I've never had a problem understanding why some people refer to BA F as "The best business class in the sky". Certainly it can't compete with the likes of EK, SQ, LX, EY, etc.

That being said, I never saw a huge amount of difference with regard to service, etc. between 64K and 1A. Comfortable, private, good service (generally) and satisfying-yet-forgetable meals whichever seat I was in.

Over the past year, the UD is becoming rarer on the routes I fly, and I'm finding myself more and more often staring down the barrel of 12hours in 10A on a 777. Now I've always called CW on the 777 "The Dormitory". It just feels far too crowded, and the service is always rushed and ephemeral; with trays flying through the divider as if I were an inmate at some kind of institution.

As a result, I've been doing a considerable amount of POUG and UUA to F on these flights. The difference, I have now decided, lies in the service. I recently flew LHR-SIN-SYD-SIN-LHR and all but the last leg I managed to get myself into F. One of the flights even resulted in my finding a CC worthy of my "Golden Ticket", such was the outstanding nature of her intuitive and friendly service throughout the flight. On the other 2 F flights, the service was still of exemplary nature.

Then I took the last leg in CW as no upgrade was available. Now this was my first experience of a BA A380, and by accounts it appears I chose a poor seat on the UD, but still...

Firstly, the seats don't seem to fit properly on the UD. The curvature of the fuselage tapers up but no effort has been made to reflect this in the seat design. It is like the job was given to a couple of labourers on a Friday afternoon; "Ah just bang em in as close to the window as you can John, then we'll head down the Dog and Hare." Plus what's that lump about on the floor of the seat? I also noticed that the seat doesn't seem to lie completely flat; at the join of the seat it seemed to be angled up a few degrees. I've actually always said BA seats seem to do this, but it felt more pronounced on the A380. Oh, and the lighting is glaring in the window seats from those strip lights.

But those are minor niggles compared to the dormitory effect on this bird. At one point I counted NINE people waiting outside the bathrooms. The bathrooms themselves are also an odd design; like they went for "Urban factory sheek" but ended up getting "Strangeways". The cabin was also already quite grubby and fraying at the edges.

Even EK's A380 J cabin, which I always said felt crowded, is considerably better than BA's offering due to the extra space in the seat area with the mini bar and desk; plus the bar area to escape to if required. Honestly, as I waited for over 15 minutes for my turn in the bathroom I felt like I was on some FR flight behind a load of lads on a stag do; not on a multi-thousand £ ticket with the "World's Favourite Airline".

Then there was the service. This was the first time in as long as I can remember with BA (on a LH flight) that the service I received was genuinely poor. Food thrown (quite literally) through the divider. Drinks not replenished. Call bell having to be pressed 3 times before anyone came down. I don't know if they were rushed due to the size of the cabin on this plane, or having a bad day, or just a terrible crew, but even the eternal optimist that is my colleague could do no better than describe it as "fairly lacklustre".

I could write this one off as a bad experience, but the apathy in the service in the CW cabin reminded me the few flights recently where I couldn't get an upgrade and some of the traits in the crew were present on those flights as well. It wasn't quite so pronounced on the 777 flights, but it will still there. A lack of... personality, for want of a better word. A generally dishevelled service level; and a feeling of crew doing you a favour by topping up your wine glass, or offering you a bread roll.

So, that turned into a bit of an A380 rant, but it does kind of highlight my point; is the service level dropping in CW, becoming better in F, or both? And has anyone else experienced this feeling that you're an inconvenience in the CW cabin? This wasn't an isolated incident, so I think it may be an attitude that surfaces fairly often. Or maybe they just don't like my face.

Anyway, to conclude, I don't like the CW cabin on the A380 and I think as BA had years to look at the likes of EK and SQ before releasing their cabin designs, they massively dropped the ball. I will avoid that plane like the plague from now on, unless immediate F UUA is available at time of booking. With the 747 routes gradually being reduced, I think it won't be long before I have to rethink just how much of my flying goes to BA; particularly with QR's fantastic new planes being rolled out thick and fast.