Best Economy Flight from London to New York? British Airways VS Virgin Atlantic

Today, Nicky and Liam are taking it back to the basics as they fly economy from London's Heathrow Airport to New York City. Nicky will be flying with Virgin Atlantic and Liam on British Airways to see which one stands above the other on this classic flight route. Buckle yourselves in and turn airplane mode on because we're taking off for this intensive economy class comparison!

Nicky's Virgin Atlantic flight cost $245
Liam's British Airways flight cost $393

00:00 Intro
00:27 On the ground
03:03 The seat
07:45 Food and drink
10:07 Call bell challenge
10:52 In-flight shenanigans
12:35 Arrival

Check out: @ThePointsGuyArrivals

#economyclass #virginatlantic #britishairways #aviation #avgeek

[Bobrogers]

Virgin had the newer plane with better seating, but BA served the better meal. Based solely on this video, I wouldn't hesitate to fly either airline.

[JonGreen_UK]

Virgin wins every time. Yes, BA has the edge on food these days, but on longer flights Virgin has a popcorn/ice cream service during your movie, and of course there are the galley snacks, so you can decide how much or little to eat. But it's Virgin's crew, the seats and the IFE that are peerless.

Oh, and now that BA has gutted their Executive Club (trying to gaslight it as "improvements" 🙄), whilst Virgin's Points scheme remains decent, it's starting to look a bit one-sided.

[jmgrahit]

Always use Aerolopa, not Seatguru. Seatguru hasn't been updated for years.

[brucewatt]

The Virgin Atlantic Cabin Crew always make it a much better experience in my humble opinion.

[ChristopherHughes-hw]

BA review seems crew were not aware of filming . Virgin review . You made it known and had them participate so hardly an unbiased comparison.

[harshmarwah]

I think you should do it also on a350s of British airways to destinations where they fly both

[CallumAtwal]

BA have a newer IFE on the 777-200s, you flew on one that hadn’t been done yet. The ones out of LGW have the new IFE

[life.with.sabine]

Love the klm crew in the back of Nicky at the end.

[andrewvoyzey-lewis]

BA every time for me. I’ve flown Virgin but never through choice

[christianwolff]

Virgin really, really impressed me when I flew to JFK on the A350 in economy last year. Really good catering out of LHR, lots of drinks services throughout the flight, mid-flight ice cream, afternoon tea and really friendly flight attendants. Seats were great too. They packed in so much service in a 7 hour flight.

I flew premium economy home which was great too (it also somehow worked out cheaper than economy) but honestly the economy meal out of LHR was better than the premium meal catered from JFK. 
Economy was so good that I wouldn’t bother paying more for premium economy. 

Flying on the A350 really makes a difference as it’s so quiet and you definitely don’t feel as dried out when you land.

[anthonydpearson]

You're missing the real MVP which is Norse, which offers basically the same product for $150 on a newer plane than both of these legacy airlines.

[FPL_Bottler]

Virgin won imo, the seat and surrounding amenities were better, and though the BA meal was bigger it had cauliflower in it which I can't stand.

[crammydavisjr]

This had to happen. Great video, boys

[semsemeini]

Virgin is better in my opinion. Kuwait, Air India, Iran Air and El Al also used to fly the same route but have all discontinued it.

[the_wonk]

Please do the same comparison going to Hong Kong.. maybe Cathay vs BA. The service today on BA looked actually decent where as BA to Hong Kong is shocking and actually laughable.

[well-blazeredman]

Dunking chocolate-digestives? You're a dangerous radical, Liam.
Good video.

[justifyles]

A fair comparison on the NY route! But for Boston or others on the East Coast, I think the most important quality is the timing of the flight heading eastbound. Virgin scrapped their daytime flight BOS-LHR in Covid, so the only real choice is BA

[rossipremier]

Looks like VA has the edge based on crew and plane, food on both could be a little better but thankfully snacks. Once the cost is factored in ...$250 VA and almost $400 BA... Virgin is hands down the winner for sure! Great video

[aviationetwork]

Nicky always gets to fly the better flight in every video I can’t 😭

[benhunter]

Love Virgin. Crew are amazing! The experience is always a delight.