British Airways terminal moves announced at Heathrow Airport

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

• Sam says:

  28 Jun28 June 08:15

  Hoping (beyond hope?) to get feedback on MH’s A350 economy – especially their 3 rows of extra legroom seats. Just for those of us for whom their businesses don’t stick them upfront!

  • Rob says:

    28 Jun28 June 08:25

    Don’t hold your breath 🙂

    • Sam says:

      28 Jun28 June 10:39

      Fair enough 🙂

      I *know* the aim of the game is get upgrades, status etc, but have you ever quizzed your readership about what actual classes they fly? Be interesting to know (and perhaps gear reviews accordingly?).

      If I look purely longhaul in the last couple of years i’ve flown GA & EK (J) but then BA (Y), EK (Y), TG (Y), SQ (Y) QR (Y) GA (Y) so I only read reviews of flights likely to be relevant to me – which would include WY & MH in Y/PE! I may be the odd one out here, but ultimately most people fly Y!

      • Rhys says:

        28 Jun28 June 11:52

        We do and that’s why we don’t cover economy!

        • Sam says:

          28 Jun28 June 11:57

          Oh? Bold statement!

      • Russ says:

        28 Jun28 June 12:40

        Depends what makes sense at the time really. I usually fly business unless it just isn’t worth it i.e. a short hop on a prop or, when the lounges either end are almost non existent. I think a lot of people weigh up the pros and cons before making a final decision.

  • Connor says:

    28 Jun28 June 09:07

    I flew in this seat a few weeks ago – it’s still a long way off PE but the extra legroom is quite considerable, especially in the bulkhead row where you can easily access the aisle from the window seat without disturbing your neighbours. Nothing else about it is different to regular economy.

    • Sam says:

      28 Jun28 June 10:42

      Thanks! It’s carefully thought through as by not differentiating further or having a cabin divider it means they can avoid charging the extra £75 APD ex-UK that proper PE attracts – i’m happy to pay for extra leg space and will survive not getting the extra glass of bubbles. Being 6ft6 i’d rather pay for an Emergency Exit in Y than for PE…

  • Jon says:

    28 Jun28 June 09:11

    I flew MH A350 economy when they put the aircraft on KL – Penang for the initial familiarisation flights. I was in the first row of economy, so one of the extra legroom seats (though as I haven’t sat in any of the regular economy seats I can’t comment on that aspect). It was a while ago now, but my impressions were:

    – Very comfortable seat; slightly softer than that on the A380 I think (though maybe that was because it was a brand new aircraft), and if I remember correctly it had some (more) padding / back support at the sides (a bit like some car seats), but otherwise very similar to the A380 (which I always felt was the best economy seat in the sky at the time).
    – Good recline.
    – TV screen was excellent, very sharp and clear picture.

    Of course, mine was a very short flight, so I can’t comment on how the seat would feel after 12 hours, but I do remember thinking at the time that it should be pretty ok – as economy seats go, I was impressed.

    • Sam says:

      28 Jun28 June 10:44

      I miss the A380’s even though they were starting to fall apart. The upstairs economy class cabin was originally built to be a separate Premium Economy cabin, but MH never got around to designating it as such. Because of the poor state of their IT, you could book these seats FOC if you booked through a travel agent, but couldn’t book on MH’s website if you booked direct, so for years it was my regular route into Asia. But havn’t been on their A350’s yet.

      • Jon says:

        28 Jun28 June 11:23

        In case it’s of any use to you – I have a vague recollection that the economy extra legroom seats (on A350) can be booked free of charge if you have Enrich Platinum status (and possibly also Enrich Gold, not sure). Pretty sure I didn’t pay for them on my Penang flight, anyway. Not sure whether that would also apply for OneWorld Emerald equivalent, eg BA Gold.

        Another possibility, if you have your own business, is to register with MHEnterprise. I’m not sure whether or not this is an official benefit, but I’ve so far always had free seat selection for my domestic/regional economy flights, when they were showing as charged-for otherwise. Don’t know whether it would apply also to longhaul. You also theoretically get a discount on the flight price and free date/time changes, though I’ve found that a bit inconsistent so far – perhaps it only applies to certain fare buckets. May be worth playing around with though if you have a business.

  • BJ says:

    28 Jun28 June 13:14

    Not sure but I think MH has a bid for upgrades system? CV3V would know if around.

    • Polly says:

      28 Jun28 June 19:37

      Yes they, and often v worth while. We usually book Y on MH and wait for the upgrade offers to roll in.

• Lewis says:

  28 Jun28 June 08:24

  Aren’t there 4 lounge’s in Heathrow?

  • Rob says:

    28 Jun28 June 08:25

    Forgot T3!

• Shoestring says:

  28 Jun28 June 08:46

  Are you collecting Nectar points @Ebay? There’s a 10% off code valid at all sellers today (PRIZE10) but minimum £100 basket/ spend

• pauldb says:

  28 Jun28 June 08:48

  Looks like BA is trialling full revenue-priced redemptions: I-class fares to NA only, probably 0.5p/avios conversion. Thread on FT.

  • AlexT says:

    28 Jun28 June 09:14

    Would square pretty well with Alex Cruz’ idea of more flexible redemption opportunities..

  • Doug M says:

    28 Jun28 June 10:50

    If you’re Avios rich this seems to open up some very good options.

• Alex W says:

  28 Jun28 June 09:03

  Disappointing to see the military getting stick in the comments again on this site, and I think it just reflects the lack of respect that does exist in the UK.
  As a veteran myself, we don’t want worshipping or red carpet treatment. Armed Forces day is generally a pain in the arse which means you spend weeks doing extra work preparing to give up (another) day off.
  What we appreciate are simple things like just saying “thanks for your service” – which I agree also deserves to be said to nurses, firefighters etc. And we don’t want to be frowned upon like some sort of criminal when asking for a military discount!

  • Matt says:

    28 Jun28 June 09:11

    Here here! I’m very disappointed to see the military getting stick from a number of the HfP community too. I hope that it isn’t reflective of the overall UK society.

    • David says:

      28 Jun28 June 09:14

      Nobody is ‘giving the military stick’.

    • Michael says:

      28 Jun28 June 09:19

      I agree. I see nothing wrong with this and while It might be a PR gesture by BA, it is still a nice gesture. I think it’s a good thing. It’s the same armed forces that laid down their lives for us 1939-1945 and would so tomorrow again if they had too.

  • David says:

    28 Jun28 June 09:16

    “we don’t want to be frowned upon like some sort of criminal when asking for a military discount”

    If a discount is offered, then nobody should ever be frowned upon for asking to receive the offered discount.

    An entirely different thing would be to have a general expectation that military discounts should be offered all over the place as a matter of course.
    I trust you are not talking about such an expectation?

    • Alex W says:

      28 Jun28 June 09:32

      There are lots of places that offer military and/or blue light discounts, people can’t memorise which shops do or don’t offer it. So there is nothing wrong with a polite enquiry as to whether or not a discount is offered.

      It’s not nice to be rude, frowned at or asked “what is military?”.

      • David says:

        28 Jun28 June 09:52

        I agree with that.
        And I’m also fine with MOD personnel having discounts.
        (Indeed, there are various reasons behind these discounts – some are simply marketing by companies to boost business – in the same way they go after other large employers or membership organisations, others are where the MOD knows it has direct or crucially indirect spending power of its employees, and is trying to secure benefits for its employees, like any employer can.)

        Asking if a discount is offered.

        But that is very different to having an expectation that discounts should be being widely given simply on a basis of the job. I.e. that most companies should be offering them out of some debt of gratitude and that places that don’t therefor in some way are not recognizing something.

        Sadly there are also some people who do hold the latter view. And that view is a flawed one.

        • Alex W says:

          28 Jun28 June 13:23

          I agree there should not be a sense of entitlement.

          From another perspective, something that irks me is that a lot of the discounts available are no better than those available to the general public and, as has been said, sometimes it’s just a token marketing ploy to be seen as doing something good.

          In a few cases you actually end up with a worse deal. I’m talking about bogus “help to buy” or “we [don’t] pay your stamp duty” housing schemes, and car dealerships with high interest rates. Some companies will attempt to prey on the commercial naivety of military personnel.

          There are a few genuinely excellent deals available, such as 60% off National Express and of course 20% off at Nando’s!

        • David says:

          28 Jun28 June 14:37

          Forces railcard is also another good one – especially as open to partners, etc.

  • Gringo says:

    28 Jun28 June 09:39

    +1 Alex W

• The Original David says:

  28 Jun28 June 09:08

  OT, but when will Rhys be providing further commentary on the BA Customer Service Manager that we’ve all been watching avidly every night at 9pm on ITV2? She actually comes across as quite sensible…

  • bsuije says:

    28 Jun28 June 09:21

    “She actually comes across as quite sensible…”

    Is that a reflection on her, or on the other participants?! =P

  • Rhys says:

    28 Jun28 June 09:25

    I don’t watch Love Island!

    • The Original David says:

      28 Jun28 June 14:40

      It’s ok mate, we’re not judging you!

  • Alex W says:

    28 Jun28 June 09:37

    Guilty as charged… Mrs W forced me into it, honest!

    There is not much of note, she has been “coupled up” the whole time. There was a mildly interesting anecdote, she was briefly seeing a chap who asked her for, and got, an upgrade. Turns out he was flying (to NYC?) to meet another lady he was seeing.

• AlexT says:

  28 Jun28 June 09:19

  OT: When the HfP party tickets went on sale I got 2, one for me and one for a friend. My friend can no longer join, so i have an extra ticket, which I’m happy to part with at face value. Is there a ticket resale function via Eventbrite or should I try and handle things informally on here?

  • Rhys says:

    28 Jun28 June 09:26

    Feel free to handle things informally on here. If you email me rhys [at] headforpoints.co.uk I can put you in touch with some people on the waiting list.

    • AlexT says:

      28 Jun28 June 10:32

      Thanks, Rob. Will drop you an e-mail now.

      • AlexT says:

        28 Jun28 June 10:33

        My bad 🙂
        Rhys…

      • AlexT says:

        28 Jun28 June 11:58

        I already e-mailed Rhys and got the contacts of someone on the waitlist. I’d suggest maybe getting your name on there too, as I assume there’ll be more tickets exchanging hands soon.

  • Polly says:

    28 Jun28 June 09:28

    Email Rob, he said he would yry to off load/sell on tkts to people who didnt get one. Once the 500 sold out.

• Al says:

  28 Jun28 June 09:53

  OT – PR Gold Amex Credit Card:

  Is the Hotel Collection actually useful? Do you get $75 or $100 benefits on a 2 night stay? Different rates quoted on the sign up page versus the hotel booking page. Are the hotel rates on par with the direct rate/travel agency sites? I cannot compare without having an account. Thanks.

  • Rob says:

    28 Jun28 June 10:14

    You should assume they match Best Flexible Rate. It will be a genuinely extra benefit if you usually book refundable rates, but if you usually book cheaper pre-paid then there is probably little difference overall.

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