British Airways has flat beds with no angle. Their lounge in London makes the connection wonderful. Get a shower, pour yourself a drink.

Agree with Wally. BA provides excellent, comfortable service from Seattle to Heathrow, and good connections to the rest of Europe.

If you do go BA from Seattle, recommend you select seats upstairs. My favorites are (window seats) 62A or 62K, great for privacy and extra space. Second choice, 64A or 64K, also good for privacy.

Well, depending upon when you are flying you may have up to 3 good options:

1) Go with BA via London. You will have flat beds that are good, though not necessarily great. The ground facilities at Heathrow are also relatively nice. Downside is that you have a 2-hour flight in a coach seat from London to Milan. On the plus side, you can fly into Linate, which is more convenient to Milan than Malpensa.

2) Go via LA with Alitalia. I have not flown their new product, but I have seen several reviews that it is the best transatlantic product available. Judging by the specs, it really does look like a great one. Downside is that Alitalia still may not be the most reliable and it involves flying into Malpensa.

3) Sometime this month, Delta is supposed to begin using their upgraded 767s on the Seattle-Paris route. These are flat beds, with the advantage over BA being that they all face forward, they all have aisle access, and they are better for those traveling together. Delta also has better pillows, blankets, and amenity kits, as well as what is IMO much better food and bev than BA. Downside is that you are transiting at Paris, which is not as nice as T5 at Heathrow, the seats are more constrained feeling than those on BA, and you still have what is basically coach seating for the legs between Paris and Milan. You can still fly into Linate.

If you don't want to fly backwards, then arrange your reservations for downstairs.

If you don't want to fly backwards, then arrange your reservations for downstairs.

Except that half the seats are backwards downstairs too, including all the "best" choices. And there is no way to sit next to a partner on BA without one of the two sitting backwards.

Besides, BA still suffers from squeezing in 8-abreast on the lower deck, which means quite a bit of climbing over someone or being climbed over yourself. Also, the layout, while conducive to sleeping and alone time, hampers conversation with your seatmate and makes the service quite awkward.

Don't get me wrong, BA has a good product, but there are disadvantages to it vs Alitalia or Delta. As noted, there are some advantages to BA - the bed is more "open" and their ground services at Heathrow are good - but it isn't necessarily a slam-dunk choice.

And there is no way to sit next to a partner on BA without one of the two sitting backwards.

Not true; there are numerous same-facing pairs on the main deck of 744s and in the 777 cabins.

I would take BA for the ease of transit at Heathrow. Outbound, there are easy connections to either MXP or LIN, and coming back, numerous flights from CDG that will connect to the Seattle flight.

Both the hard and soft products on BA are first-rate. Flying out of LAX or some other west coast city just adds hours (and hours) to an already-long itinerary. Make it easy on yourselves.

Having flown transatlantic business class many times with BA and Alitalia, transpacific with Delta including the flat-bed-equipped 767, BA is a slam-dunk for me.

To say Alitalia may not be the most reliable is a gross understatement. Over the years I have experienced seriously delayed flights, flights cancelled for no discernible reason, unscheduled stops at unscheduled airports, twice being put on buses for late-night four-hour rides to ticketed destinations after unscheduled stops at Malpensa, and more...

Not true; there are numerous same-facing pairs on the main deck of 744s and in the 777 cabins.

The only same-facing pairs are the backward-facing middle seats. My statement is exactly correct.

Both the hard and soft products on BA are first-rate.

The food and bev are worse than DL. The service worse. The pillows, amenity kits, and comforters are worse. It is a good product, but hardly first-rate. More "adequate".

tg - BA Gold

TG, not interested in a fight. Have it your way.

GL - AA EXP

TG, not interested in a fight. Have it your way.

I'm not interested in a fight either. But let's offer decent advice. Misstating the configuration of the seats is not decent advice.

We can agree to disagree on the service side of things.

Clearly a matter of personal preference, BA versus Delta. If given the choice, I will choose BA over Delta everytime, mainly because I am interested in sleeping well, and I always sleep better on BA. The 'beds' are roomier, more comfortable and more private.

I don't understand the problem with seats facing towards the back. I've never noticed any difference while in the air, as there is no sense of forward motion while flying.

BAEC Gold
Delta Gold Medallion

Thanks so much everyone. I'll be checking out Delta and BA. I've worried a bit about BA though - I flew in/out of Heathrow several years ago and what a mess. But I was on American.

Could I assume these two airlines would be the best if I went to Rome instead of Milan? Long story but last tine I was in Italy I was the only person in the city who didn't get to see the Sistine Chapel, so we're thinking of a quick day or two in Rome, then training up to Milan for the F1 race at Monza.

Thanks again!

I've never noticed any difference while in the air, as there is no sense of forward motion while flying.

I don't mind it either, but some people hate it. My biggest complaint with the BA lay out is that, unless you get one of the best seats, you are either climbing over someone or someone is climbing over you + the meal service is just awkward, with the FAs having to reach over the person in the aisle and over the partition to get stuff to the person at the window or inside. It can get annoying, especially with the constant raising and lowering of the screens (or staring at your neighbor while you eat).

I flew in/out of Heathrow several years ago and what a mess.

With BA, you'll go through T5, which is new, pretty efficient, and very nice. Good shopping, good food options, and good lounges. Once the security folks finish their work-to-rule nonsense, it will return to being the best connection point in Europe.

Could I assume these two airlines would be the best if I went to Rome instead of Milan?

Yes. These would remain my choices for flights to Rome.

I am booked with United Business Class LAX-LHR Non-Stop, a 777-200 (I think). Anyone have any experience with their lie-flat seats and Business Class service? It has not been mentioned so far so I hope it is not horrible. I am not thrilled about sitting backwards and facing another traveler, but that is how the configuration is unless you want to sit by the lavatory, YUK! I suspect that the forward facing bulkhead seats, that I prefer are blocked for airport check-in as they have always shown "reserved"

hpeabody, their seats are fine, but during take-off and landing, nothing can be on the floor. Wear something with pockets. On the Newark to Brussels flight, I slept until two hours before landing because they made a recorded message, the captain has turned on the fasten seatbelt sign, ..... and if that didn't wake one up, the Germany speaking flight attendant stated the message and then the French speaking flight attendant repeated the message.

I like United's lie-flat seats. I think all of their 777s to Europe have now been converted to lie-flat, but they are still (years and years into the conversion) working on the Asian fleet.

The only airlines offering nonstop service to Europe from Seattle are British Airways (London), Delta (Paris and Amsterdam), Lufthansa (Frankfurt), and Icelandair (Rekjavik). Using other airlines will require intermediate stops in North America which will consume a considerable amount of time. Whether the increased comfort of some other airline's business class is "worth" the extra time (or possibly expense) is a decision for the OP. Personally I think 9+ hours (nonstop) is enough time to spend on a transatlantic trip; YMMV.

Using other airlines will require intermediate stops in North America which will consume a considerable amount of time.

Not particularly. DL via AMS is certainly the time leader, with outbound flights as short as 13:10 of total travel time to FCO (May 8th), but BA clocks in at 14:25. Going via ORD with AA would bump that up to only 15:00, via JFK with Delta would bump it to 15:05, US via PHL would be 15:15. Going via ATL bumps it to 16:00. Going via LAX bumps it up to 16:45.

Now, I think that between Delta and BA, the OP is unlikely to improve upon the experience enough to justify going via another US gateway, but the advantage isn't that huge.

Icelandair

To the OP, be warned that Icelandair DOES NOT offer business class. They have something they call business class, but it isn't. It is comparable to premium economy and it is, frankly, dishonest that they call it business class at all.

You have to experience some of the European lounges. The longer the layover, the better. IMHO.

BTW, BA's Fast Track is quite nice going through security.

BTW, BA's Fast Track is quite nice going through security.

Not any more. There is currently some sort of silly tiff between the security folks and somebody that is resulting in absurdly long waits at security in LHR and ridiculously frequent secondary screenings of bags. FastTrack does not help. BA used to have a real advantage on this front, but it has been pretty bad for a few months now.

You have to experience some of the European lounges. The longer the layover, the better. IMHO.

I would not recommend scheduling an overly long layover in the lounges at either Frankfurt (dumps, like the rest of the airport - especially the business class lounges) or Paris (nice enough, but boring). The BA lounges are better, but the club world lounge is only okay and probably not worth too much time. I think anything more than 3 hours would be overkill.

...so we're thinking of a quick day or two in Rome, then training up to Milan for the F1 race at Monza...

In which case schedules for late August or early September should be consulted, not May. I just did so and actually the best combination of speed and price (right now, at least) seems to be American via Chicago (nonstop to Rome from ORD.) At present, a 14-day trip departing SEA around Sept. 1 and returning from CDG (via ORD again) in business class is pricing $1600 - $1700 cheaper on AA than on Delta, British or Lufthansa. 15 hours outbound, 15:15 inbound (allowing 90 min. at ORD for US border controls, which is doable if brisk.)

While AA's business class seats on the 767s are not lie-flat, they're extremely comfortable, and on 2-class international flights, AA's service in business seems (to me) noticeably better than one receives in business on 3-class AA 777 flights, or for that matter other airlines' business class (including BA.)

...but the club world lounge is only okay

There are three Galleries lounges airside at Terminal 5 accessible to business class travelers, plus a first class lounge, the Concorde room, and an arrivals lounge (landside.) Personally I think the south Galleries (business and higher) lounge is one of the best lounges going, nearly on a par with, for example, the main JAL lounge at Narita or the Wing or Pier at HKG. Again, YMMV.

You all are great - thank you so much! Your input has been invaluable. I feel a lot more confident in booking the 'right' thing now.

Cheers!

Why aren't you flying to Milan from the US? Delta flies nonstop to Milan from both JFK and Atlanta? United flies from Chicago and possibly Newark.Alitalia flies out of Chicago and JFk.Delta flies nonstop from Paris to Seattle too.

Why aren't you flying to Milan from the US?

Connecting in Europe maximizes the time in an international quality biz seat. The only exception is going with Delta via JFK once Delta puts flat beds on the JFK-SEA route.

Why aren't you flying to Milan from the US?

Again: Long story but last tine I was in Italy I was the only person in the city who didn't get to see the Sistine Chapel, so we're thinking of a quick day or two in Rome, then training up to Milan for the F1 race at Monza.