British Airways Business Class (Upper Deck)

 

Recently I had the opportunity to fly with British Airways in Business Class on a Boeing 747-400. BA uses a 747 in a 52 or 70 Business Class (Club World) seat configuration and also offers 14 seats in First Class. Compared to Lufthansa, where the 8 First Class seats are located in the upper deck, British Airways has its First Class in the nose of the airplane and. Therefore there are 20 Club World seats in the upper deck. This makes the upper decks seats kind of exclusive as it is typically very quiet. You can reserve a seat in advance there typically only as a British Airways Executive Club Gold member or by paying a higher seat allocation fee. So chances are sometimes good for me to catch my preferred seat. Of course not always, but sometimes. While others prefer other seats (especially in Row 62), I like seat 64A.

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This is seat 64A.

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There’s no difference in the seats between main deck and upper deck, just the seat layout is adjusted to the cabin size.

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Right and left are seats 62A and 62K (exit row)

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The footstool can be released and turns the seat into a flat bed as soon as it is in bed position. Really comfortable. I’ve spend dozens of hours in Lufthansa’s Business Class seat (the old one) and I really really like the comfort and privacy of BA’s Club World seats. And especially compared to the new Business Class seat of Lufthansa. I do not like to always bump with my knees into my seat neighbor while sleeping  and share a very limited foot space. I also do not feel cramped in an way while sleeping. A very big advantage compared to Lufthansa’s new Business Class.

BA’s seat layout has always one seat forward facing and the adjacent seat rear facing. If traveling with your partner, you can talk to him/her easily without always turning your heads towards each other. Seems to be comfortable.

If traveling with a stranger, you can use the privacy screen using a touch-button at the top of the privacy screen to move it discretely up and down. You can see the screen lowered in picture 1 and this picture shows the privacy screen in use:

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So there’s no need to look at your seat neighbor.

I really like the storage compartments between the seat and the windows so there’s plenty of personal space.

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The the background you can see a baby bassinet.

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There’s also a laptop locker as a drawer. Above the drawer is a power socket to fit European and US plugs (not the large UK ones). Seats in a Boeing 777 also feature an USB port to charge your mobile device.

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The fold-out table can easily adjusted into various positions and allows comfortable dining and working if necessary. It can be moved into a rear position where even I can get out of my seat without paying attention to the things on the table. And it can be folded so you have even more space while still having a base for your iPad etc. Really thought-out.

Inflight entertainment offers plenty of new releases and old classics as well as plenty of music. You can also create your own playlist. It also features special entertainment for kids under 12 and some games. And a moving map, of course.

British Airways will allow to use the IFE during take-off and landing as of December with only a few restrictions (TV screens in Club World and Business may not be extended and you may not use own headsets). More details to come.

I cannot judge food quality/quantity as I did not eat anything on my recent flights in Club World. But I’ll write about that, soon.

Regards,
Dieter

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