BA aircraft changes - LAX / LHR
Discussion
Was rather surprised on Sunday that the online checkin failed and crashed out when picking my seat. Usual plan for upper deck was foiled when it suddenly spat out a seat on the lower deck. Erm... Okay. Exec club declined to change it suggesting I drive to Heathrow and do it there... Right, whatever.
Anyway, was rather surprised walking down the stairs at the gate to be greeted by an A380. Doubly annoyed I didn't get upstairs, but bemused as to why it was there - I thought the old 747-400s were going to be the last for BA to replace? Stewards didn't seem to know what was going on either, and the online login definitely showed the 400 layout for seats.
Oddness. Anyway, gosh what a quiet thing, even sat downstairs. So much quieter, but then one would hope so given the 400s are so dogeared and elderly. What did surprise though was the basics Club layout has barely changed a jot - okay so they've shoehorned in a couple of USB ports and the charging port finally takes a UK plug, but those along with a marginally bigger screen appear to be about it. Intercom kept talking about "this brand new A380" and indeed it did loom and feel new... And simultaneously utterly dated. That club layout has barely changed in a decade, I'd rather hoped the new aircraft would get something a little shinier and new?
Anyway, was rather surprised walking down the stairs at the gate to be greeted by an A380. Doubly annoyed I didn't get upstairs, but bemused as to why it was there - I thought the old 747-400s were going to be the last for BA to replace? Stewards didn't seem to know what was going on either, and the online login definitely showed the 400 layout for seats.
Oddness. Anyway, gosh what a quiet thing, even sat downstairs. So much quieter, but then one would hope so given the 400s are so dogeared and elderly. What did surprise though was the basics Club layout has barely changed a jot - okay so they've shoehorned in a couple of USB ports and the charging port finally takes a UK plug, but those along with a marginally bigger screen appear to be about it. Intercom kept talking about "this brand new A380" and indeed it did loom and feel new... And simultaneously utterly dated. That club layout has barely changed in a decade, I'd rather hoped the new aircraft would get something a little shinier and new?
A380s have been working this route for some time. I live in Yorkshire almost directly under the LHR-LAX flight path. It was a very clear day yesterday and, as it happens, I was outside as BA269 passed over, clearly a very large aircraft and confirmed by the Flightradar24 app on my iPhone as an A380. A quick check reveals that BA283 which operated earlier in the day was a 744 though. For future reference, the 'FlightTrack' app lets you put in a route and a date and will tell you what a/c will be working the flight.
My Dad had a similar thing but in reverse a couple of weeks back. He'd booked LHR - LAX return and it was supposed to be on the A380, arrived at LHR to be told that there'd been an aircraft change to a 747.
He wasn't too bothered about it but I'd gave been pretty miffed myself
It turned out that his was due to a diversion on the previous days flight due to a medical emergency.
He wasn't too bothered about it but I'd gave been pretty miffed myself
It turned out that his was due to a diversion on the previous days flight due to a medical emergency.
I love the 380 and fly Emirates several times a year (in cattle though 
)
I still don't understand why BA have Club on the lower level in the center - all you get to see is the biggest wing in the world and no view.....if I had paid for Club I'd expect to be able to see the outside world
)I still don't understand why BA have Club on the lower level in the center - all you get to see is the biggest wing in the world and no view.....if I had paid for Club I'd expect to be able to see the outside world
HoHoHo said:
I love the 380 and fly Emirates several times a year (in cattle though )
I still don't understand why BA have Club on the lower level in the center - all you get to see is the biggest wing in the world and no view.....if I had paid for Club I'd expect to be able to see the outside world
really? )I still don't understand why BA have Club on the lower level in the center - all you get to see is the biggest wing in the world and no view.....if I had paid for Club I'd expect to be able to see the outside world
What I value most in club/first is the beds.
straight away after take off, get the bed flat. refuse food as will have eaten in lounge, get a bottle or two of water, put earplugs in and go to sleep for as long as the flight is... wake up for the meal just before landing.
admittedly virtually all my flying is UK->US though, so 6-11hrs, so not too long.
cpufreak said:
really?
What I value most in club/first is the beds.
straight away after take off, get the bed flat. refuse food as will have eaten in lounge, get a bottle or two of water, put earplugs in and go to sleep for as long as the flight is... wake up for the meal just before landing.
admittedly virtually all my flying is UK->US though, so 6-11hrs, so not too long.
What I value most in club/first is the beds.
straight away after take off, get the bed flat. refuse food as will have eaten in lounge, get a bottle or two of water, put earplugs in and go to sleep for as long as the flight is... wake up for the meal just before landing.
admittedly virtually all my flying is UK->US though, so 6-11hrs, so not too long.
This is the real value of a Club/First bed. HoHoHo said:
I still don't understand why BA have Club on the lower level in the center - all you get to see is the biggest wing in the world and no view.....if I had paid for Club I'd expect to be able to see the outside world
Agreed, it seemed daft to have a window seat and see practically nothing but wing.Came back on the upper deck which was somewhat different. Gosh it was quiet up there. Still, one of the nice things about the 747 upper was its privacy. Boarding first as a club passenger and then having a hundred or so cattle class clambering over you to get to the rear of the plane is tedious.
I do feel that they feel old already though - apart from the tweaks to the seat, the décor and design could be a decade old. Not shiny enough for the cost of a seat.
Zed Ed said:
Agree the emirates a380 business class upstairs is better.
You should try BA LCY to JFK via Ireland; all business class and the last outbound flight I did had 14 people on it, kind of private jet experience.
I had wondered about doing other routes but enjoy the convenience of the single direct LHR/LAX, to do LCY/JFK/LAX would make for a very long day of sitting down and standing up again!You should try BA LCY to JFK via Ireland; all business class and the last outbound flight I did had 14 people on it, kind of private jet experience.
HoHoHo said:
I still don't understand why BA have Club on the lower level in the center - all you get to see is the biggest wing in the world and no view.....if I had paid for Club I'd expect to be able to see the outside world
Maybe the LAX route has a different configuration from the JNB route.... As I came back from JNB on Sunday and Club is upstairs at the front.We flew done to Auckland via Sydney upstairs on an Emirates 380. Whilst put into a hold waiting to get into Sydney, the entire experience was surreal.
It was so quiet as to be weird... It felt as if we were been held aloft by some magical force, not 4 bloody great jet engines! Fantastic machine!
It was so quiet as to be weird... It felt as if we were been held aloft by some magical force, not 4 bloody great jet engines! Fantastic machine!
TigerS6 said:
HoHoHo said:
I still don't understand why BA have Club on the lower level in the center - all you get to see is the biggest wing in the world and no view.....if I had paid for Club I'd expect to be able to see the outside world
Maybe the LAX route has a different configuration from the JNB route.... As I came back from JNB on Sunday and Club is upstairs at the front.I'd much rather be front upper
In fact I'm off to Dubai Saturday on business albeit on Emirates and I might just ask to do that........
Sadly I have to fly in cattle class ;(
HoHoHo said:
Looking at SeatGuru it appears BA have club at the front upper deck and middle lower deck.
I'd much rather be front upper
I went out on the lower deck, came back on the upper. Standard boggo club seats are no different, but the upper deck was noticeable quieter. MUCH quieter, and you barely felt a thing when it landed to which is remarkable compared to the 747's crashing, wobbling and bending!I'd much rather be front upper
Badgerboy said:
BA runs 380s to LAX and HKG.
They are one down though as someone managed to run it into the airbridge on Monday night! (Saw it out the window, took a knock to one of the portside engines)
Needless to say all the flights back to the UK were rammed.
it was reported as a bird strike on return from Hong Kong, on the run into LHRThey are one down though as someone managed to run it into the airbridge on Monday night! (Saw it out the window, took a knock to one of the portside engines)
Needless to say all the flights back to the UK were rammed.
jontysafe said:
Emirates business class on A 380 is very good but did 1st class on same plane once just for the experience as I wasn`t paying. That is how travelling should be done!
Flew Qatar Airways A340-600 LHR to DOH cattle and still managed 3 hrs sleep today so can`t be bad
Brilliant and just what I needed, thanks Flew Qatar Airways A340-600 LHR to DOH cattle and still managed 3 hrs sleep today so can`t be bad
Emirates tomorrow in cattle, right at the fecking back (why do all the fecking good seats go so quickly?) and then back again Wednesday, right at the fecking back again in slum class.
One of our flights recently was pretty much a continual bun fight between the flight crew and certain passengers who appear to have never flown before and insisted on sitting where they wanted regardless of boarding pass.
You don't get that in business or 1st class
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