business class question

[marzeesgirl]

Hello all,

I posted a similar question on another forum before I saw this one, so please excuse it, if you have seen it.

 

We have a cruise booked for next July and I have my heart set on traveling business class. The cruise is from Barcelona to Venice. I live in MA and can travel out of BOS or PVD. I realize that i have options on booking the air(myself, cruiseline). That said, we booked the coach fare with the airline with the intention of paying the difference when fares are available OR cancelling the air and booking it myself through ta. I have a waived deviation if i choose(im a cc member). As of now, airfare is 1350 with cruiseline pp.

 

Im a bit picky on airline due to past experience through CDG and other misadventures. I do have lots of experience flying CO bos to man but little elsewhere. Ive been doing my homework but with airlines not having fares out yet(im about a month out) i was hoping for some experience out there.

 

Any ideas on flight intineraries to BCN and home from Venice? I may be traveling by myself as well to meet DH, so i would prefer to limit stops and avoid difficult airport navigation in non english speaking gateways (been there, done that, dont like it).

 

Thanks

MG:)

[greatam]

Swiss from BOS through Zurich. Easy airport to change planes in, Airbus 340 equipment on the international flights AND business class has "lie flat" (not horizontal, but 160 degree flat seats). I sleep like a baby in those seats (AA has very similar seats on most of their 777's.

 

Your other optionfor ease of changing planes-United/Lufthansa through Frankfort (again not a bad airport for changes). However, you must choose carefully on Lufthansa flights. Only SOME of the aircraft have "lie flat" seats (new business class). Otherwise, you get business class recliners. If you are going to pay for business class, you might as well get some good sleep on the way over.

[Linda VH]

Agreeing with greatam here re the seats. We are flying business on Virgin because of their flatbeds. DH said NO NO NO to recliner from Miami to Heathrow! Go to www.seatguru.com and check out which airlines have at least flat beds. Just turned out Virgin had the best itinerary (we switch under their name to BMI premium economy to Venice which allows the same amount of luggage thank heavens lol!!!) for the time we are going. Linda

[Linda VH]

Excuse me!!!! I meant to say AT LEAST LIE FLATS lol!!! I would have settled for that as well. Linda:p

[marzeesgirl]

I never thought of looking into SwissAir but will have a look,same with Virgin. I have had friends that have traveled Lufthansa and will have to ask them too. When you have booked your flights, can i assume you booked them yourself? If so, how far in advance did you book. Im not sure if i should go with the first thing i see. I know I have so much time, but as previous posters have said, ideal flight times go quickly.

 

I fly over to the Uk often and have gotten used to 6 -6.5 hours in a seat. I start to get very antsy at that point. I just realized that its a good deal farther to Spain or home from Italy. I knew when we didnt choose the roundtrip england cruise, it was going to be more challenging logistically. I hate to second guess, but now i am thinking however that cruising the extra mileage instead of flying may have been better choice. Im paying the same price for a 12 celebrity out of barcelona than a 14 day princess out of southampton.

 

It was the itinerary that got me so, i should stop second guessing myself, suck it up and get on with it, right?

[greatam]

One reason I did not suggest AA, BA or Virgin-all connections will be through Heathrow or maybe even Heathrow/Gatwick.

 

You stated you wanted EASY connections. Although I don't mind LHR at all, quite a few people do.

 

The flight from Zurich to Barcelona and Venice to Zurich are only about 1.5 hours. And about 1.5 hours on the ground between the long international flights and the shorter domestic ones. Just enough time to stretch your legs.

 

I always book my own flights and usually as soon as I know I am going. I fly a lot (over 100,000 miles a year) and don't particularly search out sales. I primarily fly AA and although sometimes I pay an arm and a leg for flights, it usually averages out where I get very decent prices overall.

 

Good luck!!!

[Linda VH]

We usually use miles to upgrade but we couldn't this time as we made our reservations too late. I checked EVERY airline so do make your plans ahead if you plan to use miles.