Are there airlines you avoid for long international travel?

[iancal]

Yes.  We try to avoid United and Alitalia on transpacific and transatlantic flights.    Actually...we try to avoid both on any flight plans regardless of duration.

Edited August 7, 2019 by iancal

[westcoastcruiser]

We flew United business class RT Amsterdam last month and were very satisfied with the service, seats, meals, entertainment.  Would fly them again if situation presented itself.

[waterbug123]

On 5/5/2019 at 4:45 AM, yorky said:

We were a party of five and booking seats together in advance was very expense so we waited until 24 hours in advance only to see nothing was available.

 

On 5/5/2019 at 1:31 PM, yorky said:

There were a ton of seats available on the site when it opened for booking 24 hours before but the site would not let me book them, it kept stating no availability even thought it showed the seats available. When phoning they stated a website issue, they then stated it would be sorted at the gate, it was not.

so yep, pretty much their fault.

 

So first you said it was too expensive to choose tickets that let you select seats in advance.  Then you say it was website problem.  So which was it?

When the phone rep told you it would be sorted at the gate, all they could really be promising is that you'd get seat assignments, not that they'd be together.  But it seems you ASSUMED there was some inherent promise that the GA would ensure that you got seated together.

Ultimately you really can't expect to have your cake and eat it too.  If you don't want to pay the higher price to be able to select your seats at booking, you have to accept the risk that you won't be able to sit together.  You have to decide which is more important- cost or seat selection.

[jasardeax]

I prefer flying a European carrier from the US on flights to Europe, and getting the extra protection that EU261 gives me on that leg of the trip. 

[yorky]

5 hours ago, waterbug123 said:

 

 

So first you said it was too expensive to choose tickets that let you select seats in advance.  Then you say it was website problem.  So which was it?

When the phone rep told you it would be sorted at the gate, all they could really be promising is that you'd get seat assignments, not that they'd be together.  But it seems you ASSUMED there was some inherent promise that the GA would ensure that you got seated together.

Ultimately you really can't expect to have your cake and eat it too.  If you don't want to pay the higher price to be able to select your seats at booking, you have to accept the risk that you won't be able to sit together.  You have to decide which is more important- cost or seat selection.

What is it you don’t understand. The seats were a crazy price and we were told you could wait until 24 hours out to book for free. When we are unable to do this we phoned up to be told there was a problem with the website and it would be fixed shortly, it never was so we were unable to book seats at all. I know you are pulling up an old post in order to have a go which in itself is pretty sad ( I guess that’s the power of being able to post without having to say anything to someone’s face) but how you can’t understand that seats not  being booked because we found them too expensive and then having a website problem meaning they then can’t be booked at all even though the airline state that is the other option can't both happen is truly baffling. Maybe think before posting in future.

[Zach1213]

11 minutes ago, yorky said:

What is it you don’t understand. The seats were a crazy price and we were told you could wait until 24 hours out to book for free. When we are unable to do this we phoned up to be told there was a problem with the website and it would be fixed shortly, it never was so we were unable to book seats at all. I know you are pulling up an old post in order to have a go which in itself is pretty sad ( I guess that’s the power of being able to post without having to say anything to someone’s face) but how you can’t understand that seats not  being booked because we found them too expensive and then having a website problem meaning they then can’t be booked at all even though the airline state that is the other option can't both happen is truly baffling. Maybe think before posting in future.

 

I believe the point was that there's always a risk if you choose not to pay. There's no guarantee yo would find that many seats together even if you could select at 24 hours out. It was a calculated risk you made by choosing not to pay for the seats together at the time of booking, and unfortunately that risk resulted in a less-than-ideal situation.

[waterbug123]

27 minutes ago, yorky said:

What is it you don’t understand. The seats were a crazy price and we were told you could wait until 24 hours out to book for free. When we are unable to do this we phoned up to be told there was a problem with the website and it would be fixed shortly, it never was so we were unable to book seats at all. I know you are pulling up an old post in order to have a go which in itself is pretty sad ( I guess that’s the power of being able to post without having to say anything to someone’s face) but how you can’t understand that seats not  being booked because we found them too expensive and then having a website problem meaning they then can’t be booked at all even though the airline state that is the other option can't both happen is truly baffling. Maybe think before posting in future.

 

Wow, such hostility!  First of all, I did not intentionally "pull up an old post to have a go."  The thread came up in my current feed and I didn't notice it was an old one that was resurrected.  Innocent mistake.

As for your seating issue, almost everything in life is a choice, and most choices have consequences.  The consequence for not paying to select seats in advance is that you risk not getting the seats you want. Even if you had been able to go online at 24 hours there is absolutely no guarantee that you would have been able to select seats together.  That's pretty last minute and seats are often picked over at that point, frequently with nothing remaining but individual middle seats toward the back.  So then there was a website problem that prevented you from choosing seats 24 hours out so you waited and asked the gate agent just prior to departure, at which point there were even fewer seats to select.  The website issue was unfortunate but it happens.  Did you try to go online or call again at any point between calling at T-24 and arriving at the gate?  Chances are that at some point in that time fram the website came back online, or an agent could have made selections for you on their end

 

14 minutes ago, Zach1213 said:

 

I believe the point was that there's always a risk if you choose not to pay. There's no guarantee yo would find that many seats together even if you could select at 24 hours out. It was a calculated risk you made by choosing not to pay for the seats together at the time of booking, and unfortunately that risk resulted in a less-than-ideal situation.

 

Exactly.  Thank you.

[FlyerTalker]

2 hours ago, waterbug123 said:

Even if you had been able to go online at 24 hours there is absolutely no guarantee that you would have been able to select seats together.  That's pretty last minute and seats are often picked over at that point, frequently with nothing remaining but individual middle seats toward the back. 

 

Have a flight tomorrow.  Looking at the website at T-24hr, all that is available for selection are....drum roll, please.....middle seats in the back of the aircraft.  One could get three middles in a row, one in front of the other.  And two more scattered about.

 

Here it is in simple terms:

 

You are a group of five people.

You wanted to all sit together.

You didn't want to pay in advance for getting seats together.

For whatever reason, you didn't end up with seats together.

It's somebody else's fault.

You'll never fly that airline again.

 

End of story.

Edited August 7, 2019 by FlyerTalker

[cmich068]

I try to avoid Air Canada Rouge consistently - went as far as adding a layover in Zurich on my last trip to Europe in order to avoid it. Really the only airline I viscerally dislike.

[Zach1213]

9 hours ago, cmich068 said:

I try to avoid Air Canada Rouge consistently - went as far as adding a layover in Zurich on my last trip to Europe in order to avoid it. Really the only airline I viscerally dislike.

 

Oh, adding a stop can be totally worth it to me. Adding two hours at a connecting airport to give me a more comfortable product (and more likely sleep product) for the eight hours over the ocean is a fair trade off, to me.

[cruises42]

On 8/6/2019 at 9:43 PM, cruises42 said:

How is Virgin Atlantic Jet Airbus A330-300? Thinking of flying from London to Virginia on it.

Anybody have good or bad experiences with them?

[wowzz]

6 hours ago, cruises42 said:

Anybody have good or bad experiences with them?

Flown a few times with VS - excellent! If you can afford PE, so much the better. 

[FlyerTalker]

6 hours ago, wowzz said:

Flown a few times with VS - excellent! If you can afford PE, so much the better. 

 

And Upper Class is an excellent experience.

[RJ2002]

We avoid BA.  We don't like the business class seating arrangement (though I understand it may be changing), and I don't like having to pay extra for a seat assignment in business class.  

[1982CruzStart]

On 8/8/2019 at 5:52 AM, Zach1213 said:

 

Oh, adding a stop can be totally worth it to me. Adding two hours at a connecting airport to give me a more comfortable product (and more likely sleep product) for the eight hours over the ocean is a fair trade off, to me.

I concur with your comments on Rouge. I really like AC business class but don't care for Rouge at all. 

1 hour ago, RJ2002 said:

We avoid BA.  We don't like the business class seating arrangement (though I understand it may be changing), and I don't like having to pay extra for a seat assignment in business class. 

We like BA and actually don't mind the seating arrangement. My DH likes the window and i the aisle, he doesn't care about flying backwards and rarely gets out of his seat so doesn't have to worry about stepping over another sleeping person. I get why others dislike it so much. As long as i have an aisle i am happy. As well most of our flights on BA are on 747 and though they are old, we generally have lucked out getting upstairs and with the exit row for DH so no problem then with having to step over anyone when wanting to get up. 

Also when we fly BA we do so through Regent and we get to book our seat selection well in advance at no charge. 

[cruises42]

17 hours ago, wowzz said:

Flown a few times with VS - excellent! If you can afford PE, so much the better. 

Is VS Virgin Atlantic? What is PE?

Edited August 10, 2019 by cruises42

[FlyerTalker]

3 hours ago, cruises42 said:

Is VS Virgin Atlantic? What is PE?

 

VS=Virgin Atlantic

VA=Virgin Australia

 

PE=Premium Economy, which is a VERY different product than the Comfort/Plus/Extra/etc you see from USA carriers.

[sverigecruiser]

16 hours ago, RJ2002 said:

We avoid BA.  We don't like the business class seating arrangement (though I understand it may be changing), and I don't like having to pay extra for a seat assignment in business class.  

 

I don't like when I have to pay for seat assignment but I understand it and it's a good thing for their most frequent travellers because they can easier get the seats they want.

 

I like the the seating arrangement when flying during the day but think that the aisle seats are too "open" when trying to sleep. I know that it will be changed and I don't like the new arrangement. As I understand it I will not be able to sit with my wife if I want a window seat.     

[wowzz]

5 hours ago, sverigecruiser said:

 

I don't like when I have to pay for seat assignment but I understand it and it's a good thing for their most frequent travellers because they can easier get the seats they want.

 

I like the the seating arrangement when flying during the day but think that the aisle seats are too "open" when trying to sleep. I know that it will be changed and I don't like the new arrangement. As I understand it I will not be able to sit with my wife if I want a window seat.     

I wouldn't worry about the new Club configuration too much. It's going to be years and years before it is fully rolled out to the entire fleet.

[sverigecruiser]

1 hour ago, wowzz said:

I wouldn't worry about the new Club configuration too much. It's going to be years and years before it is fully rolled out to the entire fleet.

 

I don't really worry about it because we can book a middle pair, I will miss the window seat but that is okay.

 

I also know that it will take years before it's fully rolled out but that doesn't help if they have the new configuration/seats on the plane I will fly on!

[nini]

We flew British Airways Economy  from SEA to Heathrow last October. It was fine and we were pleasantly surprised. Then the next leg was from Heathrow to Rome. It was horrible! This was not a short flight and they even charged for a glass of water. The flight attendants were also very aloof. One snapped at me and said she could get me some tap water (yuck). I declined, but about 45 minutes later she brought some. Because of that experience, we will most likely not fly with them again.

[sverigecruiser]

2 hours ago, nini said:

We flew British Airways Economy  from SEA to Heathrow last October. It was fine and we were pleasantly surprised. Then the next leg was from Heathrow to Rome. It was horrible! This was not a short flight and they even charged for a glass of water. The flight attendants were also very aloof. One snapped at me and said she could get me some tap water (yuck). I declined, but about 45 minutes later she brought some. Because of that experience, we will most likely not fly with them again.

 

I agree with you that it's not ok for a flight attendant to snap at a passenger.

 

You are not  correct when you say that they charged for a glass of water if they offered to give you a glass of tap water for free.

 

I liked BA better when food and drinks were included in economy even on the flights within Europe but lots of people only care about how much the ticket cost and BA have to adjust to that.

 

It was many years since I flew economy with BA because I think that Club Europe, their shorthaul business class, offer a good value for money. The ticket from Stockholm to London in business class cost about the same as economy did 25 years ago but my salary is more than three times as high now.    

[nini]

CORRECT!!! A "glass/ plastic" cup of water was free ( only begrudgingly offered, sort of). That was after we were informed

that from one of their plastic containers was with a fee.

Wow

[wowzz]

1 hour ago, nini said:

CORRECT!!! A "glass/ plastic" cup of water was free ( only begrudgingly offered, sort of). That was after we were informed

that from one of their plastic containers was with a fee.

Wow

If you want water or food in economy on BA European flights you pay for them. Not sure why you would find that unusual. To get a "free" glass of water is actually not normally allowed, so you should be grateful.  

Obviously the cc was having a bad day, but you did get something to which you were not entitled. 

[rocklinmom]

We flew BA this summer from SFO to LHR and back on the huge double decker airbus (A380). I thought paying extra for seats in pairs on the upper deck (economy/World Traveller) would be the best. It was nice to be in pairs but it didn't really help because the seat space is atrocious on this plane! It was terrible. When the person in front of me reclined, I had like six inches between my face and their seat. If you had a meal, forget using your tray to eat. The stewardesses asked everyone to put their seats up during drinks and meals thank goodness. I have never felt so claustrophobic on a plane and I have flown many times transatlantic in economy, on KLM, Air France, and United. Those planes were all Boeing's and had areas to walk around the cabin during the flight to stretch your legs or get some breathing room. This economy cabin had nothing like that, no where to go. Behind was another economy cabin and then the galley, which was curtained off. Ahead was the bathroom line and then premium economy which was also curtained off. I was stuck. BA was fine service wise but I would never fly on the A380 ever again!