HolmesLouise120

Hi,

Long time lurker, first time posting!

As a couple, we recently flew business class from Heathrow to Las Vegas. We are planning a return trip for May 2020 and there is just a £200pp difference on the outbound flight between business class and first class.
We enjoyed our business class fight (first timers) as we could see/talk to each other for the whole flight.
My worry if we book the first class seats (again, would be first timers in first) is that as non gold members, we have no chance of reserving 1A and 1K.

My question is, are the middle seats in first worth the extra expense as we would want to be in close proximity to one another? I have seen people on the forum previously complain about these seats.
Are we best sticking with business class in this case?

Cap'n Benj

As a one off it’s definitely worth the money. 2ak are decent seats for couples, as are the middle seats. You also have buddy dining option.

You won’t get the CCR but will have access to the Cathay First Class lounge in T3

The only issue may be that business no longer quite feels the same!

brunos

I would not hesitate moment for such a small price difference.

Sure, Upper Deck J seats are very nice (lower deck less so), but a F service, especially on the outbound is another experience.
Given your desires, I would choose 4E&F, you are close enough to chat. I dislike row 5 because of galley noise.

jmj9905

Go for it. For that price it should be a no brainer. YMMV

ryan182

For only £200pp difference, for sure do the First without question! Especially given its the outbound which is more of a daytime flight and you'll be awake more to enjoy the First service. Going back to LHR I tend to mostly sleep so while First is nice and for £200pp I'd still say go for it I'd be less emphatic about the YES.

MSPeconomist

Without BA status (are you Silver or Bronze? OP just says no Gold and there's no info under your username), you face huge fees to reserve seats together in advance in business class. This mitigates much of the 200 pound price difference.

Blueboys999

If the crux of the OP's question is whether any 2 F seats allow comfortable and convenient interaction then, for me, the answer is "no". The often maligned middle pair in Club are vastly superior in that respect. Of course, in pretty much all other respects, F wins.

PGFlyer85

that’s terrible advice. Those are the worst F seats in the fleet by a large margin. I would take any other two seats in the cabin if I had to even if totally separate.

snaxmuppet

I would snap that up as soon as possible!

1A/K are a bit special but we find that any F seats are fine... even if not close together. The seats are pretty much individual anyway and even if adjacent talking isn't easy as they are so far apart and not lined up to make conversation easy... so we spend very little time together on the flight. In fact, we find that even in CW this is the case so even it we are not in adjacent seats it makes very little difference... my wife sleeps most of the flight anyway!!!

1010101

I would do it at that price, if only for the experience. There aren't really any other seats that allow great interaction but in my experience my wife always wants to sit next to me then promptly falls asleep after wheels up. Is being close that important to you?

It's also true that F on the 747 is like business class on other airlines but it's still a significant step up over Club World and something you haven't done before, plus you get to go to the brilliant CX F lounge in T3.

LondonElite

My input: It tends not to happen so much anymore, but we have often dined together in 4EF and then gone back to our respective seats 2A/3A or whatever. This was at the crew's suggestion. Outside of the meal(s) we tend not to talk too much on flights because we're either reading or watching something, and it is annoying to others, whether or not they are trying to sleep, when there is a constant conversation going on.

fiona

I must be in the minority! I love the middle seats! Whilst we tend to be either sleeping (me) or watching movies/listening to iPods, we enjoy eating together and not really keen on the buddy seat. I can also be a bit of a wimp if there is bad turbulence and seeing my OH helps calm me ( no-one would know that I was worried btw)
I once got the chance of row 1 and took it. Good but went back to row 4 happily enough the next trip.

SavvyTravel

Absolutely take the F fare. As others have said, it is a day flight and you will maximise the experience. We had the same thoughts on our first 747 F flight (to SFO, last year) and ended up choosing two window seats (2K and 3K) which were perfect - we combined the buddy seat (a bit narrow) to dine and getting up and chatting. I don't think I'd select the middle pairs as they layout isn't conducive to sharing; and they are significantly more open. I don't know if it was post decision rationalisation but we both said, during the flight, that we were glad we didn't select them.

brunos

Thank you for the compliment.
But the OP insists that they want to sit closely together. I agree that two window seats would be better, but that would not match the objective.
I agree that F is poor on 747 and the middle seats have less privacy. But for such a small price difference, I would not hesitate.
An alternative is to pay for J UD, but the day flight would be much more pleasant in F.

bakera

I agree with brunos - the middle seats are excellent for couples. However we prefer row 5 as its far more private that row 4 (which is quite open due to no other seating infront). Each to their own.

Just remember to advise the cabin crew that you wnat to be served together. I've ready many reports on FT with regard to couples being served at different times due to the fact that each side is served by a different crew member. On each of our flights in F we have always asked to be served together and they seem to take great pride in co-ordinating this.