Best airline for flying to Vegas from uk?

[hudyerwheesht]

Looking to fly in August with 14 your old DS and 11 yr old DD. Apparently the only airlines flying direct (from a London airport) are BA and Virgin.

I've read online a lot of negative reviews about BA (old, dated planes, on board "entertainment" rubbish, less legroom, etc) and have flown Virgin before and found it to be ok but it's a good bit pricier.

Anyone recently flown either recently?

Or anyone got any suggestions of alternatives? We are in the south west so could maybe fly out from an alternative airport...

I flew home from Vegas on Virgin after flying out to LA and I was shocked at the state of the plane - the crew openly admitted they use their older stock for Vegas flights when I commented. The flight to LA was excellent in a much newer and better spec of aircraft.

Things may have changed but it was enough that I've never flown Virgin anywhere since!

I think Virgin use some of their old 747's to Vegas. Just checked they are using some dreamliners to Vegas in August. I think they are slowly phasing out the old planes.

We flew into LA with Virgin on a brand new dreamliner and we just drove over to Vegas. The flight was fine.

Have you checked Thomas Cook, I think they fly into Vegas?

Hmmm, interesting. It seems like both Virgin and BA use old planes for the Vegas direct flight. Which is really annoying as we have planned our whole 3 weeks in California based in flying into Vegas.
We do have one brochure that mentions Thomas Cook but I don't think they go direct.

LV in August is very hot to a point of suffocating. It was 97 degrees at 9.40am one morning I was there at that time of year and it only gets hotter throughout the day. Are you certain you want to fly there then?

Both Virgin and BA use their older fleet to fly to LV. I would fly direct to LV and not go indirect however because it will add hours to an already long day. Also the clock on you making the second onward flight starts ticking on you as soon as the flight from the UK lands.

Agree with Attila we were in Vegas in August and it was 40c. We also had a sand storm. We mainly just stayed in the hotels and the pool. Still had a good time though, but I love hot weather.

Check Virgin for which day you want some are 789s which are new.

Thomas cook fly direct from Manchester in August. That's usually a A330.

Norwegian airlines? They fly from LGW and all their fleet is brand new Dreamliners

Argh, the more I look into this trip, the more things I find to worry about - I was concerned about the heat in August but we can't take the DC out of school so it has to be late July/early August.

And on googling Dreamliner I just found a bunch of articles about the engine problems they've had, to the point where they were restricted to within a mile of an airport at all times. I don't like flying anyway so this is just stressing me out more.

Dreamliners are fine, they are fixed now. I hate flying as well. Most of the airlines use them now as they are very efficient and are meant to have mood lighting/better air quality to reduce jetlag.

My two were 16 and 11 when we went in August and we were all fine with the heat. It was more a dry heat anyway. Not as humid as a British summer day.

If you do go with Norweigan make sure you book with a credit card as they recently reported financial difficulties.

I flew to the us BA and yes the entertainment system was showing its age but it showed movies, tv and had radio as well as my favourite channel - the map. Not sure what else you really need, take an iPad maybe? We flew virgin once and it was the worst flight ever for service - no kids packs because we boarded in the USA (we lived there), wouldn't honour our prebooked seats because they wanted our window seat for someone else and tried to split our family up despite having two kids under 6, one autistic. Their attitude sucked basically. BA however always have been brilliant as was easyJet to be honest, ditto Lufthansa. So save your pennies!

Norwegian Air is the way forward!! Lovely, new, comfortable, clean planes. Cheap too!

southnownorth you give me hope, thank you!

The engine problems were with a different engine Norwegian uses the RR ones which are fine .. I should know I worked for the airline

Norwegian have one of the worst punctuality records. I doubt the airlines make much money on the LV route due to lack of business travelers.

However I would not dream of going there in August! Just horribly hot! I would go in April - Easter holidays. Far more sensible.

Everywhere you might want to go will be scorching! What else have you planned! We did a trip to various national parks in October and that was lovely. Getting out of LV is the best bit!

I thought the dreamliners had the Trent 1000 engines which are from Rolls Royce - I only know that because my DH works for RR and has been part of that engine project.

Anyway, it seems my bigger problem right now is the potential heat. We were supposed to go from LV up through Yosemeti, then San Fran, then all the way down the coast again to LA - all over 3 weeks. Dont think there is enough time in the Easter hols to do that.

You're right @hudyerwheesht, it is the Trent 1000 that's got the problems with the blades and it is still ongoing.

Hi @hudyerwheesht, I've just had a quick look for August for a couple of weeks. The following airlines fly to Vegas (from Heathrow or Gatwick) - I've assigned (Direct) where this shows up:
British Airways (direct)
American Airlines (direct)
United
Virgin
Iberia (Direct)
Delta
Finnair (Direct)
Westjet
Air Canada
Direct prices for the four of you range from £3,300 to £4,200 and
Indirect prices range from £3,100 to £4,300.

The LA to Vegas drive is about 4-5 hours so that's also an option.

I've been there a number of times between July and September and I agree with @southnownorth - it's blisteringly hot, but dry and you're never more than 10 minutes away from any airconditioned place.

Obviously, children aren't allowed in the casinos but there are shows, restaurants, the Canyon, Hoover Dam and a number of non casino attractions that would keep them occupied.
With the US $ rate currently at 1.27, you may find it a bit pricey and using your credit / debit cards there will cost more due ot the banks' policy of duff exchange rates.

@christravelwizard I bloody love you! Thank you - that's given me some choices to investigate and reassurance. Both much needed and appreciated.

The above list is misleading. The Iberia, AA and Finnair flights are all codeshares with the BA flight.

Hi, yes they are codeshare partners but I listed all the actual flights that were going out. 😀

There's no point in researching an airline that's not operating the flight. OP asked about the best airline to fly with.

One thing to watch out for - recently I’ve noticed that a lot of online sites list their lead in flight prices without luggage and then add it as you go into the booking process, so what initially appears cheaper may not be.

I understand - what I’m saying is that I’m looking at my Galileo screen right now and there are flights for every single one of the airlines I mentioned. Yes they are codeshare partners but they have different times, prices and stops. These will not always appear on the published fares you see on online booking sites.

And you’re right Bombardier - there is a range of aircraft operating and some are better than others technically and also from a service / redesign and cabin crew service level. 😀

The direct Oneworld flights all have the same times, as they are all BA operated. None of them are hidden from public view!

We flew with Virgin last May and it was great, had 4 kids with us and I have to say it was a fab experience.