The first British Airways long-haul Gatwick plane with 10-across seating is now in service

The first ‘densified’ British Airways Boeing 777 is now in service at London Gatwick.   The number of seats has been increased from 280 to a whopping 332.

The main way this has been achieved is to make World Traveller / Economy 10-abreast.  To be fair to British Airways, a lot of other airlines – including many with a better reputation than BA, such as Emirates, Air France, Qatar Airways and Cathay Pacific – have already or are in the process of doing the same.  BA is playing ‘catch up’ (or ‘catch down’, possibly) in this area.

There have been some improvements to the World Traveller seat.  Most obviously, the size of the TV screen has increased from 6 inches to 10 inches.

You also get “a six-way headrest with adjustable ears for added comfort and movable middle arm rests, which is particularly useful for customers travelling with children”.

USB power ports have been added but there are no plug sockets.  Whilst not an obvious change, the IFE system has also been replaced and now has substantially more capacity to add additional movies.

There have also been major changes in World Traveller Plus.

The World Traveller Plus cabin has been increased from 24 to 52 seats.  This is likely to drive a substantial change in the amount of Avios reward availability in this cabin.

If you are wondering where the space came from, the number of Club World seats has been reduced from 40 to 32.

Word Traveller Plus DOES now have plug sockets which will take UK, US and European plugs.

The seat also has “a new leg and footrest, as well as an improved fully adjustable six-way headrest to suit customers of all heights. The new seat also has a cocktail table at the front and in-arm tray tables”.

The TV screen has increased from 6 inches to 12 inches, meaning that there is now a difference between the IFE in World Traveller and World Traveller Plus.

The new World Traveller Plus seat will be added to the Boeing 777 fleet at Heathrow from “Autumn 2019”.

Where will you find these new seats?

The new aircraft are initially being timetabled onto Punta Cana, Cancun and Kingston.  All six of the three class Boeing 777 aircraft will be done by the end of 2018 – it is a slow process, taking two months per plane and requiring the aircraft to be sent to Singapore.  BA will then start making similar changes to the four-class fleet of four aircraft at Gatwick.

It remains to be seen if customers in World Traveller can be ‘bought off’ with a bigger TV and a USB socket when faced with a sharp drop in seat width.

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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (April 2025)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

Get 5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

30,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending £15,000 Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on the ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 30,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (30,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to a huge 80,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (80,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 30,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

80,000 bonus points and great travel benefits – for a large fee Read our full review

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital on Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, and the standard card is FREE. Capital on Tap cards also have no FX fees.

Capital on Tap Visa

NO annual fee, NO FX fees and points worth 1 Avios per £1 Read our full review

Capital on Tap Pro Visa

10,500 points (=10,500 Avios) plus good benefits Read our full review

There is also a British Airways American Express card for small businesses:

British Airways American Express Accelerating Business

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

There are also generous bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These cards are open to sole traders as well as limited companies.

American Express Business Platinum

50,000 points when you sign-up and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and FREE for a year Read our full review

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.