Best alliance for intra-Europe flights

[24601]

I'll be arriving in FRA in September and need to get to London either that day or the following. I Have One World Emerald (QFF WP); Star Gold (Avianca diamond) and VA WP. After my commitment in London, just one day, I have another few days to do whatever and have no wish to spend any time in London but am not averse to doing a flight or two.

Assuming I'm flying in Y, what airline or alliance do you think would give me the best lounges and best experience overall?

TIA.

 

[dajop]

From FRA to London ... Whoever can get you there at a reasonable cost ...

From London the BA F lounge is quite good at LHR and of course plenty of options being a BA hub. Having said that if you have to pay a decent premium to fly BA (to access the F lounge in LHR), compared to others, then why not splurge at a decent restaurant instead? The likes of easyjet provide an acceptable ride often at a reasonable fare too (although sometimes expensive too). I find for flying within Europe its best not to be tied to a particular alliance (unless flying to/from their hub) and be open to the various options that exist.

Also be wary of paying cash a lot of fares on the traditional/legacy carriers come without luggage (and having status may not help either, unlike in the US where on the major carriers having status will give you free checked luggage, this is often not the case in Europe - notably with BA where base level fares don't include checked luggage - or seat selection - irrespective of status).

 

[24601]

Excellent, thanks dajop for such a detailed answer. Will look more at best fares than anything else. Should be HLO, but can't be sure yet.

Thanks.

 

[Mattg]

Being based in FRA, surely Lufthansa? You can get to pretty much anywhere in Europe on LH from FRA, and the lounges in FRA (and MUC) are very good.

Generally speaking, I think Star Alliance has a better intra-Europe network overall. I've travelled around Europe fairly extensively with oneworld status, and Airberlin/Iberia/BA met my needs fairly well. But there are a fair few gaps that the Star carriers in Europe fill.