I actually like CW - am I crazy?
 

Hi all, long time lurker first time poster here.

One thing I've never been able to understand is all the hate that the BA Club World seat seems to get all over the internet. I often hear people suggesting that it is a very dense layout, but is that really the case? Call me crazy, but I actually rather enjoy CW - I love the lack of a foot cubby, the privacy and the soft padding that makes it comfortable to both lounge and sleep. Of course staring into the eyes of your seatmate in the moments the divider is down can be quite awkward, there is no convenient storage and the lack of direct aisle access can be inconvenient (although I find CW particularly easy to jump over a sleeping passenger's legs). I'll preface all that by admitting I have only ever had window seats, except for the one time I had a B789 middle after losing FLUB roulette.

If I had to rank all of the LH J hard products I have flown recently it would look something like this:

QR B77W Q-Suite - A great well designed seat, although I don't care too much for the door.
CX A359 Cirrus - The small changes from the B77W seat make this close to perfect
QF B789 Vantage XL - 10K is the single best J seat I have ever flown due to the enlarged footwell.
CX/AA B77W Cirrus - An all round great seat that is spacious, comfortable and gives a good sleep
QF A332 Vantage XL - I notice that the A330 is a bit narrower than a B789 in the footwells
AA B772/B789 Super Diamond - A great well padded seat, but I always hit my knees on the poorly placed table
QR B788 Super Diamond - As above, but have a much narrower footwell than the AA version
AY A359 Cirrus - Much firmer and with a smaller footwell than the CX and AA versions. Also lacks a legrest
BA B788/789/B772 CW - Probably the best sleep I have in any J seat
IB A346 Solstys - Very firm and very bland
QR B77W Minipod - I think the one I had was very old and knackered, the padding had perished and it was sagging at the feet
EK A388 Skylounge - So much wasted potential - incinsistent padding, sharp edges to catch my knees, and who wants warm softdrinks taking up prime storage space?
AY A333 Vantage - Solid and comfy enough, but 9 accross on an A330 means a very narrow seat!
QR A332/A333 and AA A321 Diamond - Comfy but feels very cramped and lacks privacy
EK B77W ?? - There's no words to describe how much I hate this seat - how does Emirates get away with having an angle flat sleeper on over half their fleet? I'd seriously take a BA WT+ seat over this on any sectors >~8hrs

As you can see that for me at least, CW holds its own against a lot of other products - no other J seat gives me a better sleep, and it's pretty comfy for just lounging and watching a movie etc. The lack of storage bugs me the most - I imagine a B744 or A388 UD window would be pretty close to J seat perfection for me with the storage bins!

I would agree with that, 100%. I don't know exactly what it is about the seat, but I also have found it best for sleeping.

You're not crazy. I really like it too and I've experienced J on QF, SQ, VS, NZ & CX. I sleep best in CW. I like that I don't need to fold extra things etc. and I hope they don't ruin it with the new bed.

It might not be perfect but a hell of a lot of people do seem to fly CW. Even those who constantly moan about it. ;)

Welcome to Flyertalk and welcome to the BA forum rfarlz. It's good to see you here and I hope we will continue to benefit from your presence in the future. Welcome on board. Actually I don't think you're the only person to have this view (not least because I am in the same zone) so there are other threads on this topic, but none with the ranking that you have kindly provided.

I would actually place the CW seat a bit higher up your list since I dislike the Cathay seat for various reasons, though I otherwise like the Cathay product. The key to me, as a frequent flyer, is sleep quality, and a 787 and 380 CW seat plus the White bedding remains the best way for me to achieve that, with UD 747 not far behind. Partly is due to being used to the seat so much, partly that I can normally get my preferred seat, partly that I don't need to visit the washroom so often,, but in the case of Cathay and Qatar it truly isn't due to a shortage of trying. So I'm one of those slightly worried that the 350 product won't be as good a sleep product as the current seat. After a set of QR, AA, and CX flights I really look forward to a BA service, since I know it's going to work for me. Sleeping rearwards (and so at the right angle) is one important factor.

But it's not for everyone, there are many here who indeed strongly disagree, but as your list illustrates there are plenty of alternative airline available for those who don't like the CW seat.

I lack the wide experience of others, but I have developed an aversion to BA CW seating.

Accessible storage for oddments, such as the water bottle (if issued) would be top of my list. I will pass on the other minor niggles.

However, it’s infinitely better than being down the back. ;)

I have to agree there is a lot of anti CW hyperbole floating around, i do get the frustrations around lack of storage space and direct access but still believe the club world seats to be one of the most comfortable for sleeping compared to other J class seats i have tried on AA, CX, VS, KLM, EK, QR plus many others . although my favorite business class seat remains the apex suite on Oman, Gulf Air, JAL and Korean

My narrow experiences rate sleeping in AA over BA ... but I am a very small and old sample!

Anyway, I’m a poor sleeper at home, with a Tempur mattress with a Tempur topper and memory foam pillows.

A330 TATL, and 77W from LAX. A narrow perspective, I admit. But I slept better on AA, undoubtedly for a variety of reasons.