BA or CO - MAN-NYC

We're thinking of fulfilling one of my life ambitions and visiting New York City when I'm off over college half-term in May. It will be from Manchester purely on convenience grounds (LHR is a no-no) with it being a half-hour drive and have priced it up between BA and Continental.

Continental has come out to be slightly cheaper than BA (in Economy) but I want to know if anyone has experienced these flights and which airline to go for?

For those who are unfamiliar with MAN operations BA operate a daily flight to JFK using a 767-300ER while Continental offer 2 flights a day to EWR using 757-200s.

Looked into using Delta as well but they don't fly back on Tuesday nights so it was ruled out.

Thanks!

If it were me, I'd go for BA simply for the reason that I'd probably start to feel a bit cramped if I was on a 757 for seven hours (and for CO's part in VA/s rejection;))

VS.

[Scrooge]

However you could earn VS miles on the CO flight.

However I would go BA as well, both carriers are in the midst of installing AVOD, however BA's 767's are at the bottom of the list to get it where as CO's 752's being used for international service will be among the first.

Is a BD internal down to LHR out of the question??

It maybe a nasty drive down to LHR from where you live, however you will only have to add on around another 3 hours or so to your trip to connect onto VS at LHR?? Got to be better than BA/CO..

I would be looking at this option possibly...

[mitchja]

You can get a BD domestic flight MAN>LHR for as low as £48 return if you book early enough now online, as BD often sell fares for £0 now on that route (all you pay is the tax ), much cheaper than BA.

As Rob says, it will only add a few hours to your journey and flying from LHR will give you much more choice (and probably lower trans-Atlantic fares too)

Regards

CO do change the equipment on MAN-EWR frequently in the past year I think they have 762, 764, 777 and 757 operating the route! Considering that you get AVOD, Miles and the option of two departures a day from MAN I would say go for CO. And you could well find yourself not ona 757.

Remember that JFK-MAN on BA is a bit up in the air at the moment with regards to BA Connect being sold to FLybe and how it will fit into BA's london based policy, rumours were the route wouldnt last too long.

Go with CO and fly the 75 across the pond- it has to be done! And btw it is no less crampt than a VS 744 or 346!

We've flown this route 4 times X3 with BA and X1 with CO. On 3 occasions we were price driven and went with the lowest price which was BA X2 and CO once (the other time we won a trip to NYC so went with whoever we were told to). CO in Y were miles better, the service was better, we had seat back TV (never had this with BA on that route yet), the plane was newer and it was great. BA is always average in Y, nearly as bad as VS lol.
We are going back in April over Easter, we've chosen BA as we've got Club World return for about £890 each (MFU price) which we thought was a bargain, we upgraded a month or so after having orignally booked PE - BA never used to have PE on that route!
If prices were similar and we were going in Y we'd most likely go with CO.

The cabin does certainly feel more cramped on a single-aisle than on a widebody if you're on it for a while.

VS.

LHR is out of the question. Did a price check on VS and the chepaest fares are slightly expensive than BA's MAN-JFK and thats without the domestic flight. No point going via LHR when you can fly direct from MAN.

I hear that CO's Economy cabin is spaced out at 31" and the choice of 2 flights a day is good so at the moment its leaning more towards CO, if we decide to go ahead with it.

No point going via LHR when you can fly direct from MAN.

Well there is if you want to fly VS;)

Do you/your family have status with VS/any airline?

VS.

Originally posted by daywalker
We've flown this route 4 times X3 with BA and X1 with CO. On 3 occasions we were price driven and went with the lowest price which was BA X2 and CO once (the other time we won a trip to NYC so went with whoever we were told to). CO in Y were miles better, the service was better, we had seat back TV (never had this with BA on that route yet), the plane was newer and it was great. BA is always average in Y, nearly as bad as VS lol.
We are going back in April over Easter, we've chosen BA as we've got Club World return for about £890 each (MFU price) which we thought was a bargain, we upgraded a month or so after having orignally booked PE - BA never used to have PE on that route!
If prices were similar and we were going in Y we'd most likely go with CO.

I just wanted to clarify our MFU price to CW was buying PE at £550ish and we bought some extra miles to be able to upgrade, still a bargain in our eyes.

Originally posted by VS045

No point going via LHR when you can fly direct from MAN.

Well there is if you want to fly VS;)

Do you/your family have status with VS/any airline?

VS.

Nope, I'm gonna try and convince them to give me consent to join VS' FC so if we go CO I can get miles for it. Although it is awful tempting to fly wonderful VS, LHR is a shambles in my eyes ATM and it's something I can do without.

Might be worth considering BA`s union problems at the moment before you decide between them and CO. I know May is a while off and hopefully things get sorted, but half term break would be an ideal time for a go at Mr. Walsh if they don`t.

Also, CO flies to EWR, and that pretty much justifies it right there...

I wouldn't have thought that labour unrest will affect BA as far away as May...ISTBC;)

VS.

Cant believe I've missed this thread!

I flew CO BFS-EWR on a 757 on the 30/12 for new years eve in NYC, granted it was wierd flying such a small plane but I had no major problems with it. The IFE wasnt great but as I hadnt been to bed the night before I was happy enough to get some sleep!

The only thing that got me was when the cabin crew were giving out the (very small) drinks, if a bottle or can had some left in it THEY would gulp it down!

Other than that I liked it, and I'm no longer dreading my flights to HNL with them!

Originally posted by BelfastFlyer
Cant believe I've missed this thread!

I flew CO BFS-EWR on a 757 on the 30/12 for new years eve in NYC, granted it was wierd flying such a small plane but I had no major problems with it. The IFE wasnt great but as I hadnt been to bed the night before I was happy enough to get some sleep!

AVOD is being rolled out across the 757 fleet as we speak.


Granted the cabin is smaller width wise etc but really it is no different to flying on AF's dedicate service in that regard.