747 F v 380 J
 

Just prefacing my post with #firstworldproblems :D

So we are booking Avios flights down to JNB and have the choice of the BA55 (A380) in J or the BA57 (86J B747) in F or J.

I'm leaning towards the 747 in F simply because we've never flown F on that aircraft. Our only prior F experience was on a 77W to/from Japan.

What are your thoughts folks?

Well that depends what you are after. As the 747 is going and the A380 isn't I couldn't possibly pass up 747 F in the nose or even upper deck J. Both things I haven't done so that would be my call. Although the A380 in J upper deck especially is also very nice. As you say, truly #firstworldproblems. :D

Do it. Just do it. It's got its drawbacks, but it's a special experience with a limited time left.

Regardless of aircraft, I'd pick F over J every time - BA F may not be perfect, but it's just nicer than J however you cut it (in my view) - especially for a nice long flight like JNB where you will have time to enjoy the CCR and the meal and then a decent night of sleep.

F on the 747 is also quite special, in the nose - at least try it. Club World on the A380 will be around for years; F on a 747 probably not.

no contest

I'd go for the 747 F too, simply because as stated above it's an experience that won't be around for much longer :)

LHR-JNB is an ideal route for F in the 744, especially as you have the view of Africa out of the nose (assuming you're in seat 1A or 1K) while you have breakfast. Jetlag is minimal, it is long enough to enjoy the F service and still get some sleep. Fly J when the view is worse, the flight is shorter, or the jetlag worse.

We fly this route quite a bit and have managed to snag cw and f reward seats on all our journeys. ( Thanks FTalkers ). We've got flights booked ready for next year on the 380. We would have preferred to travel CW UD on the 747 but because of us connecting to WDH we opted for the flight which gets in earlier to JNB........(hopefully) as it's often delayed!!
We like the UD on the 747 as it feels more private. I find the 380 too hot and don't sleep too well as it's a quieter aircraft and am disturbed by other general noises. The engine noise on the 747 soothes me to sleep, nothing to do with the G&T's of course. ;)
We prefer to save the avios difference between CW and F for another trip. My F was on the 380, I would love to fly F on the 747 before they go however.

I just booked a trip to JNB a couple of days ago and went for J on the 380 both ways. F is just too inconsistent to be worth the premium. And that's based on our experiences, rather than reading about it here.

CW is a very consistent product in my experience - you know what you're going to get and are rarely disappointed. Whereas F can be great or really poor. It's just not worth it for us.

Personally I can't stand the BA version of the A380 Upper Deck, too crowded and slow service, give me the 747 UD any day

Thanks all - went with F on the 747. Being Silver I can't select row 1 at this point, so I have put my wife and I in 2A/K. Are these seats OK for a couple? I have a very strong preference for a window over a middle seat.

Have had to go CW on a mid-J 747 from CPT on the way back as nothing was available from JNB on the dates we are travelling.

Does anyone have any experience of international -> international connections at JNB?

Yes they are probably the next best if you want a window seat. Alternatively you could go in front of each other eg. 2A/3A and you can always use the second seat to eat together if that is your thing.

Finally you can check the seat map up until departure and they will release 1A/1K if they are not taken and then you could grab them if you wish. I did that albeit on the A380 and as a no status passenger at the time swapped into 1K a couple of days before departure.

We did a connection from JNB to GBE a couple of times last year. You just follow the signs and it's really easy. In August 2017 when we transferred there was a small immigration check and then we just went on to the shops/departures, no security check at all. I wondered where it had gone as in January 2017 there was a security check after immigration just before I entered the area where all the shops are. My experience of International to International has been trouble free. If JNB is your arrival destination it can be very very busy in the morning when all the big flights arrive especially from Europe. Last time we arrived we had arranged to use the Bidair VIP service to fast track through the airport to the car hire area. Worth every penny, the queues at immigration were huge and we needed to be on the road asap.

Thanks for the responses.

On the return we'd be catching the BA58 leaving CPT at 19.30. Comair don't fly WDH - CPT so I am planning to arrive on SA Airlink at 17.05.

Our travel agent (Audley) will provide some sort of guide to help us through the connection, but if anyone has experience of int-int connection at CPT that'd be great.