willyh

Going to italy and trying to decide between Delta and British Air Business Class..going to splurge and want to have the best experience. Any comments?

Can go direct from NYC on Delta but on either airline, I have to stop in London on the way home from Rome

Rastaguytoday

I personally am not fond of BA Biz class. In order squeeze more profits, BA has half of Biz class facing forward and half facing backward. This way, on a 777, they can get in 8 seats across, with 8 across in their economy premium and 9 across in coach. The whole experience was very impersonal.

Also, BA, at many flights, has dinner served communal style before you take off. It's cheaper and, frankly, not that good.

Try www.seatguru.com to get an idea of seating by airline by plane.
I've never tried Delta Int'l and probably never would. It's an airline I have an aversion to.

julia1

I actually prefer BA's backward facing seats, in particular, on 747s, seats 62 A or K which are exit row window seats upper deck, and seats A or K in the last row of each Club section both upper and lower decks; on 777s, seats A or K in last row of Club. In each case, these are very private seats, their own self-contained little compartments almost, with easy access to the aisle.

I also appreciate BA's seat arrangement in Club when traveling with a companion as it makes conversation comfortable and pleasurable.

BA does offer a 'sleeper service' on some evening flights of shorter duration from the US east coast and Chicago. This includes the opportunity to have a meal in the lounge before departure, allowing passengers to maximize sleep time if they wish to do so. I would not characterize this as <i>'dinner served communal style'</i> - there is a small dining room attached to the lounge with individual tables for one, two, three or four or more. Service is buffet-style. Dinner service is also offered on board after take-off for those who prefer to dine in flight. It is also possible to enjoy a starter and/or main in the lounge and finish with dessert, cheese and fruit or simply an after-dinner drink on board before retiring early and sleeping through the remainder of the flight.

I have only flown Delta's business class from several US West Coast cities to Tokyo and hope it doesn't represent their standard of service world-wide. The planes are old Northwest Airlines planes and their business class cabins are desperately in need of refurbishing and upgrading.

CarolA

Make sure your Delta flight has lie flat seats. If so, it is a very nice product otherwise it is just OK. All London flights have the lie flat, but not sure about Rome.

willyh

The flights we are looking on have the lie flat seats, I just wanted to try and determine which airline would be the best for us. I have heard positive and negative about both so its hard to know where to spend the money..thanks for the feedback, its all helpful!

julia1

If you connect through London on BA, the lounges are very nice.

travelgourmet

I fly both airlines quite a bit. For the Delta flight, I'm assuming that this is on the 767-400, so correct me if that is wrong.

To be honest, they both have their pros and cons. For BA, the big plus is that it is a bit more spacious when in bed mode. It is also very private (great if solo, lousy with a partner). Your feet are free and you can toss and turn a bit better. With the Delta seat, your feet are in a maybe 2 to 3 foot deep well, which can be a bit constraining and it feels kind of tight around the shoulders, though not terribly so.

When in lounging mode, I actually like the Delta seat a lot better. It is a more open seat and the large armrest area is great, especially when compared to the non-existent at hand storage space with the BA seat (except for the window seats on the upper deck of the 747). The Delta setup is also much better for service, while it gets very awkward on BA with the FAs leaning over the barriers to serve.

For ground service, BA is pretty good and I agree that the Heathrow lounges are nice. The JFK lounge, however, is just okay. The Delta lounges aren't any better, and their JFK terminals are kind of dumpy, so I'd place them a notch behind. Still, the Delta check-in and security situation at T2 is pretty painless and the lounges are generally uncrowded and decently comfortable.

In the air, I think Delta is better than BA. The food is better on Delta (BA really needs to step up with their in-flight dining), the wines are better, the booze is better (Woodford Reserve, yum), and the service is as good. BA tends to have better champagne, though, and the service is consistent - you are less likely to have an off experience than with Delta.

All in all, if I was comfortable that the Delta flight had the flat beds, I would go with Delta, especially given that it gives you the nonstop.

FWIW, though they are still trying to overcome a well-deserved reputation for being a lousy airline, I have heard that the new Alitalia business class is great. The seats are super-roomy and well-designed. I've also heard very positive things about the food and wine. I have not flown them, but they might be worth a look as well. Just make sure you are on one of their newer planes that has the new business class (I believe that the JFK-Rome and JFK-Milan flights have the new seats).

willyh

You have been so helpful..thanks