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Your thoughts on the new British Airways Club Suite business class and a seat plan

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Not surprisingly, our two articles on the new British Airways Club Suite yesterday attracted a lot of attention.  You can read our two part Club Suite review here and here.

I thought it would be interesting to look at some of your feedback in our comments, since HfP readers have generally been strong critics of the existing Club World arrangement.

Your thoughts were generally very positive.  What intrigued me was that a BA insider dropped me a note to say that the original plan – dropped two years ago on cost grounds – was even better and would have blown even Qatar’s Qsuite out of the water.  Whether that is true or not, and whether the initial plans would ever have been affordable or be able to be engineered, is a different question ….

Here is a new picture which gives the best feel so far of what you will actually get:

New British Airways Club Suite launched

One thing I didn’t mention yesterday is that there are no real ‘bad’ seats with the Club Suite layout.  The need to pay £60 – £90 to reserve a Club World seat, if you have no status, should no longer be necessary.  You can’t easily chat to your partner if you’re sat next to them anyway, so if you end up being sat further apart it won’t be a disaster.  You should also find it fairly easy to find someone willing to swap seats to help you, if needed, as the seats are all very similar.

Which flights will Club Suite be on?

Club Suite is now in the British Airways timetable.  You are looking for these flights, which do not show an aircraft type – you can usually click on the flight number on ba.com to bring up the aircraft type, but for these flights it is not there:

  • Toronto from 1st October – BA92/93
  • Dubai from 8th October – BA106/107

The Madrid test flights won’t be timetabled for a while.

What is the Club Suite seat map?

Yesterday I suggested that we had a 48 + 8 two cabin layout.  It is actually 44 + 12.  Whether it feels a bit dorm-like or not remains to be seen.

This is the seat map, click to enlarge slightly:

British Airways Club Suite business class seat plan

What did HfP readers think of Club Suite?

Here are a few quotes:

“It’s a huge step up for BA and I for one (and being a CW hater) will welcome the change. Adding a door does nothing for me its simply something else for BA to break and not repair ….. Direct aisle access is the key and that is delivered. The rest of the service now needs to match starting with grumpy unprofessional crew who talk all night and stomp up and down the aisle like flatted footed oafs.  Food then becomes important and IFE content. I am less concerned about alcohol as I find I drink less and less on board now.  So, 10 out of 10 for effort, roll out of 4-5 years I think will be an issue. Just how long can they keep flogging the 747 on a route like JFK when these seats are flying to other places.”

“It looks amazing!  *searches for business redemption chart while rubbing hands together in glee*”

“This seat is amazing! You’ll never please everyone with everything but it certainly pleases me.”

“Wow is all I can say, This looks class leading.”

“After endless justifiable grumbling about CW over the years, we really should give them credit for this. Let’s just hope they don’t drag their feet too many years in bringing it to the wider fleet…”

“Very good effort. Almost on par with Q Suites which is much better than my expectations were for this seat!  Lets hope that they now fix the onboard service.”

“The seat belt is a positive for me, didn’t like the bumbag belt on Etihad especially when trying to sleep.  Looking forward to trying this out.”

“Looks good as long as they clean it well.”

“CW feels like a dorm of you are in an aisle seat with someone sleeping next to you just across the aisle, with no barriers and no privacy. I can’t see that being a problem with reverse herringbone seating, no matter how big the cabin is. Well done BA. Maybe they have aspirations to become World Class again. Let’s hope so.”

“Wow! I really wasn’t expecting them to push the boat out but credit where it’s due, this is a great effort. Sadly by 2022, who knows what new creations ME airlines will have but it’s still a big step up for folks based in the UK.”

“I still think BA are behind. Poor lounges, some old airplanes, many of them dirty and poor food and wine although BA are slowly improving on the food front but not on wines, like when they ran out of a white on our recent trip from Chile with our first meal!!!  Crew generally are better on BA but not all the time.  For aircraft seating, AA and QR are better in J and for food, QR is miles ahead along with any time dining and good selection of wines as well as pyjamas even in J. CX has also fell behind on food. CX are also way ahead on lounges along with QF and QR not far behind. Theses are only OneWorld ones. I understand it is a personal choice however.  But hopefully with these new seats and the proposed DO&CO food by 2020, BA might make up some ground.”

So …. in general, you’re happy.  Now all we can do is wait for the Madrid test flights to appear in the timetable for August.

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Comments (96)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • Mud Island Mlungu says:
    19 Mar19 March 05:42

    The A350’s won’t have a First Class. Most of the B787’s don’t either, except the 787-9.

    I have a sneaky feeling that BA are going to start slowly phasing out First over the next 10 years. They may keep it on the A380’s and 777-9s in time.

  • Polly says:
    19 Mar19 March 05:46

    Many planes won’t have 1st all eventually. Bit like Qatar, mainly top notch J products across the fleet. Obs retaining F on very few prime routes. Many of their F cabins are redemptions. When looking for F seats, have often seen 4 available.
    Saying that, not an F seat in sight next Jan, Feb or Mar for our preferred dates to Asia.want to use our 241. Once the new J is up and running, we won’t bother with F redemptions at all, but hope sufficient J seats will still be available.

    • Genghis says:
      19 Mar19 March 05:57

      But if F remains, it’ll have to improve to differentiate itself from this.

      • Polly says:
        19 Mar19 March 06:03

        G, hard to imagine how. Guess just more roomy. And nicer furniture and features. Looking at the J door, might be a tight squeeze in and out for a big person….

      • MikeL says:
        19 Mar19 March 06:36

        Totally agree

      • Shoestring says:
        19 Mar19 March 06:53

        F is for ‘fleece’, right?

      • Ed says:
        19 Mar19 March 07:35

        Car transfers to / from terminal, luggage priority, etc lots of room for improvement

      • marcw says:
        19 Mar19 March 12:07

        Service service, service and on the ground. That’s the difference between First vs Business.

  • riku2 says:
    19 Mar19 March 05:48

    There is not much mention of WT+ on this new BA plane. The seating is 2-4-2 but other airlines like Lufthansa have 2-3-2 on their A350’s in premium economy, so it will be interesting to see if the seat on the BA A350 has to be narrower in WT+ compared to their other planes.

    • Polly says:
      19 Mar19 March 05:57

      Just cannot believe they left it at 2-4-2, as some of those fares are close to 1K, l would expect 2-3-2 at a maximum. it’s as bad as Y, almost. Seats looked very narrow in the pic l saw.

      • Doug M says:
        19 Mar19 March 09:34

        In straight forward rows of seats like WT and WT+ the seat width really is determined by the plane width and number of seats. This is why I like to bang on about Virgin’s claim to have a 21.5 inch seat in Premium compared to BAs 18.5″ on the same model aircraft. At 8 across have Virgin took 12″ out of each aisle. No, they just measure the seat differently, and because of their marketing they have travel review sites repeating this in comparisons like it’s fact. The truth is the seat cushion width is not the story, it’s how much space you really have, which in Premium Economy on a 747 is 1/8 of what’s available after the aisle width is removed. This is why I never want to travel in economy on a B787 or 10 across B777.

    • Doug M says:
      19 Mar19 March 09:49

      My guess is LH will be the outlier here. The norm in economy on an A350 is 9 across, standard attitude to + cabins is mostly one less, so I think the 2-4-2 will be the norm. It’s hard to judge how this will feel until you try it. WT+ on the 747 and 777 was always 2-4-2, with 9 across in economy, until they decided to sardine economy on refurbed 777. But then again the 787 has 9 across in economy and a 2-3-2 in WT+ so who knows.
      What could be the game changer is Virgin going 7 across, that would expose the BA WT+ seat as inferior for space.

    • Nick_C says:
      19 Mar19 March 14:41

      I think 2-4-2 is the norm for PE on the A350. Cathay, Delta, Iberia, and Singapore have all gone 2-4-2 in PE. Singapore even have 2-4-2 on the ULR service that only has PE and J.

      The only 2-3-2 configs I can find are on China Airlines, French Bee, and Lufty.

  • Polly says:
    19 Mar19 March 05:54

    That’s one big cabin. Fist fights for the smaller cabin l reckon. Think big cabin is too dorm like, looks huge. But once inside your private space, you won’t be aware just how big it is. These pics give a great idea of the product.
    Finally, well done BA.

    • Nick_C says:
      19 Mar19 March 14:51

      11 rows of 4 is the same as you get on AA’s highly regarded 77W. It doesn’t feel at all dorm like.

      Cathay have 11 rows of 4 plus an extra middle pair on the A350.

  • John Matrix says:
    19 Mar19 March 06:07

    My feedback is I really don’t care about seats

    • Tom1 says:
      19 Mar19 March 06:24

      I care about suites though.

    • Darren says:
      19 Mar19 March 09:49

      The seat is the most important aspect of flying for me and is the only reason I collect air miles. The lounges, food n drink and IFE are minor additions.

      I think this is a huge improvement from the CW offering at present, but I’ll be interested to see how cramped the cubby is.

    • Louie says:
      19 Mar19 March 10:28

      Just out of interest, what do you care about (flight-wise)?

  • Anna says:
    19 Mar19 March 06:12

    If F disappears, what will they do with the First lounges and Concorde room? Somehow decide which J passengers can go in them? (Business lounges already seem to be at capacity).

    • Tom1 says:
      19 Mar19 March 06:23

      Maybe status gives entry to F lounge?

      • David says:
        19 Mar19 March 08:21

        Same as AY with their “Premium Lounge”, even though they don’t have a first class.

        • Lumma says:
          19 Mar19 March 08:49

          Apart from the premium lounge is currently closed and it’s like a zoo in what remains

        • David says:
          19 Mar19 March 11:16

          Well yes, but that’s clearly a temporary anomaly. If anything, the fact they’re still investing in the refurbishment of the Premium Lounge despite having no F product makes my point more clearly.

        • Will says:
          19 Mar19 March 17:52

          I’ve always been puzzled by AY’s premium lounge. It seems inferior to the other one to me in a lot of ways.

    • guesswho2000 says:
      19 Mar19 March 06:41

      F lounge will probably be same as now (OWE access or F on other carriers). Concorde room maybe GGL only?

    • Michael says:
      19 Mar19 March 09:01

      F isn’t going away – it will still be on 777, 787-10 aircraft and likely the A380. I wouldn’t be surprised however, to see it removed from the 787-9.

      • Doug M says:
        19 Mar19 March 09:21

        I believe F will also be on the A350, just not the initial deliveries. This based on comments on FT from people that get a lot else right.

        • Rob says:
          19 Mar19 March 09:41

          Some rumours too that it won’t.

        • Will says:
          19 Mar19 March 18:02

          I may be in the minority but once I’ve got a bed, decent IFE system and charging points and somewhere to store my bits and bobs the rest is secondary. I’d happily see first go if the quality in business meets the initial impression.

          I don’t need an apartment, some privacy is nice and a decent meal is appreciated if your not going to serve one at the airport but I really don’t need expensive plonk and meals which sound amazing on the menu but are very average by restaurant standards.

          Maybe I’m easy to please but it’s 12 hours on a plane which I’m going to try and sleep through most of it.

          A really nice sandwich (made to order?) or something that keeps well like a curry or stew would be far more true of what you expect in a restaurant than a fillet steak that’s impossible to serve on a plane.

          Save the nice food for the lounge prior to departure, a fillet steak served prior to boarding done properly beats anything that can be acheived on a plane.

  • Nigel the pensioner says:
    19 Mar19 March 06:42

    As I took my seat at the front of a Qatar he788 yesterday morning, I immediately saw the tease photo ” push to release table” or suchlike. It then became apparent that Rockwell Collins Aerospace was the basis of the seat. The seat material type and the armrest shape with storage release button was further confirmation. Whether it is eventually christened Waterfront remains to be seen! Probably the most important mod is moving the touch screen controller forward out of the way of ones elbow as I have spent 2 flights now, reconfiguring the IFE by inadvertent elbow nudging of the controller’s touch screen!! The power socket is conveniently below this but im not sure where the usb socket will go as its here on QR and it cant swap places as it will dig into your elbow
    The door is gimmicky as anyone passing by can see over it.

    • Russ says:
      19 Mar19 March 08:03

      Thought the same. Looks like QR’s window herringbone seat with a door but the back’s higher like Finnair.

  • Peter says:
    19 Mar19 March 06:52

    I haven’t seen any commentary on the number of the new seats as against the number of seats currently in Club. If (as it looks) the seats are further apart, and longer, does this mean fewer seats overall – and therefore BA will need to be charging higher fares?

    • David says:
      19 Mar19 March 08:23

      Nobody knows – the only confirmed seating plan we have for Club Suite is on the A350, which has never had CW for comparison.

      • Michael says:
        19 Mar19 March 09:02

        Still some cheap fares to Toronto being sold, I’m sure i saw £1.8k return or something like that.

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