pmedwards25

I am going to fly from Washington (KIAD) to Heathrow (EGLL) by British Airways this summer. I can take any of the following three overnight flights:

BA 216: operated by Boeing 747-400
BA 264: operated by Boeing 777-200ER
BA 292: operated by Boeing 777-200ER

Which should I choose, bearing in mind it's with my 2 middle-aged parents and will be at the end of a long holiday, so we will be tired and have lots of baggage? Is there one plane which is quieter than the other, without noise cancelling earphones?

Thanks for the advice!

Ocn Vw 1K

pmedwards25, welcome to FlyerTalk! As your enquiry is specific to BA, I'll move this to the dedicated FlyerTalk forum for that airline. Ocn Vw 1K, Moderator, TravelBuzz.

pmedwards25

OK, I didn't know where to put it! Thanks.

stewaran

Personally I would just choose the flight with most convenient timing for you. Whichever cabin you are in the difference won't be massive.

V10

Hello, welcome to the BA board.

You don't say which class you're travelling in, that'll probably determine it to a large extent along with the schedule (and maybe ticket cost).

Personally I would be avoiding the BA216 747 like the plague as quiet it is not if you're down the back. It's also timed to depart and arrive at a time that's not conducive to getting decent rest.

Unless there is a huge increase in fare cost I'd probably go with the later 777 as at least it leaves at a time when you're getting close to regular bed time so may find sleeping easier.

corporate-wage-slave

Welcome pmedwards25 to Flyertalk and the British Airways forum. This is the right place to find out about that, and there are certainly plenty of Washington regulars in this board, and I'm one of them! But it's good to see you here, may we see plenty more of you. Welcome on board.

It looks like you will miss the start of the A380 service to Washington, which I suspect will soon end the use of 747s on that route. That, plus the 787 Dreamliner are, in my experience, the only 2 aircraft which are noticeably quieter than the rest of the fleet. Staff notice the difference since after the service, when they get on the crew bus, they don't yell at each other.

The 777-200 is noisy, I don't like it. The 747 is almost as noisy if I was being honest, other than that if you are at the front (First, Upper Deck Club World, or in some configurations that include the IAD service, Word Traveller Plus). These areas are noticeably quieter. Also right, right, right down the back. Basically you need to get upstream of the engines, or far away down the back, to escape the noise. So the 777s quiet places are First and down the back.

However: from a sleep / jetlag point of view, the later the better. That probably has a bigger impact than the equipment if one keeps to the same cabin.

So I'd rank it:
1) Send them at least WTP on the 747 or failing that
2) BA292 down the back in WT.

pmedwards25

Thanks for the advice. BTW I'm going too, we're travelling World Traveller ( ) and all the flights are equal in cost because we're paying using Avios.

Any further advice, e.g. best seats? Most on-time? Quiestest plane? Thanks.

Can I help you

I would take the 292 as it is more likely not to be full and you have a very good chance of getting the new WT seats and entertainment.

corporate-wage-slave

If it is just a single trip, then paying with Avios may be cost effective, particularly since they are fairly flexible tickets until 24 hrs before departure. Normally, however, using Avios in WT is a thoroughly bad idea. Have a good read around this forum and you'll see lots of better ways to use them.

Now I presume you don't mind sitting next to your parents. If at least 2 of you like aisle access then that's another reason to go 777, since that's the size of the middle block, whereas on the 747 it is 4 in the middle. However the window sides of both aisles are blocks of three on both equipments, so if you only have one aisle person that's not much of a factor.

However if you want to get the coveted titled of "most favoured offspring", this is what you should do. WT Plus is an extra 10,000 Avios. Read up on this board, and HeadForPoints on how to get extra Avios quickly, which probably involves credit cards and repeated trips to Tesco. Clearly if you only get enough for 2 parents, with you down the back, you get the martyr badge as well, but no one watching your gin consumption. Personally I think it's worth thinking about.