US domestic air carriers to London

I have flown twice recently (Oct. 2024 and Nov. 2025) on British Airways from O’Hare to Heathrow and have zero complaints. Well, except their food is not my favorite.

Sorry, I don’t have any advice on best options from Detroit.

British Airways are ok. They're not as good as they used to be but they are fine, and if they are the cheapest option I think it's a good choice. American have gotten a lot better recently, at least they were a couple of years ago. I normally go with Virgin, I think they have the best service for the best price, but I know they don't fly to Detroit- you would probably have to go via NYC. They do codeshare with Delta.

I used to fly Continental a lot before they merged with United and became United- but can't offer any recent experience.

You don't have to look hard to find complaints for every airline in existence. I've never had an issue with BA. As for the American carriers, Delta is the first American I consider. On the other hand, one of my closest friends flies American all over the world and swears by them. I thought United was just another airline, not great, not horrible.

I pay extra to fly non-stop, which for Detroit-London boils down to Delta. Other airlines, such as KLM, advertise tickets but those flights are probably on Delta. It's been a long time since British Air flew non-stop out of Detroit to London. You've got plenty of time to think about it since price adjustments are likely before July.

I've heard only bad things about flying British Airways

What does it mean? Did you search and read complaints over complaints? Did you speak to people really traveling BA? Sure, you did not inform yourself in a bubble?

In the annual award / listing of world best airlines BA is ranked 13 while Delta is on 22. Being listed in the top 20 is really remarkable.

If you're going to Royal Birkdale for The Open, Manchester is closer than Heathrow.

All the carriers are much of a muchness - you'll fly on a Boeing or Airbus with a seat and a meal of sorts. Nothing wrong with BA.

I hate to say this, but most airlines are pretty much the same in economy. You're going to hear and good and bad about every airline.

If you are willing to make a stop along the way--which you would have to do if you fly other than Delta--see about changing in NYC. Why? There are seven airlines that fly between NYC and London offering around 29 flights/day. It's the busiest route across the Atlantic. This means more competition and better fares.

If you have the option to fly nonstop from Detroit on Delta, that’s 100% what I would do. I will always choose a nonstop flight over one with connections, regardless of cost. Less to worry about and less opportunity for things to go wrong.

Beware the codeshare.

I have flown British Airways, Iceland Air, and American Airlines to/from London and they are all about the same in terms of service and comfort. Don’t expect great food on any of them, with Iceland Air the worst on food. I just pack a sandwich.

If you care about price, be sure you are comparing apples to apples. In the past, the seat-selection fee on British Airways was noticeably higher than the fee on other airlines, and I think the US airlines may not charge a seat-selection fee at all. (I don't pay on United, but that may only be because I have a United credit card.) I suspect you'll have to do a dummy booking on BA to find the seat-selection fee. I think the fee was £40 ($US 53) each way for transatlantic flights prior to the pandemic.

We always fly Virgin, but in PE so I can't comment on their coach. I have not flown BA across the pond, but the worst flight I have ever had was on BA London to Edinburgh. And I once flew on Sabena! We sat on the tarmac for a long time, the AC wasn't working, and they ran out of the water they sell in economy before they got to us. It was the first time in my life that I have ever felt claustrophobic.

My airline to and from London has been Virgin Airlines. Like the staff and the food.

Overnight flight in Premium Economy.

However going to fly Upper Class next time. Simply want to experience it.

I also like that in the LAX VA terminal is a See’s Candy vendor. Convenient to grab a gift before departure if I need to.

Check to see if Virgin flys from Detroit. For years flew Economy. Then I retired and choose Premium Economy and never looked back.

One trip decades ago flew BA. Was fine but prefer VA.

I just booked BA from San Francisco to Glasgow because of price and multiple flights available. I would rather fly United but right now their costs for PE are really high and there’s only a few flights available for my dates. When you do your price search make sure you add in the approximate cost of seat selection on the foreign airlines. PE seat selection on BA was $99-$133 (one way) depending on where the seat was, for the transatlantic flight. I think it was $33 for domestic.

I did look at American because it connects from SF thru Philadelphia and then directly to Edinburgh so you don’t go thru Heathrow but the last 3 times I’ve used American to London or Dublin, they’ve changed my flight times from great to horrible….every time.

Domestic US airlines are pretty much about the same, in terms of comfort, service, reliability, and how pleasant/unpleasant an experience you can expect. For me, I'd be looking for the best option in terms of routing, schedule, convenience, and I'd look carefully at the seat dimensions for the specific flight on any airline (you can't go by "airline", you need to check the exact aircraft/cabin/seat you would be in).

Or, should I just go with what I know (Delta)

There are times when it's better to dance with the devil you know, than the one you don't know.

My first consideration would be a non stop flight, and then price.

I try not to backtrack (Chicago) or sidestep too much (JFK).

The airline stops more “on the way” are Toronto, Montreal, Reykjavik.

Note Icelandair flies single aisle planes, not everyone’s cup of tea for 6 hours.

As already noted, Heathrow is a poor choice for this golf trip. Icelandair flies to Manchester (closest) and also Glasgow.

Your best bet would be to fly British Airways to Heathrow and catch a connecting flight back to Manchester. You could fly into London and then catch one of the budget air carriers but it is easier to just go B/A all the way.

Claudia, the best part of flying Upper Class on Virgin is that you can take a shower in their first class lounge when you arrive at Heathrow.

fly British Airways to Heathrow and catch a connecting flight back to Manchester.

From Detroit this would be 3 planes.

Looking into it more deeply, the best prices/connection times are Air Canada via Toronto to Manchester.

I flew with British Airways for the very first time this past May from LHR to Barcelona. The service was great and I was particularly impressed by this flight attendant, who kept her cool while this person sitting in front of me berated her loudly for a long time (not exaggerating) over not getting the vegetarian meal they preordered.

However I do have Qualms with their buggy website and mobile app; apparently this is a problem customers have been complaining about for years.

BA operates their international long-haul and European flights from Heathrow Airport T5; which was really crowded when I was there. Heathrow only posts departure gates about one hour before departure; which is kind of nuisance to me (of course this has nothing to do with BA).

P.S. The advantage of booking with U.S. airlines is that you can cancel non-refundable ticket and receive eCredit; which will allow you to rebook if prices drop or if your itinerary change.

Air Canada will fly you from Detroit to Liverpool (the correct city for Southport)- change at Toronto for Heathrow, then an included Avanti train ticket from London Euston to Liverpool, as one through air/rail ticket. If you look at Detroit to Heathrow the train ticket is an extra £4 each way on the fare on sample dates next July.

That's worth a bit of convenience, given the cost of what is presumably an open return ticket Euston to Liverpool.

I can only get Aer Lingus to ticket Detroit to Dublin, they won't through ticket a 3rd sector Dublin to Liverpool.

Puzzled why Heathrow is even in the mix of planning. The 9-10 hours journey to Manchester with the transfer in Toronto on AC is the clear winner versus the minor hell of Heathrow + the ground transfer to Euston, 14 hours with the various trains to finally get up north?

Heathrow only posts departure gates about one hour before departure;
which is kind of nuisance to me (of course this has nothing to do with
BA).

Yes, but there are other ways to get the gate information much earlier. I have the flight aware app on my phone, which will have the info. earlier than it is posted. And when I was there last month, there was an airport employee standing under one of the departure boards and she was able to look up my gate info. even earlier than flight aware had it. About 2.5 hours before my flight.

@Carrie: I spent four nights in London for the very first time before my Spain tour; I was pleasently surprised by the city and plan to visit it again. Your tip will come handy the next time I visit London :) Thanks for sharing it!

Delta isn’t an option from Denver, and we’ve flown British Airways now for more than 25 years. They’re our first choice. Meal options include Hindu, if you’d want a curry. Although we’re now members of BA’s frequent flyer program, we bought tickets in BA “Basic Economy” for our current trip, and without paying extra to pre-reserve seats, we still got decent seats, immediately behind the extra-legroom exit row seats in the “World Traveller” Economy section. Flew Denver to London for a few days, then London to Italy (where we are for 2 more days), then Naples to London for another 10 days before flying home. Because Basic Economy is carry-on only and I can’t check a bag without paying more, I can’t fly home with any special bottle of olive oil from Italy (liquid exceeding the Security 3 oz. carry-on rule), but I’m saving a bit on fares. Regular economy, pricier, lets you check your suitcase, up to 51 lbs., if you want, and pick your actual seat 24 hours before takeoff for no extra charge.

Yes, beware of codeshares. We typically fly Delta. I stalk and typically get good fares that have better itineraries for us from Minneapolis. However, until I became more careful, we've occasionally ended up on codeshares. KLM a few times and AirFrance once, and never again. Even though we purchased a ticket type with Delta that is supposed to allow us to pick seats, if we wanted to pick seats, we had to pay with AirFrance. The plane interior was run down, I had a fold up video monitor which had to be duct taped to stay up. Their wine is awful. I do look forward to a drink when I fly, and Delta includes cocktails on international flights. KLM was fine, but I wasn't all that impressed. Why AirFrance and KLM end up higher in rankings than Delta is beyond me.

I'm surprised you've heard bad about British Airways. I've never flown them, but I occasionally look at their fares, and I've only heard good about them. When you talk about airlines, everything is relative/ I was going to recommend IcelandAir, which we've flown and liked just fine, but I don't believe they fly from Detroit.

Also be aware that some of the codeshare airlines have smaller carryon sizes than Delta.

Thank you all for the comments! I am glad to hear from those of you who have had positive experiences with BA. Maybe it's folks who hate Terminal 5 at Heathrow (I believe that's the BA terminal), or I've just heard from the most vocal folks who have had bad experiences with BA vs. those who have had. good experiences.

I think I'm going to narrow my search to Delta (Detroit to London and then take the train up. I've flown Delta to London a few times and it has always been a positive experience) and BA (Detroit to Chicago and then Chicago to London and perhaps a connection to Liverpool).

Thanks again and Happy Travels to all!

Airline reviews are incredibly skewed. People only post when things go wrong. (And as for reliable on DL, It took them THREE hours to get us off the plane that landed 6 hours late Saturday night.... But since I live in Atlanta I will be flying them next month!)

BA is my airline of choice to fly to Europe...for decades. I've never had a bad experience. (knock on wood) They have my favorite flight so they are a clear winner for me. I always stay in Terminal 5, whether flying in or out of Heathrow.

Hold Harmless: I'm going off course on the way home and will be taking Aer Lingus direct from Dublin. Normally, I will train back to London if I can. No trains from Dublin to London, LOL, so to avoid another short polluting flight, I will fly direct to Boston. I'm not excited about Aer Lingus so we shall see.

I fly Delta domestically, but I really don't like that they make you pay for checked luggage so I carry my suitcase on. However, now that I have a 4 wheeled spinner, it's easier for me to move around the airport with my small PI on top. I'm happy to check for free at the gate though. Sorry, I think I digressed.

I recommend you carefully compare what would happen on the two carriers if you cancel your trip for some reason. I say this because earlier in 2025 I had to cancel a British Airways flight to Heathrow due to a family medical emergency. I was shocked to learn the only refund I would receive (on a business class fare. ouch) would be taxes. Shame on me for not carefully investigating British Airways' rules of carriage. I had assumed that if I bought a British Airways nonrefundable fare, I would receive a credit if I cancelled. Had I known what would happen, I would have either flown Delta (my usual carrier) or bought trip insurance.

For my next two overseas flights to Heathrow, I am flying Delta on a non-refundable fare....and know that if I cancel, I will have a credit to use on my next overseas trip.