APUBleed

I often hear it being said that BA F is a 'very good J' product, and there was a discussion here recently about whether the BA Club Suite J is better than BA F. Having to shove your feet down a cubby hole underneath the J seat in front of you (aka most 1 by 2 by 1 seating) of the Club Suite and other J products of other airlines sounds no where near close to a BA 'F' experience. The size & space makes all the difference. Am I missing something?

7Forty7

I will let you know, travelled back from St Lucia a few weeks back in an old 777-200 but in first and am just about to take off on the 13:05 to Toronto on an A350 in the new club suite. Not sure which is best yet...

mmxbreaks

I think it's more the comparison of what else is out there. In a couple of weeks I'll be flying LHR-HND on ANA's 'The Room' business class seat. It's so wide you could sit two people side by side. https://samchui.com/2019/09/21/revie.../#.XaHKUOdKj_Q

I hear what you're saying about the fully, truly flat bed - one that's straight with no cubby hole foot well - as I've always slept way better in BA F than in BA J. But I've slept almost as well on AirFrance J (777), Cathay J (A350/777), Lufthansa J (A380) as there's a good amount of knee room for rotation (something that the A350 Finnair seat lacks IMO).

When BA F is twice the price of J on any airline - especially when comparing to its own Club Suite, or against ANA, Emirates, etc - it's the question over its worth for most people. Offered it, I'd always take it. But unless it's on the 787-9 or A380 I probably wouldn't pay extra for it (unless chasing TPs).

Crampedin13A

Having just done an overnight from YYZ on the 350 I think the door more than makes up for the foot cubbyhole. That and the newish J pillows gave me one of my best early evening departure TATL sleeps ever. Better than any I’ve had in BA F granted I haven’t done F on the 380. It also helps that the 350 is so quiet. I’ve done flights on the 350 on other airlines and it is my favourite aircraft by far

NickB

The discussion is not just about what other airlines offer in J but also what they offer in F.

To me, BA F is a distinct improvement on BA J, in the same sense that Premium economy is a distinct improvement on economy. But in the same way as premium economy, although much nicer than economy, is not quite the same as business class, the BA F product is not quite on a par with many other airlines' F product and, in particular, its two immediate competitors in Europe (LH and AF).

So, yes, I would agree with you that BA F is not just a nice J product. It is more than that. But that does not necessarily make it broadly comparable to other airlines' F product. The idea of an intermediate product between J and F, a kind of premium business in a similar sense to premium economy, would imo constitute a fair reflection of where the BA F product is.

Crampedin13A

With the Club Suite imo BA has definitely become the premium business product that CW was when first introduced on TATL. Until this I was partial to AC but they have the ongoing inflatable seat cushion failures. LH and AF are so far behind now. My only regret is that YYZ inevitably goes back to the beater 772 after the end of March

LCY8737

I'm reserving judgement on the new products until I've flown them, but the current J and F are just not competitive with leading airlines.

Having said that, they're all flying beds that get me from A to B - and I would not dream of stopping in the Arabian desert because of an extra inch of space or Krug champagne.

[Having said that, I am cheap as chips and will gladly stop in the Arabian desert if it saves Ł2.50]

T8191

Our myth was blown by our firtht Firth ... never bothered again!

AA Bitheneth on TATL was better

BertieBadger

Maybe you should try 3 times more, then you could have the Fourth of Firth [sic]

Cap'n Benj

Whilst obviously subjective, I suspect this would very much reflect the opinion of the vast majority (from the 'New F' thread)

Cap'n Benj

Havgin flown both a few times, I can only assume you must have had the worst crew of all time!

T8191

The crew were OK, but the ‘experience’ wasn’t special.

>>> So this is BA First?

thebigben

It's more of a comparison. It's competitive when flying to North America, which is a cash cow for BA. Flying east however is an entirely different story!

Except for the occasional service hiccups, I am still happy to fly BA when I get a chance, but no way I would give up a QR flight for it...

T8191

Fair comment, from our limited experience. SOME BA routes are favoured ... others are largely a gesture, IMO.

Our first QR to CPT next month, which will be interesting!

opus99

it will most likely be a refurbed 772. So you’ll have club suite intact. But no A350 experience sadly