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looking at booking some flights to San Fransico for next Sept.
BA from Heathrow to San Fran international is looking pretty cheap at £800 for the pair of us return in cattle class, how terrible is it going to be? Any better suggestions?
ta
11 1/2 hrs probably a bit nicer than 14 🙂 Pay extra for an exit row or something like that would be a start
Id upgrade to prem economy its a long flight.
I went cattle class LHR to San Francisco last year for a conference. Wasn't that bad, tbh. iPad and lots on entertainment helps. WiFi on the flight helps a lot and is definitely worth paying for.
Rachel
Id upgrade to prem economy its a long flight.
I'd be up the front, it's a long flight...
However, might be beyond most budgets!
BA are good. Excelent safety record, good crew, decent IFE etc, even down the back! 😎
For San Francisco, I always fly direct on the return, especially on the A380. Soooooo quiet! (Came back from Chicago on one during the week and slept like a baby!). On the way out, while I prefer direct, there can be big savings to be had with a connection if you're not pressed for time. Look for an interlinked BA/AA codeshare connecting via DFW.
We went with Virgin last May and we’re very well looked after
My bro has just paid £299 to get to LA from Manc so that sounds alot to me .Thats going in a few weeks time , for a week , with weekend flights
I think he might have had to go outbound via Zurich , with a 90min conection but that inst the end of the world
Quick look says it's double for PE but about £70 each way for exit row, last few trans pacific ones I've done were 14hrs but in the exit row so legs straight all the way and normally it's at the front of the cabin so better there too. The PE cabin has also been rammed full so looked less comfy and less leg room.
Don’t dismiss flights to Oakland or San Jose (California, not Cost Rica!), not too difficult to get into San Francisco from there.
"My bro has just paid £299 to get to LA from Manc so that sounds alot to me"
Shame he has to go to Manchester and LA.
We flew the London to San Francisco with ba a couple years back and London to Vancouver last year. . Even at 6ft 3 it was pleasent enough in the back. I've flown upfront and it'll be a cold day in hell before i spend my own cash on it. It's nice but not exactly value for money.
How ever if your not used to it you'll probably find jt cramped. Many years of regular international travel and shift work meansi could probably sleep on top of the jet engine mind.
Shame he has to go to Manchester and LA.
Nowt wrong with Manchester, LA however it's no coincidence that it has 9 Terminals
Prem economy is over twice as much on the dates we’re looking at, BA much cheaper than Virgin. I’m pretty sure LHR to SFO is direct? Any other direct flights from mids/manc/north London?
My bro has just paid £299 to get to LA from Manc so that sounds alot to me
Think I’ll happily pay £100 each to go direct and go to the right airports.
I usually go LGW to Oakland with Norwegian. Premium is nice.
If you want cheapest possible then United.
You can go as far as seat selection, without committing so see what the fees are for a nice seat in economy, I'd take direct over having to do immigration in the US and fly onwards from there
They also have some pairs at the back of the 747 I think so if there are 2 of you it's a good option too
edit
Just check google flights for options around those dates and airlines
Oakland is only about 2-3 stops on the BART to Emarcadero, quicker than from SFO.
US carriers haven't released fares yet so I would wait a month. The fare war with Norwegian is not ending soon. Look for SFO, OAK and SJC. I would prefer connections through LAX, LAS, PHX than DTW, but obviously direct is better.
It's very hard to search for the best option with google flights now that the US routes are mostly 'basic' fares with no luggage. It's effectively turned into Ryanair where every airline will have huge additional fees for things that used to be included. That's why the carriers that still include luggage like are a good option. (And with Air Canada you do US immigration at the Canadian stopover so arrival is really simple.)
If it's £400 pp basic but you need luggage and want extra leg room, I would wait and search for a US carrier that's flying older aircraft with AA Main Cabin Extra or Delta Comfort Plus.
Also note BA won't offer every seat for purchase if you aren't a frequent flyer. I don't believe you would be able to select exit rows upstairs on the A380 for example.
<p>BA are good. </p>
<p><p>Unless you want something silly to happen like your luggage turning up.</p><p>Track record with me is piss poor, was always something not turning up at Glasgow.</p>That said it has been many years since I've flown with them.</p>
I've been delayed significantlg out of Manchester in every direction every time I've used it., i used<span style="font-size: 0.8rem;"> to commute to Oz via virgin/Qatar every couple of months It's on paper the quickest route but practicality London/Dubai always worked out quicker for me </span>
Im even more tollerant of CDG as although itß a shit airport I've never been delayed there....and I've spent last 2 years commuting through there every 6 weeks
Kinda glad Ive no plans to be commuting internationally for a good while.
The £400 was a 747 and with 1x checked bag. Not looked much further than that at mo.
actually, it was closer to £450. I’m pretty tall at 6’2 so would like room for legs, but flew cattle to NYC just fine, I’m aware it’s a longer flight. I’m paying for the tickets from my own pocket so business ain’t happening!
Track record with me is piss poor, was always something not turning up at Glasgow.
Tight connections somewhere with terminals a long way apart? Very little to do with the actual airline really most of the time.
Squirrelking, I fly a lot. Too much, probably. Mostly with BA as well.
My bags have only ever not arrived at the same place/time as me twice. Both times between Dallas and San Antonio on American, a route I've only flown twice!
I'm flying this month on Aer Lingus with work so no chance of anything other than poverty class.
Manchester to Dublin, then on to San Francisco, my guess I'll be knocking on 22 hours travel door to door.
If you're not tall/long-legged, cattle is fine with newer planes. I'm 6ft and a bit with fairly long legs and I can do it just about comfortably
Flown over a two dozen times LHR to SFO with BA, flight arrives late afternoon or early evening. No problems with the flight or luggage. It is what it is, cheap mass transportation over a long distance. Beer/wine, watch a few movies. Car hire from the airport if going down to San Jose/Freemont or BART into the city $7-11$. Take a day up in Marin County, hire a bike a ride the Tamarancho.
Paid 620 premium class on Thomas Cook last year to SFO. Their route is about 10hrs20.
I think it's well worth the extra. Pick your seat, more legroom. 2-3-2. Drinks on tap. Better food. Lots of films. First on, first off. Fastrack security. Separate check in.
I put a date in Google flights and keep an eye on price. You can usually make it work if you're prepared to come back on a Tuesday for not much more money.
Price will fluctuate between now and next year for sure.
Doing it currently
Take a look at Aer Lingus via Dublin. You go through the US Border in Dublin so miss the huge queues that can happen on arrival at border control normally. Depending on connection time it can work out quicker stopping in Dublin than going direct and hitting big queues, that said I don't know how San Francisco is, my main travel to the US is to Miami and it has a terrible reputation for 2+ hour wait. Id pick Aer Lingus every time.
Prem Economy flights are a bit nuts at the moment, they used be be about 50% extra than economy but now in many cases they are double. A friend is going to Japan on Prem Economy and the ticket price is £3,500!
Thomas Cook economy is tiny to be fair.
My Experiance of PE on ba/airfrance/air malaysia ai wider and you get about 20cm extra leg room but the recline is crap.
Upstairs on the a380 is nice and quiet from both plane noise and general lack of people
Go big or go home. Business is the only one that guarantees you comfort to get decent <span style="font-size: 0.8rem;">sleep otherwise I'd spend PE ticket price on doing shit when i get there and put up with economy.....</span>
Although caveat id think twice on Thomas Cook As they seem to have tiny seats .
Done plenty of flights to North America inc San Fran, in the 10-14 duration. No worries with cattle class. Just the airlines. Worst is United. BA and Virgin probably best.
I'm not too adverse to changing flights for a cheaper ticket. It's longer end to end, but you get to stretch your legs at the first airport, and maybe time to find a bar briefly. Though internal flights in US tend to be like busses. Crammed full, less leg room, often no TV (though usually has wifi), lots of business guys and everyone seems to be in a rush. Only going to be a few hours though.
Bulkhead rows are okay for leg room but you have no seat in front to stick bags under and a lot of airlines are being tight on cabin bags now with only one allowed overhead (and in some cases charging extra for an under seat, though mostly the budget airlines do this). TV will be a flip out thing and you have to fold it away during landing approach. You also have a high chance of someone with a baby/cot in the row.
Avoid anything near the galley and toilets. Best thing is check SeatGuru for the flight you're on for best seats.
And you don't have to pay extra to pick seats. Just be quick with online check-in 24 hours before. Unless it's a package booking and it might be pre-allocated, but still may be able to move it.
Have flown on both BA LHR-SFO flights a number of times, both absolutely fine. I've done it in all 3 classes (not WTP), but if it was my money I'd do it down the back every time. With IFE being what it is these days, plus offline content from Netflix etc there's plenty of entertainment, it's not that long. Have also done United, originally on a 767 before seat back video was a thing. Sod that these days!
And you don’t have to pay extra to pick seats. Just be quick with online check-in 24 hours before. Unless it’s a package booking and it might be pre-allocated, but still may be able to move it.
Normally the good ones will be preallocated to frequent flyers or reserved for them, BA open them up in order of tiers so the good ones could be gone already.
Yeah when i was flying regular i had my pick of the seats between 7 days and 48hours depending on which airline and which tier.
The 24 hour check in is just fighting for the scraps really as everyone and their mother who has flown a few times has an off bottom tier frequent flier card.
I’ve done it in all 3 classes
There are four. 😎
There are four.
Read the full post - I'm not counting WTP. I've done World Traveller, Club World and First on that route 🙂
Unless WTP is a truly trivial amount extra (which it very rarely is) I don't think it's worth it. I do have very short legs though, I'd perhaps feel different were I 6" taller. As I said, were it my money I'd be in economy every time!
I fly most long haul in Business or occasionally premium economy but if it were my money then I'd be booking economy. My reasoning being that the money is far better spent when you get there. It's a bit different when you are getting straight off the plane and going to work when anything that makes it more pleasant is a help. The misery of a long haul flight is soon forgotten, the things you do on your holiday are a memory for life.
To be honest I've had a fair few transatlantic flights going out to US where half the plane at the back is empty and whole rows to pick from. Depends on the destination and date though obviously. Coming back always seems to be full, and same with internal flights.
Consider going via San Jose - small airport, you’re through immigration and at the car rental place in minutes. SF airport is a dump.
We did BA LHR-SFO a few years back and it was a superb experience considering we were in economy. It's not exactly a family holiday route so it tends to attract a generally genteel passenger base. Their LHR-LAX flights seemed pretty decent too.
6'3" but no space complaints.
SFO is a fine airport .
Lax is just shit.<span style="font-size: 0.8rem;"> Port Harcourt Nigeria is a dump.</span>
Oakland would have been your best bet. It’s closer to downtown than SFO & on the BART. I think both BA & Norwegian have stopped flying there though.
Despite the recent gentrification, Oakland is still a very unsafe place.
Be very careful which stop you get off on the BART !
Oakland is no less safe than SF. If you fly there just be aware that they may only have one or two immigration officers processing a queue of passengers so you may be waiting a couple of hours...
I flew into Oakland yesterday with Norwegian. They had at least three immigration officers processing non-US citizens. I was flying Premium so was fairly close to the front of the queue, but even the last people were probably all through in under an hour.
I had to wait around for my bike to show up, they do the oversize baggage last, once everything else is done. It's perhaps not as super-slick as SFO or LHR, but I've never waited 2 hours. I think I was walking out of the front door about an hour after we touched down, perhaps a bit more.
As for safety, I can't comment. I walked out the front door, and took a Lyft. Probably the biggest risk is your driver falling asleep on 880. I imagine BART would be fine though.
(Now, if you want worrying, try cycling from San Jose airport along the Guadaloupe river trail past all the homeless people, in the dark).
Just back from biking trip to states - flew Glasgow - LHR - SFO and return with BA.
They never lost our bags or bikes and I was happy enough in Economy class at 6ft2.