Good and not so good airlines

After more years of flying than I care to disclose, my conclusion is that the quality of a given flight depends mostly on 1) the personality and behavior of the flight attendants; and 2) the personality and behavior of the other passengers. Neither is predictable. You can be on the greatest airline in the world, and if the guy in front of you keeps his seat in the full-back position the entire time, you're going to have a miserable flight. So generalizations don't work. As far as price, any good airfare search engine will quickly do your price comparisons for you.

I find a good route is generally more important than airline. I prefer a non-stop flight. If there isn't one to my destination, I look for flights with reasonable connections (2 hour layover rather than 12 hour layover). I also prefer to change planes in a European airport rather than a U.S. airport. When connecting, I consider the ease of connection at that airport. For example, Amsterdam, Munich, and Zurich are all very efficient for connections. On the other hand, CDG is one of my least favorite airports to connect through.

I agree with both of the above. In light of Laura's comments, I'd suggest you begin by considering the Delta flight direct/nonstop from PDX to AMS. For us, this flight made Europe seem "closer." Have a great trip.

I like Condor. They fly one of the few non-stops out of SeaTac (to Frankfurt) and their prices are reasonable. They run right around $1000 per ticket in June. What I like most about them, though, is their Premium Economy tickets are just a few hundred dollars extra. I flew them this past fall and I was very happy.

Jill maybe I am misunderstanding you, but if you are asking about inter Europeon airlines for getting around I have used both Vueling and Easyjet a few times with no issues at all. I would suggest you pay attention if you choose to use Ryanair, they tend to use lesser known and farther out airports, for instance, for Paris they use neither Charles de Gaulle or Orly, they use Beauvais.. which is 100 km away from Paris and has no direct train service, its almost two hours by train and bus to get into city.
Both Orly and CDG have direct services and are much closer. Same with a few other of their destinations, you think you are saving money with them , but sometimes you are paying more to actually get to where you are going and wasting vacation time. With any of the cheaper airlines do pay attention to the booking conditions, read the websites, and pay especial attention to luggage restrictions, they are STRICT. That said, I paid 97 euros , for two of us, to fly from Barcelona to Paris this past summer, and thats with fees and paying for a checked bag each!! Do book ahead ( well ahead) to get those kind of deals.

We flew EasyJet earlier this year London-Pisa. They're clear on their luggage sizes, weights, etc. and their computer reservation system worked well. Our concerns were more with Gatwick's disorganization than EasyJet. I just keep on ready about RyanAir's dissatisfied customers all over the internet. I'd try to stay away from them.

We have flown FlyBe Airlines a few times in the UK, but they fly other places. All the experiences have been good. Be careful of fees though. That seems to be true of all the European economy companies.

I've found SAS to be a microcosm of the countries they service- unassuming but professional, clean and elegant, flexible, adaptable and anticipatory, but not necessarily the cheapest out there. There you have it, Scandinavia in a nutshell. I wouldn't say the in-flight meals are particularly amazing, but at least they aren't generic airline food, and they offer a nice little taste of Scandinavian cuisine. I also had the best coach airline meal of my life on Turkish Air. I avoid US Air and Ryanair like the plague.

Within Europe we have been very satisfied with Easy Jet. The times we flew to cities where EJ did not go we had great luck with Meridiana, Air Austria, and Olympic Air. Would happily fly with any of these again. Food service on these was better than Delta-even on short haul flights.

Please post your itinerary, so people can make specific suggestions. Otherwise, I agree that we can't be very helpful. For instance, I had a very good experience with Turkish Air from New York to Istanbul, but unless you are going to (or through) IST, that's not very helpful information. Turkish Air only flies from a few US gateways, and IST is out of the way for most other European destinations. Assuming Portland means Oregon, not Maine, I agree that a nonstop to Europe is more efficient than changing planes in the US (for most itineraries). If you are leaving from Maine, look into flights from Boston (but, sometimes it's cheaper to leave from BOS, and sometimes it's cheaper to fly out of Portland and connect in BOS; you have to check both options). As for flying within Europe, again, recommending airlines only makes sense if there is a nonstop flight (or, if there's no nonstop, a simple connection) on that airline between the cities you want. I agree that I've read a lot of bad about Ryanair, but my biggest problem would be the out-of-the-way airports they often use. This is something to be aware of with all airlines: when they say "London" or "Paris" or "Frankfurt" or "Stockholm," which airport are they really using? And what is the added cost in time and money to get where you really want to be?

Since United is hubbed in San Francisco, and my business trips almost always are to Chicago or NY, I generally chose United, if competitive, to get the miles. Our last trip to Europe in 2011 and next trip in 2012 are on miles, so that really saves a chunk of money an a trip to Europe if purchase airfare. So if you travel somewhat frequently, pick an airline where you can accumulate miles, assuming airfare is competitive with other airlines. If you use a codeshare airline within Europe (Lufthansa/United) you also earn miles. That being said, I won't spend more just to get miles. Also, from the West Coast, I want a direct flight to Europe so if there is a delay, missed connection, cancelled connecting flight, I'm already in Europe. I'd rather be in Frankfurt trying to figure out options to get to Italy, than in Chicago, waiting for the airline to put us on another flight, which could be 12 or more hours later. Especially since these days on long haul flights, the odds of emmpty seats is slim.
Echo a previous poster that best/worse has to do with customer service, gate personel, flight attendents, pilots, people next to, in front of, and behind you. I've had great flights on United and really bad flights on United. Take Noise cancelling headsets to drown out the sound of crying babies, airplane noise, and "loud" talkers nearby.

Thanks everyone for your comments. Portland, Oregon is our starting point. We'll go to Brussels then head to Athens, Tel Aviv, Rome, Florence, Dublin, Brussels and back to PDX, so we will be using several different airlines. I've recently heard a story of luggage misplaced for 5 days from Icelandic Air (not sure of the exact name)so I'm trying to avoid mishaps such as this.

I've recently heard a story of luggage misplaced for 5 days from Icelandic Air (not sure of the exact name)so I'm trying to avoid mishaps such as this. Jill, about the only way to avoid lost luggage is not to check it. Unfortunately this can happen with any airline. Over the years, SAS, Lufthansa, Air France, and Alitalia have each "lost" my bag for between 1 and 5 days. I think most people would consider SAS, Lufthansa, and Air France to be good airlines (although Alitalia, not so much). I still check bags, but I always make sure to carry on a change of clothes or two and essentials like meds, travel plans, etc.

We used Brussels Air and were pretty impressed. They were very efficient. We also use the luggage tags that have some itinerary info in case the bags get lost.

I've found some surprisingly good fares within Europe on Lufthansa. You can book through their US website to avoid foreign transaction fees on your credit card. I've also had good experiences with Meridiana and Air One (although that was before Air One acquired Alitalia). I thought the service on all 3 was above average.

Within Europe, I've done well on EasyJet to Athens and Aegean Air to the islands. I've been eyeing EasyJet to Tel Aviv from London, but you have to check their routes. From the US to London (we live in England in the summer), we always take British Airways. They have a convenient non stop from Denver to Heathrow. Their service is outstanding and food about as good as airline food gets. One of us came back with a broken ankle and BA was quite good about it. It is worth just a few dollars more to come into Terminal 5 at Heathrow (United comes into one of the others, I think 3, yuck). Bon Voyager!

My only recent experience in flying within Europe was last year when I flew WizzAir from Budapest to Eindoven in the NL. It was a very good experience, just be sure you know what all the charges will be on any budget airline. Plane was a small AirBus, attendants were friendly, we left on time, arrived on time and I had no problem taking bus to town, then train to Amsterdam.

The fare and the routing is more important to me than the airline. I avoid certain airports if at all possible - LHR, CDG and Frankfurt spring to mind. I prefer direct flights and will not do very short transit times under most circumstances. That said, I do avoid certain airlines - Qantas being one, Ryan Air another.

Just fly directly from PDX to AMS (bypassing the East Coast) and you won't regret it. Unfortunately that's the only non stop from PDX to Europe. If that doesn't work, consider a direct non stop from either Seattle or San Francisco, which are well connected to PDX. Coming also from the West coast, I usually try to avoid Northeast airports (JFK, EWR, IAD) and Midwest airports (ORD, MSP) like the plague. I'm willing to pay more for a straight flight from SFO to Europe. Within Europe any airline that fits your schedule and budget will do because you'll be on the air for just one hour or two. Europe is not that big, especially what you are covering. Tel Aviv is a little farther. Your choices there will be limited from where in Europe you'll be traveling to Tel Aviv. In your shoes I'd go to Tel Aviv first and then work my way back. You could take a Delta/KLM flight from PDX to AMS (oper. by Delta) then a AMS - TLV (oper. by KLM). Then from TLV you could fly to ATH (Aegean, El Al) or Rome (Alitalia, El Al). Since you have to shock your body clock, you might as well shock it all the way with a full 10 hour time difference between Pacific Time and Israel time.

In the interest of balanced input, I can tell you I had good experience on Ryan air on a few flights. Just read the fine print carefully re charges and conditions... with any budget carrier. Most recently I paid less than €50 to fly from Paris to Milan on Ryan Air (including tax and fees for checked bag, reserved seat, early boarding), and it was a far more pleasant experience than subsequent flight on Alitalia that was far more expensive.