Try watching this video on www.youtube.com, or enable JavaScript if it is disabled in your browser. My conveyance of choice was a Boeing 747-400 operated by British Airways. Either $5 or 5% of the amount of each transfer, whichever is greater. Terms apply to the offers listed on this page. Please view our advertising policy page for more information. BA’s 12 Boeing 787-8 Dreamliners as well as 16 Boeing 777-200 are ‘three class’, and only feature Club World (business class), World Traveller Plus (premium economy) and World Traveller (economy). This was most definitely worth it. First class is available only on 747s and 777s. When you can buy First Class for just a few hundred dollars more than Business Class (as you can in the current BA sale) that’s ok but, ordinarily, the difference between BA First Class and a very good Business Class product (like Air France Business Class) is well over $1,000 and that’s not good value at all. The first-class cabin is in the nose of the Queen of the Skies and features 14 seats. A USB port and headphone input are located next to the seat controls but the only AC power outlet available is, annoyingly, under the window and at floor level. This is our first class, available on selected long haul flights. The tableware and flatware were elegant (well done to whoever chose those) but the highlight of the inflight food and drinks was undoubtedly the Chablis…which I now have to go out and find! These aircraft featured 27 First Class seats and 292 in economy. British Airways First Class 747-400 Cabin and Seat Selection. There are 4 classes of service on this version of the BA's 747, it features 14 flat bed First Class seats, 86 flat bed Business Class seats, 30 Premium Economy seats, and 145 standard Economy seats. In the press release it said: “Although the at-home experience is no match for … It's the finest way to travel. For more details please see the disclosures found at the bottom of every page. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities. These are tight though, particularly at the shoulder. Completely and unequivocally yes! This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site (including, for example, the order in which they appear). Personally, the 777 has no particular attraction and is therefore my least-preferred first-class cabin. British Airways BA 218. This is our first class, available on selected long haul flights. …and there’s a very cool blind mechanism which can be closed to cover both windows in one fell swoop. Regarded as the best business class seat in the sky, the iconic … The seat’s tray table is housed in the shelf between the window and the seat…, When fully deployed the tray table is HUGE (as demonstrated by the 15″ MacBook in the image below)…. Traveling For Miles and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers. All of the first class seats are located at the nose of the aircraft, which makes for a serene, private flight. I asked the agent at the check-in counter if they were offering any upgrades to First Class and was quoted a price of $950 – I turned it down. British Airways First Class 747-400 London to Dubai JW Marriott Marquis Dubai Al Maha Desert Resort & Spa Dubai Park Hyatt Dubai Hyatt Capital Gate Abu Dhabi Etihad Airways First Class Lounge & Spa Abu Dhabi Etihad Airways First Class 777-200LR Abu Dhabi to Los Angeles. On the whole (and ignoring the slow service right at the start) the crew were great -friendly, polite and keen to do a good job. The middle seats in rows 4 and 5 (seats E and F) are good ‘couple seats’. This particular aircraft has been in service for over 25 years following its entry into service in December 1994. I’m going to be very interested to see what happens to BA First Class when the airline’s new Club Suites Business Class product is offered on more of its aircraft because I’m struggling to see where people will find the value in paying a big premium for a First Class product whose seat is no better than the Business Class seat. These maps are representative of seating layouts on board, but may vary according to aircraft. It's complicated - the crew showed me the service instructions, which were pages and pages long. Apart from the fact that the french toast could have been a little hotter, I had no complaints. ), and since most people are loyal to an airline or alliance, it makes less sense to compare it to other first class in other alliances which will cost 2x or 3x more and are out of people’s reach. CARD HIGHLIGHTS: 2X points on all travel and dining, points transferrable to over a dozen travel partners. This is my report on a flight I took on March 25, 2016 on British Airways (BA) from San Francisco to London Heathrow. the reverse herringbone seats on the American Airlines 777-300ER, Cathay Pacific A330, and the Finnair A350) than they do with any premium airline’s First Class cabin, and the lack of personal storage around the seat and the poor positioning of the AC power outlet are disappointing. This site does not include all credit card companies or all available credit card offers. Regarding Comments: Responses are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. I really like BA First. This post contains references to products from one or more of our advertisers. Best British Airways first-class seats on a Boeing 747. The staircase is also out of bounds during the flight. LONDON – British Airways (BA) has announced that it will retire its first of 31 Boeing 747-400 aircraft tomorrow.. G-CIVD (LN 1048) will be the first unit to depart, as BA9170E. Rates started in the mid $1300s, and … The arrival of the first Qantas Boeing 747 in 1971 saw the Flying Kangaroo bounding to new heights of luxury, perhaps best illustrated by the exclusive upper deck Captain Cook lounge where first class passengers could mingle, dine, relax, drink, and even smoke. British Airways, the largest passenger 747-400 operator, announced that they will be phasing out their 747-400 fleet in February 2024, British Airways will replace its Boeing 747-400s with the Airbus A350-1000. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site (including, for example, the order in which they appear). If you want to read more about BA's B787 First cabin try this review. A British Airways staff member first posted this on Instagram. Most of the controls that a passenger may need are built into the sidewall of the seat…. While the ground experience and onboard service should be the same (there are differences in cooking equipment, with the more modern planes having ovens that should reduce the risk of charcoaled meals), the seats differ across the various aircraft. The credit card offers that appear on the website are from credit card companies from which ThePointsGuy.com receives compensation. Here’s the First Class menu for this flight (click the thumbnails to enlarge): Shortly after take off the cabin crew provided steaming hot towels…. Editorial Note: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airlines or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities. British Airways is selling a number of items from the First Class service including a range of bedding and crockery. The curvature of the plane means passengers in 1A and 1K can almost look forward out of the windows. One 747 version has 175 economy and premium economy seats, almost the same as its 787-8 with 179 seats. As far as storage around the First Class seat is concerned that’s all that’s on offer and that’s not very impressive. The one-way flight between Accra (ACC) and London-Heathrow (LHR) normally goes for around $4,200. As an avgeek I love flying the 747, and nowadays it’s a rare treat to be able to fly first class in the nose of the 747.British Airways squeezes 14 seats into this section, and being able to sit in seat 1A, right in the nose, was a real treat. The contributors to this site are not investment advisors, financial planners, nor legal or tax professionals. British Airways 747-400 (v2) First Class. Everything US citizens need to know about the Bahamas’ simplified entry process, Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express, All 34 Boeing 747s (which will be retired from the end of 2023), Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. The British Airways 747 First Class seats have more in common with some of the better Business Class seats that I’ve reviewed (e.g. Let’s start with the positives. Please view our advertising policy page for more information. British Airways First Class Check-in. 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The first-class seat on the A380 is the most spacious on offer with BA. All articles here represent an opinion and are general in nature and should not be relied upon for individual circumstances. This review smacks of ‘Millenieal entitlement’, you were originally booked in Club. In many ways, this is an utterly appropriate representation of traditional First Class with a … It feels pretty damn special. The British Airways first-class cabin with Christian Kramer, Nicky Kelvin and Brian Kelly. The in-flight entertainment screen deploys out of a seat sidewall directly ahead of the seat…. It was fine and it set me up for the rest of my day. On both versions, that does mean there is through traffic, and Row 1 is closest to the galley. Most of the seats on either side of the First Class cabin give passengers access to two windows…. It’s hard to make a mess of this type of breakfast (which is partly why I ordered it) but it’s also hard to make it any more than it actually is. The picture below is me in 2A. Top picks: 1A, 1K (Image courtesy of British Airways) The first-class cabin is in the nose of the Queen of the Skies and features 14 seats. …and this is because the First Class seat is designed so that two passengers can dine opposite each other. In the same space on the Boeing 747-8, … So when given the opportunity with the British Airways Dream Tickets offer to Cape Town (July 2018) I jumped at the chance to fly in 1A for a trip I was planning for January 2019 and given time is quickly running out to fly on the 747 I decided to go ahead and book this ticket. I flew British Airways First Class onboard a Boeing 747-400 on their flight from Chicago to London Heathrow. On the Boeing 747-400s, British Airways First Class crams in 14 open seats into the nose of the plane. I’d read a number of reviews about the first class cabin on the 747 being crowded, and so I was a little bit worried about feeling cramped the whole time while in first class and that detracting from the experience. The seat is comfortable but it’s not a “First Class” seat – it’s only marginally better than a lot of good Business Class seats and nowhere near as good as the First Class seats you’ll find on premium airlines…and yet BA will change you a First Class fare for it. …and if you’re not hanging anything up you can use the netting inside here to store a laptop or tablet: And then there’s a small, open to the cabin, cubby at floor level which is just about big enough to store a pair of shoes: That’s it. Row 2 is considered by many as the most private, as the distance to your neighbour is greatest. A good crew usually empties the wardrobes so that they don’t need to be opened during the flight, as that could disturb passengers in Row 1. 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