Well I'm hardly very experienced cause I've only flown over the pond once, I'm just back from the west coast & I chose United but it was purely based on price since I booked fairly late.

How did I find them?

Weii I agree with other posters for someone whos an aviation enthusiast being able to track the flight etc on my seat monitor & listen into the cockpit transmissions courtesy of more than obliging pilots was a big plus. Plenty of movies/music stations if you're not into that kind of thing but personally I never bothered with them

The pilots I met were lovely, customer orientated, very helpful & down to earth.

Leg room in 'coach' as they call it 'economy' I call it was a bit limited & I don't have long legs.

Food OK

Staff in general great though one FA spat 'door' at me when I left the loo door open in haste to leave the aircraft after we landed. Thought it was a bit rude but considering they let me board my connection flight to the west coast 15minutes before it was due to leave due to idiot here losing my passport in O'Hare airport & they endeavouring to calm me down while I was having palpitations I think that can be overlooked.

Also they do a collection for charity with pax left over foreign coins at the end of the flight to Europe. Thought it was nice, some good to combat the evil of 9/11.

Question

Are all international flights met with 5 gun toting police officers as we were in O'Hare?

If you don't want to pay $5 for a beer or wine in Economy, DON'T TOUCH American! The last couple of times I've flown transatlantic on American, the service has been poor at best. Probably understandable when you consider the way the crews have been screwed, but still............

I flew BA Economy last week to the US, and OK, could have managed with a bit more leg room, but it wasn't bad. Fortunately the middle seat was empty both ways - about the only one that was. Was that, I wonder because I have a Gold card? Bit disappointed that full as it was, there wasn't an upgrade. Did get, for once, a decent cup of tea, and a free bot. of champagne.

I know KLM now doesn't have free booze in Economy on European flights - have they applied that to transatlantic, does anyone know?

Hi,

Flew KLM AMS-CPT-AMS in February of this year and there was free booze in Economy.

BAe 146-100 :)

Economy, AA for the legroom. Club, BA, because I've never tried VS.

Just returned on VS from LAX, fortunate for me, up at the pointy end:ok: . Good flight, superb staff, and a shiny new "movies on demand" tv system. Only flown economy to Miami with them, the only drawback being some of the other passengers,rude, tracksuit wearing types. (Always want to sit in front of me, and test the seat recline while eating:* , but thats another thread).

I tend to fly VS to the US. The last trip about a month ago to San Francisco was typical - not much room in the back, splendid entertainment system on the way over (forty plus movies on demand, big screen) but a much older one coming back, great service, not-so-great food, and packed to the gunnels. I agree with those who've said that BA can be very good and can be much worse; I've had one truly awful flight on Virgin, but the average is better than BA.

The few times I've flown Upper Class, it has been truly exceptional... but then anyone who can habitually flit across in the posh seats can afford to make their own decisions!

The very best flight I've had was, curiously, with Continental. Nothing to do with anything the airline did, and everything to do with getting a row of seats to myself, being able to fold the armrests back, get properly horizontal and just sleep for seven hours. I sometimes wonder about hammocks...

R

I've always found US to be very good, nice people, nice planes, top IFE and PHL is a nice airport to transit through. Unfortunately the MAN return flight is no longer the last european departure of the day so the chances of volunteering to be bumped for the night, the tour and the cash are now much slimmer.

I can't comment on British carriers not having made any recent atlantic crossings with them. I have however just today returned from the USA having gone out BRU-EWR with CO and returned EWR-AMS with NW, both in Business Class. Mrs BRUpax and I found both carriers passed the BRUpax quality audit! NW perhaps just pipped CO to the post because of the cabin crew on the day. In fact this is what it really comes down to. The cabin crew are the airlines' front line and they can make all the difference on how pax perceive a "good experience" flight. It's down to individuals and their mood on the day.

1. Whichever carrier goes non-stop, or to a convenient airport. El Al isn't my idea of a 'fun' flight, if you're not Jewish they give you the frigging Spanish Inquisition, but years ago they had a direct service STN-JFK, which I used a lot. I lived 20 minutes from STN at the time...

2. BA or VS; not much to choose in economy. But if you get lucky and get upgraded... BA Club is better than many carriers First...

3. If you have to choose a US carrier, CO are about the best in my experience.

I've been practically commuting EWR-GLA for the last year, and CO have been just fine. Even if they weren't I'd still have to fly them as no-one else flies that route... non-stop is what matters!

R 1