British airways

[alebisi]

Hello guys, I've book (September) with british airways my flight from Gatwick to Orlando. Have some of you done this flight??? What are your thoughts on British airways? I've read on the disboards some reviews but they recall to 2010. Has anyone flown with them recently? Do they give you lunch? I've read that in 2010 the seats have they're own screen (which that's great, believe or not there are still some flight companies that have one screen for a number of rows). Any tips? Will be staying probably at Sofitel the night before so we'll be in the north terminal.
Any tips on check in???

 

[JoyB-UK]

We haven't been to Orlando with British Airways but we flew into LAX and out of Phoenix with them last year. We were not impressed, and said we would not go long haul with them again. I think that seat back TVs are standard on the long haul but it wasn't an on demand service on the planes we flew on. The cabin seemed squashed, not good legroom and quite old seating. Service was also not as good as Virgin, but it might just have been our flight and that route. We have flown some decent short haul flights, and all our BA flights have been on time.

 

[mackay_j]

haven't used them for orlando, but do use them to go to the carribeen- lets put it this way I only do so because they are the only company to fly to my destination direct . but maybe their orlando flights are better

 

[cliveywolves]

Hiya..
We have flown with BA to Orlando twice from Gatwick.

Only have good things to say.. Never had any major delays or issues with service.. Always had TV back seat screens with on demand movies and programs etc, Had two meals & free drinks and snacks whenever we asked for them.. So im more than happy with BA, But saying that I have now gone and jinxed our flights this year !!

 

[MarkF0wle]

Flew with them once. I think they have the only aircraft & service to get anywhere near Virgin. Whilst I prefer Virgin for more innovation in service, I had no complaints about flying BA. The IFE was on par with Virgin's I would say, food was nice.

I have some brand loyalty to Virgin but if I weren't flying Virgin I would fly BA over any other carrier.

 

[General Panic]

Prefered the BA flight 2 years ago to the Virgin flight last year. Okay service , you do get fed and all on time.

You can check in 24 hours before your flight go's on BA and choose your seats then , assuming you've not paid BA's extortioate advance booking fee to pre reserve seats. This speeds up your checkin bit at the airport on day of departure.

We stayed at the Sofitel last time as well , nice hotel and it's great being able to just stroll down to checkin in the morning.

 

[nemmie]

I will preface this with little over 2 years ago we ONLY flew Virgin and I would never even think about trying another airline unless Virgin did not fly to my destination.

We tried BA and personally I feel they are far superior to Virgin in many ways but the most important to be being inflight comfort and secondly their executive club (flying club.) Flying mainly to MCO our chances of redemming miles with Virgin was ever decreasing and that just wasn't going to fly with me. pun intended

As a PP said don't bother paying for seat selection, you should be fine at check in T-24 hours. We paid once for our first set of flights and found it not to be worth it as we had plentiful choice at online check in.

The meals are again superior, that said I haven't flown with Virgin since they have ''revamped'' their inflight service so that point may well be moot.

The Sofitel is our fave pre-flight hotel anywhere. Comfy, well appointed and it has our favourite Chinese restaurant in the UK. The Gatwick Oriental is not cheap but it's well worth it. Watch out for the 12.5% service charge they include on the bill but that is optional so feel free to take it off and leave a tip of whatever you please.

Have a WONDERFUL time.

 

[nemmie]

Oh also every flight bar one (coming back from Tampa) has had Audio Visual On Demand AVOD. So these days its very unlikely/unlucky for you not to be able to start/stop and pick and choose your entertainment with BA from LGW

 

[Pootle]

I fly with both of them (but not in economy where I don't think there's much difference between them) and both have their good points and not so good points.

You are statistically far less likely to suffer a delay with British Airways and if you do, it's likely to be shorter. You can pay to pre-select your seat if you wish with BA or you can select at OLCI and are far less likely to be messed around. My last November seats pre-'requested' with Virgin (booked at 11 months out) were changed 4 times before departure, and alas, I only noticed 3 times and the result was that we had to choose at OLCI. It drove me nuts!

With Virgin, apart from checking bags in at DD on return, the only things I value are connected to PE travelling - and once the 'bubble' in the 747 has been refitted, that may not be the same 'jewel' that it is at present.

I agree with a previous poster who mentioned the Executive Club's points scheme being easier to make use of than Virgin's Miles scheme (unless you are just using them for a straightforward discount when you can get the price down to around what you pay at sale time by using some of your miles).

I've no complaints about staff on Virgin or BA and the food has been so-so offerings on both (but BA's Club World food is very good).

 

[queendisney]

Have flown with VA and BA and much prefer VA for the cabin crew but liked the BA plane much better. They both offer virtually the same things flying economy ie seat back TV's and a meal and afternoon tea on the way out and evening meal and breakfast on the way back. But the food was a bit more superior on BA I thought but VA has now revamped their food offerings so I wait with baited breath to our flight in September for that!!! Sometimes its the little things that make the flight a better experience. The reason we didn't like BA was the cabin crew were down right rude and very aloof and the VA staff on the whole have been a really nice bunch. I also worry when booking BA because they seem to go on strike a bit to frequently, I just don't trust them not to ruin my holiday

So basically I am in the VA camp but would go BA if I had to.

 

[alebisi]

Thank you all for the reviews on British Airways. Maybe I didn't make it clear but I have already bought the tickets with them (it's easier and cheaper to me to make a roundtrip from Venice-Gatwick-Orlando and viceversa) so Virgin it's NOT an option for us, but I've heard wonderful things about them.
Glad to hear they are having the personal tv seats, a year ago in an Iberia airplane that was Madrid-Lima (12 hours of flight) they had ONE TV per 10 rows. They decided to show the film at 1am and the the screen was black for most of the flight! This for me is crucial as I get really nervous on planes and having something to distract me helps a lot (I can't really read if I'm nervous as I can't concentrate!).
Food is also crucial, knowing we have meals and snacks it's good, as some airlanes make you pay for them (sometimes 10euros per sandwhich)!!

Thank you again!

 

[Pootle]

I like BA for its European flights. I use them (in economy for European flights) for Verona (annually) or Venice (occasionally) and think they are far superior to the low cost carriers. Do join their Executive Club though; I think the terms are better for European based members and you never know when it might come in handy.

I hope you don't have too much time at Gatwick at either end of your journey - especially after the overnight flight home. On the other hand, you're young and everything is so much easier

Hope it goes well for you; sure it will

 

[alebisi]

I like BA for its European flights. I use them (in economy for European flights) for Verona (annually) or Venice (occasionally) and think they are far superior to the low cost carriers. Do join their Executive Club though; I think the terms are better for European based members and you never know when it might come in handy.

I hope you don't have too much time at Gatwick at either end of your journey - especially after the overnight flight home. On the other hand, you're young and everything is so much easier

Hope it goes well for you; sure it will

We are flying from Venice to Gatwick around midnight and then staying overnight at the Sofitel, it's an adventure to us, it's the first time we are staying at an airport hotel!!
From Orlando to Gatwick we'll have to wait around six hours, but if we are too tired we're planning staying a couple of hours at the yotel, if not we'll explore Gatwick airport as this is the first time we are visiting it

 

[Pootle]

We are flying from Venice to Gatwick around midnight and then staying overnight at the Sofitel, it's an adventure to us, it's the first time we are staying at an airport hotel!!
From Orlando to Gatwick we'll have to wait around six hours, but if we are too tired we're planning staying a couple of hours at the yotel, if not we'll explore Gatwick airport as this is the first time we are visiting it

It sounds like an excellent plan

 

[ABZDisneyFan]

Based on my experience, if you are travelling in Economy & have kids, go with Virgin, they seem to be more geared up to deal with loads of excited kids on a long flight.
If kids are not an issue go with BA.

If you are thinking about Premium Economy (Virgin) or World Traveller Plus (BA) it gets a bit more interesting:
You get a separate "Check In" area with Virgin which in a busy airport can be a God Send, whereas with BA you do not.
BA are now serving a Club World (Business Class) main course meal in WT+ & are in the process of renovating the cabins, the last time I checked Virgin were serving the same food as in economy.

If you really want to splash out & are thinking about business class & there are two of you, then go for BA as you have a couple of options for actually sitting together, either side by side or facing each other, with Virgin you do not have that option due to the layout of their Upper Class cabin.

 

[BethEJo]

I flew BA Gatwick-Orlando and back again last year. And I don't have a single bad thing to say!

Unlike some other PPs, I found the BA staff, both on the ground and in the air, very very friendly and helpful. There was quite a group of us (around 12) travelling to work for WDW for the summer and they made our flight something special! They were very chatty, joking around with us and the passengers around us - they had us all smiling for the whole 9 hours!

One of our group was a very nervous flier too - one of the crew picked up on this on walking past, and made a very special effort to keep checking on our friend throughout the flight. This was very reassuring and really did put her at ease!

Nothing felt like it was too much trouble, and there was no problem asking for drinks etc...

Food was also good - I think it was the first time that I ate a whole plane meal!

Seats were very comfortable and I had plenty of leg room. Being quite tall, this was a first for me! Definitely one of the best flights I have ever been on! Also had on-demand "entertainment" - plenty to keep me occupied, and good music selection too.

I booked this flight as a codeshare with Iberia, so I really couldn't fault it for the price I payed. It was definitely above par as far as I'm concerned, and I will definitely fly BA again in the future.

Enjoy your flight! I think you have made a good choice!

 

[alebisi]

I flew BA Gatwick-Orlando and back again last year. And I don't have a single bad thing to say!

Unlike some other PPs, I found the BA staff, both on the ground and in the air, very very friendly and helpful. There was quite a group of us (around 12) travelling to work for WDW for the summer and they made our flight something special! They were very chatty, joking around with us and the passengers around us - they had us all smiling for the whole 9 hours!

One of our group was a very nervous flier too - one of the crew picked up on this on walking past, and made a very special effort to keep checking on our friend throughout the flight. This was very reassuring and really did put her at ease!

Nothing felt like it was too much trouble, and there was no problem asking for drinks etc...

Food was also good - I think it was the first time that I ate a whole plane meal!

Seats were very comfortable and I had plenty of leg room. Being quite tall, this was a first for me! Definitely one of the best flights I have ever been on! Also had on-demand "entertainment" - plenty to keep me occupied, and good music selection too.

I booked this flight as a codeshare with Iberia, so I really couldn't fault it for the price I payed. It was definitely above par as far as I'm concerned, and I will definitely fly BA again in the future.

Enjoy your flight! I think you have made a good choice!

Thank you for the feedback, we are two adults, and I'm quite tall and leg room it's always an issue, good to know they have plenty of leg room.
Good that the staff was friendly, I found that a crucial thing as a flight can't be pleasant or not!!

 

[ScotScroogeMcDuck]

As with most things in my opinion it's hit and miss on the cabin crew, good days and bad days I haven't found BA or virgin to be consistent one way or another.

In terms of aircraft BA Club World is awesome, absolutely amazing and makes the travel really part of the holiday. I've read a couple of things about new economy and new premium economy and they sound really good - will be interesting to see how they compare to Virgin.