Thanks to the eternal wisdom of this platform here, I am well aware of the, erm, limitations of BA's 787 Y seating. Unfortunately, however, I have to go on a trip to AUS in January (from LHR) and the organisers will only reimburse Y tickets.

The outbound is no problem, since I can add a free JFK overnight stopover; getting into JFK by 8pm and not leaving until 4pm the next day. The return, however, is a dilemma:

1) Fly directly AUS-LHR, 11hrs overnighter, but 789 (which apparently is *slightly* better in Y than the 788).

2) Do a connection, either DFW; LAX; or JFK.

Price would be about the same; but timings for 2) are quite a bit worse and include long layovers (3-5 hrs lounge time each).

What would you recommend? Does the better Y option on a 747 or 777 (or even possibly 77W+MCE if AA) warrant the extra hassle of an additional connection? I've never flown on the 787-8 or -9, so grateful for any tips!