Snowy560

Hi I'm looking at BA or Westjet YVR to the UK next year, premium economy. BA is quite a lot cheaper but you seem to get more features with Westjet plus it seems to be a 787 and BA is a 777. Has anyone flown these routes recently and have a view or any advice? Thank you!

dbd33

I'm flying with Westjet next week. I'll be meeting my daughter who's flying from Vancouver today. I don't know what sort of aeroplane it'll be in either case. I have, in fact, flown literally thousands of times without ever knowing what model the plane was, I've taken fewer busses, trams and trains, but don't know the model of those either. Why would it matter?

bats

BA is cheaper??? surely not. and what features feature? Doesn't BA go to Heathrow terminal 5 and Westjet Gatwick? which of those is more convenient to you? I prefer to go with AC or BA as they have more flights available should there be a cancellation. Like dbd33 it makes no difference to me which model tin can I'm in.

Snowy560

Hi thanks for your replies. BA is significantly cheaper than Westjet or AC for premium economy but looking at the features I don't think BA's are as many. LHR or LGW doesn't make much difference. We are going to North East London. I'm a little fussy about the plane, airline fleet age etc.

bats

Well only you can decide what the difference in plane is worth to you. Will you get enough joy out of paying more $$ for a 787? And whatever the features are, do they have a tangible value?

bc2015

It seems like the majority of BA 777s got updated WT+ in 2018 but the update also included a change to the seat layout to 2-4-2. It seems like the YVR flight is one of the newer WT+ cabins and 8 seats across means the seat is going to be narrower than the old WT+ layout. Westjet is 2-3-2 so is likely to be roomier. I think the meal service etc.. on BA is likely better product though. I personally prefer flying on 777.

Snowy560

Thanks for both your replies. I take on board that BA will have more rebookable flights in case of cancellation. And that Westjet could be roomier with the seat configuration. But some 777s are surely getting a bit old now aren't they?! And yes BA is quite a bit cheaper for the same dates. So about two thirds of the Westjet or Air Canada price.

bats

So hundreds of dollars? My cut off for choosing AC or BA over Air Transat used to be $200 difference which was extravagant of me but i loathe Gatwick

Snowy560

Yes quite a lot of money. Significantly more than the $200 you mentioned. I think you have to pay extra for seat selection though with either option. On BA I think that is quite a lot.

bc2015

Yes the 777s are on the older side but it only matters when the last cabin update was done. In the BA 777s case, most of them were updated in 2018 so should feel relatively modern and clean (of course you could end up on one of the older ones but there’s not too many of them around).

Snowy560

BA used to fly very old 747s on the YVR LHR route. They weren't very clean I remember.

btar

We've found BA's 777's rather cold on the overnight journey whereas 787's seem to be more comfortable from a temperature/draughts aspect.
I wonder how the cabin service compares? Last time I flew with AC (2020) it was a carboard box containing a few snacks but this was pandemic policy.

Snowy560

We booked BA in the end as the difference in price between the airlines was quite large. My husband wants to go into Heathrow.

Thanks for all your responses.