Hello All!!
We are looking to take a 2 week trip to Scotland. I am concerned about the long flight, I dont want to be squeezed into a small seat for that long. I would like to fly business class or first class so we both have plenty of room and can sleep if we want to. Can anyone recommend an airline that wont cost an arm and a leg?
Thanks so much!!!
It depends where you depart from (city) and the time of the year and which day of the week. If you live near an airline hub and can get a direct flight that helps, flying during the summer & holidays is more expensive and flying on Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday is the cheapest. From where I live in Kansas, business class seats run from $3,000-$7,000 for a round trip. Usually I can fly to Europe for between $1100-$1700 on economy comfort plus. Delta, United & American are the major airlines, but there are a lot of new upstarts like Icelandic air offering cheaper flights but you have to connect in Iceland instead of direct flights. As a general rule business class is double or more than economy.
Check Norwegian Air. I booked a flight from LAX to London Gatwick in their Business equivalent “Premium.” It cost me about the same as British Air’s coach.
We fly off season on Norwegian. Plane out of smaller USA hubs not full...so most passengers were permitted an entire row to themselves both ways.
Here’s my recommendation: Spend the big bucks to fly from your city to east coast USA in first or business class. Then fly Norwegian from Providence or some other smaller hub to Edinburgh. Flying out of smaller hub gets you a less crowded plane for a relatively short flight.
Hope this helps!
We prefer to fly in the Premium Economy class available on most European airlines (Lufthansa, Air France, Virgin Atlantic are the ones we have used). It's much cheaper than Business, but provides significantly more comfort than economy. We are flying to Scotland this summer on Lufthansa (yes, we go through Frankfurt but it doesn't add that much to our overall schedule).
Go to Google Flights, pick some itineraries and select business class. You can receive email updates when prices change. If you have lots of time (i.e., several months) before your planned trip, start checking prices daily, beginning today. I have found business class tickets to Italy and Austria for $2,000-2,500 round trip during the past 2 years on United and Lufthansa, departing out of Newark, and typically with one connecting flight in Frankfurt. These were for trips in March, September and October, when ticket prices are lower than the summer. I also have seen some very good business class ticket prices from Philadelphia to Glasgow on American, but because my destination was Edinburgh and I don't like flying out of Philly, I opted to go on United from Dulles. But buy your tickets from the airline and not a third-party site, in the event a flight gets cancelled, etc. Also, make sure that the business class service actually has lie-flat seats - I think that Aer Lingus, which I was considering for my Edinburgh trip, did not. Overall, the business class experience (lie flat seats, excellent food, wine and more wine, priority check-in and boarding, access to airport lounges, etc.) makes the trip so much more enjoyable, while the ability to sleep on the plane (I can't sleep sitting up) is a huge advantage because you feel so much better when you arrive in Europe. But be forewarned - if you fly business class to Europe, you will never want to fly Economy ever again.
Aer Lingus business was not lie-flat in 2014, when I had opportunity to use it, but the web site has info about a new service, https://www.aerlingus.com/experience-aer-lingus/flying-business/a-new-experience/
I'm curious about the updated business in an Airbus (what I've always been on). The SeatGuru maps show what must be flat beds in all of them, now, b/c in 2014 I was with a seatmate on the left side, but that's now shown as single seating, https://www.seatguru.com/airlines/Aer_Lingus/Aer_Lingus_Airbus_A330-300_A.php
This review from last year shows pictures from business class on a 757, https://thepointsguy.com/2017/03/aer-lingus-757-business-review/
Ah, a December review from a 330, http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.com/2017/12/19/aer-lingus-business-class-a330-review/
Yes, I do think after an encounter with business, you hope/want it again some day :-) An economy plus section is a economizing option, more than economy, though plenty ways below business. Of the airlines I've used to get to Scotland (British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, KLM, and Aer Lingus), I prefer the economy on Aer Lingus b/c of the 2-4-2 seating on the Airbus widebody. If a flight were shown as a narrowbody or 757, I wouldn't take it; I like the 2-4-2 b/c you are never more than one person away from the aisle.
