HPN-HRL

Hi all,

I am using a GUF to upgrade a trip to the UAE in March. Due to DXB not having fare class A available, I have currently booked JFK to AUH all in F on the outbound. However, with BA only having service to AUH 1x/day, the schedule is not so ideal for me (depart JFK in the evening on a 747, overnight to LHR, then flight to AUH on a 777 arriving 00:10). Timing-wise, I would prefer taking the daytime flight from JFK to LHR (747) followed by the overnight 747 flight to DXB (both for the actual flight times and for landing in DXB, which is my destination) - but I'm not sure it's worth giving up F on the leg to the UAE to get what I consider to be the better timing.

What would those of you here on the BA board choose to do in this situation? My only BA "F" experience was as a teenager on Concorde 40 years ago, so I don't really have a sense of the difference between CW and F these days. I have been very happy in 64A/K for overnight flights, so I'm not sure that F will be very much better than CW while trying to sleep. I should also mention that I am 98+% sure that I will not have any other uses for my GUF before it expires. A third option would be to downgrade my outbound flight into CW (paying for WT+), which would save me a bit of cash but would prevent me from being able to use the CCRs in JFK & LHR.

In the US we get 24 hours from booking to be able to make changes without charge. I still have at least 8 hours to be able to make a free change; your comments will help guide my choice.

Thank you for any assistance!

rossmacd

If DXB is your destination, I would be flying to DXB.

I don’t personally think poor scheduled flights and additional transport time is worth it for BA F.

Globaliser

I'm with rossmacd here: Given that both LHR-AUH and LHR-DXB are such short flights, I'm sure it's not worth flying F to the wrong city at times that don't suit you, when you could fly J to your actual destination at times that do.

In any event, there might well be a way of using your GUF to upgrade from J to F on LHR-DXB if F is available on the aircraft you're flying on.

muscat

If your final destination is on the south side of Dubai (eg Jumeira) then travel time from AUH will not be much different to that from DXB.

Cymro

If you book BA174 - BA107 - BA106 - BA175 you get the Club Suite on all four legs and only pay for premium economy. Unfortunately you do have to pay $477.93 per person in extra fees, mainly fuel surcharge.

LCY8737

A flying flat bed is a flying flat bed. Of course the F bed is a little bigger and the food a little better - but the incremental improvement is not worth big schedule inconveniences.

jamesreid978

Yes if going to Dubai Marina, AUH airport will only be 10 mins longer to get there than from DXB.

IAN-UK

Are you sure about that ?????

i reckon more like an hour versus 30 minutes or so - 100km vs 40km. In DXB's favour



Me? I've occasionally flown to AUH rather than DXB to save money: but I just can't see putting myself to signficant inconvenience (and expense) just to gain a modest amount of extra comfort on the short time aboard an aircraft.

HPN-HRL

Thanks for all the comments so far.

I expect to be staying near DXB airport (taking a cruise out of Port Rashid, so I don't plan to stay down by Jumeira). Also, since the AUH flight gets in at 00:10 I either have to stay in AUH that night or be driven to DXB in the middle of the night.

I'm leaning toward changing my flight to DXB, but I will wait a few more hours before finalizing my decision.

Duck1981

Flying to both DXB and AUH recently, and combining that you are staying next to DXB airport plus the inconsistencies of BA's F service, plus the short flight time, a clear vote for flying to DXB for me.

(I am also not convinced that every AUH taxi driver outside of T1 in AUH is willing to drive you close to DXB airport)

jamesreid978

I still wouldn’t do it myself, but when travelling at 140 km/h more or less the entire way on E11, it should take around 45-50 mins to the marina. From DXB, around 30-40 mins traffic depending.

mec72

I wouldn't go out of my way just to fly F if I could get otherwise get 64A/K on my flights. Having said that, if I had e.g. work meetings on Monday, I'd prefer to arrive on the AUH flight and have a couple of hours of sleep in a hotel bed rather than arriving on a red-eye in the morning.

Also, this depends on your exact destination, but the drive from AUH to DXB will be just a bit over one hour if you arrive around midnight. I did that a few days ago (was in Dubai and had to get to Madrid - EY flight timings worked better from me than EK from DXB) and it took me exactly 1h05 to get from DIFC to AUH.

mec72

Any taxi or Uber will take you there from AUH.

HPN-HRL

Hi again,

Sorry for not being able to get back to this thread until today. I did go ahead and change my outbound to DXB within 24 hours of my original booking, but it took them until last night to contact me to confirm the changes. (I assume the delay was due to aftereffects of dealing with the industrial action situation.) I will be flying my first First in 747 2K and have 64K onward to DXB (unless I can somehow get BA to move this leg up to F) - really looking forward to it!

Thanks again for all the guidance provided to me here.

BlooJoo

Will OP have CCR access in LHR arriving in F departing in J?