Flights to America - need current wisdom please from those who have travelled between the countries in the last year or so

[Earlybird]

Am in the process of booking summer air travel between London and America, and have some questions from those who have travelled between the two countries fairly recently (within last year):

1. Are the kinks with Heathrow Terminal 5 sorted (or likely to be) by the summer, or is Gatwick the way to go to avoid headaches?

1. Given travel restrictions/security, is it a bad idea to travel on two different carriers (ex: BA longhaul, connecting to Delta for US internal flights)?

1. What is your favorite carrier when travelling between US/UK? (Economy class....my days of Business Class travel for work no longer apply.) I'll be on my own with dd (age 7), so cabin comfort/seat pitch/inflight entertainment/meal quality etc are what matters now....

1. What is the minimum time you would allow between flights when transferring from International travel to a domestic flight and vice versa (previous personal 'rule' was 2 hours, but not sure that is sufficient these days).

1. Any new/different 'twists' to either Heathrow Express or Gatwick Express trains between airports and central London?

1. How do you book flights for personal and/or holiday travel? If online, which site do you like/use?

Any other tips/advice much appreciated. Thank you!

"You will clear Immigration in Orlando and that's geared up to Brits on the Holiday "visas" so is much quicker than other airports".

I smiled wryly to myself when I read this comment; there were only 4 out of 26 available desks open when we arrived at Orlando immigration!. This is poor forward planning particularly when two international flights had just landed and the TSA know exactly when these flights are due in.

There are plans afoot to bring in the ten digit scans to all US airports eventually. These were not in usage at Easter in Orlando but I read they are now.

Another possible route into Nashville may be via Charlotte in NC. Charlotte is less busy compared to many other hubs and that may be worth looking at.

Virgin at Heathrow will be moving their flights over to T4.

BA use American airlines for one of their World Alliance partners.

All adults are fingerprinted and photographed on arrival into the USA these days. Children are exempted from these particular requirements although you will need to complete a visa waiver form for each child.

If you can find a direct flight into Nashville from the UK I would use that. Same day internal transfers from international flights at many US airports can be a real PITA because more often than not you have to leave one terminal and enter another.

Dh has flown to Memphis 4 times this year, and his best flight was with Silverjet. I know you said not business class (they only offer business class), but it was actually cheaper than going with BA economy when he tried to book!

Never even heard of Silverjet, but will explore.

There are no direct International flights to Nashville, so will definitely have to connect in the USA.

Am glad to know that not all Terminal 5 experiences are nightmarish.

Sofia - Interesting to know that you (and others) rate BA so highly. It was always my airline of choice for business, but have found them to be on the pricier side when flying for pleasure. Would love it if I could find a competitively priced flight with them, with reasonable connections.

ScienceTeacher - I've flown Delta to America before, and found it an OK experience. Once, was fortunate enough to have individual screens in seat backs (which helped immensely in terms of entertaining dd), but have never had them any other time. Food also dire - but maybe that's the norm for airlines these days.

Shall we take bets on when the traditional end of school term/start of summer holiday aiport/airline strikes (or threats) will begin?

Have mostly travelled business class or premium ecnomy, and definitely prefer Virgin. Would say that clearing customs in the US now takes at least 2 hours, and would allow more if poss (flew into Washington just before Christmas, came in just behind a Saudi Airlines flight, and took more than 2 hours to get through).

Silverjet's only US destination is Newark.

What BA suggest if flying to Nashville is to go via Chicago O'Hare. This would entail using BA and AA (for the internal flight as AA is one of the World Alliance partners).

I was the person who flew with silverjet and you can connect in newark to nashville (flying continental). I have had mixed luck with flying to Chicago with BA. In three visits, i had three cancellations (one Chicago-Memphis, two London-Chicago). i might have been unlucky, but other people have said to me that this is common with chicago (worse in the winter)

As far as immigration goes, all US airports are similar (in fact London coming home was much worse last time). remember US domestic flights require 60 mins before take off, so 2-3 hours should be ok.

Don't fly into Charlotte - three international flights get there at the same time, so you can stand at immigration for an hour and a half easily.

Atlanta is OK, but takes forever to change planes there coming in - but a good hub, and a good number of flights to Nashville.

Chicago is fine this time of year, but a nightmare in the winter due to snow.

IME BA usually works out very competively, unless you are going to do a few internal flights in the US, when you can often get a good deal on the whole package.

For a few years I flew to the US once a month, but after DS was born, I've cut back to 6 times a year. And I never get to go business

My guess is that Chicago is a reliable International arrival/transfer city outside the winter months. But flying into/out of most any city in the Eastern half of the US (and keeping to a schedule) can be a gamble in the summer months due to those violent mid/late afternoon thunderstorms that occur regularly due to excessive heat and humidity.

Anyway - this is very helpful stuff, so thanks to all. I used to fly internationally for business every few weeks, so was bang up to date with all the new developments and little tricks that make travel more pleasant. My international travel is now so infrequent that in the space of a few years, have gone from being BA platinum level frequent flyer ('right this way madam' as I waltzed to the front of any queue), to no longer being listed in their executive club system!

Ahhh but you will find that traveling with kids means that once again you will get waltzed to the front of the queue on BA. (Forget that on any other airline) And BA gives priority seating to people with infants and people with kids.
I actually have found that the ba flights are rarely more than $20-50 more expensive and frankly will happily pay that for the difference in treatment.

Regarding direct flights....my aunt just got notice that in June Alitalia is starting direct flights from SFO to Rome (something that they have never done before). I wouldn't be surprised if you start seeing other airlines doing similar alternate routes.

Hi - have just got back from single parent trip to NYC. Heathrow was awful flying from terminal 4 with BA. The Heathrow express is a complete waste of money as it no longer stops at T4, you have to change onto the slower(by 5mins) and cheaper train from Paddington. Service is appalling from BA groundstaff and we were bussed(late) to our plane. No priority boarding of any kind just a Ryanair free for all. Flight was excellent though.
JFK on the other hand was a different matter. Big, big thanks to the lovely lady from immigration who sent everyone traveling with children to the head of the queue - it was 1am in the morning for us and very much appreciated. It was so much more civilised at JFK, plenty of places to eat, clean toilets and I actually felt safer traveling on my own with dd than at Heathrow.

I've flown to the US many times with both BA & Virgin as both a single person & with kids. I've used other airlines as well, including a charter (never again). Virgin wins hands down with my family. They do priority seating for families with kids (like many airlines) & the seat back entertainment is a huge bonus. I know other airlines are rolling them out, but Virgin have had them on all flights for as long as I can remember. Plus, my kids love the free messenger bag with goodies, the kids' meals & the kids' snack soon after departing on the inbound flight home. BA are fine, but just not as geared up to kids IMO. I've never been sent to the front of the queue at check-in on a BA flight. I'm very jealous, SofiaAmes.

Flying into the US in the last few years is a pain & requires a lot of patience & time, so I'd leave twice the normal amount of time to transfer flights. As someone said, I'd rather be lounging by the gate than panicking in security. Taking photos, fingerprints & asking lots of questions takes time, especially if you're dealing with several plane loads of potentially dangerous aliens.

I always book directly with the airline. I check Expedia 1st to see what they should be charging, but then check the airline's website & Expedia has never beat them when i've looked. Definitely book the connecting flight on their partner via them as well since they will be more helpful if you miss the connection.

Virgin by far the best with kids.

Does Virgin use Heathrow or Gatwick for flights to America?

Virgin actually use both Gatwick and Heathrow for their flights to the US.

For example Virgin fly from Gatwick to Orlando but use Heathrow to fly to San Francisco (to name but two destinations they fly to).

Virgin in my view are not as good these days. Feel have become complacent and innovations that they originally brought in have now been copied and in some cases superceded by other airlines. And don't get me started on some of their aircrews general attitude towards that of the self loading freight (i.e the passengers).