Long Haul carriers - best airlines?

Virgin is the tops. It kills me to say this since I've tried to boycott everything Virgin as a result to their crap trains, but the airflights are the boss. I'm short and have only flown to NYC so I couldn't speak to the leg room issue. But Virgin has the greatest personal choice for food and video viewing. My experience is that BA can be very snooty when flying to the US, but much more gracious on the flight back. I'd avoid all the US carriers since they've pared back all creature comforts because they are all basically heartbeats away from bankruptcy. The recent French ruling that it was Continental's violation of plane design that caused the Concorde explosion means that they're primed for a large class-action suit.

I know Im partial to American because its my former workplace but can I just plug them for a moment.
If you fly the new (well not so new anymore) Airbus 777 you will see they have extra legroom as well as the back of each seat has a display screen on it. You have a variety of different things to watch not just whats on offer. For kids they have a few Nickelodeon things, they have comedy, movies, etc. Its very nice. Also AA allows you to go to the galley whenever you wish for a drink or a snack. They now offer candy bar snacks such as Toblerone.

The worst airline I have flown has to be Iberia. I flew from Wash DC to Venice, Italy. I had two small kids with me. My son was just three and I had a 5 month old baby and I was travelling alone. I wasnt offered any help at all. And after the initial meal service we never saw the flight attendants again. We were all feeling dehydrated. Finally a man sitting across from me brought me and my son a cup of orange juice.

BA is good however they are really permissive of drunkeness. I have never seen an airline allow people to drink so much. I know AA charges for their alcoholic beverages now. Im not sure if the other airlines do. I think its a good idea to charge otherwise folks tend to take advantage. But that is another topic all together.

KLM is OK. Decent and cheap. Good service but the planes are a bit dumpy.

Same goes for Air India. Cheap and cheerful.

BA is good however they are really permissive of drunkeness. I have never seen an airline allow people to drink so much.

I hadn't thought of that but now you mention it, I think you could be right, there are always a lot of drunk people on BA.  I was on a long haul BA flight and the guy next to me and his 2 friends behind him were determined to get sloshed. When the flight attendant came round the first time, they asked for 2 of the mini bottles of wine each, and a shot of spirits each and beers AND the flight attendant gave it all to them, can you believe it?  And when they finsihed that lot they asked for more. The guy behind me got angry too when I tried to put my seat back after dinner to have a kip, his tray tipped up and he nearly lost the lot! 

What about United Airlines? Has anyone flown them?

What about United Airlines? Has anyone flown them?

United is good. No real complaints other then one time they failed to load all of the food so we were hungry most of the flight. THey did give us some sort of voucher to use for money off our next flight.

I tend to either go with Virgin or United. Currently both are tied for the best in, but that is just my opinion 

I say if you want more entertainment go with Virgin.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/11/newsid_2520000/2520189.stm

By October [1991] Mr Branson had accumulated evidence of BA employees poaching Virgin customers and tampering with confidential company files.

I don't use BA.

i prefer american for longer flgihts. i fly them to NYC and boston all the time, and the extra leg room is key for my husband.

virgin have the best food, drink, entertainment.....but their leg room is crap and if you get an older plane, the seats feel like cardboard. 

i prefer a ride on a 777 American over a 747 virgin anyday as well.  I like the 2 seat, 5 seat, 2 seat layout of American.....i'm always in one of the 2 seat sides.

A brief update, as I am now happily home in Laguna Beach, after a 10 hour flight on Virgin... where I got bumped up to UPPER CLASS!!!

Sa-weet!

And, we got delayed due to so many planes waiting to take off at that time, but, the pilot apologized, and said 'I'll fly as fast as I can to get us in on time!' - and I don't know what he really did, but we arrived on the scheduled time!

 

HOW DID U GET BUMPED UP THERE???!!!

I swear, i never get stuff like that happening, and the hubs does all the time!!!

was it schweet?

Oh man, I LOVE getting bumped!!!!  It's amazing!

Amy, a lot of the time you just have to ask  

I have been upgraded for different reasons Once I had a buddy pass on Delta, many times for using miles to up-grade or just for a reg seat.  Once for taking another plane the next day which included a stay at a gorgeous hotel in Puerto Rico as well.

i prefer american for longer flgihts. i fly them to NYC and boston all the time, and the extra leg room is key for my husband.

same here i like AA extra legroom and the seats are actually bigger

been thinking about  going on virgin next time around i went on there once..and it was fine

HOW DID U GET BUMPED UP THERE???!!!
I swear, i never get stuff like that happening, and the hubs does all the time!!!
was it schweet?

Welp, thanks to the daddy, I was booked on Premium Economy, and when I got to the gate, she just said, 'oh your seat's been changed'... and I thought, oh no, but when she handed me the boarding pass back, I noticed the number was lower, and she said, 'that's upper class now' and I said, 'wha? why? how?' and she just said 'guess you just got lucky!'
However, I noticed once I was in my seat (that stretches out, next to a complimentary champagne, overlooking the menu I can order from any time during the flight, gazing upon a bigger tv screen...), several people were complaining about double bookings for the same seat in economy and premium... so as it turns out, everyone in at least my section was bumped up...

So yes, it was very schweet... until my headache kicked in full force, and had severe nausea (don't worry, nothing more graphic to report, but it was really unpleasant) kicked in, I'm guessing due to much more severe dehydration than I thought I had.  I even drank water beforehand, got my rest, etc.  But seriously folks, DRINK LOADS OF WATER before getting on a plane, let alone every day for good health. 

Fortunately it wasn't until this morning my mother said I could have had a heart attack if I had been more dehydrated.  So hopefully I'll be better prepared for the journey back.

And unfortunately, I feel like I missed out on truly enjoying all the perks of being in upper class!  Oh well.

The daddy rules!!!!!

So sorry you were ill!  At least you were able to lay down flat and try and relax!!!

Well, nearly flat.
 
Those of us over the 6 ft. mark still have issues with the room, but yes, definitely would have been much more difficult had I not been able to.

Well, nearly flat.
 
Those of us over the 6 ft. mark still have issues with the room, but yes, definitely would have been much more difficult had I not been able to.

Ah yes, I forgot how tall you are!