San Diego to NY - AA/Delta/JetBlue.. or Southwest?

Hey folks, as part of our 2012 hols we will need to fly from San Diego to NY JFK. This is about 4 1/2hrs and we will be in economy so want to be as comfy as possible.

At the moment I can see 3 direct flight options, and was wondering if you folks have any preferences/advice?

American Airlines - had poor experiences with them, aircraft is a 737-800 with no IFE. My least favoured option despite the prospect of earning Avios.

Delta - never flown with them, again a 737 but appears to have (paid for) seat back entertainment and wi-fi.

JetBlue - never flown with them (first trip in Feb) but heard good things, new aircraft and free seat back IFE. Also appear to have most legroom in coach. 1 free bag per person.

Taking into account bag fees, AA and DL are almost identical, JetBlue is £100 more for 2 people. We may upgrade to even more room on JetBlue at a later point. Indirect flights are no cheaper so will look to stay direct.

Any helpful V-Flyer views are much appreciated

I have flown JetBlue a few times and they are really good new AC and as you say great leg room... If I have to do a internal flight JetBlue is my first choice.

AA... Hmmm.... I agree with you.

Delta... Would be my second choice....

Mike

If you collect BA Miles then AA. The 737s are OK and the miles/TPs are worth it. No IFE/wifi? I'd just take a good book.

However I agree that DL and Jet Blue would be better experiences!

Done SAN-NY direct a number of times on JetBlue and was very happy with the metal, in-flight service and cc etc. Personally I'd choose JB very happily, even at a slight premium in cost.

Jetblue vote from me too if you're happy with the price. to be honest, I'd be happy spending a good $50 or so more to go with jetblue, due to the extra legroom over AA and Delta.

I always use Jet Blue wherever possible. the extra leg room seats are well worth it.
so my vote - JB
second -JB
third- JB

Thanks for the comments guys. Looks like a victory for JetBlue over DL, (to be fair AA never really left the starting grid).

The DL and AA flights both leave San Diego around 7.30am, arriving JFK 16.00ish, but the JetBlue flight is 12.30 arriving at 9pm. I guess a 4pm arrival would be nicer but if you get there at 9pm you can crash out in bed and start fresh the next day.

I always use Jet Blue wherever possible. the extra leg room seats are well worth it.
so my vote - JB
second -JB
third- JB

y) y) y) y) y)

Definitely JetBlue.

Glad to hear AA are off the list, avoid like the plague is all I can say!

Bit of a dilemma in progress here!

Jetblue is $617 (£398) for 2 people, non-stop from San Diego - JFK

Southwest is $317 (£203) for 2 people, with a direct (1 stop in Chicago but no plane change) service from San Diego - Newark.

Flight times are within 50 minutes of each other, neither charge bag fees.

Is it worth paying extra for JetBlue?

Any helpful pointers appreciated!

how long are the flights?

If it's only a couple or so hours I'd rather the £ be in my pocket even if it is a tad less comfy

Is it worth paying extra for JetBlue?

Only you can answer that:

- Direct flight
- Greater legroom
- IFE

Is that worth $300 for 5 hrs ... $30 p.h. per person?

For me the answer would be yes, but it all depends ...

I would still use AA so as to collect avios plus tier points and as at240 says "take a good book".

cheers

alex

as before JET BLUE ...you wont regret it

JetBlue it is then

Why not look at Virgin America. Have to change planes in SFO but its comfy and has IFE. I've never taken JB though so wouldn't vote against others here. VX is cheap too and you gets FC miles.

So... we've finally got our act together to book this trip after a lot of faffing with confirming the exact date we wanted to head to NYC.

Unfortunately JetBlue $880 (£550) for 2 people for the non-stop daylight flight to JFK, which seems very steep.

By comparison, AA are £445 for 2 people which involves a nicer arrival time and a 767 wide-body aircraft. Plus we'd earn Avios.

The curveball comes from Southwest, who have 1-stop options to La Guardia for as little as £250 for both of us including free checked bags. However we're a little bit uncertain about Southwest on such a long flight, having never flown with them before. Does anyone have any views on using Southwest?

Although AA are fantastically miserable, I'm leaning towards them for the Avios, schedule and 767 aircraft. If anyone has any advice I'd be very grateful!

I haven't flown on Southwest so I can't help with that -- although it seems like a big saving....

In the past 7 days I've done 2 long flights in AA economy (one of them from JFK to LAX) and they actually weren't too bad. The crews were friendly and legroom was adequate. The lack of IFE doesn't really bother me; the 767 was in a poor state internally and it takes you back a few decades (to put it mildly!).

I've flown southwest a few times, but only on the shorter LAX-LAS or SFO-LAS flights.

Never had any problem with them. Flights always been on time and crew have been OK. They don't have any IFE, but thats not a problem on the short flights I have done.

Leg room is OK, and the seats are fairly comfy. You also get free soft drinks and peanuts.

For the difference in price I would personally go with Southwest.

I would choose southwest. Here are the caveats, bring your own snacks onboard as there are only peanuts (no snacks for purchase onboard like AA) and bring something to do iPad or books as there is no IFE. But on the AA flight there is unlikely to be IFE either.

I think the legroom and seats on the southwest planes are better than AA economy.

Thanks for the help folks. In the end we had a bit of a 'what the heck' moment and booked JetBlue with the Even More Space seats, so same legroom as VS PE. It is a 5 hour flight after all..!