Planning to fly to london - who with?

[elbarto]

What work has Virgin Atlantic had done on its wings? As far as I can see their A340s haven't had any major structural issues.

 

[lipari]

Why is 4 engines important? The 777 and 330 are both very safe aircraft.

mental thing if i had a car that got a flat tyre i could limp to somewhere but on a motorbike i would be stuck. no great logic just makes me feel better.

 

[mannej]

What work has Virgin Atlantic had done on its wings? As far as I can see their A340s haven't had any major structural issues.

Not sure either but I'm fairly sure that the 380 has had Wing spar issues

 

[lipari]

What work has Virgin Atlantic had done on its wings? As far as I can see their A340s haven't had any major structural issues.

dont ask me how i found it but technicaly its a frame 47 modification to do with a cruciform joint and wing spar. this was done by lufthansa in the phillipines and its a major thing taking 3000 man hours.

from what i read the work has to be done because the structural integrity could be affected. there was some air directive because some tests found cracks in the wing joint i think. anyway you can google frame 47 modification........was beyond me.

 

[amaroo]

hello'

i am planning 1st ever overseas trip to london in may. ok a bit late but heres the biggie, who to fly ?

would have liked qantas but higher price for premium economy & dont fancy goiing to dubai.

so choice narrows r
to bristish or virgin atlantic. virgin gets more thumbs up but i read the plane they use had major structural work on their planes. gets me nervous.

so looks like british airways even though premium is not as good. little bit concerned that they have very old 20 year old jumbos.

does any body know if british fly their old jumbos from sydney to london or do we get the newer ones ?

My 2c worth.

Are you interested in a stopover?
Do you want to build status with a carrier?

Unless you're flying a fair amount - forget about status.

Since it's your first o/s trip & assuming you have time to play with.......select the carrier that transits via a city/country you would like to experience. The stopover allows you to enjoy another city for more or less free. Take the experience, make the time.... you'll never regret it.

 

[craven morehead]

Maybe the Costa Concordia?

 

[Deleted member]

Why is 4 engines important? The 777 and 330 are both very safe aircraft.

Pure Mathis at play here, one engine goes.... 3 more to keep flying with,

 

[mannej]

Pure Mathis at play here, one engine goes.... 3 more to keep flying with,

And what is the probability of losing 1?

This whole 4 engines is safer than 2 in this day and age is probably not in line with the statistics of the matte, however ill save that for another day

 

[pat25d]

mental thing if i had a car that got a flat tyre i could limp to somewhere but on a motorbike i would be stuck. no great logic just makes me feel better.

What a shame you only have 2 legs... think of how many lives we could save if we gave people 2 extra legs.

Anyway on topic, I'd go Singapore in Y but purchase the exit row seating on the A380 (4 engines right? never mind about the wings that crack in half...)

I found the exit row SIA better than Y+ on Virgin Atlantic.

 

[simongr]

Pure Mathis at play here, one engine goes.... 3 more to keep flying with,

If one engine goes on a four or two engine aircraft you will be landing immediately.

 

[lipari]

if i could have afforded qantas premium i think i would go british business for about the same money.

i am still liking british even though they have older planes. might look at cathay as somebody suggested.

from what i can see on most sites, may seems a cheaper month so that might be a benefit.

has anybody flown premium with british, i know its not supposed to be great but is it really awful-

 

[amaroo]

has anybody flown premium with british, i know its not supposed to be great but is it really awful-

Have a read of this TR by matthandy - World Traveler + starts at post 41........however, I recommend you read the whole report + the many others he has posted - exceptional!

Big Trip 2012 – Hong Kong, the UK and the South of France on CX, BA and EZ! - Page 3 - FlyerTalk Forums

 

[mannej]

If one engine goes on a four or two engine aircraft you will be landing immediately.

Not necessarily - there was a flight between LAX and LHR (diverting to MAN) that only had 3 engines for most of the flight.

 

[mella2007]

To the OP

I would highly recommend you do the fear of flying course. I think you would find it really helpful, as I think a lot of your worries could be helped significantly.

In terms of your flight needs, all reviews I've heard of BA PE have not been very good...while it is a separate smaller cabin, you still have to use the toilets in Economy class and the meal is the same as Economy. Seat is slightly wider (but not much than Economy).
You do have other options if you wanted to fly Premium...for example Qantas to somewhere in Asia, Air Asia to Kuala Lumpur, Virgin to Abu Dhabi,
I have flown Malaysia to London (from Kuala Lumpur to London) and it was safe, economy seat was very generous and food edible. It was also non stop which a lot of airlines don't offer.

 

[datal1]

Just returned from a holiday flying MEL to LHR via SIN and then LHR to MEL via SIN. Flying to LHR was on a QF a380 both legs and was fantastic (mind you I used points to upgrade to business).

The return trip was BA economy to singapore and then QF economy to melb (in seat 80J so had extra legroom without paying for an exit row). British Airways was the worst experience ever. The 747 was ancient. Seats tiny and TV's with screens the size of my phone. The food was very bad and to top it off, BA managed to loose my bag in transit.

Luckily I was on a QF a380 on the way home and the economy food on QF was miles ahead, seats comfortable with the way they recline compared to other economy seats and they had nice big screens to watch movies on.

 

[lipari]

Datal1 your experience with british doesnt sound great at all, at least qantas made up for it.

i know as you said the seats on british are malle than qantas by about an inch, but the biggest seems virgin atlantic.

talking with my brother today and he has points with qantas, not many he says about 120, 000 he says that he doesnt use them because he now goes with another company and he can apparently give me these points and says i can use these on british.

is this correct and are there any real benefits from this kind gesture ? i couldnt see anything on british about using these qantas points and i dont want to pay for them.

 

[Blinky]

I'm flying with my wife to LHR in just over two weeks with Etihad J class, purchased with 500k velocity points. I've read mainly good reports, but time will tell. Last time we flew premium economy with Virgin Atlantic, and found the experience very satisfying. The food was nothing special, however.

 

[blu]

Exit row economy (A380) sounds like your most viable option. Maybe with Jetstar Biz to SIN/BKK (there's a JQ Biz sale now, but probably not your dates).
BA prices are back up to $6k (was $2,800 on sale). As mentioned above "New PE" on 777 (but now irrelevant).
Very few airlines have PE to Europe. JAL's got new PE seats, the old sliding shell seats were a nightmare & the cabin too hot.
Lastly, 747 with RR engines (without mod?) have higher risk of failure (on takeoff?) than those with GE engines. Recall reading about it in Ask the Pilot about a year ago or longer.

 

[lipari]

lokked up british airways tonigjt and from hong hong to london its $850ish each way premium which kinda sounds low. if i could use my brothers points then i duppose that could drop thr price a bit more.

i know that is a jumbo and its 12 hours so even if it isnt the brst premium at least its on half the trip. also looked up cathay bit its more expensive than british.

i think too that british migjt have rwally good pilots from what i read on the internet. that is comgorting as well

 

[mella2007]

lokked up british airways tonigjt and from hong hong to london its $850ish each way premium which kinda sounds low. if i could use my brothers points then i duppose that could drop thr price a bit more.

i know that is a jumbo and its 12 hours so even if it isnt the brst premium at least its on half the trip. also looked up cathay bit its more expensive than british.

i think too that british migjt have rwally good pilots from what i read on the internet. that is comgorting as well

Lipari...as I suggested earlier...please do look into the course for fear of flying. To start over analyzing every detail involved in plane travel is not going to put your mind at rest, no matter which airline you fly or how experienced the pilots are. Fearless Flyers Inc.
This will explain the different planes, the jobs of the pilots and how to combat your fears before you make a booking or step foot on a plane.
You may have trouble getting award availability with your brother's points as often popular routes need to booked way ahead in advance...a great gesture on his part however.
I would also suggest perhaps a couple of short domestic flights before the overseas one, so you can be used to being in the air again. 12 hours is a long time to travel if you haven't done it in quite a while