British Airways rejigs its A350 launch route

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• Nick says:

  19 Jul19 July 07:58

  Did you all oversleep this morning?

  • Nick_C says:

    19 Jul19 July 08:03

    I was hoping the first post would arrive more then three hours late, and I could claim compensation. But my day is now back on schedule 🙂

  • Matty says:

    19 Jul19 July 08:04

    I do that on a Friday. It’s part of my ritual. I’ve done it for 20 years now – an extra 20 minutes in bed on a Friday. It’s my little way of starting the weekend even though I’ve still one day of work left. I’m always late for work on a Friday…

• Nick_C says:

  19 Jul19 July 08:01

  Mid Atlantic hubs?

  Are they using aircraft carriers?

  • The Original David says:

    19 Jul19 July 09:54

    Or the Azores…

  • Rhys says:

    19 Jul19 July 10:57

    I lived in Baltimore for a year, I know what I’m talking about! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mid-Atlantic_(United_States)

    • Doug M says:

      19 Jul19 July 15:31

      You can rely on the USA to take a USA centric view of everything. I was watching an old Modern Family on a flight a couple of days ago, Mitch and Cam were in a mild argument about Cam’s claim of having grown up in Central America, or Missouri as others might say.

• Sam says:

  19 Jul19 July 08:03

  Didn’t get the emails today

  • xcalx says:

    19 Jul19 July 08:14

    Same here.

    • Sandra says:

      19 Jul19 July 08:31

      Ditto

    • Mike says:

      19 Jul19 July 09:58

      Ditto

• KBuffett says:

  19 Jul19 July 08:16

  OT – Any recommendations for a great place to spend a few days in the alps in August? We’ve been to Verbier for the last couple of years and really enjoyed it. Looking for a great hotel/accommodation with great food and spa.

  • Olly says:

    19 Jul19 July 08:44

    There’s so many….. we did the Hotel Grischa in Davos, great hotel and if you get a decent deal through shopping around not too expensive by Swiss standards. It’s got a smoking room as well as a fondue room. Both for odour control!
    There’s a Hilton Garden Inn in the town as well but TA reviews didn’t show much status recognition from them. We found the best deal on Expedia. Beautiful place tho holiday inn summer or winter.

• Optimus Prime says:

  19 Jul19 July 08:27

  According to a couple of US blogs the new Club Suites will be available in some JFK flights from October too.

  • Rob says:

    19 Jul19 July 08:29

    They are already in the system but you can’t tell which 777 has it until you see your seat map.

    • James says:

      19 Jul19 July 08:36

      Sorry if I’ve missed this – on a 777 to JFK next year in first. Are there likely to be any changes to the first product? Would I be able to tell on a current seat map? Thanks!

      • LewisB says:

        19 Jul19 July 08:39

        Pretty sure you would be downgraded with the avios difference refunded. I’m flying premium economy next January to JFK and ba.com won’t allow me to view the seating map but seatguru shows the old style cabin. At least for now.

        • LGR says:

          19 Jul19 July 08:54

          I might be wrong, but I’m pretty sure the 777s will still have first (albeit probably fewer seats because of the size of the club suite compared to current CW). So there might be a risk of being downgraded if there’s less first seats (again, might be wrong about first staying on the 777).

        • Rob says:

          19 Jul19 July 09:03

          8 First, down from 14.

        • Stu N says:

          19 Jul19 July 08:55

          James – as above it looks like the 777s on JFK will have F so should be OK.

          LewisB – Seatguru is beyond useless for BA for a lot of routes as they often mix and match between long haul types by day, season and flight. Even if they hit the right aircraft type, there are several different layouts of 777-200 out there too. The seatmap on BA.com is the most reliable indicator but even then you can get changes between booking and flying. thebasource is much better for BA seatmaps and opinions on seats.

        • LewisB says:

          19 Jul19 July 09:02

          Why would anyone opt to fly first when they have this new business cabin up and running on the same flight?

        • Stu N says:

          19 Jul19 July 09:15

          I’d always choose F where available and affordable – if it’s £200 each more than CW (and it often is in a sale) I’m a buyer.

          In the air, it’s a much better, more personal service. Loads more space – no foot cubby and a bigger, wider bed. I like the buddy dining on most aircraft and a smaller, quieter cabin. Much better food and somewhat better wine and spirits (though still wine is far from exceptional these days).

          Much better ground experience – F Wing or F check-ins, F lounges/ Concorde Rooms/ Concorde Dining, more tier points and avios on cash bookings.

          It’s a no-brainer for a 20-30k increment on a redemption too. And that’s comparing to other top end business seats, not the existing club world.

        • Jonathan says:

          19 Jul19 July 09:19

          The LHR 777’s with Club Suite will retain First but with only 8 seats (predicted to be similar to 787 F seat) so you should still fly in First if booked. You will be able to tell if you’re on a refurbished plane by looking at seat map & seeing if there are 8 or 14/17 F seats although this may be fluid until quite close to departure.

          If you’re affected by Dubai flights then normally a choice of downgrade with Avios/fare difference refund or reschedule to a flight with F availability. There are conflicting reports on getting F ground services like CCR if you accept downgrade. I’m not sure anyone is clear on criteria but suspect may be only for late changes where no alternative available.

        • Optimus Prime says:

          19 Jul19 July 10:15

          @Stu N – that’s also what I value the most about F. Also if chasing Silver status you would get 630 TP’s out of it.

          I know this is a heresy but… I don’t give a faff about alcoholic drinks 😀

    • Anna says:

      19 Jul19 July 09:23

      Stu N – I agree based on my (to date) one F trip! We must have struck lucky as we had the best claret I have ever tasted, deep, oaky and mellow which is exactly how I like my reds. Unfortunately I may have had a little too much (along with the LPGS) as I cannot now remember for the life of me what it was! Something along the lines of Chateau Clenement, I don’t know if this rings any bells? Though I didn’t have nearly as much as the American businessman in 1K who stripped down to his vest and shorts for the duration of the flight and sank bottle after bottle while answering his emails!

      • phos says:

        19 Jul19 July 09:50

        I’m booked in F on BA177 on 25th November. Had an email informing me of seat change. I’m on a 777 with 8 F.

        • JJC says:

          19 Jul19 July 10:11

          My wife and I are booked (redemption) in F and had seats 2A and 3A LHR to Seattle 25th March 2020. I got the seat change email and now showing a 777 with 8 F. It’s a special trip and we very much enjoy the CCR and F experience. Stuck in the middle 2 seats now! Would be gutted if downgraded.

        • Rob says:

          19 Jul19 July 10:27

          You’ll get a big wodge of compensation and Club Suite … could be worse.

        • Stu N says:

          19 Jul19 July 13:42

          You’re looking at going from 14 F seats to 8 F seats. At >3 months out it’s very, very unlikely that more than 8 seats in F will have been sold on most route so I wouldn’t really worry about downgrading due to smaller cabins.

• Anne says:

  19 Jul19 July 09:05

  OT – Help with Iberia bonus Avios needed! I used the Avios I ‘earned’ from the promo last year to book a hotel via Iberia Avios&Money, which I now need to cancel due to family illness. According to the Iberia website these booking can be cancelled online via the ‘your trips’ page – which I cannot find for the life of me. Can anyone point me in the right direction please?

• Anna says:

  19 Jul19 July 09:10

  The MAN-PHL-LAS would be a great tier point run, I must remember that for future reference. I do actually want to visit PHL some day and LAS makes a great starting point for a road trip. I’m assuming stopovers are allowed?

  • Optimus Prime says:

    19 Jul19 July 09:16

    A stopover in the US usually brings the price up by about £200.

• Ginza says:

  19 Jul19 July 09:24

  Did BA in fact announce this, or did the information come from elsewhere? Surely you didn’t magically discern this information on your own Rhys?

  • AG says:

    19 Jul19 July 09:39

    “Thanks to Loyalty Lobby.”

    At the end of the article…

  • Rob says:

    19 Jul19 July 10:29

    It’s on the BA Travel Trade website, like wot the article sez.

  • Doug M says:

    19 Jul19 July 15:47

    Fare was reported on FT days ago. These low fares come and go all the time, and are the sweet spots for cheap travel, usually much better deals than actual sales, but you have to act fast and accept the restrictions, and often a non UK start.

    • Doug M says:

      19 Jul19 July 16:10

      Sorry, fare reported on FT was INV-LAS, First was £1630 for very limited dates over Thanksgiving.

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