Nope, I'm not paying; you're right there. But when I fly with BA, I do pay - usually purchasing WT+ tickets and upgrading with points.

And you're also correct that, at about 7 hours for the outbound flight, it is a short flight.

However, you can maximize your sleep time by selecting a flight which offers Sleeper Service - you can have a meal in the lounge before departure. After take-off you can settle in and sleep most of the way to London. You also have the option of asking for dessert, a snack or a night-cap after take-off. And if you want, you can sleep through breakfast and enjoy a shower and breakfast in the lounge.

But yes, for me it's a slam dunk, as you say.

I always sleep well in Club. BA uses 747s to service the routes I usually fly (SEA-LHR,LHR-BKK,LHR-HKG), and the upper deck offers great privacy and ideal conditions for sleeping, especially window seats 62A&K and 64A&K. You might check which aircraft BA uses to service PHL-LHR and check it out on seatguru.com or seatexpert.com

Lounges in T5 are very nice. Food, drink and showers (individual shower rooms equipped with hairdryers and toiletries) are available throughout the day. You can also enjoy complimentary treatments at the Elemis spa.

We disagree about relative difficulty in using Avios for award travel. With a little flexibility, I have great luck and love the program.

My reward travel in 2012: Club World to Venice in February for Carnivale with my husband; First to Naples and Sicily in April with my husband using Chase 2-4-1 voucher; Club outbound and First inbound to London and Bangkok in September; and next January First Class to London and Hong Kong with my sister using Chase 2-4-1 voucher.

Years ago I looked at going Premium Economy to save money however their policy was that if a plane change was required I would be downgraded to economy with NO refund.

I wasn't going to take the chance so went business but with another airline as I was so annoyed about it

With British Airways

I hate the "worth it" questions - people are just too different. However, I don't mind the "if it were me" questions at all.

So IIWM, I'd pop for the Club seats, especially on the return, where headwinds add an hour to transatlantic westbound flights compared to eastbound. Also, the westbound flights are in daytime, so you'll have more time to enjoy the amenities (rather than sleeping through them.)

In addition, the lounges at T5 are superb, so that only adds to your comfort on a long day (if you're connecting at LHR from elsewhere.)

So I'd say go for it, but be prepared to be spoiled.

How tall/big are the five people? We are also five. In our family anyone under 5'6' and/or 150lbs can sit in economy on a flight of that length. Those of us over 6' might fly premium economy.

I'm only 5'2 and 115# and I still love those BA Club World seats. Thanks to Julia1 we now are able to accumulate miles and will be making our 4th Club World trip next year. And Gardyloo is right, you'll be spoiled. Now we want to fly that way all the time (but can only afford the one trip a year).

Yes, the award seats are not free, but $1350 is not bad for 5 seats. We took our daughters in 2010, so had 4 Club world seats, and I think it was $400 extra per RT ticket. It was "worth it" just to see the look on their faces when they realized we would be fliing businiess class.

$1350 is peanuts for the classy comfort you experienced , the looks of awe on your kids faces (even at $1600) and as you say the awards are getting harder and harder to use..Go for it!!!

Hi Enzian. I remember when you were looking to fly to Italy a few years ago in Club World with your daughters. Happy to hear it's working out well for you! As you say, flying long-haul in flat-bed business class spoils you !

I'd go with Club World. Unlike Gardyloo, if I could only choose one way, it would be Eastbound. The benefit to Club World is the flat bed. The service is mediocre, and the food is often downright bad, so I would take the sleep over "enjoying the service" every time. The only caveat is that the lounge at LHR is nice, so being able to use it might be nice. That being said, a long lunch at one of the restaurants in T5 is not a bad fallback option, with better food.

back for an update (I hate when you never hear what happened!).

@julia - I looked at the sleeper service, but unfortunately, it leaves at 11pm, which is just too late. It certainly sounds like an awesome plan.

As to the difficulty of using miles - not Avois related, just a general observation that every time a change happens (it seems), it makes it more difficult to use miles, more expensive (pay taxes or conversion fees), etc. While it would be ideal to save them for a big trip, I'm always afraid by the time the big trip happens, the rules have changed and it isn't possible.

@gardyloo, funny comments about the 'worth it?' vs. "what would you do?" Clearly, "worth it?" relates to that value proposition and we are all at different points in life. interesting thoughts about eastbound vs. westbound.

@cold, Mr. Surf is tall, I am not, and kids are my height (although she thinks she is taller than I am and I refuse to concede) and shorter. The big problem is that the surfkid that is my height doesn't sleep well on planes and mentally is prepared to be miserable, no matter now much we try to explain that it is a state of mind.

@enzian, @amercan... yes, the surfkids (and parents) will have that look of "we've never been HERE before!"

@travelgourmet, the flat beds DO look appealing! especially for the difficult ones in the family who refuse to accept that it is possible to sleep sitting up.

--------

So... I decided to book it!

Originally, we would have spent 322k miles, but with the 25% bonus? We ended up less than our original flights (307k miles). The only cost was the out of pocket extra expense of taxes and fees. And we decided that it would make the experience much more pleasant. The flight gets in early (6:30am I think), but we will plan on taking advantage of the T5 lounge. THe idea of showering and changing clothes means that I will be much happier powering my way through the day.

So.. sometimes... procrastinating DOES pay!

thanks all

Note the BA arrivals lounge at T5 is landside - outside security; unless you're transiting or departing from T5 you won't have access to the "airside" (i.e. inside security) lounges.

Surf mom.. Where do you stay when ou go? We are finally getting here for dd 16 bday trip .. Want an apartment - fall 2013