Airlines

[Inanimate Carbon Rod]

There was a good thread previously on airlines. I can’t lie im a bit of a travel geek, love travel blogs and flight reviews.
Airlines i’ve flown in terms of overall satisfaction and experience from best to worst with some of the reasons, please feel free to add/debate/inform others. I’ve only really counted airlines I can remember from my adult years and ones which havent gone bust - so no Air2000 or Monarch reviews. I’m not counting easy jet as i’ve only flown Glas- London and don’t think its enough to go on.
 
Best
 
1) Southwest - yes its no-frills but its good, excellent staff, 2 free hold bags, free drinks even on short length flights, no real delays, decent planes with comfy seats and arrive at main airports.
Just something nice about the airline.
 
2) Virgin atlantic- have flown both premium and economy- transatlantic they are my fave airline to go with, comfy seats, good wifi, good ife, the staff seem to be engaging and helpful unlike BA. meals are ok but not even that great in premium economy, essentially paying for a much comfier seat/leg room and extra bag.
 
3) Jet Blue - US budget airline, again similar to Southwest, but slightly more expensive and no free bags, however pleasant staff, newer planes with more upgrade options, maybe one to watch out for.
 
4) Aer Lingus- flown economy transatlantic, i like the US customs pre-clear, very good when flying to a busy airport like SFO or Boston where customs can take ages. Older planes and the IFE not the best, pre ordered the upgraded meals they sell- from ireland absolutely delicious - on route back absolutely disgusting. Staff very pleasant. The only draw back being stobart air, the regional flight from dublin to glasgow etc, crew horrifically rude, bumpy flight and cabin was very dirty.
 
5) Thomson- limited luggage allowance but comfortable cabin, crew bit indifferent and meals not edible, newer fleet of planes and overall not the worst airline to fly.
 
6) Jet 2- flown a couple times Glasgow to Spain- no frills again but very pleasant staff, the meals you can buy on board are actually quite nice and the planes aren’t like the last days of Sodom in the way Thomas Cook flights are.
 
7) Thomas Cook- have flown transatlantic with them on a new airbus, nice flight even in economy, staff were ok, meal inedible and had to pay extra for IFE which wasnt really up to much. Have flown to Turkey with them also on a ‘fly the scheme’ type flight which was essentially a drunken barmy in the air with staff who had lost control of the passengers, a fight broke out, not an enjoyable experience.
 
American airlines- basic dirty planes but staff who were pretty pleasant, connecting flights miles apart and confusing boarding rules.
 
9) United - flown internally and transatlantic, very old planes, indifferent staff, inedible meals and expensive luggage prices, they seem to think they are a better airline than they actually are, an air of arrogance about them. Internally on a very small plane from SFO to Burbank was a nice experience however as the flight took us through some beautiful scenery.
 
10) Ryanair- shite airline, shite planes, arsehole staff and O’leary is a gobshite.
 
11) British Airways- in a way im torn here, i’ve flown BA transatlantic about 10 times and 9 of them were fucking dreadful but flying WTP from London to LAX on the A380 was spectacularly good fun flying. However travelling in a variety of the old WT and WTP from Orlando/Tampa and DC has been a very disappointing experience, meals shite, staff so unhelpful its as if they try and uncomfortable, dated and very dirty cabins, on the whole a really crap experience.
 
12) Pegasus- Turkish airline, jesus f**k I genuinely can’t explain how awful flying with them was. I kissed the ground at Glasgow on my return. The plane appeared to date to Wright Brothers times, the staff hid in the front allowing the jakeballs to crack open the duty free, leading to at one point a conga line of methadone addicts dancing down the aisle until they started to argue amongst themselves about who was being too obvious with the Vape pen. I was kindly ‘wet willied’ by one such passenger and fortunately 6 months later it was clear I hadnt contracted any viruses. A truly all round horrific experience.

[Firhill_Basin]

Southwest and Jetblue are great as far as low cost airlines go. The ULCC's in the states like Spirit, Frontier and Allegiant make Ryanair look respectable. I always fly Southwest when I can in the States.

[Northboy]

10 hours ago, Inanimate Carbon Rod said:

11) British Airways- in a way im torn here, i’ve flown BA transatlantic about 10 times and 9 of them were fucking dreadful but flying WTP from London to LAX on the A380 was spectacularly good fun flying. However travelling in a variety of the old WT and WTP from Orlando/Tampa and DC has been a very disappointing experience, meals shite, staff so unhelpful its as if they try and uncomfortable, dated and very dirty cabins, on the whole a really crap experience.

British Airways have completely gone to the dogs.

[Inanimate Carbon Rod]

British Airways have completely gone to the dogs.

Agree, they dont even give you a wee tiny can of juice on a flight, now paying for cabin bags, just generally shite. Their new WTP product is pretty good but its only on about 40% of the flights, they just seem to stop upgrading the aircraft. Staff seem to think its your privilege to be served by them and the level of apathy is apparent throughout. The delays they had in that Orlando- Gatwick flight and having kids sleep on airport floors kinda sums up how far they have fallen.

[Hedgecutter]

On 05/11/2018 at 10:44, Inanimate Carbon Rod said:

Agree, they dont even give you a wee tiny can of juice on a flight, now paying for cabin bags, just generally shite. Their new WTP product is pretty good but its only on about 40% of the flights, they just seem to stop upgrading the aircraft. Staff seem to think its your privilege to be served by them and the level of apathy is apparent throughout. The delays they had in that Orlando- Gatwick flight and having kids sleep on airport floors kinda sums up how far they have fallen.

This.  Flew with them back to Aberdeen yesterday and wouldn't have known the difference between them and Wizz which I used a couple of weeks earlier.   

 

Edited November 11, 2018 by Hedgecutter
Predictivetext

[Stu]

BA are pish now. A budget airline in all but name. Went to Portugal with them in the summer. Baggage etc was fine but had to pay for all food on the flights (knew that in advance so came prepared). Girlfriend was raging that we had to get a bus to and from the plane in Lisbon as they'd been shunted with the proper budget ones. And then you have the nightmare that is trying to take off at Heathrow, which can add an extra half hour to what's only meant to be an hour flight.

They seem to have got worse since then as when I was looking to go away with my brother the default options on Expedia didn't include baggage and adding it on put hundreds onto the cost for each of us.

Eventually went with Air Transat to Vancouver and it was great. Baggage was included, meal was fine, got a snack just before landing - all the same as transAtlantic flights with BA. Only difference was you had to pay for drinks (which BA include on long haul) but there was free wine with the meal and soft drinks were free all the time, which was fine as I don't drink. They were even free on the internal flight - and it had screens showing films, which the BA ones don't.

Also came with the bonus of going direct from Glasgow to Vancouver and coming back via Toronto - avoiding the shitfest that is Heathrow. Would recommend them to anyone heading to North America.

[Highland Capital]

I haven't been with BA for a while (though that'll be changing soon) but I've been with them domestically and long haul and I've never been that impressed.  There might have been a time years ago  when they had an air of class (see what I did there!), but nowadays they seem to be living off past glories.  For the price you pay, they're no better really than the likes of EasyJet, Flybe etc.

Edited November 12, 2018 by Highland Capital

[welshbairn]

BA are shit for cancelling or changing the name for a flight. Much worse than Easyjet.

[Karpaty]

On 11/11/2018 at 21:47, Hedgecutter said:

This.  Flew with them back to Aberdeen yesterday and wouldn't have known the difference between them and Wizz which I used a couple of weeks earlier.   

 

I flew with Wizz a couple of weeks back. Priority boarding took ages and the “extra leg room” is non existent. 

[Jeek]

Honorable mention for Icelandair.

[Jason King]

BA are fine for long haul but if you need to make a connection from Scotland at Heathrow or Gatwick then you are better looking elsewhere

[Savage Henry]

Absolutely no issues with BA at all.  Long haul they do a good job, it seems to me, and they have those nice Dreamliners which are actually quite pleasant.

Qatar is just insanely good if you can afford to fly business class.  Fortunately they have sales fairly regularly and it's possible to get a bargain.  Having Guinness in cattle class is a bonus.

Turkish Air is fine.  Pegasus is fine.  Most of the Middle Eastern airlines are decent.

Only airlines I wouldn't fly with again would be Egypt Air and United.  Afriqiya were the Libyan national carrier, and that was pretty brutal, but I don't think they're allowed to fly to Europe any more.  

[Jason King]

I wont fly Etihad as Abu Dhabi airport is an absolute hell hole of a place and I want to avoid any trips through there.

[Inanimate Carbon Rod]

Absolutely no issues with BA at all.  Long haul they do a good job, it seems to me, and they have those nice Dreamliners which are actually quite pleasant.
Qatar is just insanely good if you can afford to fly business class.  Fortunately they have sales fairly regularly and it's possible to get a bargain.  Having Guinness in cattle class is a bonus.
Turkish Air is fine.  Pegasus is fine.  Most of the Middle Eastern airlines are decent.
Only airlines I wouldn't fly with again would be Egypt Air and United.  Afriqiya were the Libyan national carrier, and that was pretty brutal, but I don't think they're allowed to fly to Europe any more.  

It depends what route you go with BA, if its Heathrow fleet with the dreamliner and a380 etc then yes I’d agree the cabin etc is ok, but the Gatwick fleet inc 777’s and 747’s is utterly minging.

[Inanimate Carbon Rod]

BA are fine for long haul but if you need to make a connection from Scotland at Heathrow or Gatwick then you are better looking elsewhere

Lufthansa are advertising quite heavily, they look to have quite a good quality product. Heathrow is bearable if you get free lounge access.

[Savage Henry]

It depends what route you go with BA, if its Heathrow fleet with the dreamliner and a380 etc then yes I’d agree the cabin etc is ok, but the Gatwick fleet inc 777’s and 747’s is utterly minging.

For whatever reason, I very rarely fly in or out of Gatwick. Not a deliberate choice, just happened that way. Good to know though..

[Inanimate Carbon Rod]

For whatever reason, I very rarely fly in or out of Gatwick. Not a deliberate choice, just happened that way. Good to know though..

I tend to fly in and out of Orlando/Tampa so unfortunately don’t get that choice, i’d have to drive to Miami to get a heathrow flight /a380 and tbh its not worth the hassle. Will stick with Virgin for the time being but looking into Lufthansa for sometime in the future!

[Northboy]

On ‎14‎/‎11‎/‎2018 at 13:34, Jason King said:

I wont fly Etihad as Abu Dhabi airport is an absolute hell hole of a place and I want to avoid any trips through there.

Agreed, I've never understood  why Dubai and Doha are so well organised yet Abu Dhabi is a  nightmare to transit through.

[gc_smfc]

Flew BA from Gatwick to Port of Spain last week, decent enough 777, although it was helped by having a seat empty next to me, however my return flight from Bridgetown was on a dated 777, the one that has the credit card swiper handset in the seat, if it wasn't a night flight it'd have been properly grim.

Flew Norwegian for the first time today, pleasantly surprised, modern fleet and comfortable enough for a 'budget' airline.

[Blootoon87]

Had four flights with Austrian Airlines this weekend for the Scotland game. All four were delayed.