ECONOMY CLASS on EVERY US Airline to Europe (Which is Best)
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Date: 2026-03-07
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Comments and reviews: 20
wizardmix
I just did a UA economy seat from CDG to SFO yesterday. I try to avoid economy when I can but honestly, I was very happy with the UA service. One meal, some mid-flight snacks and yes, the HOT POCKET before landing -- which honestly wasn't bad. Multiple drink cart runs, and I counted no fewer than 4 times FAs were offering bottles of water. IFE was decent as well, no complaints.
A few good economy hacks are as follows from a part-time airline employee:
Most airlines have a bag quota they need to get that will free-up overhead space, thus making boarding go faster and the flight getting out on time. If you can check your roll-aboard, you can do so for free at the gate and they will usually give you a better boarding group number for doing so. More feet room for you, less fighting for overhead space. Everybody wins.
If you book a special meal, you sometimes get it before anyone else. They typically hand out the special meals before the general food cart goes up and down the aisle.
MANTA SLEEP Face Mask -- look it up. IYKYK There is no better face mask I have ever used and it's worth every penny. Blocks out all light, doesn't compress your eyes, makes other face masks seem ridiculous.
I often use my travel pillow as lumbar support -- absolute necessity on flights over 5H
Common sense but the closer to the front you are, the more likely you are to have a choice for your meal.
You can always go to the aft galley and politely ask the staff there for a soda or a water or if they have any extra left over snacks or extra meals if you're thirsty or hungry, or hit the call button if you're so inclined.
Most UA 777s have a nice sized handicapped lav just aft of premium economy -- these make great changing rooms or if you get a little phobic in small spaces.
Hydration / Hydration / Hydration -- I get it, sometimes boozing it up on an airplane is a way to keep one's sanity but chase the wine with water yo! No one likes a planegover.
More common sense but, If you're staying awake, AISLE, if you're gonna pass out, WINDOW. And I don't know why they make middle seats, I think it's for people who forget they're flying for 10 hours or something Like remember when a few airlines had 5 seats in the center row How many mistakes and oversights do you have to make to be in that center seat How badly do you have to get shafted by an airline to end up there Where you have to ask two people in any direction when you have to pee. Okay that's it.
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I just did a UA economy seat from CDG to SFO yesterday. I try to avoid economy when I can but honestly, I was very happy with the UA service. One meal, some mid-flight snacks and yes, the HOT POCKET before landing -- which honestly wasn't bad. Multiple drink cart runs, and I counted no fewer than 4 times FAs were offering bottles of water. IFE was decent as well, no complaints.
A few good economy hacks are as follows from a part-time airline employee:
Most airlines have a bag quota they need to get that will free-up overhead space, thus making boarding go faster and the flight getting out on time. If you can check your roll-aboard, you can do so for free at the gate and they will usually give you a better boarding group number for doing so. More feet room for you, less fighting for overhead space. Everybody wins.
If you book a special meal, you sometimes get it before anyone else. They typically hand out the special meals before the general food cart goes up and down the aisle.
MANTA SLEEP Face Mask -- look it up. IYKYK There is no better face mask I have ever used and it's worth every penny. Blocks out all light, doesn't compress your eyes, makes other face masks seem ridiculous.
I often use my travel pillow as lumbar support -- absolute necessity on flights over 5H
Common sense but the closer to the front you are, the more likely you are to have a choice for your meal.
You can always go to the aft galley and politely ask the staff there for a soda or a water or if they have any extra left over snacks or extra meals if you're thirsty or hungry, or hit the call button if you're so inclined.
Most UA 777s have a nice sized handicapped lav just aft of premium economy -- these make great changing rooms or if you get a little phobic in small spaces.
Hydration / Hydration / Hydration -- I get it, sometimes boozing it up on an airplane is a way to keep one's sanity but chase the wine with water yo! No one likes a planegover.
More common sense but, If you're staying awake, AISLE, if you're gonna pass out, WINDOW. And I don't know why they make middle seats, I think it's for people who forget they're flying for 10 hours or something Like remember when a few airlines had 5 seats in the center row How many mistakes and oversights do you have to make to be in that center seat How badly do you have to get shafted by an airline to end up there Where you have to ask two people in any direction when you have to pee. Okay that's it.
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peterkiviat9969
You really miss the most important factors in economy travel. All flying in and out of eastern US airports has become incredibly unreliable. Harsh weather, staff shortages, crew timeouts, maintenance issues and air controler understaffing can play havoc with any scheduled flight. On international routes American and United are by far the most resilient and best able to handle rescheduling to the large amount of flights they offer on heavily traveled routes. Jet Blue is by far the worst, as has one of the worst maintenance record in the industry. When bad things happen, getting where you are going matters a helluva a lot more than meals or snacks which you can just bring on the plane.
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You really miss the most important factors in economy travel. All flying in and out of eastern US airports has become incredibly unreliable. Harsh weather, staff shortages, crew timeouts, maintenance issues and air controler understaffing can play havoc with any scheduled flight. On international routes American and United are by far the most resilient and best able to handle rescheduling to the large amount of flights they offer on heavily traveled routes. Jet Blue is by far the worst, as has one of the worst maintenance record in the industry. When bad things happen, getting where you are going matters a helluva a lot more than meals or snacks which you can just bring on the plane.
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lcflngn
Welp, flew economy on United in June 2024 from SFO to Heathrow. All I wanted was a leg rest & to avoid sitting by other passengers. Only way to do that on our flight was upgrade to economy. 10. 5 hr flight. Quite a different experience from yours, gotta say. Flight was packed, food choice was not in advance & they ran out of the better sounding items before getting to us. The economy section was quite near the restrooms, which were dank even from our seats about half way, and rly gross inside. Service was barely polite, indeed quite cold. Snacks not provided anywhere but our seats.
I could say more, but basically won’t try this option again.
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Welp, flew economy on United in June 2024 from SFO to Heathrow. All I wanted was a leg rest & to avoid sitting by other passengers. Only way to do that on our flight was upgrade to economy. 10. 5 hr flight. Quite a different experience from yours, gotta say. Flight was packed, food choice was not in advance & they ran out of the better sounding items before getting to us. The economy section was quite near the restrooms, which were dank even from our seats about half way, and rly gross inside. Service was barely polite, indeed quite cold. Snacks not provided anywhere but our seats.
I could say more, but basically won’t try this option again.
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celia-Sea
Thanks for all your work, that must have been a bit tirinig. Wait till you fly 9. 5 hours from the west coast to London! My economy hack is to get a window seat, you have extra storage room on your side. Plus I never tire of the view of flying over the world, especially Greenland, which is fascinating. I would like it if you had added the cost of choosing your seats, I find it nuts we have to pay for this. Many years ago I took a round trip on Delta and it was the worst ever, the seats bottoms were so uncomfortable that we were in misery. I'm hoping its improved.
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Thanks for all your work, that must have been a bit tirinig. Wait till you fly 9. 5 hours from the west coast to London! My economy hack is to get a window seat, you have extra storage room on your side. Plus I never tire of the view of flying over the world, especially Greenland, which is fascinating. I would like it if you had added the cost of choosing your seats, I find it nuts we have to pay for this. Many years ago I took a round trip on Delta and it was the worst ever, the seats bottoms were so uncomfortable that we were in misery. I'm hoping its improved.
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MSimmonsAZ
Why are the flights so empty Less travel to the US these days When I travel back the US in summer my RJ flights are always 95% full. It really seems to lengthen service and clean up time. And with a full plane the bathrooms are very hit or miss, its timing. The United flight to Dulles is also an option from jordan as the second leg. You show the grey RJ plane taxiing. But I fly directly to the US. And then have to make my way to Orlando. Less stops and doing immigration during that one stop is worth a few more dollars. Traveling with 2 kids as well.
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Why are the flights so empty Less travel to the US these days When I travel back the US in summer my RJ flights are always 95% full. It really seems to lengthen service and clean up time. And with a full plane the bathrooms are very hit or miss, its timing. The United flight to Dulles is also an option from jordan as the second leg. You show the grey RJ plane taxiing. But I fly directly to the US. And then have to make my way to Orlando. Less stops and doing immigration during that one stop is worth a few more dollars. Traveling with 2 kids as well.
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DW1991-b7r
Back in 2015, my family and I flew American Airlines from Hawaii to Texas. We were in Main Cabin Extra (row directly behind First Class) and we were less than impressed with the food. We were given half frozen cold cut sandwiches that tasted freezer burnt.
The fact that American at 2: 55 offered you complimentary alcohol in Economy Class blows my mind.
I guess the difference is Hawaii to Texas is considered a domestic flight, but the service y’all received in Economy on American would have been very much appreciated on our long flight!
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Back in 2015, my family and I flew American Airlines from Hawaii to Texas. We were in Main Cabin Extra (row directly behind First Class) and we were less than impressed with the food. We were given half frozen cold cut sandwiches that tasted freezer burnt.
The fact that American at 2: 55 offered you complimentary alcohol in Economy Class blows my mind.
I guess the difference is Hawaii to Texas is considered a domestic flight, but the service y’all received in Economy on American would have been very much appreciated on our long flight!
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David-j7c6k
Thank you for this video, but please do not encourage people to selfishly put all of their personal items in the overhead bin. Flight crews say NOT to do this, and people selfishly take that space instead of using the space under their seat. Filghts run out of room in the overhead bins, people have to check in luggage when already on the plane, it delays seating and flight time, and it makes other people have to part with their luggage. People only thinking about themselves and no one else already makes flying twice as difficult for everyone.
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Thank you for this video, but please do not encourage people to selfishly put all of their personal items in the overhead bin. Flight crews say NOT to do this, and people selfishly take that space instead of using the space under their seat. Filghts run out of room in the overhead bins, people have to check in luggage when already on the plane, it delays seating and flight time, and it makes other people have to part with their luggage. People only thinking about themselves and no one else already makes flying twice as difficult for everyone.
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jeb_brooks
Seeing you guys go back and fourth over six days made me wonder how your sleep schedules suffered and how you managed your sleep as well. At my airline we have five day pairings something like
NEW YORK-LONDON DAY 1
LONDON- BOSTON DAY 2
BOSTON-SAN FRANCISCO Day 3
SAN FRANCISCO-NEW YORK Day 4
NEW YORK- FT LAUDERDALE-NEW YORK Day 5
This is a killer pairing and takes me about 2 days to recover once I get back home. How did you guys feel at the end of this adventure
Oh, and by the way you picked the best airline
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Seeing you guys go back and fourth over six days made me wonder how your sleep schedules suffered and how you managed your sleep as well. At my airline we have five day pairings something like
NEW YORK-LONDON DAY 1
LONDON- BOSTON DAY 2
BOSTON-SAN FRANCISCO Day 3
SAN FRANCISCO-NEW YORK Day 4
NEW YORK- FT LAUDERDALE-NEW YORK Day 5
This is a killer pairing and takes me about 2 days to recover once I get back home. How did you guys feel at the end of this adventure
Oh, and by the way you picked the best airline
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jeb_brooks
We did a ten hour to Buenos Aries last month on Delta. We thought they would be better. Horrible! Old, dirty planes, disgusting restrooms during flight, tightly cramped seats. The breafast egg sandwich literally tastes like cardboard. Oh, and no working internet either way. I felt sorry for the overworked flight attendants. American airlines across the lines are absolutely horrific. A corporate embarrassment. CEO's should be forced to travel economy in their own airline every flight they take. See how that goes down.
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We did a ten hour to Buenos Aries last month on Delta. We thought they would be better. Horrible! Old, dirty planes, disgusting restrooms during flight, tightly cramped seats. The breafast egg sandwich literally tastes like cardboard. Oh, and no working internet either way. I felt sorry for the overworked flight attendants. American airlines across the lines are absolutely horrific. A corporate embarrassment. CEO's should be forced to travel economy in their own airline every flight they take. See how that goes down.
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vpr5555
Appreciate your dedication, my ears would be wrecked flying this many times back-to-back. As I've gotten older, the pressure change feels like knives being jabbed into my ears. I've had to resort to wearing specialized earplugs meant for pressure relief during flying like EarPlanes, Alpine FlyFit or the like, and if I don't get that perfect seal when putting them in, it's still painful. Downside is with these ear plugs in, I'm unable to put audio plugs in so I can't really watch movies or listen to music very well.
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Appreciate your dedication, my ears would be wrecked flying this many times back-to-back. As I've gotten older, the pressure change feels like knives being jabbed into my ears. I've had to resort to wearing specialized earplugs meant for pressure relief during flying like EarPlanes, Alpine FlyFit or the like, and if I don't get that perfect seal when putting them in, it's still painful. Downside is with these ear plugs in, I'm unable to put audio plugs in so I can't really watch movies or listen to music very well.
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wannabedal-adx458
Great video as always. For me, the SUPER AV GEEK, the comparison would be better if you took all 4 airlines as single aisle planes, instead of bouncing between wide body (double aisle) and narrow body (single aisle) airplanes. Also, could you mention more about which type of trans-Atlantic flight you took Day time east bound flight is different from a overnight east bound flight, and vice versa. I am just nit picking but still a great video from you two. I love the banter between you two!
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Great video as always. For me, the SUPER AV GEEK, the comparison would be better if you took all 4 airlines as single aisle planes, instead of bouncing between wide body (double aisle) and narrow body (single aisle) airplanes. Also, could you mention more about which type of trans-Atlantic flight you took Day time east bound flight is different from a overnight east bound flight, and vice versa. I am just nit picking but still a great video from you two. I love the banter between you two!
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pamelawing5747
My flights to Europe, in economy are 8 to 11 hours depending on where I'm landing. My best flight was last trip FROM the US to London. The plane was more than half empty so my friend and I had the whole three seats and could spread out and be comfortable. Coming home was a different story, full plane. Food Meh, but not bad. That was United. I'm flown British Air twice, Air France twice, and United twice. I'll take United at this point.
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My flights to Europe, in economy are 8 to 11 hours depending on where I'm landing. My best flight was last trip FROM the US to London. The plane was more than half empty so my friend and I had the whole three seats and could spread out and be comfortable. Coming home was a different story, full plane. Food Meh, but not bad. That was United. I'm flown British Air twice, Air France twice, and United twice. I'll take United at this point.
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dpmu1977
Another great vid - I've never flown over on JetBlue but my son did and said it was fine (6'1. Food isn't a big thing for me but comfort is. That extra inch of legroom is a big seller for me if I was to choose to fly econ. AirFrance has the dual seats in the back or did the last time we flew econ over - it's nice, not as nice as an empty seat in between. The thing for me in econ is the hard points under the seat - painful.
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Another great vid - I've never flown over on JetBlue but my son did and said it was fine (6'1. Food isn't a big thing for me but comfort is. That extra inch of legroom is a big seller for me if I was to choose to fly econ. AirFrance has the dual seats in the back or did the last time we flew econ over - it's nice, not as nice as an empty seat in between. The thing for me in econ is the hard points under the seat - painful.
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happycook6737
Always carry a change of clothes and underwear plus baby wipes in the carry on. Why In case your checked bag is lost on your Lufthansa FRA -EBL flight. In case someone pissed your seat on the inbound flight and you sat in it unaware AND there are no other empty seats on your Turkish Airlines LAX- IST flight. Because the passenger next to you got motion sick all over you on the Japan Airlines NRT to LAX flight.
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Always carry a change of clothes and underwear plus baby wipes in the carry on. Why In case your checked bag is lost on your Lufthansa FRA -EBL flight. In case someone pissed your seat on the inbound flight and you sat in it unaware AND there are no other empty seats on your Turkish Airlines LAX- IST flight. Because the passenger next to you got motion sick all over you on the Japan Airlines NRT to LAX flight.
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randomcomment3865
SFO - LHR I usually end up on BA (direct, due to cost and convenient flight times.
They've always had hot food, (pre-order if you have dietary restrictions, and free booze, although it's now been a year since heading in that direction.
And whatever cattle class you're on, a good-sized fanny pack gives a place to rest your folded arms if one, or even both, of your armrests are occupied.
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SFO - LHR I usually end up on BA (direct, due to cost and convenient flight times.
They've always had hot food, (pre-order if you have dietary restrictions, and free booze, although it's now been a year since heading in that direction.
And whatever cattle class you're on, a good-sized fanny pack gives a place to rest your folded arms if one, or even both, of your armrests are occupied.
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Doug-Edits-d7c
Another Great Video I mainly fly air Canada for flights from London to Vancouver so 9h-10h and I have flown also sometimes to Calgary and I mainly just don’t eat anything on flights also bc I’m vegetarian which lessens my options so whenever I land I don’t want sweets I actually want fruit which can be hard sometimes also the pasta with tomato looked so good through the screen
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Another Great Video I mainly fly air Canada for flights from London to Vancouver so 9h-10h and I have flown also sometimes to Calgary and I mainly just don’t eat anything on flights also bc I’m vegetarian which lessens my options so whenever I land I don’t want sweets I actually want fruit which can be hard sometimes also the pasta with tomato looked so good through the screen
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tmdillon1969
Just booked American from Charlotte to Paris. I know they've had some reputation issues, but they're the only airline that offers direct flights to Paris from Charlotte, and I'm not dragging my senior in-laws through extra stops on their first and likely last trip to Europe. Two years ago, we bought some counter upgrades for cheap on Delta. I wonder if they exist for American
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Just booked American from Charlotte to Paris. I know they've had some reputation issues, but they're the only airline that offers direct flights to Paris from Charlotte, and I'm not dragging my senior in-laws through extra stops on their first and likely last trip to Europe. Two years ago, we bought some counter upgrades for cheap on Delta. I wonder if they exist for American
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ralphbrookens7491
Am I the only one who never finds a comfortable seat for long flights All thrust my head forward, and none have lumbar support. My back isn't C-shaped, and I find sleeping nearly impossible. The best economy seating I have flown is on Qantas, which offers more legroom, a seat that slides forward, and greater recline than any current carrier I am aware of.
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Am I the only one who never finds a comfortable seat for long flights All thrust my head forward, and none have lumbar support. My back isn't C-shaped, and I find sleeping nearly impossible. The best economy seating I have flown is on Qantas, which offers more legroom, a seat that slides forward, and greater recline than any current carrier I am aware of.
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mateoacevedo4481
One aviation hack I've noticed is always check your flight before you leave for the airport. In 2023 I flew from KDEN to KORD through United our flight was supposed to leave it at 5 AM and we left for the airport at 2: 30 to 3 AM. By the time we got to the airport we looked at our phone and realized too late that our flight was delayed almost 12 hours.
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One aviation hack I've noticed is always check your flight before you leave for the airport. In 2023 I flew from KDEN to KORD through United our flight was supposed to leave it at 5 AM and we left for the airport at 2: 30 to 3 AM. By the time we got to the airport we looked at our phone and realized too late that our flight was delayed almost 12 hours.
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benafel
I really appreciate the comparison of these airlines. Because I lived in California and now in Washington, I got an Alaska credit card and use frequent flyer miles. Alaska often partners with British airlines for part of the flight to Europe. But I might book a flight to NY on Alaska and then book a flight to Europe on Delta. I think an extra inch is worth it.
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I really appreciate the comparison of these airlines. Because I lived in California and now in Washington, I got an Alaska credit card and use frequent flyer miles. Alaska often partners with British airlines for part of the flight to Europe. But I might book a flight to NY on Alaska and then book a flight to Europe on Delta. I think an extra inch is worth it.
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