JK

Hi guys,

I just booked some flights to LCA from LHR. They have a brilliant optional upgrade, so I took advantage of it (£78 per person to upgrade to club, BOTH ways!!) Not bad for roughly £450 a person, in July...

Anyway... I was on the phone to BA about seating, and they said these are lie-flat seats... The guy kindly pointed me to SeatGuru (and I had also checked SeatPlans)... However, having done other searches etc., I keep finding conflicting reports... Some says it's the usual economy seat under the Club guise (ie normal Club Europe), while all the seat plan sites show it being lie-flat...

Has anyone flown the route recently, and can answer definitively on this?

Many thanks, and apologies if this isn't the right place to post (still a noob).

JK

Swiss Tony

Have just checked a couple of dates (Jul 24 & 25) and it's showing Club Europe.

JK

Hi Tony,

How do you check that? For example, I'm flying July 8-14. How can I know which seat type it is?

Thanks!

paulwuk

No, not lie flat seats (unless there's a last-minute aircraft substitution). LCA is operated by a 767 short haul.

You'll also see on the seat map, if it's lie-flat you'll know -- the seats look different to normal. The ones on those dates show normal seats. The BA person you spoke to was either deliberately lying, or incompetent, or a mystic that can predict aircraft swapouts months ahead.

I'm guessing it's so cheap as people are no longer taking it as it's an overnight flight.

(P.S did a dummy booking without logging into BAEC, and was assaulted by all sorts of pages trying to upsell car hire etc. It's as bad as Easyjet!)

ThatT1Feeling

I've checked on Expertflyer for those dates and both flights are currently scheduled to be on shorthaul 767s, so no flat beds.

Sometimes (maybe 10% at a guess), these shorthaul 767 routes can get longhaul 767s allocated instead (and sometimes these substitutions are showing months in advance on seatmaps and Expertflyer).

If you get one of these longhaul planes, then you would get flat beds as long as your seats are in Rows 1-4. For this reason it's always advisable to allocate yourself seats in these rows (if you can) in case you get the substitute aircraft..

JK

Thanks all - really appreciate the info. Alas, my worst-case-scenario has come true, and I will resign myself to Club Europe... It's a 2-2-2 configuration, which I've never flown on Club Europe, so lets see how that works out. Hopefully, it's a 3-3-3 where the middle seat is blanked out...

I did check the seat map (e.g. http://www.seatguru.com/airlines/Bri...ng_767-300.php) which shows the lie-flats, but as stated, I don't really trust them. Your collective experience is far more trustworthy, no doubt. I did question the BA guy about why he was looking up seat maps on SeatGuru, and not some more reliable internal database, but such is life...

@paulwuk - even logging in as Gold BAEC still brings up pages of offers, from cars, hotels to sight seeing and other rubbish... Really quite annoying, but I guess this is what lies in BA's future...

On a side note, I can't wait for much needed improvements to short-haul Club... Even on short flights, surely some form of IFE is achievable... Wonder when BA will finally start offering WiFi at a minimum. I'm just hoping Virgin Little Red offer some serious competition across Europe eventually, and it forces BA to up their game.

Thanks again all!

TRISTAR1979

I just went on to see how much it would be to upgrade my LHR LCA flights in May, and I came back at £1,539.00 each (Rtn).

JK

Wow, glad I got mine for £78 each then! It was actually £73 for the outbound, and only £5 for the return! I managed to convince the others in my party to go whole hog too. The added space with babies will be appreciated (so avoid flying Club on those dates, so you're nowhere near us! )

I fly short-haul almost weekly, but take up the Club upgrade offer whenever I see it. Normally, to Germany, it's £69 each way into Club - so £78 for BOTH ways on a much longer flight is well worth it!

ThatT1Feeling

It's a 2-3-2 with the middle seat only squashed in the middle 3 (The E seat). Therefore it's best to go for a D or an F seat in this config as you get the wider seat and nobody battling you for elbow space.


You'll see on SeatGuru that there are lots of 767 configurations and it's the only aircraft type on BA where there are shorthaul and longhaul variants. LCA is a shorthaul route (despite being 4 hours) whereas for example Moscow is Longhaul (despite being 3.5 hours..). Both are served by 767s - but the different configs.

Hope that helps... you might still be lucky and get a longhaul substitution..

JK

Thanks ThatT1Feeling! Crossing my fingers too, but somehow, not fancying my chances.

nux

This is the seat map: http://www.seatguru.com/airlines/Bri..._767-300_B.php

However, Seat Guru is often out of date.

Fruitcake

CE is popular to/ from LCA and it's quite worth it on that long route. The refurbed s/h 767s are nice. Enjoy!

JK

Thanks Fruitcake and nux.

Fruitcake - that's definitely pleasing to hear! How does CE to LCA differ from CE to somewhere closer like Germany etc.? I've flown CE to SOF, which is basically the same, with a slightly better meal, a pillow and a blanket... Are there any other differences on the LCA route?

The return flight is showing as being 5 hours long, so I'll take every comfort I can get (especially when travelling with kids).

BA6501

Nope! Being T1Feeling I would expect you to think of the A321s

Lioneye

I do this journey 10 - 12 times a year.

The middle seats make CE worthwhile + bubbles and meal choice.

Search for Grrrrr Larnaca thread for full details.

Now this is a nightflight they will soon let you sit next to the pilot if you want.