Quote Originally Posted by starbkjrus View Post
Thanks for the help everyone. I think I've pretty much made up my mind.

First class would be an excellent choice but I can't pay a $12000.00 round trip fare. :eek: Yes, that's twelve thousand dollars!

A ship would be the best way but this is a spur of the moment sort of last minute long weekend. Gee, I've never hopped off to the UK for a weekend before. Actually, never been there at all. Not much time for sightseeing but we're going in June for two weeks to play tourist.

it looks like it will be British Airways "Premium Economy". I'm not a big guy 5'8" and 170 lbs. but I'm claustrophobic and very antsy. I need to move around. This quick trip on the cheap is running over what I budgeted but it'll be worth it.

Thanks again for the input.

Since you are on the small side you may be more comfotable than many of us. I always sleep going and coming if I can. It helps with jet lag. If I have trouble sleeping, I have found that over-the-counter benadryl knocks me out, and doesn't give me "sleeping pill hangover" like other drugs. Drinking a lot of water helps tremendously. Often one's feet can swell quite a bit so it's good to wear slip-on sandals or something similar to make it easier to get them on and off. And as was mentioned earlier, it is becoming more evident that some people can get blood clots, sometimes fatal, without standing and walking about the cabin from time to time. Some authorities recommend once ever 2 hours.

The Amsterdam airport is nice, but large and has no transportation, so you may have to walk up to 25 minutes to a connecting flight, and can't linger at the shops and kiosks selling unusual but overpiced tulip bulbs, which would be confiscated anyhow on your arrival in the US, unless they are labelled as meeting USDA standards.

It's really true IME that you are more likely to encounter people speaking understandable English at continental and and Asian international airports than you are at UK and US ones. Or rather that you are less likely to encounter people at airports speaking unintelligible English in continental Europe and in Asia than in the UK and the US.

I have read that some European airlines are very, very competive now as far as flights within Europe go, especially if you fly in and out of smaller airports.

A seven to ten hour trans-Atlantic is really no problem if you are used to flying from the US to Asia, which can take 19 to 27 hours of travel, including two flights, and layover and changing planes in Europe. The airlines are finally flying more US-Asia non-stops, and though they are 13-15 hour flights, they are wonderful compared to the way it used to be.