I would do 747 upper deck in preference to any J seat on the BA A380. I always have stuff to watch on my own ipad so onboard IFE is not so much of a deal breaker for me.

Sorry I forgot to mention it is F - added that now.

I think it would be BA275 as I have been tracking availability on these 2 routes and there is rarely any F seats available on BA271.

We would probably spend a night or two in San Francisco, but we've been before so weren't planning to head back so soon.

I just found a short review I wrote for a friend of my trip to LAX:

"I enjoyed all three of my AA First and BA Club World flights. In order of preference, I think I'd have to rank them:

1. AA 321T Transcon First Class. The IFE was amazing - 15.4 inch screen and Bose QC headset. The seat was nice - one seat each side of the aisle on an A320 - though I think the BA Club World seat is the same size and more comfortable (better padding). Service was good - cappuccino/espresso machine on board. The AA Flagship Lounge (their top tier lounge) was nothing special.

2. BA 747 Club World. Not much to choose between the 747 and the A380. The 747 makes it into second place because the 747 upper deck cabin felt more spacious than the A380 upper deck cabin (I had 62K, an exit row seat). The IFE was terrible. The service was very good, probably the best of the 3 flights. The BA lounge at JFK was nice.

3. BA A380 Club World. Much better IFE than the 747, but not as good as the AA A321T. Very quiet. Nice, big loos upstairs (far bigger than on the 747 or A321T)."

I had seat 62K on the 747 and seat 53K on the A380.

I would do it in this order if I had the option.

SJC 787-9 IN F (its really nice)
SFO A380 IN F (I like the big seats)

Then finally 747 in F to LAS on the old tatty plane.

Thanks. And very good point, that about the iPad... until Trump decides to ban those on flights from the UK too :mad::rolleyes:

Hi OP,
How long are you thinking of going for? More than 3 days in LAS is more than enough for me :) I still have a soft spot for the nose of the 747 but you're going to get some old birds.

Perhaps a little road trip is in order? We did Route 1 from San Diego to SFO with several stops along the way, and then flew Virgin America F to LAS using their upgrade process 6 hours before check in, a bargain. We'll be on CA road trip number 5 in Nov. So many great places to visit...

After a lot of searching for our own trip, it does seem like there is very limited availability in F to the west coast. Flexibility of course is key!

Yes, I would. Especially if the 747 is an old one.
But I like very much the travel part so for me a connection is almost a plus :p



PS. I am a not very frequent traveler, just 3/4 LH and 5/6 SH a year

I've done plenty of F to LAS on the "old tatty plane" and if you can live with the older IFE you could be on any jumbo... I liked F on the BA271

From my memories of doing a tatty old plane, the F IFE screens are fine. It is the J screens which are horrible and around 8 inches wide and barely can make out whats happening on screen.

However, I'd pipe up on diff if its LAS vs LAX. Immigration. Arriving around lunchtime without GE into LAX, meant that we were running to catch our plane to HNL having given ourselves 3.5 hours to connect. Took 2.5 hours in immigration. Got GE now, but without that I would be flying anywhere but LAX (not flown to MIA though, I heard can be just as bad). Never landed at SFO so can't comment.

I've come through LAS on VS immigration which was fine and fast, same terminal as BA. Not sure if time of arriving makes much difference.

That would also be my take on it.

Having visited a few of the so called top F lounges in the world I personally wouldn't go out my way to visit any of them again....some really get over-hyped. However if I had the chance and the desire to visit one for the first time I probably would as long as it didn't drastically change my travel plans....which does seem to be the case here.

Don't listen to us and do what you want. :D

Thanks for all the replies, really appreciated! It seems there is no right answer here so will have to think about it a bit more. Planning to book in a few days so the pressure is on :D.

Just some additional info...

- the holiday will be 2 weeks with a few days in LV and the rest a road trip (mainly Utah and Arizona)
- a couple of days in SF would be ok, but we visited in 2013 as part of a California road trip so weren't planning to go back so soon (although the US govt decided to shutdown :mad: so we didn't get to visit Alcatraz so could do that I guess)
- we have never flown in F before, only ex-EU's in QR J and have an upcoming J with IB. I think we would only be able to do F with a 2-4-1 voucher. We can earn 1 voucher per year quite easily but would need around 2 years to save up the required Avios.

Based on the responses I don't think we'll choose a T5 departure just to visit the CCR as it doesn't seem to be a resounding winner over CX F lounge. We've been in the CX J Lounge and love it (more than the BA F lounge) so I think CX F lounge will be fine :D.

I am now more torn on the aircraft choice aaahhhh :confused:.

Ideally we would prefer to fly to LAX and then use Avios on AA or drive to LV but availability in F is as dry as a bone. SFO seems to have better availability (although usually only weekdays). Will look into SJC too as the 789 would be nice.

Thanks again for all the help!

ugh, the indignity. :d

I would take the a380 and CCR as its your first time in first
i reckon based on what you have said you will look forward to it more and you may have a case of "if only" if you take the 747

good luck with whatever you decide

Bear in mind that a connection in the USA also involves clearing TSA. This can be anything from bad to worse depending on time of day, airport and terminal changes.

At LAX you have to get from TBIT to T4 (and then bus to the small terminal). At SFO it's a fairly long trek to get from International arrivals over to the AA gates. (And if you have to check in, terminal 2 is about as far from the international terminal as you can get at SFO). SJC is probably the only airport where the distance isn't punitive, but you're probably looking at a four hour connection. PHX is by far the easiest option--but that also leaves from T3.

Value is in the eye of the beholder, of course. But I certainly wouldn't make CCR a priority over CX F in T3. 380/789 vs. 744 has some merit, but if it means making an International-Domestic connection at a US airport, I'd personally not see the value in it.