Oaxaca

I've had the same or similar op-up on several occasions, and I think the OP raises a fair enough question - the "best" seat in CW vs the "worst" in F. Given the nature of BA's product on the 744, the gap is not so large and it will come down to some of the preferences as highlighted by NYLON Boy.

I certainly agree with the point about the storage, it's something I quite dislike about the centre pair seats in F on the 744. That said, on anything except a short night flight (especially TATL sleeper services), I'd still take this upgrade based on current product, maybe more of a toss-up with the improved CW dining and bedding etc, which I am yet to experience.

For those who recall a rather amusing thread from last year, I can only hope that as the beneficiary of the op-up, the OP did not find himself "disturbing the peace of F" again

Pascoe

I'd take the op-up personally. If only because I fly J often enough that it's become a more regular thing. F has not, for me, yet (and I doubt it will do tbh).

In terms of useable surfaces, of course 744UD A/K is one of BA's best equipped seats in that respect, but I don't exactly think the F seats are completely lacking in space.

I mentioned on another thread that I like those A/K seats because I can put my laptop on the seat while dinner is served, and swap that for the tray when I'm done (thus continuing to work even if service is a tad slow).

However in F it's not an issue to just get the CC to come clear your stuff away.

So unless you need an absolutely ginormous amount of room, I'd always take that seat myself.

Just my $0.02

Cymro

She was unhappy if it was free, let alone paid for.

Pascoe

How would you get an involuntary paid upgrade though.... ;-)

craigthemif

+1 for not jumping at the opportunity to switch 62 A/K for 5E.

I certainly will mourn the eventual retirement of the 747 as the Upper Deck is as close as it comes to flying private for most of us.

It also says a lot about BA that there are 2 (maybe 4-6 depending on your opinion of the 63 aisles and 64 windows) J seats on the entire plane that are considered a substantial upgrade over the regular J seats, so much so that quite a few people prefer them to a standard F seat.

msm2000uk

This is an interesting thread, so I'll pose a different angle.

I'm flying LHR-JFK in November in CW. I'll benefit from the new CW service, and my Upper Deck exit row seat will be ample for the day flight.

I have a few GUFs and can use a Joker to upgrade to F on the 747.

So, ignoring the 'value' of a Joker & GUF, would you upgrade from the new CW service to F?

M

missdimeaner

love this !
Had op ups to UD, wouldn't mind one from UD - where ever I was seated.
F is a novelty for me as I've only done it once. I would be a bit disappointed if I was upgraded at the gate and missed out on the CCR.

Pascoe

Well then presumably the option is to keep half an eye on eg EF and if you think the conditions are ripe for an op-up, make sure you check in manually at the terminal. Probably costs you very little in time etc. Indeed a fair chunk of the time these days I seem to need to go and get my passport / vias check done anyway, so even with hand baggage I seem to often end up at check in. States especially.

Cymro

Missed out on the Concorde Bar at DXB when invol upgraded to F... strictly for booked in F passengers only. So about half the First cabin had no access on that day (unless they were CCR cardholders and even then, their status is unclear...)

But yeah, I think Pascoe gets what I'm saying - plenty of people do choose to pay for F over upper deck CW, even when it's available. However, at least one person not on this thread agrees with me and the OP that even a free upgrade like that is "meh" at best.

Pascoe

I think at that point BA are stuck between a rock and a hard place. Presumably the OP was bumped on the basis of having the highest CIV of all the J pax? Otherwise presumably just make 62AK the last seats to get bumped (maybe followed by 64AK) and surely that works ok. Or bump the aisle seats first or some other strategy. All somewhat subjective though.

Monstermate

Exactly the same thing happened to me a couple of years ago on LHR HKG. By the time I was told I ad been upgraded at check-in my old seat (63B) had been given away to someone else, so I didn't have the chance to move back to my old seat but was offered a middle one downstairs instead. Not happy at all. Almost any seat upstairs on a 744 beats a lousy seat in F. And you can't make up for this with fancy champagne.

Cap'n Benj

F every time, esp on a day flight.

scottishpoet

if you had no time to ask for your old seat, once on board did you consider offering to swap your 5E with the person who had been allocated 62K?

Pascoe

Oooh - good thinking.

Monstermate

Funnily enough the reverse happened to me once - on LY not on BA. Someone was sitting in my seat in J. They 'informed' me that they had swapped seats with me. I searched for my new seat and when I couldn't find it the cabin crew pointed out that I was looking in the wrong cabin and my seat was in F. Not comparable with BA, but in this case definitely an improvement.