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I’m looking to book business LHR-LAX. I can flying either BA or American. I’m not bother about Tier points, only Avios. Used to do it twice a year but its been 6 years since I last went.
Is there any benefit of flying one over the other? Avios, perks, cabins etc.
Thanks!
What metal are BA using for the flight you are considering? If its an A380, then it will be old Club World, not Club Suite.
How about flying out on AA and back on BA? The OW lounges at T3 (I like the Cathay lounge) are far nicer than the BA lounges at T5.
And if you fly home on BA, you get EU/UK261 protection. You don’t get it on AA inbound.
You can mix AA/BA on the same booking.
AA used to give you free seat selection in J. Don’t know if they still do. BA charge for advance seat selection unless you have status.
Personally I’d fly AA out. BA back.
T3 lounges on the way there and UK261 protection on the way back.
I’d happily do AA both ways.
TBH the UK261 protections are nice to have but bear in mind that research done for the EU found that only something like 2-3% of all flights that come under the remit of the regulations qualifies for any of the provisions whether that is duty of care or compensation.
I’d go for comfort of the seat and on board service of a long flight over that.
And for me AA wins over BA on those counts.
For me, there are almost an exact same list of pros and cons to both (BA wine is better in my experience but food and crew is a lucky dip on both), but if it’s the old Club World seat, I’d book AA without hesitation.
My 2p…
Given you can buy either flight with either airline and you care about Avios, if you have a BAPP Amex you should be buying with BA.
Equipment will vary, but BA A380 should certainly be avoided as the worst business class hard product. 777-300 is the best AA have to offer and is comparable to the club suites on the BA 777s. There’s a little more variability in the AA 777-200 fleet IIRC but all will beat the A380. So selecting your flights carefully, either works well
For lounges, the T3 one world lounges beat the galleries in T5, but make sure you go to Qantas or Cathay, not AA. I would also rate the T3 AA arrivals lounge over the T5 BA one. I can’t comment on lounges at LAX but there is an AA flagship lounge there so would count this as a win for AA in both directions.
Soft product, AA crew can be a bit more hit and miss than BA, so would expect better service on BA. However one counter point is AA has an extended menu you can order from in advance. I’d call this a draw.
All that considered, I would personally try to book a BA ticket but on AA metal both ways.
BTW, BA crew remember the LAX flight numbers as “268, always late” and “269, never on time”. If punctuality is important to you, maybe bear that in mind too…
If it matters to you, about 75% of my bookings involving AA have had changes, many multiple times, as AA do like to shuffle their schedules. If you’d like the possibility of future changes which may suit you better, maybe pick AA. They’ve always been very accommodating when offering rebooking of routes or timings.
Oh, one other consideration popped into my head. If you’re bronze then booking through AA gives you immediate seat choice, regardless who’s plane you’re flying on, while booking the same flights with BA would only give you free seat selection 7 days out. Another marginal difference but might swing your decision making.
Oh, one other consideration popped into my head. If you’re bronze then booking through AA gives you immediate seat choice, regardless who’s plane you’re flying on, while booking the same flights with BA would only give you free seat selection 7 days out. Another marginal difference but might swing your decision making.
On my recent itinerary, booked with BA but operated by AA, even as Blue I had free seat selection from the time of booking.
My 2p…
All that considered, I would personally try to book a BA ticket but on AA metal both ways.
At least on domestic flights, ticketing with AA also offers some very favorable change terms if one avoids Basic Economy. I only realised this after ticketing my transatlantic flights, so I’m not sure the extent to which that carries over to UK origin flights.
Thanks everyone, excellent feedback!
Its clear I should avoid BA A380’s, which I can easily do. Thanks again as I wouldn’t have known that.
Looks like my choice now is AA on a 777-200/200ER or BA on 777-300ER, the AA flight on a 777-300ER is too late in the day.
I like a good lounge but my main priority is the cabin experience, sounds like my 2 options above are really close! Are the beds the same size and as comfortable in both?
The BA 777s have the super diamond seat, as do most AA 777-200s, so the hard product is near identical there. Some AA 777-200s have their Concept D seats, which are a bit marmite apparently… but they offer backwards facing seats which some people will prefer for sleeping on as it means your head rather than your feet are slightly raised by the slight nose up angle of a plane in flight.
More info here: https://www.travelcodex.com/comparing-american-airlines-business-class-seats/
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