budget is tight)...


Thanks all.

[Final 3 Greens]

You mjay also wish to take a look at SIlverjet and Eos.

[Hartington]

If time allows is I would look at the daylight flights. They leave the US about 0800 and get into the UK about 2000. Premium economy then becomes very useable. I find they minimise jetlag issues.

I would avoid all the connecting options simply because of the time they add and the risk of missed connections etc on a short trip.

Others have mentioned Silverjet and EOS which brings up the question of where you're going in the UK. Picking cities at random I would suggest that Oxford and Bristol would be easiest via Heathrow (BA, VS, AA); Cambridge via Stansted (EOS), Brighton via Gatwick (CO (and VS?)). Silverjet go to Luton.

If you destination is west of London consider CO to Bristol; if North West of London consider CO to Birmingham.

[LeavinonaJetplane]

I flew Silverjet 3 weeks ago and they are def the choice!! The lounge at LTN is great the service is fab and my god - I slept onboard. The whole service is good and I wont be going to BA or Virgin again now. I spend most of the time on the motorway or in horrible dep lounges but with LTN I never had that and its on top of the train station if you need to get into London. The industry rates available look enticing now too. Dubai next for me.

[Donkey497]

Grimmrad,

It is worthwhile finding out exactly where your meeting will be and how you are going to get there from Heathrow, as it is not the best of airports to get to anywhere from, except perhaps the centre of London. And it is Bl**dy expensive to travel from there as well.

If your meeting is to the west of London, you want to fly out of Newark or JFK, and if you want to do some sight seeing when you are across, you might want to think about Delta out of JFK or Continental out of Newark to Edinburgh, use it as your base and use one of the low cost carriers Easyjet / Flybe etc to go to Bristol, Exeter, Southahmpton etc. You can get a flight on DL JFK/EDI at the beginning of May for around $1400 economy or $3400 First/Business (quoted to a UK pc, so US prices may well be less). CO is a bit more pricey at just under $1500 economy and $5540 First/Business.

Just a couple of things to bear in mind for youre trip:-
1: There is limited carry-on baggage allowances in the UK and due to Government screwing with security regulations, not all airports & carrieirs have the same limitations at either end of the same route.
2: Cabs/Taxis that take credit cards are very rare, almost all operate on a cash only or company account basis. Those few that do will be mainly mastercard .
3: The UK is expensive. We largely pay the same numerical value for things here that you do in the US, so the exchange rate is fairly punitive on you guys at the moment.
4: The thread "Heathrow voted least favourite airport" elsewhere in PPRuNe is worth reading.

[grimmrad]

Thanks you all for your helpful replies. I don't know yet exactly where the location will be, I was told so far by my boss that it is outside London, so I presume it is at the foundation's headquarter (Pelican cancer foundation) in Basingstoke, which is on the M3 west according to their map. If I can avoid LHR I prefer to do that, I don't like it (as I guess 99% of all its customer's). I am though not familiar with any commuter connections, be it train or plane in the area.
Since I don't know how to upload the map here is the link (http://www.arkcentre.com/ark/home/map.html)

[PAXboy]

If it's Basingstoke, that is South West of London and you can certainly go via LHR as that is closer but you could use Gatwick (LGW/EGKK) The LTN and STN services (Silverjet+EOS and not suitable for this trip as they are both well to the North of London.

If the people at the HQ cannot tell you the connections you need from, then do ask here but there is no direct train link between LGW and Basingstoke, you would have to go via London. Also, there does not appear to be any direct coach link.

If you do not have time, then a pre-booked car from a company that is based in Basingstoke and will collect you from either airport might be best.

[Hartington]

From Gatwick:

You could go into a London terminal but alternatively take the hourly FGW service Gatwick to Reading (goes via Redhill and Guildford) and then the local (half hourly) FGW to Basingstoke.

or

Southern up to Clapham Junction and then SWT to Basingstoke.

Clapham Junction is probably more frequent and possibly quicker but it's a nice ride via Guildford. A host booked taxi is also an option.

From Heathrow. I'd probably get my hosts to book a taxi to meet me (whatever you do don't get into a London black taxi - they're brilliant if you're going to London but the cost of using one to Basingstoke is likely to be large). Otherwise get the railair bus to either Woking or Reading (Woking is probably better) and then continue by train.

From Luton is surprisingly easy but fiddly. Take the shuttle from the airport to Luton Airport Parkway station. From there take the train to London Bridge (not all the trains go to London Bridge). At London Bridge take a train to Waterloo - it's the next station and you'll go back along some of the line you just arrived on!. At Waterloo go into the main station (you've arrived at "Waterloo East") and take a train to Basingstoke. A host booked taxi is also an option.

Stanstead - trains to London stop at Tottenham Hale and then terminate at Liverpool Street. Trains to Basingstoke go from Waterloo. To get from one from the other is the issue. A taxi from Liverpool St to Waterloo is certainly one option. People will debate the best way by underground; Tottenham Hale/Warren Street/Waterloo is one option. Liverpool St/Bank/Waterloo another. There may be a bus between Liverpool St and Waterloo. My own view is that Stanstead is the least attractive option.

Use www.nationalrail.co.uk for times.

[befree]

Silverjet is burning it cash at a rapid rate. At some point it will run out of cash and either have to get more investors money or stop operating. It has just doing a 20% off offer which will raise advance bookings. They deperately needed bookings to help the cash flow but 20% off hurts profits. It would be unwise to book to far ahead as the airline may not be trading when it come time to fly. I suspect it has 6-8 months to go but I suspect it will start cutting services to save cash in its last month or two as did Maxjet.

[Donkey497]

Like I said, Heathrow isn't the most user friendly airport to get out of....

I did Heathrow to Basingstoke a few years ago when a poor former student, looking for my first job and took the railbus to Reading. It was a bit of a hassle getting off the shuttle from Edinburgh then trying to find where the bus was leaving from & I really wouldn't want to have to do that after getting of a transatlantic flight.

As Hartington suggests, probably the easiest for you, and relatively cost-effective as well, would be to get your hosts to arrange a private hire car [UK equivalent of Limo service] to pick you up. The journey should be about 40 miles and could take anything from about 45 to 90+minutes to get there, depending on how the traffic is when you arrive.

[OzPax1]

Try Newark to Birmingham with Continental..catch the free shuttle train (5mins) to Birmingham International Train station and then catch a direct train to Basingstoke (direct train takes about 2 hours) go to http://www.thetrainline.com for routes and times etc. On the way back as the flight leaves early stay in the hotel right across the forcourt from check-in http://www.bhx.co.uk/.

I'll think you'll find BHX a far nicer place to travel through then any of the London Airports as it is smaller. It will take you about the same time to reach Basingstoke from Birmingham as from the London airports anyway, and at least as easy.

And yes I do live in Brum! :}

[grimmrad]

Thanks guys! Great tips

I will try to get a car from them. Traveling through London with several changes doesn't sound that appealing after an intercontinental eastbound flight, has been ages since I was in London (which might be the only reason why I might go through a London airport in order to stay there for a day or two so the tips are still highly appreciated). Birmingham sounds interesting though as well. I will have to wait and see once the program is finalized.

[kellyoldsmunt]

can you help settle an argument ? i know of several people who have travelled to the u.s. using the visa waiver option and they have criminal records, what is the chances of getting caught and being refused entry ? i also know of one visitor that got through immigration at the first port of call and was 'aprehended' when they got off the connecting fligt

[beamender99]

Just a few points.
If you fly BA you will probably be arriving at Terminal Five which opens 27 Mar so all data on BA baggage is out of date. Most BA flights will be operating from T5

With T5 opening some carriers like Virgin will be switching terminals but I have no details
Have a look at http://www.baa.com/ and http://www.baa.com/for details and baggage / hand baggage rules.

Lots of info on T5 via Google
http://tinyurl.com/3de5nh for lots of info from BAA
http://www.terminal5.ba.com/en/ etc.

http://tinyurl.com/yrq7yd for railair but I cannot find the coach service to Woking railway station. ( welcome to Britain )
http://ojp1.nationalrail.co.uk/en/pj/tt Train appears to be a 19 minutes trip. (Then a Taxi. )

If you decide on a Basingstoke sourced cab then do get sorted out with them how to communicate with them.
(A call to your phone will go via the USA and both you and the cab co will get a nice bill for it but your call to them is a local call plus a roaming charge)
The Parking at Heathrow has never been cheap. I feel sure you will get billed extra for the carpark as the man with the big greetings card has to use it while he awaits you.

The arrivals exit is VERY BIG at T5 so happy travel.

[manintheback]

I would be a little careful about BA. Threats of yet another strike. Only other tip is to take an early day time flight - far ncier than the overnighters.