Preferred US Airline

Hey as I mentioned in an earlier post I need to get to Kansas City, Missouri for a special 50th birthday for a relative. Initially I wanted to use my miles and go with VS via one of the east coast destinations, however this is proving a pain, potentially having to change planes again after initially reaching the US.

I'm now considering going via a US carrier or BA&US carrier to make the journey more hassle-free! Although I travel several times a year its almost always on VS so I'd appreciate any recommendations/experiences or preferences on US carriers.


Thanks in advance!

How about Delta via Atlanta or Minneapolis?

Yeah I'm looking at that mainly as well as United via Washington DC. Would you choose Delta over United?

Internally Jet Blue are fantastic. Never used Virgin America .

family who have flown long haul recently have praised AA (though that was business) and my son loved Delta and US Air

United from what I hear are to be avoided

just checking, you have numerous options
the 2 that stand out are into JFK then on with Delta
or Chicago and then on with Southwest who also have a good rep

to my mind these would be the better 2
you could even drive from Chicago in under a day....that could be fun

OK. Done some more research and looks like my best option in terms of price, connections and quality may be Delta via ATL. Also in terms of connections, if I book direct with Delta LHR-MCI via ATL will my bags be automatically transferred to my connecting flight in ATL or do I have to collect bags and check in again?

on the way out, you will have to collect bags, clear customs and then re-check them (almost immediately). My lad did it LHR-ATL-TPA and said it was a breeze.

did via Chicago not work ? I would have thought going down to ATl then back up was a fair bit longer

May I ask how long it took your son to do that? I can't find any guidelines on minimum connection time from international to domestic.

Well AA via Chicago requires a terminal change so don't fancy that. Other option was United, but several of their options had tight connection times. There was one with 2hr50 connection which I think would save me just over an hour but for the sake of an hour I think I'd prefer the service on Delta via ATL.

The DL flights will also earn you VS miles.

Thats definitely set my choice on DL via ATL. I'm still unsure about connection times though. At the moment the choices are 2hr 51 layover or 4hr 20 on the way out and 2h10,2hr58 or 4hr on the return. I know I'll have to pickup bags, go through customs and check in again but as I've never done this not sure what connection time would leave me enough time without rushing.

My lad just described it as a piece of p***. he was through in minutes and could have made an earlier flight

on the inbound yes you have to clear customs etc but you don't check in again just go straight to the gate....2.50 should be fine

on the return its even easier , no bags no immigration, just gate to gate...I've done that at JFK in less than an hour...you should be more than ok

Also bear in mind if on one ticker DL will rebook you on a later flight if your earlier is delayed...its their fault/problem

Personally I'd choose Delta over United (and I don't think I'm alone!). 3 hrs will probably be enough on the outbound. It's always a bit of a gamble - but you will be flying to a DL hub so there will be plenty of help available if things go awry. On the return you should be able to check your bags through to London from Kansas City, which means you don't need to allow quite as much time for the connection.

Thank you guys, you've been really helpful