Get £250 or 50,000 Avios if British Airways flies you in ‘Old First Class’

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• Paul says:

  23 Dec23 December 08:58

  Too little too late in my view. Old first cabins are in an appalling state and the IFE is dreadful.
  Your chances of old first have increased slightly following last night unfortunate and really quite serious incident at JNB. Would love to know if BA try to get out of paying compensation for that!

  • Mark says:

    23 Dec23 December 10:26

    The aircraft involved in that incident still has Old First, so unless/until such time as it is repaired and placed back in service I would have though it decreases your chances….

    • Richie says:

      23 Dec23 December 10:52

      Are you sure? It would seam strange to be operating the a380 and an old first product on that route.

      • Mark says:

        23 Dec23 December 11:01

        Absolutely sure. G-BNLL is one of the older 747s with 52 Club seats and Old First, albeit that it was expected to remain in service for some time having just had a major maintenance overhaul 3 months ago. Consequently it was probably in line for a New First refit with seats taken from another withdrawn aircraft.

        BA has never tended to prioritise aircraft with New First on particular routes, except indirectly by refitting all those with 70 Club seats which tend to be used more on the premium heavy routes. Hong Kong was exactly the same; up until the end of October one of the daily flights was operated by a 70 club seater with pretty much guaranteed New First, the other with a 52 club seater with about 50% Old First. Only now with the switch to the A380 and 777 is it guaranteed New First every flight.

        • Richie says:

          23 Dec23 December 11:39

          Ahh ok. I just thought that they wouldn’t want such a big gap between classes on the same route. With the a380 being the flagship of the fleet and all.

        • Mark says:

          23 Dec23 December 12:00

          Don’t forget the A380 isn’t operating yet on that route. When it does the extra capacity may well mean the second flight which will remain as a 747 will be operated by a 70 Club seater and hence also wholly or mainly New First, especially since it is primarily to 52 Club seaters leaving the fleet.

• Ralph says:

  23 Dec23 December 09:06

  We flew Old First to L.A.in April and New First return and other than feeling that it was walking in to your grandad’s lounge and given that one is asleep for half the return leg, that sounds like a generous offer with hunting down. I think flying as a couple in the middle seats is more sociable in old first too for couples.

  • Geoggy says:

    23 Dec23 December 10:04

    We flew old F end Sept and they gave us 30k each, which I was quite pleased with. Am now trying to suppress feeling a bit miffed!

  • Mark says:

    23 Dec23 December 10:53

    To be honest I find the Old First seat slightly more comfortable as well, and I miss the separate leg rest control in NF. On a 747 with New First I would avoid 4E and 4F unless they were the only available seats as they are very exposed and you’re liable to be knocked by people getting to/from seats at the front of the cabin. If you want a centre pair on such aircraft that only leaves 5E and 5F.

    It’s true that the tiny IFE screen on Old First is pretty poor these days though, and in my view the general ambiance is much better in NF with the backlit window blinds and lack of awful fake wood.

    Cue comments about first world problems…. I know 🙂

• littlefish says:

  23 Dec23 December 11:47

  I had OF, for example, on the SFO route this year. There are several routes where it is pretty much 50:50; where the WT+ cabins on the 747s are up front.
  Funnily enough, for sleeping I prefer OF. So never really been bothered if a 747 happens to turn up with OF. 50k avios, hmm? seems out of line with service recovery levels for more serious flaws.
  Sad about G-BNLL.

• Richie says:

  23 Dec23 December 10:50

  Raffles .. What’s the story with compensation for bag delays?
  I flew out of t5to krakow on Friday. Checked in 2 bags, all had priority labels. Arrived in krakow 11pm where only one bag was delivered. I received the 2nd bag last night. I did have to spend money in the absence of my bag. For example about £30 on razors , gel, moisturiser, toothbrush, paste, deodorant, and soap. I also had no clothes for a friends pre wedding party. So I bought a pair of shoes £50, jeans and shirt and jumper for £90, and boxer shorts socks and gloves for £25. What are my chances of a reimbursement from your past experiences. In the past 6 months I have had 2 bags lost and was awarded 10’000 avoids both times. I am silver, my flight was via Berlin with airberlin operating the 2nd leg . And I was in economy. Thanks

  • Rob says:

    23 Dec23 December 11:52

    No idea, never had it happen to me! BA would probably encourage you to claim via your travel insurance first, it is worth checking if any of your credit cards or your bank account come with a free policy that covers this. If BA loaded the bag in London then technically it is airberlin you should chase.

  • Mark says:

    23 Dec23 December 12:22

    I love the way auto-correct tends to turn Avios into Avoid / Avoids… I guess IAG didn’t think about that one when rebranding their mileage currency 🙂

• pazza2000 says:

  23 Dec23 December 15:17

  50k Avios does seem rather generous, not that I would be complaining. I would now rather find myself in OF with a gratis 50k than NF, perhaps I’ll need to rethink LAS via LAX this year and go direct via LGW

  • Mark says:

    23 Dec23 December 16:17

    Las Vegas flights from Gatwick don’t have First at all, and all flights from Gatwick that do have First have New First.

    Or did you mean fly direct from Heathrow, in which case yes, Old First is a possibility.

    • richie says:

      23 Dec23 December 20:06

      i didnt realise they flew from both airports tp vegas. this must be the only long haul they have flights from both is it?

      • Mark says:

        23 Dec23 December 21:43

        I think it is currently. BA has flown to New York JFK from both in the past, but hasn’t flown from Gatwick for a few years now, aside from the odd bad weather diversion on the City flights.

• darrenf says:

  23 Dec23 December 16:09

  Got my fingers crossed for having this for a DME trip in April.

  • Mark says:

    23 Dec23 December 16:14

    Very unlikely as the 747 flight is normally one with 70 Club seats and hence almost always has New First.

• James67 says:

  23 Dec23 December 21:00

  Another good post Raffles 🙂 I have not paid much attention to new F but is it really so much superior to old F that passengers would be hugely disappointed? It is not clear to me from the pics that it is so the avios look very generous to me, but the cash about right. I was not a great fan of old F and only flew it once, preferring CW. I found old F on the small 744 cabin was somewhat claustrophobic so hopefully new F is less so and brighter too.

  • Rob says:

    23 Dec23 December 21:34

    Same footprint for the seat, at the end of the day. The TV size is the only ‘wow’ factor over the old version.

    • James67 says:

      23 Dec23 December 23:03

      Rather sad, it seems not that long aho that BA set standards. So compensation is a great deal excepr for those who lime newest of everything.

• Eastland says:

  24 Dec24 December 02:00

  Im now hoping for old first for our Barbados return in June. 100k back on the 125k avios i spent would be lovely!

  • Mark says:

    24 Dec24 December 09:14

    No chance I’m afraid. The First routes from Gatwick all use 777s and all those with First already have New First.

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