BA vs QF Business Class London=>Sydney

[Spider]

They are competing; their price is signitificantly better than BA/QFs business fare

They may be competing pricewise but not qualitywise. BA J bed is a proper bed, not so on SK or AY. Even Turkish is much better with its new lie-flat seats and cheap price. Europe to BKK rt in J flat seats for around A$2000 is pretty good IMHO.

 

[Dave Noble]

They may be competing pricewise but not qualitywise. BA J bed is a proper bed, not so on SK or AY. Even Turkish is much better with its new lie-flat seats and cheap price. Europe to BKK rt in J flat seats for around A$2000 is pretty good IMHO.

London does not seem to be $2000 on TK but seems to be over $3000

Dave

 

[Spider]

London does not seem to be $2000 on TK but seems to be over $3000 Dave

London is not the only place in Europe where Turkish flies from. There are lots of EU member countries and other cities with airports. You might recall the full Y-fare mileage run from Tll to Syd about 8-9 years ago for less than the cheapest economy fare. Sometimes the best fares are from the most unusual places.

Kalender für alternative Reisedaten



ab
€ 1.363,50

 

[Dave Noble]

London is not the only place in Europe where Turkish flies from. There are lots of EU member countries and other cities with airports. You might recall the full Y-fare mileage run from Tll to Syd about 8-9 years ago for less than the cheapest economy fare. Sometimes the best fares are from the most unusual places.

In relation to the poster to which I had been replying, he was talking about flights to London

Dave

 

[Spider]

In relation to the poster to which I had been replying, he was talking about flights to London

Agreed, but wouldn't that be similar if one sought flights from CBR-LHR and got suggestions for MEL-LHR or SYD-LHR:?:

 

[Dave Noble]

Agreed, but wouldn't that be similar if one sought flights from CAN-LHR and got suggestions for MEL-LHR or SYD-LHR:?:

Um... Someone wants a flight from China to London and gets suggestions of Sydney-London would be even worse

If you mean Canberra, then there is a big difference. To get to London from Canberra will almost certainly necessitate going via another Australian location before commencing the international travel and to consider fares from those ports in conjunction with getting to that port makes sense

Suggesting that an airline has cheap fares from $2000 starting from a country which will likely cost that much or more to get to and also not mentioning that that fare wouldn't even get the person to the correct country is not nearly the same . To travel business class to London from Sydney , how much would the total cost using that fare be if including getting to Bangkok and then getting from the Euopean point on to London. There may well be a good fare that works better than , say , a $4500 as suggested (ex tax) and worth considering despite possible risks of multiple separate bookings

Dave

 

[Spider]

To travel business class to London from Sydney , how much would the total cost using that fare be if including getting to Bangkok and then getting from the Euopean point on to London. There may well be a good fare that works better than , say , a $4500 as suggested (ex tax) and worth considering despite possible risks of multiple separate bookings

Did some searching and came to a total of A$3821 from MEL which is just a tad more expensive then PE at $3448 and $4388 from SYD including taxes. Jetstar *class r/t MEL-BKK is $1621 and BKK-LON r/t in biz is ~$2200. But, as you said, there is a risk of separate bookings.

 

[Dave Noble]

Did some searching and came to a total of A$3821 from MEL which is just a tad more expensive then PE at $3448 and $4388 from SYD including taxes. Jetstar *class r/t MEL-BKK is $1621 and BKK-LON r/t in biz is ~$2200. But, as you said, there is a risk of separate bookings.

Tis a nice price

To be fair , JQ is really only a premium economy product anyways so I'd personally do a $4500 type fare in business class , but would definitely take a JQ Starclass Plus business onwards if I had a good enough connect time over taking premium economy on QF the whole way

Dave

 

[oztinman]

I gave BA a go. The verdict: Seat is great in BA - flat. But no PJs, limited choice for breakfast and the seating arrangement is awkward when travelling alone. Thanks everyone.

 

[simongr]

Was there no offer of a bacon sandwich for breakfast?

Re the awkwardness of seating alone - did you have the privacy screen up? What seat were you in?

 

[Tooner]

I gave BA a go. The verdict: Seat is great in BA - flat. But no PJs, limited choice for breakfast and the seating arrangement is awkward when travelling alone. Thanks everyone.

I too gave BA a go SIN - SYD (not really my choice) and agree - the new seats are pretty good, though I did find too much engine (?) noise on the 777 even with the earplugs. AVOD was good (pretty reliable) and the service good. Breakfast? A bit of a non-event given I'd had dinner less than 4 hours before!

I don't really like overnight sectors when the trip is 8 hours or less - prefer a day trip as I get lots of work / study done and watch a movie or 2.

 

[anat0l]

Was there no offer of a bacon sandwich for breakfast?

There should have been the offer of a fry up going into SIN, but going into SYD you would only get a continental breakfast, but yes the butties should be there.

Having said that, what is a buttie on BA anyway? A white hot dog roll (slightly sweet) with a piece of bacon on it. No sauce, no butter, nothing else. Pretty dry too. In other words - big deal.

Re the awkwardness of seating alone - did you have the privacy screen up? What seat were you in?

Unless you get one of those seats where you don't have to step over people, or have people stepping over you (e.g. 64K on a 747), it can be slightly awkward travelling alone seated in CW. CW also inevitably feels packed in. If you're not used to it and you end up being seated in the middle (i.e. E or F seats) it can feel like being in a maze. After you put up the privacy screen and sliding divider (between the E and F seats), it can either feel cosy or freakish like an office cubicle in the middle of a farm multiplied by 100.

That's my opinion anyway. I'd still be rather travelling CW rather than WT+ let alone WT (although I haven't experienced either WT class at all).

 

[Commuter]

I gave BA a go. The verdict: Seat is great in BA - flat. But no PJs, limited choice for breakfast and the seating arrangement is awkward when travelling alone. Thanks everyone.

BA CW (and CE for that matter) breakfast is boring. This is one area that QF J always does much better. Can't say the same about the rest of QF - rather inconsistent, although they have a higher chance of being fantastic than BA (BA tend to be a bit drab - nothing to complain about their services but nothing special either).

One thing I have to say though is that I'm not impressed with Neil Perry food. He tries too hard to do Asian food and fails miserably too frequently.

 

[Commuter]

Re the awkwardness of seating alone - did you have the privacy screen up?

I LOVE the BA privacy screen. I am an antisocial traveller because I like my sleep. I don't like QF non-A380 J for the lack of privacy screen (and skyslope). A380 is much better but the privacy screen could go higher IMO.

 

[Tooner]

Unless you get one of those seats where you don't have to step over people, or have people stepping over you (e.g. 64K on a 747), it can be slightly awkward travelling alone seated in CW. CW also inevitably feels packed in. If you're not used to it and you end up being seated in the middle (i.e. E or F seats) it can feel like being in a maze. After you put up the privacy screen and sliding divider (between the E and F seats), it can either feel cosy or freakish like an office cubicle in the middle of a farm multiplied by 100.

I agree it ends up like a cubicle farm, although you really can't see much once the privacy screens are up. Also not many cubicle farms have the attractive light hanging from the ceiling

I also like the tray to put stuff in (though RMs won't fit in there), but there aren't the hidey holes the QF J seat has (particularly for the water bottle).

 

[Princess Fiona]

Have just returned from 2 week trip to SYD- LHR- BCN in J.
Took QF31 A380 out seat 11J. Much improved product, reasonable food, comfy lie flat bed, PJ's and reasonable wash bag, downsides: this seat is adjacent to the bar so can be noisy at night, AVOD awful, service variable.
Returned on BA 09 747 , seat 64A CW. In my opinion the seat pod and AVOD is better (more varied) however both the food and service are inferior to Qantas.
Overall I would say that BA has the superior product but mainly on the basis of the comfort in the upstairs CW cabin, I would not wish to be in CW downstairs.

 

[Ev1dent]

I'd fly BA just because the seats are flat. I generally prefer the food on QF though.

The consensus seems to be BA beds are better than sloped skybeds, but if I understand other posters correctly, QF A380 has flat beds too. How do QFA380 and BA flat J class seats compare?

I will be travelling CBR-AMS on 15/2. QF9 is currently showing as A380. SYD-LHR options are all showing 747. I am QFWP, never flown F - is any option any mpore likely to generate op-up? There are several QF options on BA metal.

What would those of you with experience on the SYD/MEL-LHR leg recommend? I have a solid day of business meetings on 17/2, so arriving well rested is important. Other relevant info is that I will be travelling alone, so privacy screen will be up, I generally prefer aisle seats and have reasonably broad shoulders if the difference in width is significant.

 

[Tooner]

FWIW, I would fly QF J to LHR, and put in an upgrade request to F for the longest leg to ensure a good night's sleep; if you are happy to take the risk. Given you are WP, and provided the flight is ticketed in reasonable time you should be OK.

Otherwise, based on recent experience, fly SQ J

 

[JetLagged]

I have a tendency to go Qantas but only because of the upgrade opportunities. In my experience BA is a better business class product long-haul. I think their service is better and the lie flat seats are guaranteed (vs Qantas only on the A380)

Depends on how well you have your TA do their homework first off!

I've decided not to fly BA ever again - their aircraft are tired, dated - and service miserable with sniffling dowagers who tend to complain too much.

My partner had an abominable flight from LHR to New York - his business seat was actually broken - it wouldn't go into a comfortable position. He was even willing to go down to Economy, but the dowagers sniffed and said, 'Oh, we really can't do that. Just let us know anytime you want to have your seat manually adjusted and we'll try to get it done."

Now, contrast THAT reaction to a SYN-SNG-LHR flight I had on Q when they moved me in the cabin because the table wouldn't work properly!

Well, after trying to get it fixed enough to be comfortable, my partner found that they either took ages (must have been low on their priority) or they couldn't. Consequence: he spent a whole day in his hotel on the bed in pain. BA - never again!:evil:

 

[wizzy]

Hi! I recently flew Syd to Lon on QF A380 and Lon to Syd on BA. I too really wanted to experience J class on BA. Well, comparing the two recent experiences, if I were to fly again, I would definitely choose to fly QF J class over BA J class. The food is better, amenities pack, seat is better, you don't feel as cramped...service was either very good on BA or very bad...QF was good (not great but not bad either). I think at the end of the day, you won't know until you try it yourself, so I'd definitely give BA a go and then decide for yourself.