Originally Posted by
DominicB
My take is different to the earlier posts, and I value F fairly highly over J. Going to the UK (I live in the USA), I am keen to get the most sleep I can on the seven hours or so journey from Chicago. I find I sleep far far better in First. It is smaller and quieter, and the bed/PJ experience is better. So the first blessing for me is that I really do much better on sleep and am thus ready for a full day of business on landing.
... and just to prove that we're all different, I actively choose J on the sleeper service from Chicago over F. (In fact, I just made an Avios redemption on BA294 on a 241 from the UK, and chose J even though there was F availability and the increase in cost would have been only ~10,000 Avios per person and no difference in fees). I don't eat or drink at all on that service, and my favourite place to sleep is 62A/K - loads of room, no one bothers you, v quiet and private, and the proximity to the emergency exits means that the sleeping area is quite cool.
If you are BAEC Gold or OWE, you get a lot of the advantages of F anyway (First class check in / First Wing at LHR; first class lounge access; free seat selection; etc.). When flying from LHR T3, you can access the best OneWorld lounge in the terminal regardless of your class of travel. Without status, I think I would value F far more than I currently do.