GillyD

At the risk of asking a question that has already been raised in the past 80 pages of this thread, could someone confirm whether or not the 777 aircraft operating the LGW-MCO route (BA2037 has the upgraded Club seats - we are travelling next week. Last time I flew in BA Clubworld 777 was in 2018 and the seats (and rest of the cabin) were quite tatty at that time but I can only see reference to new Club seats for LHR departures.

Pilot37

Gatwick aircraft have not (and most likely will not) get Club Suite seats. All LGW aircraft have had a refresh and have Club World seats with the latest IFE, but you will have the Ying-Yang 8 across set up.

Pilot37

GillyD

Shame - but as we are a family of 4 the middle seats albeit forward/backward/backward/forward suits us fine.

Pilot37

Any update on how things look re-seats now that check-in has opened. At present nobody is in First on the flight with 2 Club World seats blocked.

Pilot37

RedDevil83

Just had a change on my Miami flight in november, gone from a 781 with club suites, to a 789 with the old club world. Looks to have changed from late Oct thru all of Nov.

travelsbyplane

That's frustrating! It looks like November has been trimmed back to just DEN and IAD, which may relate to BA's expectation around delivery resumption for the 781.

Steelers36

Hoping a BA Expert can respond to this. I am not a regular user of BA - only flew with them once back in 1985 which is now irrelevant. I booked with them for FCO-LHR-YYZ via my cruise line air department (Princess EZ-Air, not that it matters). I originally had a LH/AC combination flying home, but this incredible deal came up with BA/BA and BA/AA-codeshare. I did some research and wasn't very excited with Club World seating, but the price was unreal. There was also the possibility that between when I booked and mid-November that the section would be updated to Club Suite.

Well, it has been updated (sorry, IDK the exact date the seating plan was changed, but I noticed it in late July). Earlier this week, I had my reservation ticketed so I could do seat selection and this is when I started to be confused.

I have looked at several FF vlogs where they show the cabin of a 3-class 777-2 and there is definitely rows 1-7 in the forward cabin, then the entry/exit door and galley, etc, and then a rear cabin. It is only the 4-class planes with FC in rows 1&2 and then Business (CS) begins with Row 5 thru Row 7, plus one single 8K seat and then rows 9 thru 17.

So, LHR-YYZ is not a route with FC. It is not offered/sold - at least for dates around when I am looking, nor on my actual flight date.

However, BA appears to have loaded the wrong seat map into these flights. What I see on BA.com is Rows 1 & 2, then a gap and rows 5 thru 7, then 8K, then rows 9 thru 17. They don't even show where lavatories are which is very annoying. There is no row 3&4 at all showing.

It looks to me like they have made an error, and loaded a 777-2 seat plan that has a FC section with CS instead of a 777-2 seat plan with all CS and no FC. It doesn't make sense they would fly a plane with FC back and forth to Toronto with FC section and sell it as Business. Even if it was an exception case, well nope, because I see the same thing on other dates.


I also looked briefly at LHR-YVR which has had the new CS seating longer and that route seems correct with a cursory survey.

Anyone aware of BA either loading incorrect seat maps, or sometimes having a variation in the new CS layout such that there may be a galley between rows 2 & 5 and such?

Another point I would make - and I did so to BA agent - is that airline seat maps normally indicate both galleys and lavatories. There is no lavatory shown, so difficult to know where they are to avoid.


I also realize that real-life flight reports with video cannot lie and it doesn't make sense to me they would change the layout to something different just for Toronto.

Any feedback appreciated. Would like to access rows 3/4 and also know for certain which rows are in front of wing for a window view.

Steelers36

I was finally successful in getting a BA Mgr on phone and he was sending a note to Operations Team to look into this anomaly. I also pointed out about missing lavatories on seat map and no new seat maps on BA.COM, so he was sending that also to whomever.

Backofthequeue

Welcome to the forum.

There are a few things to go at here.

1. A lot can change between now and November. Aircraft allocations and seat plans can and will change. Don’t get too attached at this point. A number of aircraft are yet to receive club suite, notably in the 700-300 fleet.
2. four class air craft are often used on three class routes. First is either not used or is used for club overspill with those folk receiving club service. In these circumstances the seats in first are allocated to solo travellers and/or those with status first up. See https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/brit...highlight=Flub
3. If you pay to book a seat now do so in the knowledge that it may yet change due to 1. Worst case you’re refunded for the seat booking.
4. Take a look on ExpertFlyer, that will show the current seat plans loaded.

danmushman

It looks like this is your currently assigned plane
https://www.aerolopa.com/ba-type-77m
Aerolopa has much better seat maps than BA. Everything of interest is shown.
It is very common for BA to fly planes with first class seats but not sell a first class ticket. In these cases 'FLUB - search the forum' if business is full then they may move passengers into first seats. The service will be exactly the same for all of business but they get a better hard product.

danmushman

Also #RamsHouse

Steelers36

#1 - Yes, I know airlines can change equipment and have seen it happen a lot in US and with Air Canada in the past (depending on route). It is for that reason, I keep an eye on flights just in case. That said, it seems quite apparent from current schedules and other info on the CS program that YYZ is going to be having the new CS and not the old CW going forward. I was hoping this might happen a little while back as when I booked this, it was CW config and I was hesitant - but price was unreal. So there it is.

#2. This is a new concept to me since I mostly flew AC for years (I was SuperElite for a decade or so) when I worked. Also familiar with some US airlines - esp UA - and this is not a thing for me since I flew international overseas 99% with AC (and not all that often). Your reference link to the FLUB thread was especially enlightening as I see it is quite a common occurrence with BA. I now realize that our flight from LHR-YYZ is one of these situations (a 77M). I have now looked at some other days around our flight time and see 77L configs in play. Since BA has not added any of the new seat plans to their website and Seat Guru is useless, I was left wondering WYH is going on. The seat plan shown in MMB not only seemed wrong, but was maddening with no lavatories shown, no wall dividers shown, etc. Speaking to BA agent on phone did not help since they were not knowledgeable and neither said the obvious thing that we are on a 4-class plane with 3-class service. One even was telling me rows 1&2 were blocked off for babies and day-of assignment. Another said rows 3&4 would likely appear later. These agents have no clue about their own planes.

#3. Yes, I did pay to select seats. I didn't want to take a chance waiting until check-in -especially since we are on a cruise and busy on a shore excursion at the 24 hr GO mark and I wouldn't want to have missed out. I scored us an incredible price for J Class with FCO-LHR-YYZ trip and knew I might have to pay from reading about BA and AA-codeshares on BA. I also saved a ton of money on various re-fares for the cruise, so I am still way ahead. It just rubs one the wrong way to have to pay for seat selection in Business Class. I realize higher tier AVIOS members get it free, as well as full-fare tickets. Our fare is so low, we might be tossed from J Class if they filled it up and then changed to a plane with less seats - LOL. Anyway, if the equipment is changed to a 77L, I would have paid there and they won't charge me 2x if they change the plane. With 5A & 6A selected, I think I am okay in either config.

#4. Yes, I had looked at Expert Flyer a few days ago, finding that referral in some article or other about Club Suite. With flying international rarely and not flying all that much in general in retirement, I don't see having a membership and the free info is limited. That said, I just setup a seat alert for $0.99. IDK if I will get any useful info out of it, but a buck is nothing to worry about. Appreciate knowing about the resource in any case.

In conclusion, I want to thank you again for your prompt and informative response. It was very helpful to make me realize I am in a situation-normal, and the presented seat plan makes sense. I am an expert on Princess Cruise Line and help a lot of folks with questions and issues on a website called Cruise Critic. I always feel good when someone gets through an issue with my info and advice and I appreciate when they thank me and compliment me there, so here is a newbie paying it forward and thanking you.

Steelers36

Like backofthequeue, you have been quite helpful to me. I spent several minutes looking through posts on the FLUB link you provided and realize this happens a lot with BA, but is a completely new concept to me. I also find it strange that neither agent I spoke with - nor a supervisor - seemed to realize this. Otherwise, they could have told me we are booked on a 77M 4-class plane with 3-class service. This is even after I called a second time and was telling them it looked like a plane with FC, but no FC on LHR-YYZ route, etc.

It is frustrating to see BA has no new seat plans on BA.com (working on it the mgr said), but AeroLOPA was helpful in regards to locating lavatoiries and galleys. The only thing BA showed on MMB layout was the baby bassinet locations, but AeroLOPA has that. Of course SeatGuru is useless - at least for BA.

Anyway, I want to thank you for the prompt reply and I really appreciate the help. Read the end of my reply to backofthequeue above for some additional commentary I won't repeat here on what it means to have an issue solved by a fellow traveler.

LancashireFlyer

Hi all, I have (over the course of several hours today during breaks) scrolled all 81 pages of this thread! So very informative, and quite a few repeated questions, but nothing really specific to my query.

Flying SFO-LHR on BA284 in 2 weeks. It currently should be the 77L 3-class CS layout. Just for the sake of doing so (my wife and kids have never travelled business class), I've booked all 4 row 1 CS seats as a treat.

I'm now looking in FR24 at the planes flying BA284, and in the last 2 weeks it's a combination of 77Ls and 777-300s with the CW seat. Of the 4 777-300s that have operated it, none are CS fitted.

I've checked Expert Flyer +/- 3 days either side of my day and all layouts match the one I have, namely 77L.

So basically, whilst I accept substitutions can and do happen, it looks like if it's a 777-200 then it's a high probability it will be CS, but if a 777-300 is subbed it would probably be CW.

What happens to people's seat allocations? Do they try and match seat numbers (in that case we'll be randomly allocated somewhere), or do they try to fill the new cabin from front to back using the seat plan that's being replaced?

Also, if the 77L gets subbed by a 77M "flub", and the flight is busy, as a GCH what are the chances of us getting moved into row 1/2 to make more room in the CW cabin?

Appreciate everyone's work on this thread! It's been really useful. 😊

Backofthequeue

If the aircraft is changed for another layout you’ll be allocated new seats. Should remain as a group but could be anywhere in the cabin.

See the FLUB thread for guidance. Groups not likely to be FLUB’d.