KJkins

In commencing a new role, I will be 'frequent' flying for the first time and wondered what the views were on First Class and Business Class on BA versus other airlines. Are there better airlines to travel with? Does it depend on route? What are the differences? Any thoughts, tips would be greatly welcomed.

Thanks

pomkiwi

Welcome to the BA Forum
You will find lots of views on the BA offering here. I think you will need to be more specific to get useful advice:
Where are you based? Where are you likely to be going to? What ,if any, FFP are you a member of / have status with?

In general if you are London based BA is likely to be the most convenient option as it has lots of flights to most corners of the world. If however most of your flying was to be to the Gulf States you miight want to consider EK, to SE Asia then CX etc etc

flatlander

If you're flying frequently and someone else is paying for business or first, then your primary concerns are most likely to be direct flights with carriers that whoever pays the tickets will pay for, at times that suit you.

BA treats its very frequent flyers quite well; some other airlines do so too.

Pick an airline and stick with it for a while, until they know you are a frequent premium cabin traveller and see how they treat you. Move along if they treat you badly or the schedule does not suit.

For global travel from London, the BA (and rest of Oneworld) network is hard to beat.

KJkins

Thank you for the views, really helpful. I'm unconcerned about miles etc. so much and will probably fly on multiple airlines as the time of flight on any particular day/route will be paramount. Most travel will be to New York, Hong Kong and Middle East. In terms of seat style and food and drink, is BA the best or are there better out there?

bullroot

for each of those 3 locations, there are much better out there - AA to NY, Cathay to HK, and Emirates or Qatar to the Middle East. But they are all different carriers so you'd not maximise FFP's or miles or upgrades - but if you say that's not a concern, then I'd go for best of breed to each location. Which means, not BA.

fruitcage

While that's a reasonable point of view if you take the OP literally, many frequent fliers thought they weren't interested in status or miles until they got into the swing of flying frequently and discovered the potential benefits. Joining BAEC and flying a mix of AA, Cathay and Qatar plus at least a few BA sectors for the qualifying flights (plus non-OW where necessary) would have a lot going for it.

Mwenenzi

Does your employer have a corporate travel policy that favours certain airlines and/or class of travel vs distance policy?

What ffps' are you a member of now?
Do you use the ff miles/status benefits?

BA does not have the best reputation for premium cabin seating
The airline to the ME will depend on the exact destination. Qatar is not that friendly with some of it neighbours.

Flying first or business class you get most of the benefits of ffp status due to class of travel.
The benefit it when flying personally with tickets purchased with your own money or personal award flights.

BA AA CX & QR are all Oneworld airlines, so ff partners.
In additional EY Etihad is a ff partner of AA
Joining AA ffp and flying expensive premium cabins will mean getting top level status reasonably quickly. AA awards tend to cost less ff miles and no cash surcharges unless on BA flights

Jagboi

Much depends on what factors are important to you. For example, If it is non stop flights to your most common destinations, I would pick an alliance that has the most number of airlines that fly non stop. If it is the quality of the in flight service and seats, then pick an airline/alliance that best matches your needs, even if it involves a stop enroute.

It's probably best to pick an alliance that best suits your needs, as the benefits will be usable across all partner airlines, rather than being restricted to just one airline. Again, depending on where you want to go, it's not likely that a single airline can meet all your needs. Once you have settled on an alliance, then I would look at which airline has a frequent flyer plan that best suits your needs. My gripe with BA is the very high additional fees on reward flights and limited seat availability in higher classes.

bullroot

I agree, and that's what I do myself, but I am just following the OP's guidance that (s)he isn't bothered about FF scheme.

LCY8737

If you're not concerned about miles and points you'll probably get a different answer for each destination. Sometimes BA is better, most of the time the "other airline" will be better.

If you were concerned about points & being London based, then BA tends to be best.

Sealink

You can collect BA Tier Points and Avios on all those routes, assuming middle East means Dubai - you can even fly EK and get Avios/TP as long as it's booked on the QF flight number. Or of course Qatar to Doha

I know you say you're not worried about miles... I was like that... We all were...!

windowontheAside

Even if not bothered about FF schemes, or points etc, I think there's some value in familiarity. Knowing the service routines and standards means you can optimise your experience both at the airport and on board. I found it beneficial when I first started flying mostly BA, rather than figuring out how the seat, IFE, service etc worked for each airline.

Once you're familiar with an airline, you can just board and get on with whatever you want to do.

navylad

Pascoe

I'd also say that all those alternative airline opinions up there are by their very nature somewhat subjective and down to personal preference. For example I'd always (assuming flight is J or better and I can fly on a 747) prefer BA to JFK than AA. But I wouldn't think for a second that that's the only opinion that counts. It's just that the particular mix of flight attributes (hard product if I can get the upper deck or the nose, plus cabin crew, plus familiarity of terminal etc) fit the particular things I'm looking for in a NY business flight.

HKG same story for me assuming I am in an A380, although if forced onto the triple and in J, I'd be somewhat more agnostic and happy to consider Cathay.

Middle East I'd agree that BA aren't trying quite as hard and it shows. But haven't flown premium cabins out there with any of the competition yet (it's not a work destination for me at present) so I don't have as much to go on.

Anyway, welcome to BAFT. Loads of useful info here.

Looking at your profile name, you're not a Welsh mezzo-soprano are you?????

Pascoe

Never heard that before (am assuming it's a navy thing).

Reminds me of Mike Tyson's alternative version - "Everyone has a plan till they get punched in the face"....