BRITISH AIRWAYS First Class and Club World Business Class Seat reviews

BRITISH AIRWAYS CLUB WORLD BUSINESS CLASS SEAT REVIEW   :   BOEING 777-300

Seat 16K/16A was a lot more restricted in terms of width compared to the B747-400. The experience wasn't great from the staff either, this is not the first time I've thought this about BA and being a gold member I now question why I fly BA at all if it wasn't for the executive club. Food was not so bad and the wine was great, lots of choice though I did grow frustrated by the amount of world traveller plus who used the bathrooms designated for business class. The new AVOD is good though not remarkable, I ended up using my iPad for most of the flight as the selection was pretty limited.

BRITISH AIRWAYS FIRST CLASS SEAT REVIEW   :   BOEING 777

I now always hope that I will not have New First. The main reason is that all the freedom of seat position has gone with the new controller - impossible to have feet elevated without being in bed position. Still too many seats in the cabin, and the new wardrobe is completely useless - if the passenger behind slams the door your whole seat shakes - same for video screen. general quality of the cabin very shoddy - clearly not meant to last long before the next upgrade hopefully.

BRITISH AIRWAYS CLUB WORLD BUSINESS CLASS SEAT REVIEW   :   BOEING 747-400

My wife and I travelled LHR-MIA and having researched recommended best seats in Business Class for this aircraft type, chose 62A & 62B. This was a tired aircraft and the moment we sat down in a narrow wobbly seat, we had our doubts. Our doubts were confirmed when shortly after take off, the inflight entertainment system failed and was rebooted twice but to no avail. Not what you look forward to for a 9 hour flight. The facing backward and forward combination doesn't work. When in the full recline position (62B), someone has to step over your legs to get to the passenger seating 61A or for them to exit to go to the bathroom - unacceptable. Old product that doesn't work properly. Would recommend you research other Business Class seats before choosing BA.

BRITISH AIRWAYS FIRST CLASS SEAT REVIEW   :   BOEING 747-400

I choose to fly British Airways because staff are good. We experienced the new BA First Class product in August 2011 and found it to be perfectly acceptable. Given this was launched back on February 2010, can you imagine my delight when we boarded our flight in April 2012 to find the old First Class product. Terribleis the only world to describe the seats. Cabin Crew who work ten times harder to deliver a First Class experience given Budget equipment to work with. Faux walnut panelling, bits hanging down from various places in the cabin. The new product which I have already commented on is perfectly acceptable, but the old product would have almost suited Premium Economy, certainly not Club World or First Class. I was left feeling that I had been fleeced. Paid for First Class and given Premium Economy.

BRITISH AIRWAYS FIRST CLASS SEAT REVIEW   :   BOEING 747-400

Cabin not as impressive as the 777 that I flew to London, a plus was that the IFE system worked the entire journey. It failed on the 777. Bed fully flat and extremely comfortable. Table huge.

BRITISH AIRWAYS CLUB WORLD BUSINESS CLASS SEAT REVIEW   :   BOEING 777

NBO-LHR. Check in a breeze, Galleries lounge in Nairobi pleasant but could do with a better food selection plus the Wifi wasn't working. Club World seat is soft, comfy and converts into a fully flat bed which is made up of your fully reclined seat plus a horizontal footstool. My seat faced backwards which wasn't a problem at all but during take off you're facing a fellow passenger, which on this occasion turned out well. Then you slide up a divide screen for total privacy - however the flight attendant has to regularly slide it up and down to serve you food and drink. The space around you feels very private, there is a laptop store, the TV screen is an adequate size and has a good selection of programming - I just wish they didn't roll the Highlife branding and adverts before every film/tv show. The only downside was the food which was uninspiring - not much better than economy to be honest, but the big plus is the showers, plentiful breakfast selection and free massage at the Galleries Arrival lounge at Heathrow.

BRITISH AIRWAYS CLUB WORLD BUSINESS CLASS SEAT REVIEW   :   BOEING 747-400

Flying fairly frequently LHR-JFK, I love the privacy, service and comfort of sitting upstairs. I have no problem flying backwards and my wife and I both take a window seat. My only criticism is that the Club kitchen no longer stocks recognisable brands (Cadburys and Walkers) and now uses what looks likes the remains of shopping trip to Lidl. Lounges can be a bit overcrowded but the pre-flight supper more than compensates. Recently did the same journey in a 777 and found Club a bit more claustrophobic so will be booking my flights to get on the 747's.

BRITISH AIRWAYS CLUB WORLD BUSINESS CLASS SEAT REVIEW   :   BOEING 777-200

PHL to LHR – Overall experience was okay, not impressed at all with British Airways service in business class. Food is okay and IFE is poor. The flat seats are good.

BRITISH AIRWAYS FIRST CLASS SEAT REVIEW   :   BOEING 747-400

There is no privacy unless you are in 1A or 1K, 2A and K not too bad but thats it. It feels crowded, the food very average, some of the wine is OK. The aircraft was filthy, especially the toilets and the cabin although renovated was well worn. I cannot understand how BA keep attracting so many repeat customers when a lot of the competition is way ahead. I only fly BA now if I don't have another choice and will stick with Business class and deal with the angry crew!

BRITISH AIRWAYS FIRST CLASS SEAT REVIEW   :   BOEING 747-400

Flew to Vancouver in the old style, and back in the new first class. Lovely new blinds and a much needed larger screen but when there is nothing much to watch then it is wasted. Choice of movies/tv/audio so limited for long flights. Food and wine selection poor and service not first class for sure. So disappointed!

BRITISH AIRWAYS CLUB WORLD BUSINESS CLASS SEAT REVIEW   :   BOEING 747-400

Got upgraded to Business from Premium Economy on LHR-ORD segment. Wife and I were in 1st row middle seats facing one another - very odd, as she was facing backwards. We are both slim, so the seat width was fine, and when we reclined fully, we were comfortable enough to sleep for 3-4 hours. The TV was too small and rather far, and the dinner tray was smaller than I've had on another airlines in Business (Qatar, Turkish). Meal was good, but neither it nor the service compared to either of the previous mentioned airlines in the same cabin. I think facing people to add more seats is kind of tacky. I certainly wouldn't have paid the $5000 one-way fare for this service. The inner 2 people also have to step over the feet of others to get out.

BRITISH AIRWAYS CLUB WORLD BUSINESS CLASS SEAT REVIEW   :   BOEING 747-400

Rear facing seats on upper deck of 747, dreadful. Was looking forward to flying business class on upper deck. Expected it to be front facing, one next to another with good window views. It was rear facing with a cheap plastic screen that separated me from the person next door but can still make out their blurred features. Have to climb over their legs to get out. BA champagne was nice though, took my mind off the horrible rear facing seats.

BRITISH AIRWAYS CLUB WORLD BUSINESS CLASS SEAT REVIEW   :   BOEING 747-400

LHR-GRU. When possible I choose a seat in the last row on the upper deck. Privacy is very good and it is very important to me. The crew was welcoming and polite. Food was far from exceptional I certainly prefer BA business class to Air France or Lufthansa.

BRITISH AIRWAYS FIRST CLASS SEAT REVIEW   :   BOEING 747-400

Great lounge at LHR T3. Loads of food and quality wines etc. The seat was superb, I am 6'5" tall and big build. I slept in comfort for over 7 hours! Had a great breakfast and lovely cups of tea. All in all a fabulous journey and done in style right down to the Johnnie Walker blue label and Otard XO as standard. Would recommend this to anyone and looking forward to doing it again.

BRITISH AIRWAYS CLUB WORLD BUSINESS CLASS SEAT REVIEW   :   BOEING 747-400

LHR-Phoenix-LHR. The upper deck on Boeing 747 is the best cabin on BA. If you can get 62 or 64A or K, you can get in and out without disturbing another passenger. Window seats, though facing backwards, offer large storage lockers and more privacy. Reclining to flat is easier than on Virgin, and comfort level is good. Armrests extraordinarily hard. IFE switched on right after takeoff.

BRITISH AIRWAYS FIRST CLASS SEAT REVIEW   :   BOEING 747-400

This was my first (and maybe last) experience of the new layout. It is crowded (too many seats) and I believe a step backward from the old style as a lot of privacy is gone. Video screens are bigger and the double window pane is nice but the seat seems less comfortable when upright and more claustrophobic. IFE didn't work initially but after several attempts the crew got it working. There is less space next to window to put things on than with the old seat and the meal tray is smaller. The personal closet is a joke because you can't fit more than a shirt and shoes in it. But to make things worse, the food has seriously deteriorated and the wines and champagne are no better than Club World. The service was slow but polite. I believe that the new seat is well behind the competition and that the Club World seat is actually better.

BRITISH AIRWAYS FIRST CLASS SEAT REVIEW   :   BOEING 777

Singapore to London. The BA First Class experience is definitely not memorable. Changi Qantas/BA lounge is a real shame, no decent food is offered and hardly a place to sit as it is so crowded with several flights leaving at the same time. The new cabin atmosphere is quite nice, but there are too many seats. The cabin was full and from what I noticed a couple of upgrades. The crew was not interested in providing a good service and once dinner is served don't expect to see them around for most of the flight. The seat is not much better than the old one, it is still too narrow and quite hard. The only good news is the larger tv screen. It looks more like a business class product rather than a First class one. The washrooms were not clean and I had to make my bed as nobody offered to do so. The food was just terrible - pasta was sticky and not even warm, cheese was as hard as stone, I left most of my dinner and asked for a tea with lemon and honey. After 15 minutes came the tea without lemon or honey, it took another ten minutes to have the lemon but I never had the honey. Is this service? Breakfast on BA is a joke, fruits are terrible, toasts cold and chewy and scrambled eggs are greasy.

BRITISH AIRWAYS FIRST CLASS SEAT REVIEW   :   BOEING 747-400

LHR-YVR in the new First cabin layout. The seat seemed narrower (and guest seat / foot rest was certainly too narrow); the level of privacy is very poor in comparison with other first class layouts, several (too many) small details about the new layout are impractical and not sufficiently thought through. How did BA get this so wrong?

BRITISH AIRWAYS FIRST CLASS SEAT REVIEW   :   BOEING 747-400

London to Sydney, out via Bangkok and back via Singapore. All four legs of the journey had the new First seats. Refined and classy. Entertainment system top rate. It was a treat to myself to fly BA first. It's extortionately priced, but for a once in a lifetime experience I'd highly recommend it. I had seat 1A going out on the 747 and 1K coming back on the 777.

BRITISH AIRWAYS FIRST CLASS SEAT REVIEW   :   BOEING 747-400

Cape Town - London, my seat was directly next to the galley and directly under the main staff-controlled cabin light. A fateful combination that can never provide for anything close to the experience BA widely tout. Add to that, that their chillers failed so there was no food save for breakfast, no fast-track service on arrival, no T5 Arrivals Lounge (because nobody thought to tell the First Class passengers - or at least me - about it), and that my clearly-labelled First Class luggage emerged last on the carousel, and you have a truly lamentable service. I thought it might be a one-off - having scanned the reviews below, it is clearly not. The gulf with the Middle East and Asian carriers is getting wider and wider - it is hard to see how the current management / ownership can ever bridge it.

BRITISH AIRWAYS CLUB WORLD BUSINESS CLASS SEAT REVIEW   :   BOEING 777-200

Overall I would say I was underwhelmed. The seat is very narrow from the hips down. I found it quite hard to fall asleep. BA has the sleeper service which basically means you get a salad with 3 shrimp, a bread roll and one service of drinks. Compared to the food and service on AA this fell well short. Breakfast consisted of a croissant and jam, and a bacon roll if you were lucky enough to catch the FA eye - unfortunately I wasn't! FA seemed intent on getting through the service ASAP. Although the seat is marginally better than AA, I would fly AA business before this product again. My IFE didn't work the whole flight, I was told by a FA that there were other peoples IFE that wasn't working either and there was nothing they could do. BA used to be so good in Club World, its disappointing that they have let their standards slip.

BRITISH AIRWAYS CLUB WORLD BUSINESS CLASS SEAT REVIEW   :   BOEING 777-300

Having flown with South African Airways, Qantas and Iberia as part of my round the world ticket, British Airways proved to be an incredible disappointment in every respect and I will avoid flying them again. I rang my bell about 10 times only to be ignored, the face to back seating arrangement was incredibly uncomfortable, food was dry and boring and the service the worst I've come across. I must say the First Class Galleries Lounge at T5 in London is the best I've come across. A shame that the service, food and seat is letting down what use to be a leading airline.

BRITISH AIRWAYS FIRST CLASS SEAT REVIEW   :   BOEING 747-400

Have flown BA First twice now. SYD-BKK amazing service, the older cabin was clean, comfortable and in good working order. The crew were friendly. A direct contrast to BKK-SYD flight where the cabin was filthy, in a state of disrepair, and the crew were surly and rude. Not only did I have to stand for 45 mins whilst my bed was made. I woke an hour and a half before landing, and was told to, "Hurry up if you want breakfast love". The food on this flight was rubbish. Seats 2A/K offer privacy one expects of First without any loss of space (1A/K)

BRITISH AIRWAYS FIRST CLASS SEAT REVIEW   :   BOEING 777

Before boarding you have use of the vastly over-rated Concorde Room. Staff ignore empty cups, magazines are scattered lazily on a table, forgettable food is served in ludicrously designed booths with walls so high that serving staff are unable to see who needs assistance. The shower rooms look like something you'd find in an NHS hospital. Really grim. The whole thing has zero finesse and looks like the reception of a Holiday Inn. Old tired filthy cabin with tape decks blocked up. TVs are so out of date that they give you an iPad. For the money, it's not a serious product. It's sad to see a once great airline slide.

BRITISH AIRWAYS FIRST CLASS SEAT REVIEW   :   BOEING 747-400

LHR-EWR on a 777 in old First Class. Really tired, unclean and past it. Screens are small and they offer an iPad instead. Food good, friendly staff. JFK-LHR in the new First. Very clean, power at seat. Good staff. The large screens are low res, and still run the old in-flight system (which as usual had to be rebooted 30mins into the flight). The lounges both ends are deeply pedestrian. Arrivals lounge in Heathrow is average. I'm only not recommending this seat because the quality of lounges in terms of facilities, quality of food, and design - fall far short of First Class lounges by similar airlines.

BRITISH AIRWAYS CLUB WORLD BUSINESS CLASS SEAT REVIEW   :   BOEING 777

The cabin layout maximizes privacy, and the seat is flat. Not every aspect of the seat is perfect, but those two items - privacy and flatness count for 90% of what matters to me.

BRITISH AIRWAYS FIRST CLASS SEAT REVIEW   :   BOEING 777

I have flown BA First 5 times in the last 4 months and have been amazed every time at how poor the service, food quality and overall experience is. The food is consistently worse that the Business Class of middle eastern airlines; there was a time when First class meant vintage Krug, caviar and other similar luxuries. In my case, the food was so bad that I did not eat it - far better to fill up on decent fare in the T5 lounge at LHR. BA really need to get their act together - First should be superlative given the prices charged - I was left very unimpressed on each occasion.

BRITISH AIRWAYS CLUB WORLD BUSINESS CLASS SEAT REVIEW   :   BOEING 747-400

I always try to get 62A in the upper deck, although it is facing backwards, which does not worry me, I find this particular seat excellent for ease of moving around etc.

BRITISH AIRWAYS CLUB WORLD BUSINESS CLASS SEAT REVIEW   :   BOEING 777-300ER

LHR-HKG-LHR in new 777-300ER. Seat seems to be the same as on other planes with the difference that they have new AVOD with a slightly bigger screen. Seat comfortable and seating arrangement is the same as on other 777 with BA. The lavatories are behind the Club World cabin so avoid rows 15 and 16 - they are just next to the lavatories and these are the locations for travellers with baby basinets. Row 10 is a bit too close to the galley for my taste. I travelled in row 11 and 13, which was good. If you are flying with a friend or companion, the middle seats are perfect, as they give you full privacy. On both night flights I could get 7-8 hours of sleep and the bed was comfortable. A nice touch would be to receive a blanket or thin mattress to place on the seat, for it to be more comfortable. I like the small drawer, they provide to put your personal belongings.

BRITISH AIRWAYS FIRST CLASS SEAT REVIEW   :   BOEING 747-400

For the last 15-20 years BA First has been my preferred mode of travel, paying money out of my own pocket for the experience - not anymore - there are better First choices out there. If you must travel BA, Business is the better choice. I only now travel BA when I absolutely have to, and on my routes I'm invariably on an unimproved plane. I support the previous detracting correspondents below on the poor quality of the unimproved First Class - I do feel cabin service remains good. Unfortunately the improved First Class is not a whole lot better and is some way behind the better competitors. If the new First Class had been introduced 7-8 years ago, BA may perhaps have stayed ahead of the game for a bit but not anymore.

BRITISH AIRWAYS CLUB WORLD BUSINESS CLASS SEAT REVIEW   :   BOEING 747-400

Seat is too narrow and too short. At 1.83m tall, I could not stretch fully and had to lie on my side to fit my shoulders into the space the seat leaves. Cabin design is miserable and seems to be falling apart.

BRITISH AIRWAYS CLUB WORLD BUSINESS CLASS SEAT REVIEW   :   BOEING 777

Strange with the seats in zig-zag. My husband and I where seated in the middle seats and had to jump over our neighbor each time we wanted to get out. We also had to look at our neigbors face every time we got served or asked something. Somehow it all felt a bit rude. I much prefer Singapore Airlines 4 seats in a row compared to BA's 6. Quite comfortable to sleep in but no space for bags or shoes, we had to put everything in the overhead lockers. Food really terrible, more like a school kitchen. Seemed to be sauces out of a tin and very dry chicken. Bread sweet and breakfast quite awful. Again compared to Singapore Airlines where you get served from a trolley and can look and chose. On our way back to Europe we had seats 4 F and 4 G, the last of the row. Now we didn´t have to jump over our fellow passengers.