Which carrier?

5500

Hi guys
Looking to fly to new York in November and will be traveling with a nervous passenger on their first long haul flight. I'm wondering out of the carriers flying from Dublin who would be best to fly with or is it any difference at all.

The +1 is slightly claustrophobic so I'm wondering are any of the planes bigger than the others so they don't feel too squashed ect?

Cheers

BuffyBot

Aer Lingus will have the largest aircraft (A330). As for best? Well, how long is a piece of string? What defines best for you - price, service, amenities.

Tipperary animal lover

Aer Lingus for me

5500

BuffyBot wrote: »

Aer Lingus will have the largest aircraft (A330). As for best? Well, how long is a piece of string? What defines best for you - price, service, amenities.

I guess by best I mean space and level of customer service eg friendly staff ect in flight entertainment or meals wouldnt be our biggest concern really

schemingbohemia

I'd have to say Aer Lingus for overall friendliness and helpfulness, if you mention your +1's concerns at check-in they might give you better seats also but get there early.

Sammi503

I've flown Aer Lingus and Delta. Both are great. Entertainment system in the head rest, friendly staff, etc. If you can, sit window/aisle and it'll just be the 2 of you. I think Delta has better food but that's just personal preference

KeithM89_old

Aer Lingus too, and if you can afford it, go business class. The seats are only 2-2-2 so will feel less claustrophobic.

roundymac

Aer Lingus for comfort, and entertainment. Delta for food.

Stinicker

If claustrophobia is a serious issue then maybe consider flying to JFK from either Frankfurt or Paris with either Lufthansa or Air France onboard their Airbus A380's, don't get much bigger than.

Aer Lingus is the obvious choice though, both Delta and United both sometimes use narrow body planes (especially from Shannon) so that would be much more claustrophobic as they are 3-3 layout instead of the 2-4-2 seat layout emploed by Aer Lingus on their A330's

Savman

Delta have Economy 'Comfort' on a lot of routes now, more legroom etc. Might be worth a look.

cocoshovel

Stinicker wrote: »

If claustrophobia is a serious issue then maybe consider flying to JFK from either Frankfurt or Paris with either Lufthansa or Air France onboard their Airbus A380's, don't get much bigger than.

Imo its not worth your time. They're both pretty similar sized cabins. The a380 will just have more seats squashed in.

Stinicker

cocoshovel wrote: »

Imo its not worth your time. They're both pretty similar sized cabins. The a380 will just have more seats squashed in.

The cabin is wider and there is a definite feeling of more space, there is also more legroom and the A380 offers the best seats you can get in economy class. I've flown the A380 with both Qantas and Emirates and when you are going long haul you will appreciate it. I flew 15hrs across the Pacific between Sydney and LAX on the Qantas A380 and it was very pleasant flight; this year I flew 8hrs from Dubai to Kuala Lumpur on the Boeing 777 and that flight was terrible in comparison to the A380 which I flew back to Dubai on afterwards with Emirates.

Aer Lingus's A330's are fine however and the jump across the pond to New York at 6 and half hours is no biggie, once you've gone long haul a good few times it seems a short flight I suppose.

cocoshovel

Stinicker wrote: »

The cabin is wider and there is a definite feeling of more space, there is also more legroom and the A380 offers the best seats you can get in economy class. I've flown the A380 with both Qantas and Emirates and when you are going long haul you will appreciate it. I flew 15hrs across the Pacific between Sydney and LAX on the Qantas A380 and it was very pleasant flight; this year I flew 8hrs from Dubai to Kuala Lumpur on the Boeing 777 and that flight was terrible in comparison to the A380 which I flew back to Dubai on afterwards with Emirates.

Aer Lingus's A330's are fine however and the jump across the pond to New York at 6 and half hours is no biggie, once you've gone long haul a good few times it seems a short flight I suppose.

Have flown the A380 for 11.5 hours with Air France and the A330 to New York with EI and imo there isnt that much difference aside from a few meters extra width in the cabin.
The seat pitch isnt anything special compared to the 330, and the fact that its 3-4-3 instead of 2-4-2 made it worse. Get the 2 aisle on the 330 and its great.

Stinicker

cocoshovel wrote: »

Have flown the A380 for 11.5 hours with Air France and the A330 to New York with EI and imo there isnt that much difference aside from a few meters extra width in the cabin.
The seat pitch isnt anything special compared to the 330, and the fact that its 3-4-3 instead of 2-4-2 made it worse. Get the 2 aisle on the 330 and its great.

Never flown Air France myself but I do know that they have one of the highest density passenger configurations on their A380's with 517 passengers. Korean Air has the lowest as they have lots of Business and First Class seats installed. Air Austral plans to install 840 all economy seats when they get their A380's in a few years and there is even rumours of a stretched A380-900 capable of 1,000 all economy seats sometime around 2017-2025, which will be popular on the dense short-haul routes of India and East Asia!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seat_configurations_of_the_Airbus_A380

Savman

The A380 does feel less cramped and more 'airy' but flying 2hrs east for a connecting flight west just adds needless time to your journey. What you gain in minimal perceived comfort you lose in jet lag and fatigue.

Ireland to US east coast is not a long flight.

5500

Thanks for all the replies guys looks like aer lingus if is so cheers!