What are the best seats on a British Airways A350?

This is our guide to picking the best seat on the British Airways A350-1000.

Today, we are launching a new series of Head for Points British Airways seat guides.  These use exclusive seat plans which we have commissioned ourselves.  We will run a new article in this series every 2-3 days until we have covered the entire long-haul fleet, although it looks like we wasted our time doing the Boeing 747!  Once all of the articles are live we will go back and cross-reference them.  We welcome your feedback and we will incorporate any relevant comments.  For now, please consider them a ‘work in progress’ which will improve over the next 12 months.

The good news is that the A350 is one of the newest aircraft types in the British Airways fleet and is an excellent plane to be on.  It is one of the most fuel-efficient aircraft in the sky and the quietest twin-aisle aircraft available.  It also has a lower cabin pressurisation altitude which, in plain English, means that it should reduce the effects of jetlag.  The increased humidity levels will also reduce dehydration.

You can find out what aircraft is operating your British Airways flight by following the steps in this guide.

Our other seat guides are here:

British Airways A350 seat map and ‘best seat’ guide

British Airways A380 seat map and ‘best seat’ guide

British Airways Boeing 787-8 seat map and ‘best seat’ guide

British Airways Boeing 787-9 seat map and ‘best seat’ guide

For posterity: British Airways Boeing 747 ‘best seat’ guide

British Airways A350-1000 seat map

Here is the full seat plan for a British Airways A350. Click to enlarge:

How do you select a seat on British Airways?

British Airways permits seat selection from the time of booking.

Executive Club members get free seat selection if they have Silver or Gold status (or oneworld equivalent).  Bronze members get free seat selection from seven days before departure.  However, for everyone else, you have to pay a fee.  This even includes passengers in Club World or Club Suite business class, which is very unusual.  Most airlines which charge for seat selection only charge in their Economy cabins, but not British Airways.  The only cabin where seat selection is free is First Class.

You can read the British Airways seat selection rules in our article here. This guide will help you choose the best seats on BA’s A350-1000!

What are the best First Class seats on the British Airways A350?

British Airways has chosen not to install a First Class cabin on its A350 fleet.   We’ll skip straight to the best business class seats ….

Best Club World / Club Suite (business class) seats on a British Airways A350

The British Airways A350 fleet was the first to get the brand-new Club Suite seat, with its 1-2-1 layout. You can read more about British Airways Club Suite here in our comprehensive guide.  It looks like this:

It is a genuine game changer for British Airways.  As the name suggests Club Suite is an enclosed ‘suite’ with a door that can be closed during cruise. Unlike the legacy Club World cabin with its yin and yang layout, all the Club Suites face forward, albeit slightly angled towards the window or middle.

British Airways is the first European airline to have a business class suite with a fully closing door.  Each seat now has direct aisle access – no more climbing over someone else’s feet! – as well as plenty of storage, a large sturdy tray table and an 18.5” in flight entertainment screen.

The good news is that there are no truly bad seats in Club Suite.  We do not recommend that you pay for seat selection because it isn’t worth the money.

Whilst all the Club Suite seats are nominally identical the seats are not perfectly aligned with the windows in the A350-1000. This means that, depending on which row you are seated in, you have between one and two windows.

• Rows 3, 4, 7 and 17 all have one window only

• Rows 2, 5, 6, 8 and 16 have one and a half windows each

• Rows 1, 9, 10 and 15 all have two windows

This is not a massive variance but might factor into your choice of seat if you are particularly picky!

Club World is split into two cabins on the A350.  Rows 1 to 11 are in the large forward cabin (44 seats in total), whilst rows 15 to 17 are in a considerably smaller cabin of just 12 seats.  Dividing the two are two lavatories and the self-service ‘Club Kitchen’ and galley area.

Whilst the second mini cabin is likely to feel significantly more private you are also likely to be last in the meal service. All the seats in this cabin are no more than two rows away from the two bassinet seats for infants in 15A and 15K. If you are sensitive to crying babies you may wish to move to the front cabin where you can be seated further away from the bassinet seat in 1K.

Couples may prefer the middle pairs which have a removable partition so that you can see and talk to each other.

Rows 1, 11 and 15 are close to the galleys and lavatories.  This may mean slightly more disruption from the crew as they prepare meal service and other passengers.

The best rows to be in are 3 to 8.   These are furthest from the galleys, lavatories and the baby bassinet seats.  The trade-off is that you will not be first for food as the front cabin is served from both ends converging in the middle.

Best World Traveller Plus (premium economy) seats on a British Airways A350

There are 56 World Traveller Plus seats on a British Airways A350.  Which one is the best?

The premium economy seats are situated in a single cabin behind Club World in rows 20 to 26. There are eight seats per row in a 2-4-2 layout.

Each seat is 18.7″ wide with a 38″ seat pitch (the gap between the back of the seat in front and yours) and comes with a 12″ screen in the seatback in front of you and USB charging.

Couples are likely to enjoy the window seats where you can have two seats together.  It makes no sense to take two seats in the middle block.  You might be tempted to pay for a seat reservation in order to guarantee a window pair.

The best row is row 20 which is the first row of the World Traveller Plus cabin.  This row has the most legroom as there is nobody sitting in front of you. There are also no lavatories or galleys between the Club World and World Traveller Plus cabin to be concerned about.

The snag is that 20A, 20E, 20F and 20K are bassinet seats and may feature a baby!  (Babies sleep a lot though and are generally less disruptive than you might imagine, except during take off and landing when the change in pressure can distress them.)  You will also be the first to receive food if you are in Row 20.  Note that your in flight entertainment screen and tray table will be stored in your armrest.

Best World Traveller (economy) seats on a British Airways A350

There are 219 economy seats on BA’s A350 in a 3-3-3 configuration, between rows 30 and 59.

World Traveller (economy) is spread over two cabins, both of which are situated at the back of the plane behind the World Traveller Plus cabin.

The forward cabin has 49 seats in total whilst the rear has 170. They are divided by four lavatories (the galleys for the economy cabin are at the very rear).

Each seat has a 17.6″ width, 31″ seat pitch, a 10″ screen in the seat-back in front as well as USB charging.

The best seats are in the forward cabin, between rows 30 and 34. These are closest to the exit, meaning you would be the first economy passengers to disembark.  They are also likely to be the quietest as there is no galley or lavatory between the premium economy cabin and the economy cabin.

Seats 30A, B, J and K as well as 31C, D, E, F, H should have additional leg room, as should rows 40 and 41.

Seats 35 A, B, C, H, J, K are some of the worst seats – they have limited or no recline and are right in front of the lavatories.

If you are sat in the larger economy cabin you should avoid the front and rear, as these are closest to the galleys and lavatories and are likely to be most frequented by other passengers and crew.

Conclusion

The A350 is the newest and most technologically advanced aircraft in the British Airways fleet, and the only aircraft where you are guaranteed to get Club Suite in Business Class.  Wherever you end up sitting, you should hopefully have a pleasant flight.

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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (October 2024)

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:

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

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.

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, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios.

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

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.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 22nd October 2024, the bonus on American Express Business Platinum is increased to up to 80,000 Membership Rewards points, worth 80,000 Avios. You will receive 8 points per £1 spent for the first three months, on up to £10,000 of spending. Click here to read our full card review. Click here to apply.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 22nd October 2024, the bonus on American Express Business Gold is increased to up to 40,000 Membership Rewards points, worth 40,000 Avios. You will receive 4 points per £1 spent for the first three months, on up to £10,000 of spending. The card is FREE for your first year. Click here to read our full card review. Click here to apply.

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