Originally Posted by
ung1
Cradle/ recliner seats are on the A320s, which certainly can't fly to either LHR or SYD.
The only consideration is whether you get the Suites in F or the older product, which is still ahead of BA in J. Even if the aircraft is downgraded to a 2-class (Etihad doesn't have any equivalent 2 class aircraft), the J product is fully flat. You are most certainly guaranteed a flat seat, either which way.
The Suites certainly look like an excellent F product - not something even to try to compare against a J product. I think it also bears noting, though, that even the "older" F is nothing to be afraid of... it's a 1-2-1 fully-flat private bed-seat configuration designed in 2006. Quite frankly, it's probably better than BA's old F. Given the OP seemed willing to redeem miles to go from J to F (but there wasn't availability) I'd probably be confident choosing F on EY without having to use any miles, rather than paying more to get J on BA, and then probably using more miles than the itinerary earns in order to "upgrade" to an F that may not even be as good as the F product EY offers.
Really the only reason would be to retain Gold, but in this case I don't think it's worth it. Going by other peoples' experiences this year, the OP might even get Gold renewed being a few points short - although it's not to be counted on, and quite frankly would probably not be the end of the world if OP dropped to Silver.