[openfly]

I had the misfortune to fly from JNB to LHR on a one way full-fare (£3350!late booking on the A380. I was checked into 15A. During boarding I was already aware of the noise, and the suffering that I was about to experience over the next 12 hours.

Seats 15A/B are beside two toilets with constant door slamming, clicking locks, loud flushing. Totally impossible to sleep or rest. Ear plugs covered by the headset doesn’t even muffle the horrendous din.

How could an airline design a premium seat so close to this interminable noise?

There were no other seats to move to, apart from going into economy. The CSM was very sympathetic and had obviously received this complaint many times. She moved a staff passenger from another seat into mine and gave me his for a few hours rest.

So….BEWARE…avoid 15A/B at all costs on the BA A380.

Plus…the IFE was intermittent, the map thought that we over northern China, permanently, and the baggage took one hour and fifteen minutes after disembarkation to arrive in T5.

BA at its best….!?

[GivingupBA]

Commiserations and you might check Seat Guru before choosing seats, e.g.

https://www.seatguru.com/airlines/British_Airways/British_Airways_Airbus_A380_new.php

You can see a warning for seat 15A.

2 users thanked author for this post.

Montysaurus, openfly

[BPP]

Having read nothing but complaints about BA recently, I am curious why anybody flys with them, (I will not) unless it is absolutely unavoidable. The seating configuration in J is a mess and to have to pay for a ‘reserved’ seat is adding insult to injury.
BPP

[Switzerlanding]

The A380 is too quite to hide such noise which might otherwise be masked on say a 747… feel for you considering the ow cost of that ticket… hopefully the cost wasn’t from your own pocket.

1 user thanked author for this post.

openfly

[capetonianm]

I am curious why anybody flys with them, (I will not) unless it is absolutely unavoidable.

For a lot of people it is unavoidable because of the monopoly routes they serve or company policy, and for others it’s because they’re cheap and price is the main criterion.

which other airline offers a business class return between Europe and Cape Town for about €1,200 at times?

[Window-seat]

Having flown on every American based airline over the course of last year I would take BA easily. We heading the Asia the choice is better but even the hallowed Cathay has its faults. I’m just grateful my clients will pay for business snow rather than expecting me to traverse the world in economy.

[MartynSinclair]

[quote quote=916171]I am curious why anybody flys with them[/quote]

So last night is a great example why I fly with BA.

Downside:

cr*p IFE
dated C class
found used and ear greasy ear plugs on top of the side cabinet (upstairs window seat) and yes it was disgusting.
stowage cabinets themselves were unusable due to them not being cleaned

Upside:

Great price
Great European Avios + plenty of them including some given voluntarily by the CSD for the broken IFE
8 hours continual sleep, (no sleeping pill taken) – I sleep better in my favourite 380 seat than I do at home, and that is sad…

With regards to choosing my seat, Tim F (I very happily endorse him), knows my favourite seats and the ones to avoid. If a decent seat is not available for a 10 hour+ flight, I take a different flight…

[nevereconomy]

All planes have seats near the bathrooms in all classes – why on earth would anyone single out BA for this criticism – sorry I forgot this is the BT forum…
I have had exactly the same experience in F on various carriers and I am sure that the seats near the luxurious bathrooms on a
Gulfstream can probably hear the flushing too.
Might be best not to fly any more if this is such an issue. Or get some earplugs …

3 users thanked author for this post.

DerekVH, Flyboy18, Ekond222

[openfly]

@nevereconomy So sorry if I offended you with my comments! After years of being a BA Gold, I am making the point that this is “the worst experience” I have had to endure in First or Club on BA. The reason I posted the problem is that I would not want any of the BT population to suffer the noise when they want to sleep, especially having paid £3350 out of my own pocket for the pleasure.
As an aside….I put a comp in on the CSM. So, not always negative about BA!

1 user thanked author for this post.

GivingupBA

[Cheeryguy]

[quote quote=916553] @nevereconomy So sorry if I offended you with my comments! After years of being a BA Gold, I am making the point that this is “the worst experience” I have had to endure in First or Club on BA. The reason I posted the problem is that I would not want any of the BT population to suffer the noise when they want to sleep, especially having paid £3350 out of my own pocket for the pleasure.

As an aside….I put a comp in on the CSM. So, not always negative about BA![/quote]
It’s horses for courses I guess. The seat you dislike so much is my personal favourite.
I too have BA Gold, payed for exclusively out of my own pocket. Out of interest who usually pays for your tickets and the accompanying Gold Card? I only ask as you stated so emphatically that this ticket was paid for out of your own pocket.

[rferguson]

Which longhaul routes do BA have a monopoly on from LHR? CPT aside of course 😉

A few I can think of – New Orleans, Nashville, Austin, San Diego, San Jose CA, Buenos Aires (although Norwegian competes from LGW), Abuja, Accra, Baltimore, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai, Las Vegas, Nassau, Santiago, Durban, Phoenix

All these are routes that are primarily focused on leisure or seasonal demand and none are in the top tier revenue earners.

Longhaul routes BA fly from LHR with direct competitors:
New York JFK, New York Newark, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Boston, Washington DC, Philadelphia, Dallas, Houston, Seattle, Vancouver, Montreal, Toronto, Miami, Johannesburg, Lagos, Kuwait, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Muscat, Riyadh, Cairo, Beirut, Amman, Mexico City, Sao Paulo, Rio, Tokyo, Shanghai, Beijing, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Seoul, Atlanta, Bahrain, New Delhi, Mumbai, Denver, Doha, Hong Kong, Jeddah, Tel Aviv.

All of BA’s top ten revenue routes have direct non stop competition.

It would be interesting to see how KL/AF/LH compare from their home bases.

1 user thanked author for this post.

Londonian

[rferguson]

[quote quote=916178]

I am curious why anybody flys with them, (I will not) unless it is absolutely unavoidable.

For a lot of people it is unavoidable because of the monopoly routes they serve or company policy, and for others it’s because they’re cheap and price is the main criterion.

which other airline offers a business class return between Europe and Cape Town for about €1,200 at times?[/quote]

Sorry forgot to ‘quote’ the above in my previous post.

[openfly]

@cheeryguy…all my tickets are paid out of my own pension pot!

[Cheeryguy]

[quote quote=916578] @cheeryguy…all my tickets are paid out of my own pension pot![/quote]
Thank you. It was your emphasis in your OP, that this particular ticket was payed for “out of your own pocket”, that led me to enquire.

[Author]

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