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Hi all
Apologies I’m sure this has been discussed before but I can’t find it. How can I ensure I can get the new suites for business class from Heathrow to Dubai? Are there set times of the day/year etc that they use the right plane for this or is it pot luck? Looking on google flights it seems the lunchtime flight is always an a380 and the flight through the night is in the new suites. Not sure if this is correct.
Thanks
You can check which type of seat is on a flight by doing a dummy cash booking and going as far as seat selection, where you’ll see if it’s club suite. However, BA seems to do equipment changes a lot on this route so it’s never guaranteed. I got changed from CS to the A380 last year but noticed in time to move us to one of the best pairs of seats on the upper deck and loved it.
The only way to ‘ensure’ it is to wait a few years until all the fleet have been converted!
All you can say at present is that a 350 or 777 will be CS (don’t think the last unconverted pair venture to Dubai), a 380 won’t be, and a 787 might be.
And that’s before you factor in potential equipment changes!
If any doubt, I’d avoid the route tbh. I flew DXB-LHR overnight on the A380 upstairs and I hated it. Old rickety aircraft, a leaky aircon unit dripping water then ice on me, having to stare face to face with another passenger who seemed unaware of either the reclining seat or the partition thus she fell asleep during take off with her lomg hair against the partition (!). I swapped future flights to alternative dates when the A380 got scheduled on one leg, then cancelled entirely when it got scheduled again.
Controversial view here but I am currently in the UAE, having enjoyed my flight here on Virgin’s 787 coffin seat. Sat in 1A and I found it perfectly fine. Plenty of space to sleep, well away from the dormitory meerkats further down in the cabin, and it was a very clean aircraft.
You can check which type of seat is on a flight by doing a dummy cash booking and going as far as seat selection, where you’ll see if it’s club suite. However, BA seems to do equipment changes a lot on this route so it’s never guaranteed. I got changed from CS to the A380 last year but noticed in time to move us to one of the best pairs of seats on the upper deck and loved it.
It is free to check seating plans on ExpertFlyer which is not only much simpler and quicker but wastes much less of BA’s rather limited IT capacity/resource.
True, and ExpertFlyer is probably quicker and easier than the BA or indeed any other airline website purely for that purpose.
However you need the flight number first, which most would get via the airline website …
For a one off check, a dummy booking is therefore probably the sensible route for most. Plus of course if ‘too many’ people start using ExpertFlyer they may feel the need to restrict free use.
Thanks all. Really useful.
Hi all so I’m flying out on the 30th to Dubai on flight 107. It seems to be the A380. Assume this won’t change now? This late in the day?
My wife has just flown to Doha and hers was showing as an A380 at first but changed to a 777 but not sure when that changed.
It could still change.
It could still change.
Thank you.
Quick follow up question – currently I’m flying out business and returning economy. If I were to swap this over (ie fly out economy ans come back business) would I be charged £35 per person
If you change the booking you incur a change fee, assuming reward seats are available in the respective cabins to accommodate the change.
I think it’d £35 per person each way.
So swapping both will run you £70 (per person).
You will need availability of course.If you cancelled and rebooked it would only be £35 pp. As above, you need seats to be available in those cabins, so I would make the new booking first (as long as you have enough avios, of course, and you didn’t use a voucher).
”Turning Left for Less” did a good summary back on 16th May 2024 on BA Suite availability, article still available online – concur with comments here – in essence Nothing on A380s, most 777s from LHR, no Suites from Gatwick (no Dubai flight I believe), All A350s have new Suite but do not fly this route (unless substituted) ? Last minute changes often happen on aircraft type…basically avoid the A380 (flying back upper deck in club from Miami recently was very poor !) Please correct any errors in this as needed Thanks
”Turning Left for Less” did a good summary back on 16th May 2024 on BA Suite availability, article still available online – concur with comments here – in essence Nothing on A380s, most 777s from LHR, no Suites from Gatwick (no Dubai flight I believe), All A350s have new Suite but do not fly this route (unless substituted) ? Last minute changes often happen on aircraft type…basically avoid the A380 (flying back upper deck in club from Miami recently was very poor !) Please correct any errors in this as needed Thanks
Many thanks. I think I’m stuck with it unless I change the flight times!
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