BRITISH AIRWAYS First Class and Club World Business Class Seat reviews

Seat 64A on the upper deck is one of the rear-facing ones which you can gain access to without bothering the person next to you if their seat is in the lie-flat position. It's at the rear of the cabin and was amazingly private (particularly as the seat next to me was unoccupied). The seat controls worked perfectly. It was so comfortable I slept for 4 or 5 hours on a flight from Vancouver to London.

I was in seat 62a - highly recommended; as it means you are in your own little private world, since you are facing backwards and the exit row is in front of you. Not a big deal from the space perspective, but it means you don't have to climb over anyone to get in or out of your seat. The service was good. I was annoyed that children were allowed to run riot on the outbound leg - my complaint to the crew only resulted in the offer of a move downstairs, which I declined. QF won't allow children upstairs, I think this is a good policy. The food was okay - no complaints. I found the seat spacious, with loads of space for my nick nacks without using the overhead bins. My only complaint I could level at them was that BA never seem to have individual air vents for the air conditioning. With the heating turn up, I worked up quite a sweat, and this woke me a couple of times. Why don't BA have air vents?

Fly Although the plane looked pretty old, the new seating makeS a big difference. The fully flat bed seats, compartments to keep my stuff like passports, ipods, big screen, privacy screen, all make it look special. The seat was very comfortable, both in lounge mode and flat bed mode. The service on board was beyond my expectation. The only criticism was the onboard catering. I am a vegetarian, but did not have much choice.

Fly frequently between LHR and Hong Kong with BA Club World - always find it relaxing, comfortable and staff attentive. New Lounges, including the spas/showers in Terminal 5 are terrific. I'm 6/3 tall so the seat is still not ideal but need to be fairly pragmatic about it. The luggage allowance for this route is much more generous than Virgin. Food, movies, staff generally very good. I take night flights and find the service is good if you want to sleep. 20A on the 747 is a good sea as your just head of the partition with Economy Plus - and so extra leg room. Also 60A upstairs is very quiet.

British Airways new Club World between LHR and Chicago and I found the experience quite enjoyable. The privacy screen provided me with my own space and the lie flat bed was comfortable.

Old style Club World Gatwick to St Lucia return, very comfortable outbound as a day flight, food, drinks and hospitality good, cannot fault. Return were last to board plane, seating converted to bedding restrictive to the not so tiny passengers - looking forward to "New Club World" with 25% wider on shoulders area. IFE AVOD in need of upgrading as so few channels against opposition.

Club World is still the industry best even if the seats are starting to show their age. It is an airline seat that you can get 5 hours sleep on. 4A on this three class 777 is one of the best located seats. No clambering over your neighbour's stool. Hard to fault BA cabin crew. For the most part they are highly competent at providing good business class service. Food satisfactory on outbound flight. Food dreadful on return flight. New Club World not installed on the 777's as yet. Looking forward to the arrival of the advertised wider seat.

BRITISH AIRWAYS FIRST CLASS SEAT REVIEW   :   18 August 2008  by Jonathan Granato

SEA-LHR vv. The seat is comfy whilst sitting up for meals and reading/writing. But it's when it's been turned down that the magic begins. The instant my head was on the pillow I was out. I had to be woken up forty minutes before landing both ways.

BRITISH AIRWAYS BUSINESS CLASS SEAT REVIEW   :   18 August 2008  by Nicholas Pike

LHR- Nairobi return, first time with new Club seating. A little surprised as to how good new fittings were, since press reviews I had read were indifferent. Now one of the most comfortable seats in the sky, excellent bed too. Ergomomics of design outstanding with really useful storage space. Service also excellent, though plane half empty which always helps.

BRITISH AIRWAYS BUSINESS CLASS SEAT REVIEW   :   20 June 2008  by Scott Boswell

The upper deck is the place to be! I sat in 62k, which has to be the best seat in the house as you arent disturbed by anyone the person sitting next to you trying to get out of their "shell". There is no real restriction on seat pitch in this seat as the next closest seat to you is probably a good 8 feet away! Food and service was fantastic. Staff attentive.

BRITISH AIRWAYS BUSINESS CLASS SEAT REVIEW   :   16 June 2008  by Maggie Wieting

JFK-LHR-JFK. Updated Review (multiple). While this specific transatlantic route -- New York-London -- has become somewhat more of a routine - must fly Club World at minimum four times (segments) and Club Europe six times per year on BA as an executive club member having done so for over 9 years now - choosing BA over domestic U.S. carriers offering sub-par service is simply incomparable, immeasurable to BA. When stellar service equals value in this industry - not price - time and time again, BA wins for this reason. Would you rather wake up 7+ hours later feeling groggy constantly shifting in your seat, or feeling completely relaxed with undisturbed sleep, in a quiet cabin with carefully prepared meals from flight crew that actually smile at you? To me the answer is simple, which gives me joy to write these reviews. I even participated in several in-flight surveys with pleasure on their Heathrow to Beijing and Heathrow to Marrakech segments. When airlines do it right, it should be known. Too many times, you hear of airlines "behaving badly," or offering risky standards, BA's flight crews win each time. With the upcoming "open skies" agreement, I hope travelers will finally make their claims known, and see, feel and know the difference through another memorable BA experience. One negative, of course would be, when will their ground staff finally get things right?

BRITISH AIRWAYS BUSINESS CLASS SEAT REVIEW   :   16 June 2008  by Steve Forsythe

LHR-LAX-PHX-LHR. This was my first time in the New Club seats and I was very impressed. True, they weren't terribly wide but as the arm rests lower as your seat reclines it meant you could stretch out a bit and it made for a good few hours shut eye. Cabin crew very nice and maybe too attentive but the drink is free after all. As a previous reveiwer has said, I too love Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport but the lounge is a bit pokey and I prefer to have a couple of beers downstairs in the bar. All in all, a very nice way to travel.

BRITISH AIRWAYS BUSINESS CLASS SEAT REVIEW   :   11 June 2008  by Stuart Fountain

TPA-LGW Seat 2A - Still no sign of the "new" Club World" seats but still a lot better than most business class seats. In seat entertainment controls broken so was able to get several hours sleep. At 6'+ still able to get comfortable when fully flat. Missed breakfast on board but was able to catch-up in the arrivals lounge after a shower etc.

BRITISH AIRWAYS BUSINESS CLASS SEAT REVIEW   :   1 June 2008  by B Edwards

New business class flat bed is much better than the old one. Better privacy and enough length (at least for me at 6’1”). TV is good and I like the drawer for your bits and bobs. But you still have to climb over you neighbor legs if you are not on the isle (or have them climb over you if you are). Big problem for me, though, is that there are still too many bad seats in the Club World cabin. I would hate to occupy one of the middle – it looks like you and your neighbor are in a box! And what is BA playing at by not letting you select your seat ahead of check-in. I checked-in online 15 minutes before the official start time and had a choice of exactly one other seat! So it’s too much of a lottery. BA used to set the standard. It was playing catch-up with its latest business refresh, and it didn’t get there IMHO.

BRITISH AIRWAYS FIRST CLASS SEAT REVIEW   :   1 June 2008  by Mike Boyne

We flew from IAD-LHR-BKK in First on all legs. The sitting position was very comfortable and made it easy to watch TV or read. I got 5 hours sleep from IAD - LHR and 7 hours sleep from LHR - BKK. The bed was large enough for me 6'1" to rest peacefully. We suffered no lag thanks in large part to comfort of these seats. I joy for such long flights.

 
Earlier reviews have been archived (prior to the date of last review above).