Review: US Airways Business Class A330 London Heathrow to Charlotte

Woohoo! The LHR-CLT trip report is up! Great writing style as always Lucky, your posts are always a pleasure to read! Thank you!

Shame Ms. Peggy wasn't on your flight!

Glad you had a good flight on US. I also had a great experience in US Business on PHL-VCE. Obviously the seat was great and the meal was actually excellent, as was the service. Until AA upgrades its business class all around, I have no problem focusing on US flights to Europe!

"Whenever I see a Lufthansa plane I say to myself “hmmm, I could hop right back on that plane and fly in the other direction.”" - funny you mentioned that. I felt the same when I arrived in ORD on NH F last week and saw a Cathay plane nearby.

By the way, thanks to your blog, I had the opportunity to fly Lufthansa F on both types of 747s last week and it was awesome! But I must say, I feel cheated - there was very strong tailwind on both flights! (Oh yeah, I got the elusive Rimowa kit on the FRA-HND flight!)

Just out of curiosity, how many amenity kits do you have and what do you do with them later on. Garage sale? ebay? some charity donation? trash can? freebies for the neighborhood kids (may be not since you are hotel based)

That Term 5 shot is one of the best pictures. BA could use it in an add.

Great report.

Also, I am not sure Virgin sensors either. I was watch Game of Thrones and there was no attempt to cover anything.

Sam

anyone else find it a bit morbid that they include shipwreck sites on the airshow?

"Then again, aside from Austrian and Turkish, I don’t remember the last time I’ve had a memorable meal in business class on a transatlantic flight."

I'm guessing this was written up before your recent FRA-JFK flight on SQ, right? Also...did those flights to and from Tokyo from Europe count as "transatlantic"?

I'm frankly disappointed in this review. After 60 flights this year, I've grown quite fond of USAir's surly yet sassy flight attendants.

Question about the seat. My biggest complaint is that while they claim it's lie flat, when flat there is no where for your shoulders to go. Is that a universal issue with non-Singapore biz class seats?

Looks good, but seriously, too many unnecessary pics. Hot towel? Glass of Water? Though, thumbs up to the ta-ta pic 😉

".......stripper stockings and bra stuffing..." Hadnt heard that comparison for blankets/pillows before. 🙂

When you get particularly good (or bad service) do you normally let the airline know, either through an online form or some other way? I've done it a few times and have always wondered if/how the employee was recognized.

@ Shanghai9 -- I always try to send an email or compliment them through social media. And based on my experience they did get the appropriate recognition in their file.

@ John -- Hmm, I'm a side sleeper, so can't say I've had that issue. It is a bit tight around the shoulders if you sleep on your back, though.

@ wwk5d -- Hah, fair enough, though my point was that they operate transatlantic flights and have an excellent meal service. And yes, Singapore slipped my mind.

@ caveman -- I had hundreds and hundreds, and ended up giving most of them away at frequent flyer events. They were taking up too much room.

@ mangoceviche -- Woot, so happy to hear!

Great write-up Lucky. One question though -- why so few pictures? Only one close-up of the disposable water bottle you received? Likewise, only one picture of the water your pre-departure water with lemon?

Luv the planeporn from Heathrow ! nice shots!!

Meal on TAP! Btw when this trip report is coming out, Ben?

Did you see the Lufthansa-worshiping lady at CLT??

LON-CLT used to be one of my regular flights when I first started flying frequently, although it was from LGW at that time. As much as I see the improvement in seating that US offer in Business class, I really miss the thrill of securing row 1 on their A330s. I've flown a lot of airlines in Business and First since but have never even matched my US A330 Row 1 record of having 5 windows by my seat! iirc it was a massive 94inch flat bed.

Lucky how did you manage to fly such a pathetic product?

You Americans are totally prude and hypocrites -- the land of the free expects censorship on AVOD (where the rating is displayed before you click play) for ... breasts?

Really?

In my experience, most airlines do not censor movies shown on AVOD systems. The exception I know of is Emirates.

Which seats in business do you recommend for party of 3 (me, wife and kid) on A330 or any reverse herringbone seats? My kid is 4, so we have to keep an eye. Thanks!

@ windycity -- It's a tough configuration for families, to be honest. I might go with two window seats, and then the aisle across from the rear window seat.

Lucky,

My question is similar to @windycity. What seats would you recommend when traveling with a single companion (reverse herring bone)?

@ Matt S. -- I'd just do any two window seats, to be honest, ideally not in the first or last row. If you really want to talk then any two center seats should be fine, again, ideally not in the first or last row.

I have no clue why but after see that tray table I now want to fly us trans bussiness just for the tray table

Lucky - love your blog! Quick question - will be flying with my wife to Venice for our honeymoon in July. Do you recommend the center seats or a window and center? Wasn't sure if your above rec applied to couples, too. Thanks so much!

@ Matt -- Congrats on your honeymoon! Since it's your honeymoon, I'd recommend two center seats for sure.

Great blog - very informative! Do you know if the partition in the center seat comes down so you can see the person sitting next to you? Thanks for your help!

@ Joy -- It doesn't, so you do have to lean forward a bit to talk. Let me know if you have any other questions.

Lucky, I'm looking at flying business on either United from MAD to EWR on their 757-200 Intl or US Airways from MAD to CLT on their A330-200. I'll be traveling with my wife. Which do you recommend overall? Who typically has the better food, UA or US? Also, looked at flying Iberia from MAD to ORD, any chance you'll fly them soon in their new biz class? PS, my final destination is IAH.

@ JJ -- I'd say United has better food while US Airways has a better hard product. I hope to fly Iberia soon, but haven't yet. I might actually give Iberia a try, as they have a great hard product and the food is apparently quite good as well.

Thank you Lucky for the photos and comments. We generally fly to Europe (VCE) with BA; this will be our first (non-domestic) US flight ( from PHI) to Venice. I have a question regarding "power": my husband uses a "breathing machine" to sleep (BIPAP). Last year he had a terrible time (on BA) because the "power" was not constant and it kept on causing the BIPAP to shut down. Do you know if this is a problem on US? Should we talk to someone regarding this issue? Thanks! Daniela

US Air Airbus, (Philadelphia-Paris CDG). The center pods were moderately comfortable but give us the older side by sides. I prefer to travel with my wife, not isolated by a lump of insurmountable plastic! Mediocre food and a seemingly indifferent cabin crew No Mallories here! We both slept; when breakfast was served, we were not and could not raise a cup of coffee: we were told that the plane was preparing to land — it did an hour plus later! Our return was by BA GAT-Tampa. Uncomfortable pods on a triple 7 but exemplary service and decent food. Business class is not inexpensive and service should be better than that found on the US Air flight. Perhaps the cabin crew lacked the éclat of Mallorie and this was an isolated incident for in 50 years of air travel, this experience is like a sore thumb.

Why would they censor boobs? Do they censor murders or violence in movies? Don't get it.

Thanks for the detail. My wife and I are flying this plane Philly to Dublin in the Spring. So for two people flying together, is one window seat and a center seat a good way to travel so we can have some contact or would you take two window seats? Lucky to use miles for this, we have never been up front on a big plane. We are looking forward. Thanks, Tom