Rumples

Hello BA enthusiasts!

Hoping to get some opinions and thoughts on a trip that my wife and I will be taking in Sept.

I am debating between taking BA from SFO - LHR direct in F on the A380 vs. Swiss F from SFO-ZRH-LHR.

Ive done Swiss three times now, and I do like the hard product and service on board. The FCL in ZRH is ok, but im not as big of a “lounge junkie”, so its not a huge factor for me. However, I have never flown BA in F.

For those discerning flyers here, do you think the extra stopover is worth it to fly LX over BA? The layover isnt too bad on LX, so its more of a hard product + service question. Ive read the many jokes about BA F being the best business class in the sky and know that they have done some updates to improve service.

I could also do LH in F with a layover in FRA as well.

Any thoughts are appreciated on this one!

1Aturnleft

As far as service and hard products go F with LH on the 747-8 and LX on the 777-300 are superior to BA's A380 F offering. Especially as you're already aware of what the F service onboard LX consists of. Despite BA being a direct flight, I can't help thinking you'll be ever so slightly disappointed unless the BA fare is significantly cheaper.

makin'miles

Is AF F via CDG an option? This is likely the highest quality option if you're willing connect (although it may also be the most expensive). Or if you want to stay with Star Alliance carriers, what about LH F via FRA?

Irishtraveler

I would take LX I like their F more than BA. But of LX LH and BA BA has the biggest F cabin and is also more affordable than the others.

Rumples

I do think that upon reading a lot of the talks on BA F + given the price differential, and what’s being said here, that my choices are boiling down to LX/LH. Its a 1500 difference per ticket, so while BA is cheaper, im going for quality here.

I would rather stay with Star Alliance if i can, but happy to go with another carrier if it makes sense. I have flown AF LPM before and while id like to, an 18.5k RT ticket vs 7.5k is not something that I can swallow at the moment.

Having put all the variables together, i think its either going to be LX or LH. The questions really now is LX (the one I know) vs LH (never flown F with them before, only J)


Appreciate everyone’s help here!

Vaterland

Bashing BA First is a popular past time; however, I must make note of the *very* many number of posts on the BA forum praising the food and in-flight service in First. It seems to be a very comfortable, pleasant and--in the OP's circumstance--convenient way of flying across the Atlantic.

Is the experience aboard LX or LH really so much better to justify the inconvenience and annoyance of having to transfer in ZRH or FRA? And I must also note the LH forum has, as of late, been decidedly unkind to Lufthansa's current offerings in First.

crazy8534

Cheaper and more direct, without a stopover?
On an eastbound transatlantic flight?
In BA’s A380 F cabin?

There wouldn’t even be a serious question in my mind. At the very least you get a new experience and you can make up your own mind about it.

That’s my opinion anyway!

dfs24

I've always found the intra Europe sector following an Intercontinental F quite a drag.

I've found BA F service pleasant. While their catering is a notch below LX and LH, I thought it was decent.
The major gripe I have about BA is having only 1 toilet for the F cabin. But this issue doesn't exist on the A380.
As for FFP, the 350% for non-status holders for F cabin makes it a very attractive option.

So for me, $1500 price difference buys a nice meal on the ground, so I'd do BA.

IAMORGAN

The difficulty for me here is possibility of equipment change. The A380 would clinch it for me because it is such a quiet aircraft.

Between LX and LH I’d go for LH.

However:-
1. Overnight flight -I am going to feel much better on arrival at Heathrow than I would arriving in ZRH / FRA and then connected in european shorthaul business.
2. It is a nice experience in BA F and anecdotally SFO is a popular destination so I reckon the chances of getting a grumpy BA crew are low.
3. Risk of some other issue, whether that’s missed connection, baggage going astray and so on. Yes the BA flight could be delayed and they’re perfectly capable of losing luggage on a point to point but risks are lower.

However, do know that BA’s service style is different to Lufthansa/Swiss. On LH/LH, in my experience, it will be quite a formal ‘proper’ (slightly traditional / hospitality focused) service, meaning the meal service may take a while. So if by the sound of it you’re looking for pampering and not exactly ‘fawning’ but a lot of personal attention and a formal, workflow focused, structured service, then LH/LX might be more up your street.

On BA, even though crew will happily serve what you want when you want, the general expectation is it’s an overnight flight so it will be sleep focused. The crew are likely to work on that assumption unless you say otherwise (“this is a special trip so I’m not planning to get much sleep & I’d like to try as much as possible” - if that’s what you want). BA crew generally these days will in my experience be a bit more informal / less intrusive than their LH/LX counterparts and may put more focus on getting the service out quickly so you can go to bed. You may also find cabin lighting will reflect that especially in a busy (up to 14) cabin if the majority want to sleep and you want a longer meal service with more elements (ie a few different wines & cheese then coffee etc etc).

If the connection really doesn’t bother you or you want to end up somewhere other than London then to my mind LH/LX is the way to go.

LCY8737

Realistically that stop in ZRH or FRA will add at least 2-3 hours to the journey time plus another hour and a half on a short haul aircraft. Is that really worth your while for a somewhat more pleasant on board experience?

SKT-DK

Considering in this case that BA is cheaper, direct and likely to be on the 380, I would go for BA F any day. That, unless of course there was some special desire to try something new, or the FCT in FRA, etc., which I gather is not the case here - in fact, the something "new" would be BA

And add to that, coming off a long-haul flight (especially over night), that European J connection is just not much fun - at least not in my opinion, having done it more times than I can count.

As others have noted, it seems to be a popular activity on here to bash BA and its F offering, but I am not on that bandwagon - in fact, I quite like them (and really, really hopes that they will come back to BKK!).

TTmex

I'd add in two things:
1) a potential misconnect due to a delayed outbound flight, leading to a longer wait in the connecting airport or worst case an overnight stop
2) being an Eastbound from west coast, is it not likely going to be a night flight? If so, I'd suggest BA direct in order to get plenty of sleep and arrive fresh. This all depends on your preferences. Even when i've done overnight in First, I've normally just had a couple of glasses with a quick dinner then had the bed made up and focused on sleep.

lost_in_translation

This is the key thing for me, for an overnight Eastbound flight where you'll spend a lot of it asleep (and also given LX comes with the come down of an intra-Europe leg afterwards) I'd take the BA option here even if these flights were close to the same price - with the direct flight that much cheaper it's an easy decision. For a day time Westbound flight I find value in avoiding BA F these days and I'd be tempted to take LX if the price were broadly the same despite the need to connect.

Dave_C

I’d take LX/LH every single day. The product is night and day different from BA’s supposed “First” class. Depending on where you’re located, potentially have the option to use LCY as well, which can be more convenient than LHR.

gliderpilot

There’s also the added draw of the nose of a LH 747-8 which is quite a unique experience and increasingly rare. However the a380 experience is also a big draw. Purely from a flyergeek point of view I’d do a 747-8 if available but rationally a BA a380 probably makes most sense.