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British Airways brings back First Class to five routes

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According to a post on LinkedIn by a British Airways employee, a bit of jiggery pokery with the long haul fleet means that First Class will return to the following routes this Autumn:

  • Atlanta
  • Cape Town
  • Tokyo Haneda
  • Shanghai
  • Beijing
BA British Airways 2015 first class seat

The exact start dates are unknown.

There is no guaranteed First Class Avios award availability although it is likely that some seats will pop up. A SeatSpy subscription is your friend, letting you set an alert to be notified of anything that comes available. A guide to redeeming Avios in First is here.

Following digging at Flyertalk it is believed that the aircraft are coming from two sources:

  • removing First from some services to Philadelphia, New York Newark, San Francisco, Washington, Chicago
  • selling First Class on aircraft that have it but where the cabin is currently sold as an extension of Club World, with seating priority given to BA elite members if Club World is full enough to justify opening it
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British Airways and Avios

Comments (83)

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

  • The Streets says:
    16 Jun16 June 05:59

    I flew back from Tokyo Haneda on Monday where First Class was already running

    • Rhys says:
      16 Jun16 June 09:09

      No, it wasn’t – that was BA using F as an extension of Club, also known as ‘flub’. If you try and book First it isn’t possible.

      • The Streets says:
        16 Jun16 June 09:19

        Oh I didn’t realise you were on the flight too?

        They were handing out leftover First slippers before moving on to the Club World slippers and the safety briefing specifically said and for all passengers in our Club World and First Class cabins. I didn’t wander to the top of the cabin but from where I was sat in Club then the seating looked different

        • astra19 says:
          16 Jun16 June 09:53

          The situation was this as described in the article:
          “selling First Class on aircraft that have it but where the cabin is currently sold as an extension of Club World, with seating priority given to BA elite members if Club World is full enough to justify opening it”

          Happened to me a few months ago. No First Class tickets were on sale, but we got put there because the rest of the flight was full.

        • Alex G says:
          16 Jun16 June 11:16

          Club World slippers? That’s something I’ve never seen!

          • PeteM says:
            16 Jun16 June 11:45

            @The Streets is wrong, but just keeps digging…

          • astra19 says:
            16 Jun16 June 13:39

            They do provide slippers to Club on flights to Japan, on request or someone walking through the cabin offering them. Likely a cultural thing since slippers are generally worn inside in Japan.

          • The Streets says:
            16 Jun16 June 14:00

            @PeteM if it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck

          • PeteM says:
            16 Jun16 June 14:36

            @The Streets I really don’t know what you are trying to argue here. You cannot buy First Class to or from HND currently. The physical First Class cabin is still there on some flights, yes. The people sitting in those seats booked business class. The article is saying this will change this Autumn.

  • alex says:
    16 Jun16 June 06:28

    Seatspy consistently throws dates in first class that do not exist, so much so that it’s frustrating that one else mentions how inaccurate it has been for both etihad & BA when searching F.
    Is it just me, and if it is how do I improve it? Any ideas?

    • LittleNick says:
      16 Jun16 June 07:19

      Has worked fine for me in the last few weeks, but be aware that clicking the link through on seatspy to BA changes the search from 1 passenger on seatspy to 2 on BA, so if there’s only one seat available it will disappear as the search on ba has changed. You need to re-search on ba with 1 person

      • SammyJ says:
        16 Jun16 June 10:49

        I’m also finding really inaccurate results on Seatspy at the moment, to the point that it’s becoming useless. We were looking for a cheap weekend away and it would show economy flights for 2 to lots of places, but when I check on the BA site they don’t exist.

  • Rich says:
    16 Jun16 June 07:01

    Trainpal also has 34% off Railcards with code RC007. (Not my code – found on MSE).

  • Mark says:
    16 Jun16 June 07:12

    Ah, that will explain why my Feb 2024 Cape Town flights are now on a 777 and not an A350

    • Dace says:
      16 Jun16 June 08:01

      My March flight to CPT got changed about two months ago to a refurbed 777.

      • Mark says:
        16 Jun16 June 09:54

        Its a shame as the A350 is a newer aircraft which I haven’t been on before, but as long as its still Club Suite I don’t really care

  • LittleNick says:
    16 Jun16 June 07:21

    Is BA still short on crew that they have to operate Flub and can’t see the seats as first? Seems crazy when the plane is flying and the extra revenue they could get in

    • LittleNick says:
      16 Jun16 June 07:21

      *sell

    • AJA says:
      16 Jun16 June 08:28

      I agree it is a bit silly to fly a 4 class plane but without selling seats in the 1st cabin. I think that’s why BA are doing this. They’ve sourced enough crew to be able to offer First and make some money.

    • BA Flyer IHG Stayer says:
      16 Jun16 June 14:03

      To be able to FLUB they need at least one extra member of cabin crew for the ‘F’ cabin.

      • Nick says:
        16 Jun16 June 20:57

        They now have enough crew, but F also has to justify the additional cost (crew, catering, drinks, pyjamas, bedding). The change is because several routes can now justify it where they couldn’t for the last year or so. It’s a very good move and I hope it sticks.

  • JDB says:
    16 Jun16 June 07:44

    At last, a bit of good news from BA and with 4/5 suiting us, a finely curated list.

  • Andrew says:
    16 Jun16 June 07:53

    Got back from Shanghai yesterday, both ways the 787 had a first class cabin that wasn’t open. Crew were using as a test area.

  • Justin says:
    16 Jun16 June 07:56

    I didn’t think this was new news. I’ve had seats booked since February returning from HND in October on a 789 in Club World. Disappointing as this was pre pandemic 777 or A350. Maybe it’ll be upgraded to 781 by October.

    Interestingly the JAL flight on the outbound did have F on it, and they have changed this to a 772 without a First cabin.

    • Rhys says:
      16 Jun16 June 09:13

      The news is they are reintroducing F, not that F hasn’t been running!

      • Nick says:
        16 Jun16 June 20:59

        Zero chance of 781 on Far East routes. It doesn’t have crew bunks (and really isn’t designed for that kind of range).

        • Kevin says:
          16 Jun16 June 23:03

          Correct Nick. Forgot about that. Do you think they will more likely put it on the LHR-JFK route then (as well as EWR) to free up 777s?

    • Kevin says:
      16 Jun16 June 23:01

      I’ve a similar booking so fingers crossed! Although I think if LHR-HND loads are high there is more than it’ll be switched to a 777, unless Boeing fire through the last few 781’s in double quick time!

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