Originally Posted by
corporate-wage-slave
For £70 per person per leg I would regard this as a good deal, I would go for it. Particularly if you can find flights where the midhaul 321 goes to FCO, which it does from time to time - this has flat bed seating. Admittedly it's difficult to confirm this if your travel is some time away - it's apt to change closer in. But particularly if you don't have status and you would otherwise be on one checked bag per person, this would quite a good deal to my mind. Fast Track is perhaps worth having, but it's only a few minutes. The 3 lounges available to you in LHR T5 are certainly a good feature here.
What this thread will illustrate is that there are quite distinct groups of people out there: there are travellers like me who would generally tend to book CE for anything other than short hops, and there are those who not normally pay anything more than a token amount extra for it. I guess there will be a middle ground of pragmatists too, who would perhaps book CE after a difficult week away or if they can get row 1 or whatever. No group is wrong or right, but at least you can see the arguments for and against.
Right. I think the CE product on board is a bit meh, but what I find particularly valuable, especially if you have no status, is that in my opinion the combination of business check-in + fast track + lounge + priority boarding + less competition for overhead compartment space considerably reduces the stress/misery levels of travelling. I imagine that's especially true when you're flying with a family of 5. Whether this is worth £700 for you or not is something only you can decide, but I know I would definitely go for it.