Transatlantic air travel experience during Covid
 

So we have been in a covid bubble the last 2 years and next year we are hoping to fly from LA to visit my family in England for the summer. We usually fly Virgin and if we can we go premium economy. I know things have changed quite a bit but in these days of vaccine mandates etc. has the service become a little more pleasant or is it still a bottle of water and a stale plastic wrapped sandwich shoved at you instead of a nice meal and glass of wine? Any airlines flying this route that are better than others? We usually steer clear of any US airlines as they are generally awful though United actually was not bad if rather dull, when we took it to Paris pre covid.

Re: Transatlantic air travel experience during Covid
 

im tryng aerlingus new route (orlando-manchester) for the first time next month. Interested to see how compares to BA & Virgin

Re: Transatlantic air travel experience during Covid
 

Pre Covid, I always flew Air Canada, because we live in northern NY State so Ottawa was (is) our closest airport. With the border closed, I’ve had to seek other alternatives. In October, I flew IAD to LHR, United. I booked premium economy. Honestly, it was one of the best transatlantic flights I’ve ever taken. It was a Boeing 767, but the premium economy seating was newly installed I believe and extremely comfortable. Food service, and service in general, was very, very good. The whole experience was at least as good/comfortable as when I flew BA LHR to BOS, business class, in June 2020.

I’m flying back, LHR to IAD, in a couple of weeks.

Re: Transatlantic air travel experience during Covid
 

I second robin's comments - the United premium economy option is pretty good. Portions are not huge, but there is a usually good selection of drinks and ice cream for dessert. Leg room is more than ample for me at 5'7" and there is a good choice of seatback visual entertainment and the option of streaming to your own device (download the app before boarding the plane). The audio choice has been seriously cutback, presumably because so many people have stuff downloaded already. Yes at the moment you have to wear a mask all the time except while actively eating and drinking, but the vast majority of passengers did so without gentle reminders from the cabin crew. I also paid up for my TSA-pre application in the late summer and it was well worth it not to have to unload all the things from my carry on luggage and to leave my shoes on.

Re: Transatlantic air travel experience during Covid
 

I assume you mean MCO-DUB-MAN, Aer Lingus would be very unlikely to get 5th freedom flights on that route. I assume you don’t have many direct options to MAN, my only concern with CV19 is rules changing in 3rd countries, was on the phone with a former co-worker agent n Dublin yesterday… he flew out today in anticipation of a new lock down there.

https://onemileatatime.com/fifth-fre..._flight_basics

Re: Transatlantic air travel experience during Covid
 

Yup that’s the thing about driving to Canada and flying to the UK from there, which I did from 1995 to 2019, so probably 40 or more round trips. Even though the US Canada border is now open, I have a friend who chose to fly from Montreal to Amsterdam recently to visit family (her daughter is a KLM pilot.) She got to the Netherlands ok, but when it came to the return trip, the airline declined to board her. As a US citizen with no status in Canada and no ongoing flight (her car was in the parking lot at Dorval,) the airline didn’t want to take the risk of her not being admitted. She booked a direct flight to Boston a few days later.

Re: Transatlantic air travel experience during Covid
 

I flew JFK to LHR in Virgin Premium Economy in June this year. It was the regular pre-Covid service, proper plates and hot food etc. What bothered me was that the cabin crew turned a blind eye to unmasking and only begrudgingly asked people to put their masks on when someone complained.

Re: Transatlantic air travel experience during Covid
 

On a BA SFO-LHR flight at the moment. No difference other than the mask wearing which for all practical purposes is optional. I took a flight with AA in August and they were far stricter as I assume would be the other US carriers so pick according to your preference.

Re: Transatlantic air travel experience during Covid
 

This is good to know.. I suspect the UK airlines (like the UK) are far more blase and laissez faire (are we allowed to say that after Brexit? :) ) than the US airlines. I would rather have strict mask wearing, uncomfortable as that is, though I would appreciate a glass of wine with my meal and nice plates etc.

Re: Transatlantic air travel experience during Covid
 

I took an Aer Lingus flight - Chicago, Dublin, London - in August. Food service was normal in bog-standard seats where I sit, and everybody was masked.