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A bit both of subjective and objective question really but was hoping those who tried both share their experiences and thoughts please.
I am travelling solo and looking at both options using avios.
BA in F: 70k avios + ~£526 + 1xAmex Voucher
QR in J (Qsuite): 75k + ~£415QR is more appealing to me considering simple 1p per avios and voucher but not sure if The Concorde Room worth the extra? Also I find that having a long lay-over help with my jetlag as well.
Think you have answered your own question there! QR great value by those calcs
I think the question is direct or stopover. That will have much more impact than Q suite or first.
I think the question is direct or stopover. That will have much more impact than Q suite or first.
Yes, that’s the question. Without that, QR J over BA F any day, irrespective of the seat. QSuite is fine but the A380 is nicer anyway without the QSuite and of course has F as well which is just so far above BA’s head.
Can anyone sleep continuously for 8 hours on a flight? Changing at Doha in the middle of the night hasn’t been half as hard as I expected. The break makes me sufficiently tired again to sleep on the second flight having dozed on the first.
If I was flying from London I would probably edge towards the direct BA flight.
From the provinces it would be Qatar every time.
Having said that, the timing of the Qatar flights can make or break jet leg. If you can choose flights that suit your timing then winner winner, caviar dinner.
I always found that about four hours sleep to Asia, landing early afternoon worked best for me.
We have often Managed 8 hours sleep on direct HKG SIN and KUL J or F. Bit more comfort on F. But on the DOH Asia legs often get 5 or 6 hrs straight. We don’t mind the stopovers. Got those bendy beds when it was just short of the 8hr hotel entitlement of old.
For me, depends on the expiry of the AMEX voucher and what other trip you might use it on. I’d happily pay a few £100s more for F and a direct flight, but a 241 voucher can be worth a lot!
It’s worth doing BA F at least once for the CCR experience, but it’s no better than the QR Premium lounges. I also appreciate the extra space of the F seat as I’m not good with foot coffins, but in all other respects QR wins, their service is brilliant. In your situation I’d probably go QR and save the voucher for F on a different route where there is no QR option.
On the outbound with BA, you don’t particularly want to sleep. You’ll be arriving in the early evening so you want to arrive tired, get through immigration, get to your accommodation, have dinner then turn in. An all-nighter is a bit much but, like Froggee says, a few hours after the first meal service is about right.
Thanks everyone. It always amaze me (in a good way) as how diverse perspective each traveller got and that’s the reason HfP is such a unique site!
As @Deek said CCR is probably worth doing once which I agreed but maybe not to certain if you are travelling from the province (in my case EDI) as @Froggee said.
In addition, I managed to find a leg with QR F into BKK anyway (my final destination) so that’s a win-win. It is not my first time but agreed with @JDB that the A380 is in a league of its own in terms of comfort.
Mainly agreed with the rest in terms of breaking the trips in 2 halves helps with jetlag.
Just thinking if I can throw this one into the hat as well?
AY1372 connecting to AY141, EDI-HEL-BKK: 80.5k avios + ~£260.
My main concern with AY as I’ve been tracking flight the last 7 days, is the cancellation and delay of the EDI-HEL leg which really put ~1hr connection into an almost impossible mission. But I would like to try AY AirLounge once.
Again, always good to hear people’s perspective.
Personally, I prefer BA F. As some people say, BA first is the worlds best business class. I have never flown first with any other airline to compare, but I found BA F a thoroughly enjoyable experience. I accept that QR J is also a great option, but BA F wins for me. Especially when considering the whole package.
I flew BA F to SIN last year. The service was poor, the IFE wasn’t working, and I had problems moving to a different F seat because two empty seats were reserved for crew rest, and the other two unsold seats had been given to free upgrades (off duty crew or Friends and Family). I did enjoy the Concorde Room restaurant, although it took 20 minutes to get a pre dinner cocktail in the lounge.
Since then, I have taken 4 flights in J with Finnair. In every case, the comfort and on board service was better than BA F. I sleep better on AY than on any other seat.
Consider splitting your ticket at HEL. The saving in APD will probably pay for a night at the Hilton.
BA F used to be good before the pandemic when they had dedicated cabin crew for F. It’s now very hit and miss. BA F is only really worth it if the only alternative is old style Club World.
I think that if you need to use a 2-4-1 then try BA F. But BA
– Often dirty a/c
– IFE prone to issues
– free wifi
– service is unpredictable
– may lock off front toilet on B773 (not just A359)
– cabin temp way too hot for meQatar
– clean aircraft
– free Starlink wifi on nearly all B773 fleet
– service predictably good
– cold cabin, big duvetMy wife would suggest Qatar every time. She feels a nuisance to BA, absolutely not on QR when asking for teapot refills every hour or two.
If not doing BA both ways, try QR out and AY back on Avios? AY taxes very low from Asia.
@Alex-G and @Metty make a valuable point re the total unpredictability of service on BA F. If a couple both want window seats as we do, you might be on different sides of the aircraft and the service levels can be totally different on either side. The best that can really be said is that BA First is a whole lot better than BA Club, old or new.
We wouldn’t be deciding and travel plans based around the CCR either. It’s fine but nothing at all remarkable. Absent the good wines it wouldn’t rank in a top 50 list.
BA is non stop and if it is F and the 787 then I’d probably go for that. That said I have just cancelled 2 x J LHR SIN on BA and moved to QR cash fare.
Qatar are better is every way and there is a lot of nonsense written about transiting in the middle east. Invariably the flights from LHR or EU leave in the morning and the onward flight overnight with sufficient time to sleep.
If you have the time there is a nice Doha city tour you can book through QR – you could take the overnight to Doha, spend a few hours in the morning doing the tour, and then a few hours in the afternoon in the airport hotel spa/ swimming pool before your onward evening flight. It’s a lovely pool and always quiet when I’ve been there. Nice way to break up the journey.
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