Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Get the United credit card that gives you free premium economy.

There is no card which gets you free premium economy. There is a card which has an annual fee of $450 and gives you access to the United Club/lounge.

I am not the PP, but, yes, my united chase card gives me and a traveling companion upgrades to economy plus at no charge.

What card is that?

And, are upgrades guaranteed, and seats together, or all pending on last minute availability?

Look into Open Skies - it’s an all Premium Class airline that flies to London and Paris and is an offshoot if BA. It is usually much cheaper than business class or even PE on BA/Virgin.

The biggest problem with premier economy is that the seat rests are fixed in position. They do not lift up and cannot be removed. This is a pain with a family because one of the easiest ways to get young kids to sleep is to lift the arm rests and let them lay down across your lap into their seat.

We fly long-haul to Asia annually. We used Fly Tots for the kids when they were younger and it turned their seat basically into a bed. They slept great.

http://www.fly-tot.com

Def get an extra seat. Even if baby sits in it half the time.

I’ve found that buying a seat for the baby makes everyone more comfortable. I wouldn’t upgrade in your case.

Virgin premium economy is more like business class. BA not so much.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Get the United credit card that gives you free premium economy.

There is no card which gets you free premium economy. There is a card which has an annual fee of $450 and gives you access to the United Club/lounge.

I am not the PP, but, yes, my united chase card gives me and a traveling companion upgrades to economy plus at no charge.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Virgin tends to have more space than most US domestic carriers. Just look for aisle seats and aisle and window seats for your family of 4. No one outside of your family will want the middle seats unless the flight is packed. That way you might have empty seats in the middle.

That’s a very dangerous game to play, and I have never seen that work they way people think it will. Most flights these days are full.

+1, years ago yes, but now I would not take the chance.

Agreed. Most flights are now full.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Virgin tends to have more space than most US domestic carriers. Just look for aisle seats and aisle and window seats for your family of 4. No one outside of your family will want the middle seats unless the flight is packed. That way you might have empty seats in the middle.

That’s a very dangerous game to play, and I have never seen that work they way people think it will. Most flights these days are full.

+1, years ago yes, but now I would not take the chance.

Anonymous wrote:Virgin tends to have more space than most US domestic carriers. Just look for aisle seats and aisle and window seats for your family of 4. No one outside of your family will want the middle seats unless the flight is packed. That way you might have empty seats in the middle.

That’s a very dangerous game to play, and I have never seen that work they way people think it will. Most flights these days are full.

Anonymous wrote:Get a bulkhead seat and ask for a bassinet for the baby. We flew to Italy with our small 17 month old and it was a life saver. Baby was able to sleep laying down, and we were able to sit her in it for short amounts of time while she wasn’t awake. Otherwise someone will have to be holding the baby at all times.

On United a 'bassinet' is a duffel bag. Not advisable.

Anonymous wrote:This is OP, thanks for the guidance! I'm definitely leaning against upgrading, but maybe we will buy a seat for the baby. I honestly hadn't even thought of that - we have never bought seats for our kids before 18 months or even the full 2 years, but we've only flown domestically, so shorter flights. This time may be the time to do it.

After flying once no seat for baby, never again.

This is OP, thanks for the guidance! I'm definitely leaning against upgrading, but maybe we will buy a seat for the baby. I honestly hadn't even thought of that - we have never bought seats for our kids before 18 months or even the full 2 years, but we've only flown domestically, so shorter flights. This time may be the time to do it.

Anonymous wrote:I've flown BA several times to and from London and ended up on an American Airlines flight, so studying the dimensions of BA seats may not help.

American and BA do have a partnership and sell seats on each others flights. Flights out of American hubs like Philly and JFK may indeed be operated by either BA or American, but have a flight nunber for the other airline as well.

But only BA operates flights from Dulles/BWI to London. So if you book a nonstop on ba.com from Dulles/BWI to London it will definitely be a BA flight.

I've flown BA several times to and from London and ended up on an American Airlines flight, so studying the dimensions of BA seats may not help.