seanyjmuc

I flew to Boston the other day (on a 777, but that's another story) in WT. It was an uneventful flight; I arrived safely, so nothing to complain about. Since I was on an overnight return flight to LHR, I decided to upgrade myself to WT+ in order to have a little more space and more of a chance to get some shut-eye. The original return fare was £350, the upgrade for the return section another £300. I don't know what I was expecting, I had never flown WT+ before, but suffice it to say, there's such little difference between WT and WT+ that I should have saved the extra expense.

So I got a little more legroom and so I was served my economy meal first, but that was about it. The cabin crew member that served the drinks and meal was underwhelming in his service approach, the meal as bland as ever and I had to laugh when I noticed that WT+ folk get a proper glass for their wine. Why then, is the pre-meal aperitif still served in a plastic beaker? What a hoot. There was no drink when I boarded. I remember that Virgin PE gets you a glass of champagne prior to take-off, but there's no such welcome from the folk at BA.

In all, I would highly recommend folk to save their dosh and forego the WT+ product, there is absolutely nothing special about it bar an extra 7 inches of legroom and a proper glass for your wine. People may appreciate the extra legroom, but there is no way that BA can justify the extra expense. Surely BA can do better than this?

Oh, and one other thing, the check-in staff at Logan airport in BOS are real gems. Lovely, genuine people who actually take pride in their job. Top marks to Mary for making me laugh and feel welcome. Well done.

Yorkshire Traveller

Which, for me, is precisely why WT+ represents and excellent choice!

bernardd

WT+ seats take up about 40-50% more space than WT. I'm happy to pay that kind of premium for the convenience of being able to open my PC even when the guy in front reclines his seat, for the joy of not continually banging elbows with the next passenger and because I get power to operate my PC on 10 hour flights.

Is WT+ worth more than about a 50% premium? Probably not IMO, but then I can't understand why you had to pay £300 one way from BOS? I'm paying more like $3-400 round trip from Houston.

robster100

Never been Virgin PE and the dedicated check in desks, champagne on-board etc does make it a far superior product to BA!

However BA WT+ is a brilliant way to travel without either being squashed or paying £2,000+ return, especially on day flights! Went to Australia WT+ last year and managed to get a proper sleep! For £1,600 return, great value for money!

cabinfever

I do agree with the OP that WT+ isn't that brilliant.

The reason for flying is to be able to get an upgrade to club for 12,500 miles (bargain seeing as you earn a lot back on long haul flights, especially if you are Gold) and to earn the tier points.

But actually sitting in the seat.... not worth it if you only travel a few times a year. However, if you fly long haul every weekend, then WT+ is the bare minimum IMO, and is worth the extra for sanity!

leaveamessage

Legroom (this alone seals it for me), seat width, laptop power, tier points, cabin bonus, quieter cabin, less cramped, the seat itself.

Dont give a crap about the food- i havent eaten a Y or Wt+ meal in 3 years.. what matters to me is not limping when I get off a flight like I do on the rare ocassions I am in economy... either from being squashed up against the bulkhead, or the person in fronts seat.
Even on a 777 in economy in an exit row, I am continually irriated both awake and asleep by getting bashed by the person next to mes arm- far too little personal space.

Sounds to me like you were expecting a business class experience... or something near it. Its not advertised as such!

ny911

I only purchase W+ tickets for MFU to Club World. However I think World Traveler Plus is a good choice for holiday (paid by yourself). On the other hand,you have to do a good research on fares between World Traveler and World Traveler Plus. IMO, you were overpaying for the service. But there are many cheap T fares in the market. The cheapest one I got for HKG-LHR-HKG is HKD 6800 + tax,which is around 600 quids only,plus some miles...cheapest way to take direct flight Club World.^

Radioman

Linebasket

I totally agree with you. I always try and fly WT+ a minimum with work. I love 18j on a 777. Its a fantastic seat and has so much leg room plus the table that can be pulled down (ok its the baby craddle bit but makes a fantastic table ).

Also with WT+, its TP earning and a decent amount of miles. If done right (as a lot of folk know), with the chance of MFU to CW you spend 25k of miles and on the flight you will earn nearly 12k of miles, so Club World for £800 and 13K of miles for my next trip. Cant beat that at all.

Regards
J

Capricorn70

Was in WT+ on a 767 YYZ-LHR in Dec (compared to CW on the way back, 767 too) - the recline isn't great, but I did get a bulkhead window seat, so legroom was fab. Food - it's airplane food *bleh*.

The clincher for me was the smaller cabin and wider seat (granted, my seatmate moved to another row after takeoff ^ - I swear I took a shower before the flight!). It's just much less of a cattlecrate, and being separated from the other 180+ pax in WT was worth the $ for me.

JHIN

Well having snagged not one but TWO of those $20 return WT+ tickets a while ago I thought it was well worth it It's about legroom!

dolcevita

I am beginning to wonder whether we are flying the same airline. I have never found T fares for less than $1600 on my usual BNA-LHR-SOF route, regardless of the time of travel/booking. I am looking at flying it again in May 2008 and BA is quoting over $4000 for a T fare! Interestingly enough, BNA-LHR in T is "only" $1800. Interesting, because there is no T class service LHR-SOF.

I am usually happy to pay the $400 or so premium for T fare, because of the extra leg room, quiet cabin and power in the seats. As some people mentioned, it also has impact on your points and upgrade options, which is a bonus for me. The Britax also tends to fit better in the WT+ seats. However, I think that the $2400 premium that BA is currently asking on my route is a bit much.

Any advice on finding cheap T fares?

Land-of-Miles

BA are selling you a more expensive Y ticket on the LHR-SOF sector or they are selling you fully flex W fare ex SOF. If you can take the risk of dealing with the consequences of missed connections, LHR delays or other shenanigans then why not book 2 seperate tickets?

ny911

The fare I mentioned was HKG BA promotional fare last summer. Actually BA did quite a lot of SALE comparing with other airlines. Try to pick the right thing at the right time. I dont know much about othe routing,but ex-HKG BA fares tend to be lower than ex-LHR's. The most expensive ''W'' class I got is around GBP 870 including tax,which is much lower than ex-LHR. Moreover you might try your neighbor country for lower fares,just like ex-EU I/T fares are always cheaper than ex-LHR.But yes,you are on the most direct routing.

Swanhunter

In my one WT+ experience, I noticed a real difference. At 6ft I was able to get off the plane without aching limbs, cramped from being wedged into 31" of legroom. Coupled with a quieter cabin I felt significantly better on arrival. Well worth it if don't have the cash/miles/employer to pay for J.

TheBaps

I used to spend a lot of time complaining about WTP on this board. In my opinion the WTP seats are pretty much unsleepable unless you have an empty seat next to you rest your head on (window seat in Y is better imo). Service is typically not great and in my experience at times worse than that in Y. The cabin can also be noisy on full flights as it seems that folks with infants will often get upgraded into the bulkhead seats (of course you may also find yourself in CW in these circumstances), although it isn't as loud as Y can be. And, yes, the VS PE product is better, particularly if on a flight with the new seats.

But as others have mentioned if you want to use your laptop for a large proportion of the flight, or you're taller than average, then WTP is a very good option (at least if you can't fly VS).

For me, since the company decided to allow me to book my own flights, I haven't had to suffer WTP or WT for over a year, booking ex-EU CW, MFUing to CW (or F!) or taking advantage of CW sale fairs, and often coming away having paid less than would have through the company TA for a seat in a lesser cabin.

Cheers,
John.