Best carrier to Usa

5500

Im looking to send the parents to the states in may/june,prices between aer lingus/delta/continental are all around the same so im basically wondering out of the 3 is there any in particular more pleasant to fly with?

It'l be there first long haul and the mother would be a nervous flyer,ive done a search and seen delta get some bad reviews but at the end of the day is it hit and miss with all 3 of them or are there any better specifics with regards to food/staff/planes/entertainment onboard?

Also with regard to meals and beverages,are these included in the flight price or do you buy on the plane?

Thanks

Ruu_Old

"Food" is normally provided on long haul. You have to pay for alcohol and minerals are free of charge as far as I know (at least with Aer Lingus). Whoever you end up flying with, just ask at boarding to get on first so she can get settled down and comfortable, they might be able to accomodate her with a seat by the emergency exits (a bit more leg room).
They will either have a few tv screens every few rows to watch programmes on or individual screens located in the headrest in front. I don't think you can find that out beforehand so you will just have to wait and find out on the day. I fly Aer Lingus from Chicago to Dublin which is fine but changed to American Airlines because they were cheaper with little difference.

Meathlass

eireal wrote: »

Im looking to send the parents to the states in may/june,prices between aer lingus/delta/continental are all around the same so im basically wondering out of the 3 is there any in particular more pleasant to fly with?

It'l be there first long haul and the mother would be a nervous flyer,ive done a search and seen delta get some bad reviews but at the end of the day is it hit and miss with all 3 of them or are there any better specifics with regards to food/staff/planes/entertainment onboard?

Also with regard to meals and beverages,are these included in the flight price or do you buy on the plane?

Thanks

Flew with aer lingus to Boston before Christmas, on time and friendly staff, lots of room on plane, only communal tv's. Food was typical airplane food. can't remember if alcohol was free or not. No blankets going out on the day time flight though and the plane was freezing. Continental had blankets on both legs.

Just back from New York with Continental. No problems with time, good staff (annoying tendancy to change preselected reserved seats without asking though) Food was a chicken with a salad or beef and noodles, breakfast was a croissant and some fruit. Soft drinks were free but you had to pay for alcohol. Going out I had my own tv with a choice of 6 different stations, films, cartoons and programmes like CSI and House that played on a loop, this made the flight seem quite fast. They also gave out free newspapers and twice came through with water (presumably you could have asked for this at any time though) Coming back there was just a communal tv though and the sound was very bad, seems hit and miss depending on what type of plane you have.

I've also read bad reviews of Delta in relation to overbooking so if your mother is nervous, hours waiting in the airport probably won't help. Continental was cheaper by over a hundred euros as they don't charge the ridiculous fuel surcharge that Aer Lingus do.

mcic

If you don't mind flying via Paris CDG (from Shannon or Dublin) then Air France has great service. The CityJet (for the SNN/DUB-CDG leg) arrival gate is about a 5-10 minute walk from the Air France departure gate, so it's all very easy to do. It's a bit more inconvenient than flying direct from Dublin or Shannon (since you have to clear immigration in the US), but the service is great. Friendly stewards, comfortable seats, good food, free drink (about 20 minutes into the flight they come around with Champagne and snacks for everybody, all drinks are free for the entire flight - wine, beer, spirits, etc.), back-of-seat in flight entertainment (lots of movie choice - good for a distraction for nervous flyers) and they operate on 777s, so it's 3-4-3 seating with lots of space to move around. There's a (free) self service galley for everyone to use too, with snacks and bar.

If the inconvenience factor isn't too great (and the if the price isn't much different) then I'd go with AF over Aer Lingus/Delta/Continental/BA (via Heathrow) any day.

Have a look at www.sidestep.com to compare prices accross a few different airlines (but book direct with the airline).

5500

Thanks guys,on the seat subject,is it a case of even though you may check in online when you get to the airport you still might not be guaranteed a seat let alone the one you picked?

I dont think the tv ect would bother her,more so the image is in her head of being on a ryanair flight for 7 hours!

Meathlass

Ruu wrote: »

"Food" is normally provided on long haul. You have to pay for alcohol and minerals are free of charge as far as I know (at least with Aer Lingus). Whoever you end up flying with, just ask at boarding to get on first so she can get settled down and comfortable, they might be able to accomodate her with a seat by the emergency exits (a bit more leg room).
They will either have a few tv screens every few rows to watch programmes on or individual screens located in the headrest in front. I don't think you can find that out beforehand so you will just have to wait and find out on the day. I fly Aer Lingus from Chicago to Dublin which is fine but changed to American Airlines because they were cheaper with little difference.

You have to be prepared to help in an emergency though so his mum probably wouldn't be comfortable with this, usually all this seats are prebooked anyway immediately.

Meathlass

eireal wrote: »

Thanks guys,on the seat subject,is it a case of even though you may check in online when you get to the airport you still might not be guaranteed a seat let alone the one you picked?

I dont think the tv ect would bother her,more so the image is in her head of being on a ryanair flight for 7 hours!

No if you prebook your seat you'll get it (they never guarantee this though just in case), They changed me though as the flight was nearly empty and I was seating down the back with no one within 15 rows of me, presume it was just easier for the cabin crew to have us all seating together.

mcic

Meathlass wrote: »

You have to be prepared to help in an emergency though so his mum probably wouldn't be comfortable with this, usually all this seats are prebooked anyway immediately.

When exit seats show up as prebooked (and the majority of the other seats are empty) you can usually just show up at the airport early and ask for an exit seat and they usually have some available. (Booked flights via Aer Lingus to JFK yesterday and the place was practically empty (5-10 seats taken), but all the exit seats showed up as unavailable).

Meathlass

mcic wrote: »

When exit seats show up as prebooked (and the majority of the other seats are empty) you can usually just show up at the airport early and ask for an exit seat and they usually have some available. (Booked flights via Aer Lingus to JFK yesterday and the place was practically empty (5-10 seats taken), but all the exit seats showed up as unavailable).

You're right, I think the airlines hold most of them back so they can accomodate tall people or families.

mcic

I think it's mainly to accommodate the minimum age rule (15/16?) they have for exit rows - the amount of time I've seen really short people/families with kids in exit rows...

Meathlass

mcic wrote: »

I think it's mainly to accommodate the minimum age rule (15/16?) they have for exit rows - the amount of time I've seen really short people/families with kids in exit rows...

Coming back with Continental on Saturday night myself and the boyfriends who's 6ft 6" were supposed to be sitting down the back. (i'd prebooked this online) They changed our seats to Row 9 because they said he was so tall and this would be more comfortable but they were exactly the same as all the other seats, Row 8 in front of us was at the front of the plane and had lots of extra room but there was a family there with a baby. Not sure why they moved us unless the old biddy at check in got the row numbers wrong. It was really annoying though as we were surrounded by families with young children while down the back it was empty. They wouldn't let us move back to our original seats either. I look quite young (even though i'm 28) and always got asked my age when I sit in emergency seats.