I need help!! I'm starting to et overwhelmed at all of my choices for ourupcoming trip to Spain. We are planning to fly to Barcelona and then eventually end up on London to go home to SMF (Sacramento). We are traveling with 7 & 10 year old boys so I want to have the shortest total travel time with the most leg room for hubby & myself!! I am getting overwhelmed with all the info I'm finding online. it seems as if all I find are complaints about all the airlines! What is the best for this long flight? Cost is a factor, but I am willing to pay more for an airline with more leg room. Any suggestions on airlines to stay away from, or ones to use? Thank you!
Posted by
Bellevue, WA, USA
359 posts
Chrissy,
You can got to www.seatguru.com and check layouts of many planes by different carriers. I've found that they aren't all-inclusive, but they are a place to start.
Posted by
Portland, OR, USA
805 posts
Most carriers flying from the US to Europe have around 31-32 inches of legroom. Unless you are an elite passenger (fly 25k of more miles per year) on United, or get lucky, in which case you can get up to 37 inches of leg room.
I wouldn't stress out about it too much. Air travel is likely to be the worst part of your trip. Get yourself a travel agent if necessary to take this off your plate so you can focus on planning the good part of your trip.
Posted by
Atlanta
800 posts
Chrissy - I don't know that there is that much difference among various US carriers with regards to flights to Europe. I would imagine they all use pretty much the same planes with an inch or two difference. I do use seatguru.com all the time and have definitely been steered away from the really bad seats (those that don't recline, etc.) but mostly the remaining seats are all the same.
Being from Atlanta we use Delta almost exclusively. We also made the decision 8 years ago to use miles to upgrade our seats to their Business Elite section for all Europe trips. We also have outright purchased some seats whenever they offer discounted Business fares. These are not cheap, especially not recently, but it works for our family. My daughter meanwhile just flew on US Airways through Philly. I was nervous because of lots of bad reviews with both the airlines and the airport. She got there just fine and it was about 1/2 the price of other airlines.
Another tip is continued below.
Posted by
Elk Grove, CA, USA
6898 posts
If you are flying on a budget, you're not going to have much selection on leg room. From the East coast, Delta and even Singapore airlines is a great choice to Europe. However, we live close to you in Elk Grove. We are United flyers and their choice is to take you down to L.A. and put you on Lufthansa, their Star Alliance partner. It's a 10.5 hr. flight from L.A. to Franfurt. You leave at 6:40pm from L.A. and fly through the night arriving in Frankfurt at 2:15pm. So, for much of the flight, you're asleep. You can transfer to your Barcelona flight in Frankfurt just as we did to Florence. As above, we use our United points to go business class. In business class, you have full time movies at your disposal. Not sure how it works in coach. But, Lufthansa is a great airline. Really great service. I'm betting your boys will work it out just fine.
Posted by
Atlanta
800 posts
Chrissy - another tip I have is that if your flights have connections in Europe consider making the connecting city part of your trip. I know you may not have a choice if the connecting city is in the states but after a long flight to Europe I would rather head to a hotel for even 1 night in my arrival city before continuing on the next day.
For example - we traveled to Sicily this summer. There are no non-stops from Atlanta so we booked a flight into Milan. Even though Milan was on the top of my list we still booked it such that we arrived in Milan in the morning, toured the city for the day and slept there for one night. We had an afternoon flight to Palermo the next day so had a leisurly morning, an early lunch and then went to the airport. Of course, as it turned out Milan was a great city for us to visit - much better than I thought it would be. So in your trip planning, consider how you get there to be part of the adventure!
Posted by
Napa, CA
3580 posts
I usually fly United. They have lots of coach seats with about 4 more inches of leg room in "coach plus." There is usually an extra charge, but in the past I have been upgraded to these as a frequent flyer. They have a scheme for getting people to pay extra for the "plus" seats, but the scheme keeps changing. Check with the airline if you want one of the roomier seats. For a long flight or if you fly a lot it may be worth the extra charge. I always request an aisle seat whether it is a "plus" or not. The seats in the center section of the plane seem to get less engine noise than the seats on the outer sides. For me the worst seats are in the center of a 5-seat row. I feel too trapped.