enzian

We are booked in Club World on BA 49, LHR to SEA early next August. I booked this flight with Avios the day the award seats were released, and paid to choose our seats on the upper deck of the 747.

TodayI received an email notification that “our seats have changed.” This has occurred before, and it turned out to be an equipment change, in that case from 747 to 777, and then later back to a 747. Which was nice, as I much prefer the 747.

So, I was disappointed that we have lost our upper deck seats and back on a 777 this time. But then I thought how great it would be if we get a 787 instead. Last month we flew to Japan and back on 787’s in business/first and really like the planes. So I went to MMB to see, and this appears to be the case, although they call the aircraft type a “781”. What is it really????

The seat map in MMB shows Club World seats as rows 5-17, all with 1-2-1 seating. But I cannot see examples of this configuration on any of the sites that show and rate seats, even on BA’s website. Can anyone tell me about this seating?

BTW, if you try a mock booking of BA 49 next August to see the aircraft type it says “unavailable” (on my phone) or on the full website it simply lists the flight number BA49 under aircraft type. The only place I saw the number 781 was on the seat map that opened up in MMB.

With nothing to go by (they don’t even show the placement of the wing in relation to the seat rows) I chose window seats for both of us as far forward as we could get, so rows 7 and 8. I had to pay $9 more for Row 7 (on top of what we already paid for Upper Deck on the 747) so I figure this means the forward rows are considered more desirable.

Swanhunter

781 = 787-10. See threads elsewhere for more details on it. Not a fan of the 787 family myself

KARFA

Yes SEA is going 777 & 787-10 next year in the summer. See this page for a 787-10 seat map.

https://mediacentre.britishairways.c...2019-319/11810

enzian

Thanks! Our outbound flight on BA 48 in July has changed too, although I did not get a notification yet. I went ahead and chose new seats.

bse118

Second thread on this ("781") today:

LHR-DFW flight August next year - Aircraft 781?

corporate-wage-slave

Looks like BA's computers have plugged in their next aircraft delivery into MMB in the last day or so.

I think you mainly reside in the AA forum - some of the BA forum residents would be quite excited to be in your position! As things stand - and that's an important qualification - you will be in the new Club Suites. That's to say BA's latest Club World seating product, largely based on the Collins Aerospace Super Diamond seat, but with various extras. I don't think there is yet a B787-10 specific thread yet, BA hasn't received this aircraft. But if you look at the A350 threads you will see photos and reviews of the Club Suites at least, there is also one 777 retrofitted with this kit and more to come. There are several other threads but this is probably the best one for you at the moment.

Flying BA’s Airbus A350: deliveries, routes, reviews and more

As for the seating fee, that's interesting: you may be able to not pay the extra USD9 because that could be the amount extra payable by those who don't book the seat at the time of first booking - BA make that the cheapest time to select a seat, and so if you left it for a week or so it would typically go up by USD9 or so. Consequently if you call up you may be able to get that seat with no extra charge, assuming you got an agent clued up in this.

I'm a fan of the 787 (and 350), there is a bit of merit in being mid first cabin away from the galleys. Because it's such a quiet aircraft, regular service noise cuts through more. Row 16/17 will be close to the turbines, so I would avoid that area but the turbine noise is very small compared to a 777 or 747 so it's still a win, and it does help drown out any cabin noise.

sxc

Still don't know why BA doesn't use consistent seating numbers for each cabin class, so that when there is an equipment swap, it doesn't require so many people moving around. For example Club should always start at row 15. So if someone is seated in row 15, when there is an equipment change, they are still seated in the front row.

enzian

That would not work for a swap from 747, where we had seats on the upper deck. I would not want to be assigned to Row 63 on a 787!

regarding the extra $9 for my seat choice in Row 7, the seat map applied that same charge to all seats in Rows 5, 6, and 7; in other words the first 3 rows of Club World. All the other seats starting with Row 8 had not extra charge ( beyond the premium we had already paid for the original Upper Deck seats.)

I figured this meant these seats are somehow more desirable, and I was happy to pay it to be farther forward, away from the engine.

i realized I did not get a notification from BA for our outbound flight in mid-July because that was booked with our AS miles. I went in to MMB and got our new seats for that flight as well. All the $9 seats were already taken, so we are in Row 8, across the aisle from one another.

Since that flight will be just 2 weeks after the proposed start date for the new planes to serve Seattle, I plan to monitor closely in case delivery is late or other glitches cause a change back to the 747.

sxc

Exactly my point. The upper deck should be renumbered so that whatever aircraft you’re on, that seat number is always a J class seat.