BotB

This thread is a place to let others know you have booked a flight between the 9th of Aug. and end of Aug. for the 787 and 2nd of Aug. until sometime mid Oct. for the A380 in the hopes of getting a chance to try them out on a short haul flight to ARN or FRA respectively.

There is no official published dates for these two new additions to fly the routes so it is completely at your own risk but there are some bits of news and information on the wikipost of the below thread to help guide your gamble.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/briti...nkfurt-20.html

So, this thread is about people taking that chance and hoping to share the experience with a glass of bubbly or a knowing wink.


image copyright BA, borrowed from BA lounge guide

BotB

Looking for the past dates and names of those that were on the first training SH flights? They have been moved here to keep this thread clean and useful to those travelling in the next few days:

Archive post of training flights FTer meetups
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A380 by BA_pics, on Flickr

Sept. 11th

LHR - FRA

clubman


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Sept. 12th

LHR - FRA (BA 910)

courtster (CE) (silver)


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Sept. 14th

FRA - LHR (BA 903)

courtster (ET) (silver) (+1 GCH at FRA so can guest two!)


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Sept. 17th

LHR - FRA (BA 902)

OrchardTravel (CE) (gold, happy to guest)10J


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Sept. 17th

FRA - LHR (BA 911)

OrchardTravel (CE) (gold, happy to guest)15A


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Sept. 22nd

FRA - LHR (BA 903)

BerksFlyer (CE)


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Sept. 22nd

LHR - FRA (BA 910)

26left (ET) (gold, happy to guest)


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Sept. 22nd

FRA - LHR (BA 911)

26left (CE) (gold, happy to guest)


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Sept. 25th

LHR - FRA (BA 902)

Scotthun (gold, happy to guest)


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Sept. 25th

FRA - LHR (BA 903)

petemitchell (happy to guest)


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Oct. 6th

LHR - FRA (BA 902)

coolblue21 (CE) (silver)


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Oct. 6th

FRA - LHR (BA 903)

coolblue21 (CE) (silver)


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Oct. 13th

FRA - LHR (BA 903)

fqtv_kraven (happy to guest at LHR T5 Flounge afterwards)


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BotB

List of questions people have about the A380 flight experience with BA:

-how are they doing the air bridges and boarding
-pre take off experience (drinks? Jackets, etc...)
-drinks & meal service sans trolley experience
-which seats seem best
-which seats seem to have more leg room
-loo space and do they finally have motion detector taps?
-avod
-leg and seat room in WT+ / WT

Please post any questions at the end of this thread and I will update this list regularly. Cheers. ^

stewaran

Lhr - Arn 780 12th aug WT
Arn - lhr 781 14th aug CW

Being optimistic about the cabin !

angeloedades

BotB, please stop padding your post count !

Nice Idea

/AE

timezonehopper

Aug 26th LHR-ARN (BA780, CE)
Aug 27th ARN-LHR (BA781, CE)

Cheers!

ayrshiredude

mayby I am doing something wrong but it says on the BA website its a A320 flying this route.

layz

Frank van der Post has said that the flights won't be confirmed, at least initially. The flights may say they're operated by an A320 but you might end up with a 787 on the route.

Stez

Nevermind, should have read more carefully!

CDG1

I would be a taker for Frankfurt July 20 but how to book the seats?

How did you get the information that the A380 will start the FRA runs on that day?

ayrshiredude

so you could book it and end up not flying on one of the new aircraft?

layz

Yeah no promises by BA so far.

People are just taking a chance, BA have never said any of these will be operated by the new aircraft.

Some people are using Avios or cancellable fares and will cancel if it's not likely to be operated by this aircraft.

But I think the main purpose of this thread is for those who are going can meet up and have something to do whether or not the new aircraft are operating.

travelwithross

Won't be booking anything - redemption or not - until something is confirmed.

layz

No one has any information of the sort, in fact you're better off booking August as that's more likely.

This thread is more of a meet up thread, so if there's other FTers on your flight you can meet them.

The rest I said in my previous post just above this.

BotB

Sorry if this is not clear, we currently have no proof that the A380 will fly on the 20th July. (I personally don't believe it will fly the FRA route until at least 1 Aug from an interview Frank van der Post gave today...see the other thread on training flights for details (wikipost). The BA website will show the usual BA metal that flies that route right up until the day of the flight I would imagine. So you will not be guaranteed you will get the A380...we are speculating and taking a chance and this thread is to let others know you have booked a flight on that day in case others wish to meet up and hopefully share the experience if you get lucky and find the A380 (or 787) have been substituted. Hope that helps.

You would book seats like normal (with cash or with avios) and just hope the flight is substituted with an A380. See posts in the other thread though as it seems unlikely that the A380 will fly with paying passengers until at least the 1st Aug. See the wiki post on this thread for more info: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/briti...frankfurt.html

Yes. You are taking a chance and there are currently no guarantees...just some decent guess work. But inform yourself before making any booking.