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It seems that from the 1st November next year BA only have one Tokyo flight per day, dropping down from two daily in previous months. They also have a mix of 787’s (with ying yang seats from looking at the seat selection), or club suites on 777 or A350. However the single daily flight from 1st November onwards is on an old 787.
Is this normal on such a popular route? Why do they drop to one flight a day?
Just done a dummy booking and in 1/11/24 there is only one BA flight but on the 2nd there are two
So it looks like there are only 1 flight on some days of the week but 2 on others.
And that’s likely a reflection of demand during the winter.
BA 7 will operate daily with a 789 and BA 5 will operate Tue/Thu/Sat on a 777 in the 2024 winter timetable on current plans, but might well change.
BA 7 will operate daily with a 789 and BA 5 will operate Tue/Thu/Sat on a 777 in the 2024 winter timetable on current plans, but might well change.
I do hope it doesn’t change – I’ve just managed to pick up 2 reward seats on BA 5!
Slightly related question… I’ve never flown a Dreamliner so what is the consensus on what’s best for the long Tokyo flight?
Old Club seat on a Dreamliner (and benefits of newer plane/better cabin air pressure)
Or a Club Suite on a 777?Slightly related question… I’ve never flown a Dreamliner so what is the consensus on what’s best for the long Tokyo flight?
Old Club seat on a Dreamliner (and benefits of newer plane/better cabin air pressure)
Or a Club Suite on a 777?If flying alone, Club Shite is regarded as thr better seat, but if travelling with a companion, you may prefer old club. Personally, I’d probably go for the better air quality on the Dreamliner (though I can’t say it’s a plane I like much) over the better seat – 777s make my nose bleed 😉 Much prefer A350 to either.
Slightly related question… I’ve never flown a Dreamliner so what is the consensus on what’s best for the long Tokyo flight?
Old Club seat on a Dreamliner (and benefits of newer plane/better cabin air pressure)
Or a Club Suite on a 777?If you’re not using 241 voucher, I’d suggest booking with JAL in J (or F if you can find a seat). It’s another level and their J Sky Suites are miles better than BA offers.
Second best would be booking from Helsinki in sky sofa on A350. Yes, it’s a longer flight and you have to connect, but you’ll save on Avios and surcharges if booking separately (Finnair will usually interline your bags so need to recheck in Helsinki). Rewards seats are plentiful and you don’t have to scramble for seats at midnight.
I’ve looked at JAL but their seats all seem to be quite old/dated with poor storage and IFE lacking significantly. Am I wrong here? I quite like the BA club suite, a major upgrade from the ying yang seating and it was very private.
Considering Finair too, need to double check the Avios pricing. By ‘booking separately to save on Avios surcharges’ what does this mean? Booking one flight to Helsinki with Finair and a separate booking from Helsinki to Japan?
My tuppence worth:
AY AirLounge is the best business class flat bed in the sky at this time by a significant margin. As a seat you’ll likely either love it or hate it. AY also operate A350-900, the best of the three aircraft being considered. The 787-9 is a decent second but 777s are horrible in any shape or form. Oerdonally, I would nit swap a direct flight for a connecting flight therefore I would take BA or JAL if your journey begins in London. If it begins in EDI or MAN I’d take AY to avoid LHR and fly AirLounge on an A350. Despite my dislike of 777s I would opt for JAL over either BA options from LHR. My reasoning being that along with ANZ, JAL have the best service I have ever experienced and I have flown longhaul J on well over twenty airlines. JAL also has the best in flight dining I have experiecned in business class on amy airline, partivulsrly do if you opt for the Japanese menu. JAL SkySuite is not the latest in seat designs but it is way better than ClubWorld but slightly inferior to ClubSuite IMO. I cannot recall when the new JAL seat will start to roll out. The cabins on HAL are muvh better cleaned and maintained than on BA. IFE is poor on all three airlines IMO.
I’d take JAL Sky Suite over BA CS simply because BA CS is poorly maintained and service is atrocious. With BA last-minute plane swaps are more likely than with JAL and Finnair too.
@sturgeon For Finnair. Yes, book separately as that avoids higher surcharges.It does take longer to get to Japan with Finnair, but I kind of prefer not to arrive at 8:30am (BA) and the evening JAL flight arrives at 6pm.
It’s very likely you won’t be able to check-in until noon or later and by taking evening JAL flight when you arrive at the hotel it’s already bedtime.
Finnair arrives 14:25 which is just perfect for check-in, quick shower, then stroll&dinner and early night in. I don’t feel like I’ve lost a day or feel groggy most of the day after a long flight.
@meta, true on BA maintenance, on our first ever ClubSuite flight my partner was disappointed to find the door would not close. Cabin crew tried unsuccessfully to fix it.
Do both. One way on JAL. The other on Finnair. Get it priced up on the multiple carrier award chart.
Downsides of Finnair. If you fly back from TYO on Finnair you are scheduled to land back in HEL around 4am, but could land as early as 3am, and the lounge doesn’t open until 6am. You can’t choose seats free of charge unless you have status, even at check in.
I’ve now booked BA as I managed to get some seats at midnight and have a Barclays voucher so it was 100k and £550 for two people. It’s the 777 with club suites which I enjoyed recently on a Singapore return, a much better option than the old ying yang seats.
The only issue with the 777 is the noise when trying to sleep but on the return journey I still managed to have a lot of sleep for the first time I can remember on a plane. I hope they don’t change the aircraft but I’m taking the risk and don’t read that BA do this often (unlike Qatar changing from Q suites at the drop of a hat)
It’s the later flight (on a day with two outbound from Heathrow) so arrives 10.30am. I doubt I’d be out and at the hotel by midday at the earliest. The arrival time isn’t great and I don’t particularly look forward to a 13 hour daytime flight either so will have to try and make it through the next day and get a few hours sleep late into the flight.
For the return I’m going to take a night flight and will therefore use JAL, Finnair or Qatar. Qatar is the cheapest by quite a stretch with Avios, why isn’t that mentioned as an option? I’m happy to take any, as long as the connection time isn’t too short to create anxiety and ideally I’d take off late evening to get sleep. Do all Qatar J seats have direct aisle access?
If you can get seats on Qatar for the normal price then go for it. When I was looking for flights to TYO recently, the only seats Qatar had available were 2* the standard price. Also, connection times were long in Doha.
Worst thing about long daytime flights on BA is that it doesn’t matter how long the flight is, they will serve the second meal 90 minutes before landing. Take snacks! I was hungry and had a headache last time I flew home on BA from Japan.
Thanks, will look into it.
I was wondering about that as I’ve only been on flights with breakfast and dinner not lunch and dinner. Why do they insist on waiting until 90 mins before landing? That’s a lot to fit in with multiple courses of dinner.
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