British Airways currently operates a subpar business class and a subpar first class product.
They announced today that they’ll be taking a giant leap forward with the launch of reverse herringbone suites in business class, starting with the A350-1000. The 56 business class “Club Suite” seats will have direct aisle access in a 1-2-1 configuration with doors that close. That matches Delta and Qatar for having business class seats with doors.
The plane will operate between London-Madrid in July and London-Toronto and London-Dubai in October. The plane will not have a first class cabin.
All of BA’s planes will eventually be retrofitted with the new Club Suite seats. At the end of 2019 Club Suite will be found on 4 A350s and 2 777s.
Ironically enough, BA’s new business class seat will be better than the current first class product, which is the reverse herringbone seat in a 1-2-1 configuration, but without doors. That’s a tight configuration for first class and they will have to figure out a way to differentiate the first class seat before starting the retrofit on planes offering first class, or they may find it impossible to sell seats in that cabin.
Then again, maybe first class will continue to go the way of the dodo as business class keeps getting better while premium economy adds an option between coach and business?
Flying BA with miles means paying fuel surcharges. Will you use miles and pay a fuel surcharge to fly in Club Suite?
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12 Comments On "British Airways Is Launching A Business Class Suite That’s Better Than Their First Class Seat"
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This move is basically what Elal is doing… making J a better hard product than F, and then phasing out F. The minimum to keep F is probably 1-1, but I’m not sure the markup is there to get a slightly wider seat and better food, once J is already direct-aisle access.
I think the future of F is exclusively fully enclosed suites/apartments like Singapore, Ethiad, and Emirates, but without A380s and very few carriers opting for 747-8, I’m not sure there’s much growth potential there. I’m not sure how many carriers are going to chew up enough space on a 777 or A350 to do this.
Any idea of when this will go to Israel wirh stopover in a London?
No won’t pay fuel charges. But how can fly from NY to the UK without?
On any other airline.
Virgin Atlantic also has fuel charges, unless booked via Delta
In other words, every other airline has a way around the fuel surcharges.
Last I checked Delta charges 105k miles for that one way flight. VA charges 47.5k +$577. So basically it’s like buying miles for a penny. What’s better? I suppose it’s relative. But to say that there’s away around the fuel surcharge doesn’t paint the full picture.
It’s so gorgeous! Why couldn’t LY order the same 🙁
can we have a post on the best oprions for a traveler companion pass
Yes, would totally book this but only out of TLV back to the US! Fees in that direction cap out around $230. If you live in one of the over 20 cities they fly to in the US that anyway doesn’t have non-stop service to Israel, they are often your best points and 1-stop option. They often have up to 7 business seats when the calendar opens too so it’s perfect for families. I’m very excited about this product, although I will plan to book with other better currencies, not actually use Avios.
FYI.. I keep on flying BA From JFK to LHR/LGW it comes out cheaper than delta, virgin….
I book in advance and through AARP and get $65.00 off in addition to a free suitcase 🙂
right now ba has terrible business class