BA ending first class to ATL

Old Nov 18, 22, 10:17 am
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BA ending first class to ATL

Unless it is an IT error, it appears that BA is ending First on flights to/from ATL. All F buckets for April have been zeroed out on the 781. Starting in May it is a 777 with no First cabin. Unfortunately, for me it is the only reason I fly BA. ...I do hope it is an IT error...
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Old Nov 18, 22, 10:24 am
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So, if you're saying goodbye to BA, who would you fly with instead? Obviously ATL is a DL hub but I don't think they operate a true First Class cabin. There's a lot to be said for direct flights, and Club World isn't that bad
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Old Nov 18, 22, 10:31 am
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Originally Posted by Geordie405 View Post
So, if you're saying goodbye to BA, who would you fly with instead? Obviously ATL is a DL hub but I don't think they operate a true First Class cabin. There's a lot to be said for direct flights, and Club World isn't that bad
HA! Yes, DL/AF from ATL. My destination is always France. With BA I fly to Mulhouse/Basel. With DL/AF I fly to Paris and take the train. I suppose I will figure something out. This is truly a first world problem. I am just surprised as BA has flown first to ATL for sometime and the cabins are normally fairly full.
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Old Nov 18, 22, 10:48 am
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First to ATL was a historical route due to Coca Cola and some of the financial services sector using that cabin, which I suspect they are no longer doing. More recently for those "First only" travellers who were looking for redemptions via somewhere other than NYC, ATL often was the way to do it. I don't have any insight to this, but I bet it's just an equipment swap and that at some point First may again go to ATL. I wouldn't read much into this, other than that First capacity is a great deal less than it used to be in BA, and many other carriers.
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Old Nov 18, 22, 12:55 pm
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Originally Posted by ATLCDG View Post
Unless it is an IT error, it appears that BA is ending First on flights to/from ATL. All F buckets for April have been zeroed out on the 781. Starting in May it is a 777 with no First cabin. Unfortunately, for me it is the only reason I fly BA. ...I do hope it is an IT error...
Do you really need to fly F? I love flying F, but only it it's affordable. I flew on the Club Suite the other day and I must admit, it's like a mini F seat now. Service was incredible. Food isn't as good, but do you really pay a tonne of cash for (slightly) better food? I'd rather eat when I land!
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Old Nov 18, 22, 1:16 pm
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Originally Posted by chriswiles View Post
Do you really need to fly F? I love flying F, but only it it's affordable. I flew on the Club Suite the other day and I must admit, it's like a mini F seat now. Service was incredible. Food isn't as good, but do you really pay a tonne of cash for (slightly) better food? I'd rather eat when I land!
Well...I certainly do not NEED to fly F. It is just a preference on BA. On DL/AF I fly J actually more than F on BA. When I started flying BA in F it was often the same $ as DL in J or just slightly more. This is the $ comparison for me. I am sure you are correct about the Club Suite. But...the comparison for me would then be Club Suite vs. AF/DL J product. Having more choices of flights from ATL (4-5 per day) and no connecting flight then swings me back to DL/AF for all of my TATL flights perhaps.
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Old Nov 18, 22, 1:22 pm
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I'm booked F in May and it's still showing but if I try and replicate it, it can't be booked.
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Old Nov 18, 22, 1:48 pm
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Well you could certainly move to AF F (if they even offer La Premiere to ATL, not sure), but it'll cost at least twice as much as BA F!
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Old Nov 18, 22, 1:53 pm
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Originally Posted by corporate-wage-slave View Post
First to ATL was a historical route due to Coca Cola and some of the financial services sector using that cabin, which I suspect they are no longer doing. More recently for those "First only" travellers who were looking for redemptions via somewhere other than NYC, ATL often was the way to do it. I don't have any insight to this, but I bet it's just an equipment swap and that at some point First may again go to ATL. I wouldn't read much into this, other than that First capacity is a great deal less than it used to be in BA, and many other carriers.
Yes- not many routes nowadays that will give you 5 reward seats available in F this coming Monday, 3 on Wednesday and 4 on both Thursday and Saturday.
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Old Nov 18, 22, 1:57 pm
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Originally Posted by crazy8534 View Post
Yes- not many routes nowadays that will give you 5 reward seats available in F this coming Monday, 3 on Wednesday and 4 on both Thursday and Saturday.
Probably more than you think given business travel is dead the week of US Thanksgiving. Prob wouldn't read anything broadly into that. (That said if, say, ATL doesn't have the high-end leisure demand like JFK/LAX do which balances out loads, that could very well be a reason to drop the service.)
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Old Nov 18, 22, 2:03 pm
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Originally Posted by cayohueso View Post
I'm booked F in May and it's still showing but if I try and replicate it, it can't be booked.
I saw that too. What is even odder is if you book a flight with a connection like: ATL-LHR-BSL you get a priced ticket with F. If you try book ATL-LHR with no connection in F you get no direct flight. This is only in May with the 781. I wonder if they will be changing it out to a non F 777?

Originally Posted by ijgordon View Post
Well you could certainly move to AF F (if they even offer La Premiere to ATL, not sure), but it'll cost at least twice as much as BA F!
Yes it would be twice! But, alas, AF no longer flies La Premiere to ATL since the retirement of the A380.

Last edited by Prospero; Nov 19, 22 at 5:07 pm Reason: Combine consecutive posts
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Old Nov 18, 22, 2:52 pm
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ATL hasn’t consistently had F for ages, sometimes they have alternated between 3-class and 4-class on different days of the week. Like YYZ it’s one of those places that tends to get whatever aircraft they have left in the schedule - I wouldn’t be at all surprised if it came back in future.
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Old Nov 18, 22, 3:03 pm
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Originally Posted by ijgordon View Post
Probably more than you think given business travel is dead the week of US Thanksgiving. Prob wouldn't read anything broadly into that. (That said if, say, ATL doesn't have the high-end leisure demand like JFK/LAX do which balances out loads, that could very well be a reason to drop the service.)
Yes, definitely a fair point about Thanksgiving but there are also reward seats in F available almost every day until the (14F aircraft) is rotated out next year so I think it is more than that alone.

Last edited by crazy8534; Nov 19, 22 at 12:57 am Reason: Not A380
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Old Nov 18, 22, 7:20 pm
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Originally Posted by Confus View Post
ATL hasn’t consistently had F for ages, sometimes they have alternated between 3-class and 4-class on different days of the week. Like YYZ it’s one of those places that tends to get whatever aircraft they have left in the schedule - I wouldn’t be at all surprised if it came back in future.
I have consistently flown F for years...and never had an issue. They scheduled the first 781 on this route. It has been totally consistent with F.

Originally Posted by crazy8534 View Post
Yes, definitely a fair point about Thanksgiving but there are also reward seats in F available almost every day until the A380 is rotated out next year so I think it is more than that alone.
A380...Atl? Never flown to Atl

Last edited by Prospero; Nov 19, 22 at 5:06 pm Reason: Combine consecutive posts
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Old Nov 19, 22, 12:56 am
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Originally Posted by ATLCDG View Post
A380...Atl? Never flown to Atl
I meant the 14F 777s, which I assume will all be gone by sometime next year.
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