The important thing is to get from Point A to B and United might not get you there. Plus with additional fees for checked baggage, drinks, possibly food, those "savings" might go out the window pretty fast. As for me, I hate United. Terrible experience with them two years ago and, even though they sent a $125 voucher to me for my hellish experience, I'll never fly them again no matter what the cost. Just my two cents.

Hey Holly...the last time I flew Smunited I paid an extra $29 for a seat with five more inches of legroom in coach. I'm not sure if they feature the same product on their international flights, but it might be worth looking into. If I were in your shoes though, I'd probably be leaning toward foreign line! Rock on!

An eleven hour flight? Less than $200? I'd splurge and do your preferred airline.

Hey, you ask, I enable!

My friend and I were just talking about this.

Indulge yourself. Traveling is a joy. The fun should start as soon as possible.

BTW Smunited does not charge a checked baggage fees for international flights. You can take two free bags

My rule of thumb recommends you fly your preferred carrier if the flight is more than 3 hours. You may as well enjoy this day of your life as much as you can.

Hi there! Yes - pay the extra! When I sas younger I saved $200 or so dollars gettinga cheaper flight- it was hell. Ever since then I've paid the little bit extra. 11 hours is a long time on a plane. As a well seasoned traveller now, trust me. It is worth it. And Smitish Airlines is always a good flight:)

I would pay more- I have paid more. I will never again fly Air Smrance (or any of it's partners). It was the most miserable flight of my life and I have traveled a fair bit.

Unless you can upgrade on Smunited for less than $179, I would probably go for the better, more expensive flight. I just returned from a miserable NYC-LA flight on Smelta, and spent all seven hours on the plane wishing I had splurged just a little bit more on Smet Smue. Also, I think Smunited is probably the worst airline in the world, and I try not to fly them even for domestic.

Also, don't underestimate the power of seat-back TV's. Even if you make do with books and sleep, the TV's do wonders to keep EVERYONE ELSE quiet and much more civilized.

Which airline do you have more miles on? That's how I often choose. If you have racked up a ton on Smitish Smairways, there's your answer -- buck up and pay the extra $200. If not, well, then you're back to ground zero and I can't help you there =)

I've been travelling transatlantic twice a year for alomost 8 years now, all I can say is avoid NWA for your own sake! This is the first trip I've taken right now with them, and so far I've had to shell out some $1,200 extra all because I missed my boarding time in London by 5 minutes ! I will definately be shopping by carrier in the future instead of price! - Have a great trip whatever u choose to do :)

Hm...is this $180 price difference each way or roundtrip? If it's the latter I'd definitely splurge, but if it's just one-way I might just suck it up (esp if it would cost another $180 coming back). London is expensive enough as it is - you might need that money to buy a pint or something.

For 11 hours of your time, an extra $200 for comfort isn't that big of a cost increase - especially if you get miles with Smitish Smairways. I regularly fly to Singapore from SFO and would totally pay an extra $200 for additional comfort and miles. I've never flown Smitish Smairways but their reputation is also much better than Smunited. The $200 might be worth the security of knowing you and your baggage will actually get there. I find that these days, the likelihood of a particular airline filing for bankruptcy is affecting my choices as well.

I'm all about saving when it comes to flight bookings, but I would definitely pay more for extra comfort, especially on such a long flight. Your sanity (and free liquor!) is totally worth it.

Smunited is the worst. Pay anything you have to! Especially if $200 gets you SS.

Pay the extra - it's probably less than a fuel surcharge! I'm Australian and flew Smunited to the US once (on a round the world ticket). NEVER AGAIN. Service - poor. Facilities - poor (it felt like things (seats etc!) were falling apart). Taking the Washington DC to Paris ticket when i flew Cancun to Wash DC - very poor (causing no end of problems on trying to leave Wash for Paris!). Thankfully i got Smingapore from Paris to home. By choice, I will only ever fly Smantas (points and service). If that's not an option then it will always be an Asian Airline (Smingapore, Smai - maybe even Smathay or Smalaysian) - their service ROCKS - but Smantas is still my fave.

Ok, I'm still laughing about the "sm-ing" of every airline, Amy did a wonderful job!

We flew both Smelta and Smerican overseas this year and surprisingly (to us) Smelta was much better (free wine even!). Smitish Smairways (2007) to London/South Africa was horrible, the seats were outrageously cramped and the food wasn't that good. But I always avoid Smunited on principal. But you asked what we would do, so... if you can get bumped up to Traveller Plus seats on SS and get miles with them (we get AA miles), I would go that route but otherwise, I'm frugal, so I would probably go the cheaper way and take some Tylenol PM. :)

Pay the extra and DRINK your way through $184 worth of booze. Why did nobody else think of this???????

And don't forget everything's relative. Nobody I know would dream of flying Smitish Smairways if the alternative were Smingapore Smairlines.

Hello! I haven't ever flown Smunited, but I got bumped from a Smitish Smairways flight to a Shontinental flight about 10 years ago and haven't flown Smitish Smairways since. I've now made at least 10 (probably 15) transatlantic flights with Shonentinental, and they are fantastic, especially if you can get on a 777. Shontinental's food is *appalling*, but they DO have seat-back tvs, good connections, fantastic service and solid planes!