Watch here: Flying London to New York: It’s cutthroat for airlines.
It’s a cutthroat business across the Atlantic, and the war between American/British Airways, Delta/Virgin Atlantic and United Airlines us cut-throat to say the least. It’s a war over prices, it’s a war over product and it’s a war over schedules. Specifically, we’re talking about the New York to London routing.
It’s the most competitive airline routing in the world, and one that’s highly prized by the major airlines. All three of major US carriers – America, United and Delta – fly the routing, and 2 of the 3 partner with a major European airline to increase frequency and convenience.
Recently, CNN published a 3 part series comparing the major in-flight products of the 3 big carriers. The series, led by CNN Business Traveller report Richard Quest reviews the pros and cons of each service, and how each airline and alliance is trying to one-up the other.
Watch the series, and take a look at the competition. Have you flown on any of the products? Is there one NY-London service you prefer over another?
British Airways Club World
Jamie Larounis is an avid traveler, blogger and miles/points educator. Traveling well over 100,000 miles a year and staying in hotels for over 100 nights, he leverages miles, points and other deals to fly in first class cabins, and stay in 5-star hotels. The Forward Cabin shares his experiences, musings, reviews, tips, tricks, resources and industry news with you, the fellow traveler.
Please feel free to publish this…As of today, Delta is Dead to Me. I am a Diamond member on Delta, and I can honestly say it’s of zero value. Here’s why…
I fly Internationally, and my company requires that I purchase the lowest available coach fare. Since the airlines have “class society”, and the little letters that mean so much (even though 99% of English speaking America has no clue what these letters mean), I am restricted from purchasing the more expensive, “Upgradeable Coach” fares.
So I called Delta Diamond desk and asked, “Please, please, I don’t want to switch to another airline. I’m happy to use more miles to upgrade, but I can’t afford to spend cash out of pocket to upgrade my ticket.” The answer from Delta – too bad. The lady basically told me that if I can only afford the lowest class fare, then I should switch, as I’ll never be able to upgrade them.
I have some miles, not a ton, about 500K. I’m Diamond. BUT, I can’t use my status or miles to upgrade because I fly internationally. And I should switch to another airline…Someone PLEASE bring some sanity to the airlines…
Bob,
You’ll be disappointed to find the Grass isn’t any greener.
The best choice you have is to pick the 4 Global Upgrade Certificates as your DM perk to ease the pain a little.
– Current 1K and DM
To Bob E –
Sounds like your gripe is with your company, not Delta. It isn’t Delta’s fault that your company won’t let you buy a different fare bucket that conforms to their upgrade rules.
As others say, good luck finding something better elsewhere.
You’re right that my company’s rules are horrible, but when I was willing to use MORE miles to upgrade, just tell me how many, that’s when things got stupid.