‘Air Miles’ First vs ‘Paid’ Club World

Back to Forum
Viewing 15 posts - 1 through 15 (of 17 total)

  • Anonymous
    Guest

    Bullfrog
    Participant

    I’d appreciate feedback, as I have not flown Club World for a good few years now.

    I have booked an LHR return to the USA in FIRST for November using 75,000 miles & approx £800 in taxes, charges and fees. The same routing is currently available CW for about £ 1,900 return.

    I wonder whether I would be better off putting the miles back into my account for the effective cost of £1,100 & travel in CW as oppose to First.

    Thoughts please.


    Irons80
    Participant

    Surely depends on whether you think you will use the miles for something else? Booking in CW will simply add another 15k miles, which I guess only you will know whether you need them or not (but you will also get a handy 240 tier points). Also, something to consider is whether your flight has New First or not – I haven’t travelled on New First, but most things I read seem to suggest it’s much better, otherwise service aside there’s not a huge difference between Old First and CW.


    RichHI1
    Participant

    Service and Food is better in First but not that much. For me Seat is the winner as CW seat is considerable shorter and narrower. 747 First cabin has nicer feel 777 no real difference. So my advice would be if you are tall go for it, if you are the opposite to tall then save your points.


    VintageKrug
    Participant

    Hmm. As it costs 75,000 BA Miles per sector in F UK-US, and a round trip costs 150,000, I can only surmise you have booked a cash+miles redemption, not a full redemption, in order to get a round trip for 75,000 BA Miles.

    Unless you are actually using the UK’s “Air Miles” scheme which is different from BA Miles. I’m assuming you’re using BA Miles, so it’s worthwhile noting the correct nomenclature for future reference.

    That is why the “taxes and fees” element seems so high – in fact it’s not just taxes and fees but an additional cash element. It would normally be around £350 in taxes and fees for a round trip F redemption (though haven’t double checked).

    My advice would have been to fly outbound exLHR in F and inbound in J. I rarely fly F inbound to the UK as I just don’t see the value (unless a day flight or exNYC) as I’m mostly asleep.

    I am not certain you can do the above online using the “cash+miles” option as I’ve never used it. But you might be able to do it by calling up.

    F outbound is good, especially if you aren’t a Gold Card holder. You get to use F check in, the White Door to the Concorde Room, Table Service pre-flight dining, Quintessentially (though pretty useless), Cabanas and properly sample the food and service on board. And it’s especially good if you haven’t yet sampled the new F.

    If you’re returning in CW, try for the Upper Deck as it’s a considerably enhanced experience.

    http://www.newclubworld.com is a great product, but http://www.ba.com/first is better.


    RichHI1
    Participant

    I think the charges and fees have increased since UKL350 did First Class UK-US round trip. My last 1 way LHR-LAX First was in the 300 range on BA.


    VintageKrug
    Participant

    Could be, Rich. But still doesn’t explain the “return in F” for 75k.


    esselle
    Participant

    Nomenclature?


    RichHI1
    Participant

    Not being a BA EC member any more I am not conversant with the redemption rates. I just remember being shocked on a “free” ticket on AA miles at what the Briitsh Government wanted in UKAPD and what the BA fees were. I moved flights and got hit by a BA increase in charges too. Maybe as oil prices head south we can see some correction to these fees.


    Bullfrog
    Participant

    Thank you all for your quick responses ….

    VK … to clarify, I am using BA Miles, so thank you for pointing that out.
    I’ve booked this ticket using two one way sectors, so your suggestion of outbound F and inbound C sounds good. When I booked in April, F was far more widely available & yes, I accept the higher costs because of the lower mileage redemption.

    RichHI1 .. I am 6ft 2″ tall. So an F seat is preferable to CW. Service & food does not really bother me, but travelling alone, I like my privacy.

    I have flown BA First in the last 12 months as you may read on my previous posts. I didn’t find the new First significantly better but it is certainly more modern, and better than the old First which looks grubby and worn. Service much the same in old and new.

    VK, I laugh at your mention of using the ‘White Door’. You make it sound so exclusive ! I have had breakfast before using Table Service, and it was mediocre. Quintessentially does nothing for me.

    I am a BA fan, but I really don’t think the product ‘all round’ matches the marketing.

    When I viewed the return fare of £ 1900 for the route I am taking in November, I was shocked at the return upgrade price of another
    £ 4600 to fly First. In my opinion, BA just does not have the product to justify such a price.


    RichHI1
    Participant

    I agree with you on Concorde Room, I do not understand why so many BA flyers are obsessed wtith it.
    Though fair is fair and I really do like the terrace and its views, reminds me of CX at HKG.
    (As posted elsewhere the indoors part with faux projected baronial crest reminds me of a Harry Potter movie).
    BA lounges are not normally big on windows and views, they seem to prefer stopping others from looking in rather than helping you look out.
    Any way have a great trip and enjoy your space and privacy.


    magnus77
    Participant

    Save your miles, travelled in First on a miles ticket in May to Vancouver with Mrs Magnus77, £1400 and 225k miles, waste of money and miles, BA had to offer us 50 k miles back each as a gesture of good will. Wish I had paid the 4k for club for us both and got more miles.Seat broken and they knew it before hand as same crew had operated the same aircraft to YVR three days earlier and BA refused to repair it, catering no better than economy, ran out of food, despite only 6 people in First, had to offer CW offerings and ecomony fare!!! Crew were indifferent to say the least, Were told by the non existant CSD to make our own way to our seat, ( although we knew where we were going ) had to scramble through WTP. Off the plane after WTP,baggage took 1.5 hours to arrive in YVR last off the plane even the CSD and Captain had to ask the ground staff where the 1st class passengers baggage was the agent shrugged his shoulders and said they will have to wait, even when LH landed 45 mins after us and got there bags 20 mins before us, overall have downgraded myself to refusing to pay full fare for 1st will book CW and upgrade with miles, I would suggest politely if you want to go 1st buy the CW ticket and upgrade with miles if available otherwise save your money is my advice


    magnus77
    Participant

    Save your miles, travelled in First on a miles ticket in May to Vancouver with Mrs Magnus77, £1400 and 225k miles, waste of money and miles, BA had to offer us 50 k miles back each as a gesture of good will. Wish I had paid the 4k for club for us both and got more miles.Seat broken and they knew it before hand as same crew had operated the same aircraft to YVR three days earlier and BA refused to repair it, catering no better than economy, ran out of food, despite only 6 people in First, had to offer CW offerings and ecomony fare!!! Crew were indifferent to say the least, Were told by the non existant CSD to make our own way to our seat, ( although we knew where we were going ) had to scramble through WTP. Off the plane after WTP,baggage took 1.5 hours to arrive in YVR last off the plane even the CSD and Captain had to ask the ground staff where the 1st class passengers baggage was the agent shrugged his shoulders and said they will have to wait, even when LH landed 45 mins after us and got there bags 20 mins before us, overall have downgraded myself to refusing to pay full fare for 1st will book CW and upgrade with miles, I would suggest politely if you want to go 1st buy the CW ticket and upgrade with miles if available otherwise save your money is my advice


    LuganoPirate
    Participant

    I prefer F when it’s a night flight and C for a day one. I enjoy a good nights sleep and prefer the larger offerings of a first class bed. Day flights I’m happy just to look out the window, read, and, inevitably, have a good snooze!


    VintageKrug
    Participant

    Is there an echo in here?

    With only six people in F, it must have been easy to switch to one of the eight unoccupied serviceable seats on one of your four sectors (I assume you flew longhaul in from the Middle East/India).

    I must say that 50k miles seems like a very high number of BA Miles in compo, especially for a redemption.

    It is extraordinary that J catering was offered to you in F, but I would imagine that was an enterprising crew using ingenuity to provide someone something to eat; there really is plenty on the F menu to suit all but the fussiest of eaters.

    Sadly technical issues do occur on every airline and I doubt VERY much that the same crew would have operated the very same aircraft (BA have over 100 longhaul aircraft) to the very same destination within three days of a previous flight to that same destination; while possible it’s highly unlikely for a whole host of reasons.

    Sounds like you probably had one of the militant BASSA crew (this would have been just before the strike was settled) who wanted to badmouth the airline to passengers and I have heard several reports over the past few months of similar occurences.

    Using BA Miles to upgrade to F is one of the least valuable uses of miles (the upgarde from J to F costs double the WT+ to J miles) and one which only makes sense if you have an embarrassment of miles which require using up, so best not to follow that advice, however well meant.

Viewing 15 posts - 1 through 15 (of 17 total)
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
Business Traveller March 2024 edition
Business Traveller March 2024 edition
Be up-to-date
Magazine Subscription
To see our latest subscription offers for Business Traveller editions worldwide, click on the Subscribe & Save link below
Polls