Delta v Virgin : flights to NYC

jjbrien

Im looking at booking flights to NYC I have 2 options one is a direct flight with Delta from Dublin they are using a 767-300 and the other Virgin via London.

Now I know Delta will clear immigration in Dublin but my question is does Delta have in flight entertainment in the back of the seat like Virgin BA Aer Lingus etc?

Uncle_moe

Have flown both airlines a few times and I'd never go with Delta again if I based it on entertainment. There were no screens in seatbacks. Certainly if it was west coast I'd go Virgin but east coast is not far so its just a matter of weighing up entertainment vs convenience.

schemingbohemia

Would the extra time travelling through London (flight time plus waiting around plus possible huge queue in NYC for immigration) not swing you towards Delta? A cheap Tablet pre-loaded with films would be worth getting.

jjbrien

schemingbohemia wrote: »

Would the extra time travelling through London (flight time plus waiting around plus possible huge queue in NYC for immigration) not swing you towards Delta? A cheap Tablet pre-loaded with films would be worth getting.

I went with Virgin even though it costed more. I remember flying US Airways a few years ago and from what people are saying its a similar experience.

veetwin

So you've lengthened your travelling time by at least 6 hours (3 each way) and paid substantially more so you could watch a few movies. That's not factoring in another maybe couple of hours queuing in JFK rather than preclearing in Dublin.

As the above poster suggested would you not invest in a cheap tablet and put a few movies on it? You would have it for future use and needn't worry about inflight entertainment ever and just buy the cheapest flights.

jjbrien

veetwin wrote: »

So you've lengthened your travelling time by at least 6 hours (3 each way) and paid substantially more so you could watch a few movies. That's not factoring in another maybe couple of hours queuing in JFK rather than preclearing in Dublin.

As the above poster suggested would you not invest in a cheap tablet and put a few movies on it? You would have it for future use and needn't worry about inflight entertainment ever and just buy the cheapest flights.

Was 5 euro in the difference between the 2 flights the Virgin one arrives at 11pm at night into Newark meaning we can just go straight to bed and get over the jet lag fast.

veetwin

jjbrien wrote: »

Was 5 euro in the difference between the 2 flights the Virgin one arrives at 11pm at night into Newark meaning we can just go straight to bed and get over the jet lag fast.

Interesting logic but each to his own I guess! Personally I would prefer to leave earlier and arrive in New York with plenty of the day left so I can get onto US time. Also your flight arrives at 11pm. It's in the lap of the gods how long you will spend queuing for Immigration after that.

As a matter of interest what's your total travel time? i.e from the time you leave DUB the time you arrive at JFK

boombang

Too late to be useful (to you maybe, but possibly not for others reading the thread in the future), but I would pay to avoid London if you have to go through a change at Terminal 5. That is not a nice experience.

Yamanoto

Always worth checking the flight # on SeatGuru, to ascertain what the IFE set-up is.

I flew outbound to JFK on DL91 (767-300) at the end of March and the choice of seat back Movies & TV was considerably better than what's on offer from EI. Economy seats also had AC power, so I was also able to catch up on a couple of box sets I'd been stockpiling.

Given the choice, I'd certainly be avoiding LHR & the prospect of queueing for up to 3 hours at CBP on arrival in New York.

zagmund

Wow.

I really hope for your sake that Virgin outshine themselves and the old in flight stuff isn't broken on the day you spend many, many, many more hours in transit than you needed to just to see some movies.

As someone else said, I would pay extra *not* to transit through Heathrow. I would also pay extra to clear customs in Ireland rather than in New York.

z

Jacovs

Just to point out, United Airlines 22 fly to Newark, Delta 91 flies to JFK. Had more than 1 direct option to NYC, unless it was sold out on the UA22.

jjbrien

veetwin wrote: »

Interesting logic but each to his own I guess! Personally I would prefer to leave earlier and arrive in New York with plenty of the day left so I can get onto US time. Also your flight arrives at 11pm. It's in the lap of the gods how long you will spend queuing for Immigration after that.

As a matter of interest what's your total travel time? i.e from the time you leave DUB the time you arrive at JFK

Total Travel time is 11 hours I hold a green card myself and my OH has a US passport so we use the US Resident and US Citizens lines for immigration in DUB/USA so we never really have to spend more than 10 mins in line for it.

zagmund

And this wasn't relevant to mention in the original post?

z

Dublinflyer

I have used Delta a number of times in the last year to JFK and there has always been seat back screens with a great selection.

jjbrien

Dublinflyer wrote: »

I have used Delta a number of times in the last year to JFK and there has always been seat back screens with a great selection.

Ill give them a go next time.

tricky D

boombang wrote: »

Too late to be useful (to you maybe, but possibly not for others reading the thread in the future), but I would pay to avoid London if you have to go through a change at Terminal 5. That is not a nice experience.

OP is/was thinking of going with Virgin so no T5 as it's all BA. However, I generally agree that T5 is best avoided. It's quite a hole. Only been through once and they lost the bags for 5 days and the BA customer service experience was a farce to put it mildly. Hopefully never again.

jjbrien

tricky D wrote: »

OP is/was thinking of going with Virgin so no T5 as it's all BA. However, I generally agree that T5 is best avoided. It's quite a hole. Only been through once and they lost the bags for 5 days and the BA customer service experience was a farce to put it mildly. Hopefully never again.

Well Virgin dont use T5 thats BA who use T5 virgin go from T3 which you dont need to take the train or the bus across from. Its really next door to T1 where we land into. So im thankful im not going to T5

anne burnell

have used both... Virgin definately better, but would much rather clear immigration in dublin, and heathrow is a nightmare of an airport..

clo1

qucik question guys, I am looking at a flight from Dublin to JFK with a stopover in London. Just wondering if I would clear customs/immigration in Dublin or would I have to do it in London or both??

schemingbohemia

You would clear customs in JFK after a long and boring wait (probably).

clo1

oh really?damn...ill have to fork out for the more expensive direct flight from Dublin then so!

Yamanoto

clo1 wrote: »

qucik question guys, I am looking at a flight from Dublin to JFK with a stopover in London. Just wondering if I would clear customs/immigration in Dublin or would I have to do it in London or both??

If at all possible, book a DUB-JFK flight direct.

You'll then be clearing US CBP in Dublin only - meaning you'll disembark in NYC, collect your bag and be out of the airport in no time at all.

Marcusm

jjbrien wrote: »

Well Virgin dont use T5 thats BA who use T5 virgin go from T3 which you dont need to take the train or the bus across from. Its really next door to T1 where we land into. So im thankful im not going to T5

T5 to T5 is generally a dream transfer and (I think) won a business traveller award this year for connections. T1 to T5 transfers are difficult. BA's Ireland flights will shortly move from T1 to T5 which will make BA a more powerful international option from Ireland.

Karen23

We're flying to Orlando in October with Delta with a connection in JFK. We've been our flight number and the plane model number, checked it up on seat guru and our planes over and back have screens on each seat.

jjbrien

Karen23 wrote: »

We're flying to Orlando in October with Delta with a connection in JFK. We've been our flight number and the plane model number, checked it up on seat guru and our planes over and back have screens on each seat.

Good luck there from reading reviews Deltas terminal in JFK is a real dive was one factor that swung me to Virgin

Amirani

jjbrien wrote: »

Good luck there from reading reviews Deltas terminal in JFK is a real dive was one factor that swung me to Virgin

Do you mean their new T4? I hated 2/3 but have heard okay things about 4.

biddywiddy

Is JFK T4 new?

We connected through JFK with Delta earlier this year. We landed in a lovely, shiny terminal (after pre-clearing in Dublin) and then transferred to the 'Delta' terminal in JFK, which was old and rough around the edges. Few dining options and very few bathrooms (!?).

We ended up being delayed for hours because of the weather, so maybe I have a particularly bad view of the terminal having spent so long there! :P

jjbrien

biddywiddy wrote: »

Is JFK T4 new?

We connected through JFK with Delta earlier this year. We landed in a lovely, shiny terminal (after pre-clearing in Dublin) and then transferred to the 'Delta' terminal in JFK, which was old and rough around the edges. Few dining options and very few bathrooms (!?).

We ended up being delayed for hours because of the weather, so maybe I have a particularly bad view of the terminal having spent so long there! :P

Seems like it as I remember this place http://blog.preservationnation.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/130215_blog_photo_worldport-now.jpg

Karen23

jjbrien wrote: »

Good luck there from reading reviews Deltas terminal in JFK is a real dive was one factor that swung me to Virgin

We've only a layover time of 1hr 50m so we won't be there long enough for it to matter to us.

biddywiddy

jjbrien wrote: »

Seems like it as I remember this place http://blog.preservationnation.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/130215_blog_photo_worldport-now.jpg

That definitely seems fancier than where we were.

Maybe we landed in T4 and transferred to T2?

Karen23

Looks like they got a revamp

http://www.delta.com/content/www/en_US/traveling-with-us/where-we-fly/destinations/featured-locations/new-york-city/our-new-home-at-jfk.html

Delta Connection flights routinely leave from T2. International flights and flights to Los Angeles (LAX), San Francisco (SFO) and Seattle (SEA) routinely leave from T4.

jjbrien

Karen23 wrote: »

Looks like they got a revamp

http://www.delta.com/content/www/en_US/traveling-with-us/where-we-fly/destinations/featured-locations/new-york-city/our-new-home-at-jfk.html

Delta Connection flights routinely leave from T2. International flights and flights to Los Angeles (LAX), San Francisco (SFO) and Seattle (SEA) routinely leave from T4.

Does say "routinely leave from T4" which means its not guaranteed. The new terminal does look good. Its been 2 years since I was in JFK but I will give delta long haul at try next time if the price is right.

Karen23

Just found out , we land in Terminal 4 but depart from Terminal 2

jjbrien

Karen23 wrote: »

Just found out , we land in Terminal 4 but depart from Terminal 2

T2 would put me off delta thats the old one that was built in the 60's. Long lines for security not enough seats etc

steve-o

jjbrien wrote: »

T2 would put me off delta thats the old one that was built in the 60's. Long lines for security not enough seats etc

No need to go through security. The poster has 1:50 which is plenty of time to linger in T4 for a bite to eat and the take the airside shuttle bus to T2. And of course, gate/terminal changes happen all the time, the Orlando flight may well go from T4 anyway.