Sep 1, 2013, 4:03 am
Last edit by: Prospero
MMB/Expertflyer Aircraft Code: 388
Upper deck
Main deck
Summarizing based on comments thus far:
First
This post shows the seat map and individual seat ratings for First:
First Cabin A380 Seat Ratings
In order of rating:
Club World Upper deck
Club World Main Deck
World Traveller Plus Upper Deck
Photos: courtesy of PETER01
World Traveller Upper Deck
World Traveller Main Deck
Upper deck
Main deck
Summarizing based on comments thus far:
First
This post shows the seat map and individual seat ratings for First:
First Cabin A380 Seat Ratings
In order of rating:
- 2 A/K
- 1 A/K
- 3 A/K
- 2 E/F
- 3 E/F
- 4 E/F
- 4 A/K
Club World Upper deck
- 50AB and 50JK: the B and J seats dont have anyone climbing over them. Theres nothing else ahead of these seats, so this area should be fairly quiet. However, the A and K seats ... would have to lean forward a long way to look out of the single window serving this row. Good if you like having a very private space and dont mind stepping over someone to get out. Bad if you like looking out of the window.
- 50J for longest bed is the best. However, you only have a curtain between you and the stairs and right hand side forward loo. Should be okay but might be noisy. Partial barrier around feet.
- 51D and 51F: no half barrier either so very good for tall people and first row of CW cabin so good for food and ease of access to loo without any galley.
- 53AB and 53JK: the window seats have direct aisle access, so in theory these would be a lot like 64A and 64K on the 744. Unfortunately, potentially noisy.
- 56B has a bit of extra length but also a partial barrier.
- 59AB and 59JK: the window seats here also have direct aisle access. However, as others have mentioned, because the CW and WT+ cabins partly overlap at this point, these seats (and particularly the heads of the 59B and 59J passengers) are directly in line with the WT+ centre bulkhead bassinets, so possible noise concerns if baby behind. You can see the close proximity in the photo above for 60 DEF
- Middle seats: since there's only a single middle seat, it's rather nice and isolated and private, at least while the dividers are up. When dividers go down it's face to face with your seatmates to the left and right. Couples who are using a middle seat will probably be better off choosing EF rather than DE, because the extra space to the right hand side of the E seat means the E and F seats are closer together.
Club World Main Deck
- 10J definitely winner for the most length but partial barrier around feet and galley noise may be an issue. However, also first to get food!
- 10A and 10K for window seats only. The rest have absolutely NO view as the wing is massive and all you see is reflecting Silver and a lot of flex!
- There is a reported experience from 13AB of in-flight vibration and resonances which were enough to disturb sleep.
- Avoid 15AB and 15JK due to proximity to the two loos that are right beside and behind this seat. (CW loo behind 15B and 15J, WT loo beside these seats although behind a curtain, near continuous use!)
- General note: due to the curvature of the fuselage, the window seats on the main deck have a greater gap between the seat and cabin wall than the equivalent upper deck seats, thus providing more wiggle room for your legs and toes.
World Traveller Plus Upper Deck
Photos: courtesy of PETER01
- Bulkhead seats: The legroom in the bulkhead rows of 60DEF, 61AB and 61JK is fairly good, but Im not sure that I would take these for a night flight as you can still get closer to horizontal in the rows behind. If thats your favoured sleeping position, the absence of leg-rests in those rows wont matter too much.
- Row 67: The quietness of the aircraft will mean that the toilets at the aft of the WT+ cabin are much more likely to be disturbing in this area (particularly to 67AB, 67DEF, 67JK and 68DEF) than, say, to 15AB on a mid-J 744.
World Traveller Upper Deck
- Centre block bulkheads 70DEFG and 80DEFG have tables in fixed armrests, as one would expect. This noticeably constricts the width of the seat. The armrest between D and E is a conventional lift-up armrest so if choosing these rows, D and E are better than F and G. Another thing about these bulkhead rows, which are in line with the exits, and the adjacent exit rows (70AB, 70JK, 80AB and 80JK), is that there is a noticeable hissing noise from the slipstream.
- 80D and 80E are the same and could be great for space or for couples that want to lift the armrest during the flight to get closer or sleep.
- Rear cabin: any WT seat in rows 80 to 83 would be very nice indeed as long as: there is not a stag group pissing it up here when you want to sleep! Apparently, they may offer this cabin to groups so need to be a bit careful in selecting this exclusive cabin. Also, there is noticeable galley noise in this rear cabin, and it gets worse the further aft you get.
World Traveller Main Deck
- 25D is the throne seat on the Main Deck in WT. (no seat in front of them).
BA Airbus A380: Which are the best seats? Master discussion thread
Oct 26, 2013, 2:03 pm
#196
Moderator, Iberia Airlines, Airport Lounges, and Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Feb 2010
Programs: BA Lifetime Gold; Flying Blue Life Platinum; LH Sen.; Hilton Diamond; Kemal Kebabs Prized Customer
Posts: 64,186
Indeed it's BA's corporate version of Flyertalk. If FT was being designed today we may have ended up on Yammer. It hasn't taken off much in the public sector yet - with a few exceptions - it causes IT managers to go into meltdown given that staff could say absolutely anything (yikes) but it is popular as on online brains trust / Agile development / wiki / sounding off venue in the private sector in the UK, US and Canada.
Oct 26, 2013, 2:24 pm
#197
Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: UK
Posts: 10,214
Thanks very much for this, it's very useful. My finger was hovering over the confirm button as 480 just seemed too frivolous; However you are quite right, flight home is overnight, so really doesn't matter about window seats as we'll hopefully sleep most of the way, but would be good to have the decent seats for the daytime outbound flight, and I can stomach shelling out 240 for it so booking now before they get snapped up. 
You can always cancel it a few months in once you have the complimentary CX Gold (=BA Silver) so with some cash back you could book the seats for about 70 in total (saying an average of 35 per month cost of the card) as you get a pro-rata refund if you don't need it anymore ........
That's 170 in your sky rocket which after my commission
for telling you this would save you 150! (Just kidding re my commission!) Of course this is a bit of bother but it's an option but bearing in mind the time you get your CX card (4 weeks approx. after you receive your Plat Card) the seats may be gone!
Indeed it's BA's corporate version of Flyertalk. If FT was being designed today we may have ended up on Yammer. It hasn't taken off much in the public sector yet - with a few exceptions - it causes IT managers to go into meltdown given that staff could say absolutely anything (yikes) but it is popular as on online brains trust / Agile development / wiki / sounding off venue in the private sector in the UK, US and Canada.
Oct 26, 2013, 3:11 pm
#198
Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: UK
Posts: 10,214
I'm not sure if there is an official time when they open up which I thought before was at T-24.
Oct 26, 2013, 5:09 pm
#199
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: London
Programs: Mucci. Nothing else matters.
Posts: 38,644
Oct 27, 2013, 2:25 am
#200
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: London
Programs: BA Silver Seigneur des Horaires des Mucci.
Posts: 2,060
Despite the freeze; did you think it was a good option?
Oct 27, 2013, 3:55 am
#202
Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: UK
Posts: 10,214
I was in 66A for 'the freeze' and a good seat also. The bulkhead seat was on the return. A good option? Very much so given the 2 windows, 2 bins, first served for the meals, the toilets for WTP are at the rear of the cabin, no one reclining into you, a bit quicker getting off and at 5ft 11 I could easily stretch out without my feet hitting the bulkhead.
Me slumped back and stretching out. As I have said previously I put a little rucksack with a thick jersey or hoodie at my feet and it was quite comfortable.
I could also see the seats were available but every time I clicked on the icon (me) which then turned green as usual the cot seats disappeared. This was the case up until about T-5. I'm not sure this is usual as I thought ALL seats were available after T-24. Anyhow it is a very good seat.
On my flight, the bassinet seats were unblocked at something like T-72 but they were still only selectable if you had an infant with you. At about T-48, since 61A/C/F/K were still all free, I decided there wasn't much risk in them all being needed so moved myself into one of them even though they still weren't available (method left as an exercise to the reader).
Last edited by PETER01; Oct 27, 2013 at 4:06 am
Oct 27, 2013, 4:08 am
#204
Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: UK
Posts: 10,214
Indeed it wouldn't and at my first attempt I though "YES" I've managed to snag one but as I said when you click on your wee person icon it disappears. Still worth checking for it though and hence why I never print my own BP to keep the seat choices open.
Oct 28, 2013, 3:23 pm
#205
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: London
Programs: BA Silver, Flying Blue Gold, TK Gold
Posts: 70
Upper deck in Y: I can't decide between exit rows 70 A/K or 80 A/K. Is there much difference between those? On the photos it looks like row 80 may have an inch of window and access to a tiny bit of the side storage unit while row 70 does not have that but is in the supposedly quieter front cabin. Any ideas which one of these is preferable?
Oct 28, 2013, 3:51 pm
#206
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: London
Programs: Mucci. Nothing else matters.
Posts: 38,644
Oct 28, 2013, 4:45 pm
#207
Moderator: British Airways Executive Club, Marriott Bonvoy
Join Date: May 2006
Location: Englandshire
Programs: SPG LT Plat, BA G, BD*LG, MG Blue+ ...
Posts: 16,075
Comparing row 70 :
With row 80 :
the door / pillar / fuselage / window configuration is the same, but the row 80 seat is set further back relative to the pillar - it looks about 6 to 9 inches to me, so the row 80 seat is indeed that much closer to a window.
I found the way the fuselage bends inwards towards the row 70 window seat rather intrusive, as was the grab handle which felt a bit in-yer-face.
From my viewpoint in 71K, the passengers in 70J and K had loads of legroom, but were subject to frequent disturbance from passing and loitering traffic, and curtain swishing too.
You don't get one of the nice side bins in either.
With row 80 :
the door / pillar / fuselage / window configuration is the same, but the row 80 seat is set further back relative to the pillar - it looks about 6 to 9 inches to me, so the row 80 seat is indeed that much closer to a window.
I found the way the fuselage bends inwards towards the row 70 window seat rather intrusive, as was the grab handle which felt a bit in-yer-face.
From my viewpoint in 71K, the passengers in 70J and K had loads of legroom, but were subject to frequent disturbance from passing and loitering traffic, and curtain swishing too.
You don't get one of the nice side bins in either.
Oct 29, 2013, 10:16 am
#208
Join Date: Sep 2009
Posts: 1,106
corporate-wage-slave;21673414]I remain sceptical too, but they are extra private when the screens are up, and the cabin crew report that since they are the quietest seats (furthest away from sources of noise) the passengers sleep more tightly in them. 53E has extra length, it doesn't have the (wonderful) window storage cases but they have a strange extra storage box in the front area. It also has 2 exit routes. It has its merits.
As an aside, the food going out was pretty good, but was in stark contrast to the woeful offering on the return.
Oct 29, 2013, 11:36 am
#209
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: London, UK
Programs: BA, VS
Posts: 334
We recently returned from LAX in row 81 and the side storage bin doesn't extend far enough forward for those in row 80 to use. Despite the concerns on how noisy the small rear cabin would be due to the proximity of the galley, I found the noise never extended beyond the general ambient noise that I associate with an aircraft and managed to get some decent sleep for an economy seat.
The only major issue in the rear cabin is the lack of available overhead bin storage. Too many people are being allowed to take bags that should be checked in to the hold on board and with the bins being smaller on the upperdeck there was a lot of fuss and moving things around to get everything to fit with some having to go in the forward cabin. Suppose it doesn't help as there are no overhead bins/side bins or floor storage above/in front of the exits rows and then only 3 rows behind to take all the luggage.
The only major issue in the rear cabin is the lack of available overhead bin storage. Too many people are being allowed to take bags that should be checked in to the hold on board and with the bins being smaller on the upperdeck there was a lot of fuss and moving things around to get everything to fit with some having to go in the forward cabin. Suppose it doesn't help as there are no overhead bins/side bins or floor storage above/in front of the exits rows and then only 3 rows behind to take all the luggage.
Oct 30, 2013, 2:56 pm
#210
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: LA
Posts: 58
I made reservations back in May for an October 17 flight, Club World LAX-LHR. Having no reliable guidance on what would be the best A380 seats, I chose upper deck 59 J and K for my wife and me, figuring that would be the closest to 64 J and K on the 747 upper deck. I subsequently saw the raft of posts here saying those seats were bad choices because of proximity to WTPlus and was apprehensive I had made the wrong seat selection. Having actually flown, here are my thoughts:
1. The upper deck on the A380 is not as intimate or quiet as the upper deck on the 747. There are not as many good seat choices. On the other hand, the service seemed better - perhaps because there were more people to be served and a correspondingly more focused effort with greater (wo)manpower.
2. The people in WTPlus did not invade the Club World cabin. I only saw flight attendants going through the curtain and, since the illumination levels were roughly the same in both cabins, there were not flashes of bright lights when the curtains were parted.
3. I did have to stare at the WTPlus passengers during takeoff and landing, but the curtains were shut the remainder of the time. This actually created a sense of greater privacy because I was looking at a curtain instead of another Club World passenger.
4. There were no screaming babies in WTPlus on my flight, but I am sure I would have heard them if there had been.
5. 59K has direct aisle access without stepping over anyone and without anyone stepping over you.
6. Seats which abut the galley or the bathrooms have issues with people (flight attendants and passengers) frequently opening the curtains for access. Both the galley and the front staircase landing of the upper deck are brightly lit, so in addition to the foot traffic, there is a bright light which shines through every time a curtain is opened. I would definitely not want anything in Row 50 and would have concerns about Rows 53 and 56.
Our flight back is on November 8 in the same seats and I will let you know if there is any difference in the experience.
1. The upper deck on the A380 is not as intimate or quiet as the upper deck on the 747. There are not as many good seat choices. On the other hand, the service seemed better - perhaps because there were more people to be served and a correspondingly more focused effort with greater (wo)manpower.
2. The people in WTPlus did not invade the Club World cabin. I only saw flight attendants going through the curtain and, since the illumination levels were roughly the same in both cabins, there were not flashes of bright lights when the curtains were parted.
3. I did have to stare at the WTPlus passengers during takeoff and landing, but the curtains were shut the remainder of the time. This actually created a sense of greater privacy because I was looking at a curtain instead of another Club World passenger.
4. There were no screaming babies in WTPlus on my flight, but I am sure I would have heard them if there had been.
5. 59K has direct aisle access without stepping over anyone and without anyone stepping over you.
6. Seats which abut the galley or the bathrooms have issues with people (flight attendants and passengers) frequently opening the curtains for access. Both the galley and the front staircase landing of the upper deck are brightly lit, so in addition to the foot traffic, there is a bright light which shines through every time a curtain is opened. I would definitely not want anything in Row 50 and would have concerns about Rows 53 and 56.
Our flight back is on November 8 in the same seats and I will let you know if there is any difference in the experience.