I personally wouldn't upgrade to First, and since no-one else has really put the case down yet, I will present some of these arguments. Now I get CCR access, plus I get a fair amount of operational upgrades anyway (around a quarter of services with a First cabin) so to some extent I don't want to shift BA's flag on me as a primarily CW traveller. Plus I'm teetotal. So I'm aware this isn't typical.
Nevertheless I would stick with CW on an A380 since it's a particularly pleasant ride, even more so if in row 53 or 59. 18k Avios to me is worth £360 or more for travel within Europe and I would benefit more from that than the increment for the First cabin. I'm entirely happy with the CW seat, I sleep very well in it. I don't need aisle access that frequently so that issue doesn't bother me, and in terms of what I would be doing - eating, sleeping, reading, working, I can do all of that just as well in CW as First. First sometimes (not always) has people trying understandably trying to make the most out of their flight, and that can be distracting, or worse. The food and bedding is now as good if not better than First, indeed the portion sizes and timings are to my mind better in CW than First. Another factor is that on the shorter 380/787 services I've been known to go straight to the office from the flight and do a few hours work, and the subdued lighting in First tends to make me too soporific to be much use in that context. I'm also somewhat put out by the rather large and over-dominant screen in First, the 86J Panasonic screen is about right sized for me.
Originally Posted by
Pascoe
There are seats however, so I also understand that I could force the redemption using my Gold status? Is that right?
You can use a Gold Priority Reward subject to the usual conditions, but that is for a full redemption, not UuA or some other stackable option. Otherwise you need to see First redemption space, not First revenue space.