Tim_T

As I have a pair of flights in the same week on both AA and BA latest business class products I thought it was worth a comparison.

My first flight is on AAs LHR to DFW service using their latest 777w. This has the new business class seats, with a 1 2 1 arrangement across two cabins. I was in seat 3j which is just behind a divide from 2 rows of first class (also in 1 2 1). The front cabin has two rows of seats, with the rear cabin having about twelve. I'm right handed and therefore the j seat suits me better as the side table area is on my righthand side and I had selected this when booked.

I had used the ba first lounge in terminal 3 for breakfast rather than the AA lounge as all reviews said this was the better option. On a Saturday morning at 7am it was very quiet, to start with me and one other person. When I left it had about doubled. On arrival at gate 42, which I think is somewhere in slough, it was a bit of a scrum. There was a priority lane but it was blocked by a line of people waiting. The ground crew did a good job of trying to pick out business and first passengers. I was also selected for an extra security check, which includes all electronics switched on and a full pat down.

The seat is a nicer colour than cathay pacific in my view. Greys with some aluminium and wood detailing. There was a locker in the seat wall but on opening this was full with a crew bag. The overhead bin was also full with a crew bag and I was pleased that I only had a small holdall. I do like the arrangement of the seat, especially the cubby hole for headphones and the permanent side table area. This is so very handy for drinks, iPods, glasses etc and is something I really miss on the BA seats. The foot well area was bigger than my flight last month on CX, and did not cause me the same issue with moving my feet around in bed mode. I'm not sure if all the seats are better or just the ones that are bulk heads. Someone on a different thread stated that CX seats of the 330 do have a more narrow footwell area.

A small amenity kit was in the seat storage around and also a pillow and soft duvet (really very nice and much nicer than the BA quilt). The amenity kit was limited but functional ; socks, eye mask, ear plugs, moisturiser, lip balm, body lotion, toothpaste and brush, tissues and a pen all in a zip bag.

A hot towel was offered (very hot!), and meal order taken. I was about last for orders. I had gone online and selected my main course but this had not worked for some reason. Some of the mains had all gone so i had a more limited choice, and went for chicken. This was served very quickly after take off, and I had my main within half an hour (10am). After the breakfast in the lounge I was not very hungry and I felt this was too early. I suspect it might have been because the crew knew the flight was going to be bumpy. As airplane meals go it was ok, nothing outstanding but edible. I was then offered an ice cream sundae for dessert. This is prepared for you and was a large bowl of vanilla ice cream and choice of 3 sauces, extra whipped cream and nuts. Delicious!

An aspect I don't like about the seat is the pull out table. This does not slide back an forth and therefore is a bit limited in position resulting in you having to move rather than the tray. I also don't like the elbow rest. This has to be down for take off and landing which I found not comfortable as I like to put my arm on something. Once airborne you can raise it but for me it was a little too far away and would have been better and inch or two closer and angled in. It does however protect you from being banged by aisle traffic when in bed mode. The seat belt appeared to have been extended and had an extra fixed section of about 6 inches after the buckle then the adjuster. This was a bit awkward to use and also gave even more weight to an already heavy belt due to the airbag.

The IFE is a large touch screen. It swings out and could be used in this position during take off, but did not tilt. The view angle range of the screen did not make this a big problem and it had plenty of brightness and contrast in all positions of the seat for me. Menus were a bit clunky and I could not find a back button when looking thru the movies. This was a problem as there were a lot of movies! A good selection from current hits to lots of older movies. I watched one of my all time favourites, American graffiti, and a retro style "space station 76" that was so so bad with 70s fashion, porn star facial hair, lots of smoking and wooden acting. I watched it all in the vain hope it would get better- it didn't. As a spoof or a genuine film, it didn't work for me. Dark star it's not. Headphones were boss noise cancelling, so much better than those on BA as you'd expect. One slight annoyance with the IFE, the sound and picture sync were slightly out.

Crew were friendly and attentive. They had clearly been doing this for many many years (if you catch my drift) and knew their trade. Plenty of drink top ups.

A very bumpy flight. Before take off the pilot said we had been assigned 30000 for cruise. I thought this was rather low and normally we would be around 36000. The pilot was clearly not happy with this either and said he would try to get a higher and hence smoother flight. It was ok for about an hour and then the jitters started, and got progressively worse. I've not had this bumpy going east west before. Eventually we climbed to 33 when it got really bad around the tip of Greenland but this was no better. Then we went back to 30, then 28, up to 29, down to 27, 26. All bumpy. Finally it calmed down a bit and we were back up to 28 with just jitters. Near Labrador city we climb further up to 34, still with plenty of jitters and seat belt light on and then back to 32 over Toronto when it got choppy again. In all, seat belt light was on for 8hrs.

After a poor nights sleep last night in a hotel and an early start I went for bed mode and listened to some music (Frankie goes to Hollywood, well I am off to la on Thursday). As a bed it was pretty comfortable. It was handy having somewhere to put my iPod, the duvet / blanket thing was very nice, and the cabin dark. My seat was away from galley and toilet (very large) which was good. I did find the aircon rather loud, infact it was very loud and sounded like an extra jet engine inside the cabin. It was also a little on the cool side but not uncomfortable so.

A second meal was served . This was a choice of two light bites. I was still not hungry so did not have anything.

Routing to Dallas was lower than I've done before. We didn't go over Greenland, staying over the sea across the lower tip, then over Quebec, and Toronto. This took longer than scheduled (and with a 450 to 470 ground speed, 100mph + headwind) so we were late into Dallas. An advantage of the American flight vs the BA to Dallas is the higher proportion of US citizens which make immigration a bit easier for non us citizens. Mind you a combination of first off the plane, the early arrival compared to other Europe departures eg BA, and the new electronic machines got me thru in a record breaking 2 mins. Priority bags were about last......

I'm now waiting for an AA md80 flight to Ontario CA. I'll post about my return BA flight in (seat shifters allowing) 53a on a 380 from LAX in a week.

Tim_T

BA 282, LAX to LHR. Seat 53a on 380.

Seat shifters kept away from my booking and my choice was still in place at checkin. LAX was very busy. I checked in at the first line but no one was dealing with this so I ended up at CW. Checkin quick and I was directed to the priority line for security. This was not well marked and shared a line with wheelchairs. With only one security check point and belt this was slow. Even more frustrating was the number of families that had pushchairs that were allowed into this line and jumped the queue. It took about half an hour to clear security.

Lounge was the new one world lounge. It's large and featureless. Food was a selection of salads, and about 4 hot dishes. Food was nice but the lounge is not somewhere to spend much more time than needed. No british newspapers. I had a shower which was nice and did not have the gurgling of terminal 5.

Gate 148 was a bit of a zoo. Lines were random and formed thru the seating area. We were paged from the lounge well before boarding even started. An announcement was then made that the air con was not working on the plane at the gate and that they were going to start an engine to cool things down. Temperature on the plane was well over 100c and too hot to start boarding apparently. Another announcement sent us back to the lounge to wait.

Called again and boarded. Plane was still very warm. My seat is a window on the upper deck next to the bulkhead so with direct aisle access. Gap is not as big as 64a on a 747. The side bins have a rim which reduces the opening, but they are deeper and not interconnected like the upper deck on a 747. When closed you have a handy area for drinks etc which you don't get with any other seat.

Seat has a different colour fabric to the older CW seats, a more steel grey look which extents to the rest of the cabin surfaces. Not unpleasant. On the upper deck in this area they are 2 3 2, and either 4 or 3 rows. For those not familiar with BA CW seats, you have a forward / backward arrangement. Window seats all face backwards. This also means that you look directly at your neighbour when the dividing screen is down. Handy if you are travelling with friends or family, no so if it's a stranger. Cabin feels nice, and whilst bigger than the top deck of the 747 it still feels private and not that you are flying with circa 400 other people. Seat was also soft and a nice angle when in take off mode, more comfortable than the AA seat and it had places to put elbows! No boxed in feet area either which I prefer. Window seats have to climb over the legs of the aisle seat, a bit of a pain for both involved. My choice of 53a avoided this as it had the direct access.

Blanket and small pillow waiting on the seats. Wash bags handed out (male / female versions) - mine had a razor, pen, socks, lotion and lip balm. No ear plugs or eye masks offered. BA also don't provide pyjamas, I think this is a missed opportunity as these are great and other carriers provide them. Left the gate about half an hour late. Took off over the sea, turned back over LA and then over Las Vegas. Cold towel offered - the cabin was finally cooling down as well. No newspapers offered.

Menu had beef, sea bass, tortellini and a main salad. I went for the beef. It was served about 1.5hrs after leaving the gate. I really enjoyed both the starter (salmon) and the beef. One point, The table slides back and forth which I find useful and something the AA seat lacked.

IFE had a decent sized screen that opens out and tilts down. It could not be open during take off / landing. Good selection of movies, not that dissimilar to the flight out, but not such a selection of classic movies.
I did find the side bins a little annoying. I tended to put my elbows on them and this opened them as the mechanism is very light. I ended up leaving one open.

I settled down for sleep. I don't know if it's my location or general for this area but there is a low freq vibration that becomes very disturbing when you put your head down. This really prevented me having a good nights sleep. I've not noticed this on other flights so don't know if it's specific to the 380. It's not because it's quiet as this is a vibration that ear plugs don't stop. Other than this the bed was comfortable and private. I didn't notice noise from the galley when I had ear plugs in. I also had no problem with cabin temperature, a apparent issue on some of the 380s. I managed a few hours of sleep, but I never sleep very well on planes so this was as good as I could expect.

Breakfast was served about 1.5hr before landing. I did not have any so can comment.

The toilets at the front of the cabin are huge, especially the left hand one. Also standing at the top of the stairs and you appreciate the size of the plane you are on. The crew were very young but were efficient and friendly.

Landed a few minutes late from the west so had a bit of a taxi, and then a wait for a gate. Flight connections was chaos. I've not seen it that bad for ages and a lot of people will miss there flight, hopefully my bag will make it. I managed to get an express pass which helped a bit, but security was still backed up resulting in control of people going up the escalators. No time for a shower, quick water in the north lounge and then a walk to gate 5 as the down escalator had failed! Flight up to Manchester was nearly an hour late leaving as a number of people missed the flight and bags had to be removed.

So in comparison.

Seat in take off mode. BA. Far more comfortable than AA with a softer and better angled seat and elbow rests.

Seat in bed mode. AA. My sleep was affected by the vibration. Otherwise it would be a draw as I find the BA seat comfortable and private for sleeping.

Storage. A draw. On the upper deck window the BA side bins are great, otherwise the seat lacks storage compared to AA.

Space. AA. AA has more space around the seat, BA the window seats are private and not affected by aisle traffic, but are a little cramped and the curve of the plane impacts head room.

Crew. Draw. The younger BA crew were more friendly, but efficiency was with the AA crew.

Soft product. AA. A little difficult to compare as one was day time the other overnight. BA lacked good soft product. The blanket was thin and worn, pillow small, and amenity kit is poor compared to AA.

Food. BA. One of the best meals I've had on a plane.

It terms of my votes, AA just edges BA but to be honest there is very little to choose between them, depending on your choice of seat. There are fairly significant differences that if important to you need to be considered. the private area of a seat like 53a is better than the seats on AA, assuming the vibration was just a fault with my seat or plane, however the AA seats are more consistent with less good vs bad seats. I don't find the AA seat very comfortable, BA wins this one for me, but it's bigger and more roomy with good storage. If BA improved it's soft product then I think it would be a lot closer.

My flight on AA was not a big enough step over BA for me to change my flights over. The seats are also not on all planes, especially from my point of view, the Manchester flights. You need to go from terminal 3 which is a pain if connecting from another domestic airport like Newcastle.

standch

Interesting! I experienced the same on an Emirates A380, Dubai to Melbourne, seated in 3F (certainly in the same area), only when I put my head down to sleep.