cmtskier

I am looking at a 10hr daytime 747 flight from LHR. Upper deck is full. So, the choice is Club lower deck window or First window. (I have done First once). Concorde room access would be nice. Is First work the extra 25,000 Avs? My Avios account balance is in the low 6 figures. Thanks!

PETER01

Personally on a 10 hour daytime flight I would say it's worth it. Life is too short not to enjoy it. Even if it is Old First you should get 50k Avios as 'compensation'. There is a thread for that on the BA Board somewhere.

I assume you have checked that there is availability in F on your route?

If the cabin shows CW as starting at row 12 (mini cabin) then it will be New First.

Land-of-Miles

On hi J routes there are quite a few decent lower deck seats.

For 25k though I think it is a no brainer.

cmtskier

The 747 is the low J, ie starts at row 17. So will this be an Old First, with the 50,000 mi. compensation? Is this a guarantee? Thanks!

PETER01

Here are some threads the thread for the above subject which may help. A few questions.

1) What is your route and when are you flying (roughly) if you don't mind me asking?

2) Have you checked that there is a F seat available? (You can do this by doing a full 'dummy' Avios booking on ba.com Sorry if you were aware of this already but it's not clear in your opening post.)

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/briti...offered-7.html

Normally if the 'Cot' appears at seat 5E at OLCI (or sometimes 72 hours out) in First on the 'low J' version then that is an indictor of it being New First. On these 'mid J's', like the one you are on, it's roughly a 50/50 chance but read this thread as well. That's just a rough overview.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/briti...new-first.html

http://ftdashboard.net/overview/baflights.htm

It's also not uncommon to hear of aircraft changes as well. Mid to High and vice versa.

layz

There's never a guarantee of old first, the mid-J (low-J was a config that no longer exists) aircraft have some new and some old first. The hi-J are all new first but still have a rare mid-J substitute.

I enjoy first on a daytime flight so I'd pay the extra miles, but not everyone is the same.

Some things to consider:
- Have you travelled BA first before? If not then consider what else you could use the extra miles for and balance it off against trying a new experience. Some people value the better service, food, drink and seat you get in first (I'm one of them) but others think of it as just CW+. If you've never tried it before and the extra Avios are not stopping your plans for a future trip then it's worth giving it a shot.
- What do you want out of a flight? If you just want to work in peace, sleep or generally don't care about the service then the benefits of First are smaller. If you'd like to be able to dine on demand, enjoy better champagne, or just like a less crowded cabin then First would be worth it.

It's hard to say whether it's worth it as people value different things at different prices, but as long as you don't have to sacrifice a trip you wanted to take I'd certainly take first this time so you can decide whether you value this product in the future.

PETER01

Good summary there layz.

Ah, I fondly remember the 'low J's' you refer to and one of these took me to MRU back in 2006 on my first ever visit there. CW out and WT+ back. Lovely and from T4 IIRC!

Purim

For me, with your flight experience, avios balance and flight length, its worth it alone for the bedding and space. But when you consider upper deck/lower deck, the risk the FA unilaterally lowering the divider without word or warning, 25k is a bargain.

Air Scotia

I had a similar choice for return IAD-LHR later this year, which is the 2nd leg of a 241 open jaw redemption.

As a night flight Club would be have been fine but as a mere Blue the free seat selection in First tipped the balance for me. Given the choice of Ł130.00 to select 2 seats or giving up an additional 20K of my Avios balance, I went for the latter. Flying First on the way back is almost a bonus really!

Of course if you're not concerned about specific seats and/or Avois aren't plentiful then you may see it differently but 20K/25K Avios seems a small price to me for First.

olybeast

Without a doubt

FlyingB1975

The worst seat in F is better than the best seat in J. It is always worth it, assuming you can afford it.

Valueseeker

No brainer. You get CCR access, better seat, service, food, drinks....

If you end up with OF you get all that and 25,000 more Avios than you had before you upgraded!

skycaptain

I absolutely agree, this is an easy choice: without upper deck availability, I would go for the F window.

I currently have a 10-hour daytime CW routing coming up, and as a lowly bronze I can only select seats 7 days out; as upper deck is looking quite full, I am desperately trying to use Avios to upgrade, but with only 5 seats available in F, this isn't looking good for me.

If I do happen to end up on the lower deck, someone mentioned there are some good seats - which ones are they? Seatguru doesn't mention any specifically good seats downstairs, just which ones not to choose.