demolineux

How much would you pay for it ?

Economy HBO on a 14hr flight is coming in at £500
with baggage £600
Premium Economy £1,100 (!) but £997 on a non BA website. (Possible to do the best price guarantee)

So with Premium you get way more Avios and TPs, so these have some value too.

Would I be crazy to spend £1,100 on the ticket as a big birthday treat to myself, or should I just save my hard earned £

bhbloke

It depends how much the extra £400/500 is worth to you.

It's a nicer experience for sure, but it's not a flat bed and you get no lounge access.

What else would you spend the extra money on if you didn't upgrade?

flyer_tom

Lefly

Everyone will have a different, personal answer.
For example, flying for leisure and being an out of shape middle aged woman, I would actively avoid to fly 14h in WT and I would book WT+ to upgrade to CW.

trueblu

I mostly fly WTP on BA, and last year had to do a few flights (all LHR-PEK or vice versa) in Y because of who was purchasing the ticket. As OWE I could pick exit rows with as much/ more leg room than WTP and no difference in lounge access. But I really struggled to sleep compared with WTP...the seat was just much more cramped and perhaps there was more ambient noise etc.

I've done similar journeys in Y on JL and they haven't been as bad.

Yes, the value is highly subjective, but I think at that differential, probably worth it for such long flights. Also is each way 14hrs and it's a return so you're getting 28hrs in WTP for 400 GBP?? In which case, even better value!

tb

Andriyko

Since it's your hard earned money, only you can decide whether it's worth it. if you have not flown WTP before it will be impossible for your to place the value on various elements based on tales of others. From my home market WTP fares are usually 2/2.5 times more expensive than WT. Such a difference is often considered as too high by many here, but I'd pay these prices in a heartbeat as I value the comfort WTP provides. The price you're quoting seems reasonable for a 14 hour flight.

corporate-wage-slave

There is no right answer, it's entirely subjective.

A lot does depend on the aircraft type / timing and other specific details. So an overnight 787 is a very different proposition to a day time A380 upper deck, to give two extremes. Another big factor is what frequent flyer scheme you are using for the flights, if it is a revenue service.

crazyanglaisy

For me, it's £150 per long haul flight. I wouldn't pay more than that.

Brisbane Road

Probably pay up to £200 more for it, but that's personal preference and 95% of my long haul travel is to the US east coast.

I'd say it's a considerably better flying experience in my opinion. For me it's that sweet spot between not being vastly expensive but actually being pretty comfortable. Seat recline, particularly on the new WTP seat is good, width of seat is a big improvement over economy, food better, much smaller cabin etc etc.

Price up outbound economy and back in WTP, it may only be comparatively a bit more. On a side note does anyone know why outbound fares price up far more than inbounds do to the East Coast? (may be global, just my point of reference).. Is it down to taxes? Y out and WTP back seems to always price up cheaper than the other way round

JohnIreland

All depends on how much £500 is worth to you. Is it a nice bottle of wine, an extra week on holiday or next months rent payment.

Andriyko

The APD is higher for WTP.

demolineux

Both of the flights are overnight flights. It'll be on a 777.

I did a WTP+ one way last year for £170 and got a really really old plane. It was a disappointment. Then again, I have never flown economy long haul overnight.. Is there any way of finding if BA run new planes or old ones on a particular route?

It's LHR-EZE.

Brisbane Road

Unfortunately I think they run the old 3 class planes on this route, the same one that gets a constant bashing on here that they use to Bangkok

ratypus

What aircraft are you on? On the 787 (especially the 788) the upgrade from WT to WTP is significant - from one of the worst WT cabins to one of the best WT. The difference on a 747/A380 may be less. It depends also on status benefits - Y with a prime leg row seat and an empty seat next to you is perfectly fine...but no guarantees, whereas in WTP you know the seat is comfortable. 14 hours is a long flight - I might take my chances in economy for a 6-8 hour hop to East Coast, but probably not for a 14-hour overnight schlepp to Singapore...

I'd say do it, but only you can say what the £500 means to you otherwise - to some people, that's half their monthly discretionary spend or more, to others that's but a small fraction of their general holiday spend...

ratypus

OK - is that 777 still 9-across in WT? If so, that's not too bad if you can snag a good seat and hope for a blocked seat / spare seats near you...