BA Business Class (World Club) Seating
 

My husband and I will be flying BA Tampa to London in 2008. Even though we don't have the status to get seats now, I was looking at seat guru and other sites and was shocked to see that the seating is 2-4-2. That seems almost as tight as coach given that the fuselage is the same width.

And, some seats face forward and some back. So do you get to sleep with someone's feet in your face?

If you are a couple flying together, what would be the best choice of seats?(not that we'll have much of a choice!)

Thanks

Calm down..nobody's feet will be "in your face"

If you look at the BA website you will see photos of the "old" Club World seats/set up and the new seats which are replacing tyhem. Depending on when you are flying you may get the new version. In neither case will you have feet in your face.

I think BA business class is the best. Really. I havent flown in their new one, but in the old one-- that one which you seem to be referring to-- they had dividers between the seats so you would never know if someone was next to you. i thought it might feel like i was sleeping next to someone, but you feel entirely alone. a great experience on a plane!! and there was so much space. i could lay down fully flat on their beds (but i am only 5'2"). anyway, all to say, if i could afford to always fly BA World Club I would. Dont hesitate!

Incidentally, safety experts have long said that it would be more beneficial in crash situations if we ALL were facing "backward", but it's felt the public would rebel against this.

<<< was shocked to see that the seating is 2-4-2. That seems almost as tight as coach >>>

Except that coach is 3-4-3 - ie two more seats per row and the pitch is seven inches less

So explain how it seems almost as tight as WT?

Yes, Alan - a business seat may be only 4-5" or so wider than a coach seat, but those are pretty great inches! And as for leg room and reclinability: no contest. Wish I could sit there now and then - it's been a long time!

The key to putting 2-4-2 on a 777 or 747 in business class is the rear facing seats. They don't design it that way because half of their customers told them they want to face backwards.

Instead, they're pairing the upper torso of one customer with the feet of the opposite-facing one's legs and feet. One doesn't need all the width for one's legs and feet, so actual shape of one's shape is a trapezoid/trapezium. [There are other variations of this method - like that on Etihad, where all seats face forward, but staggered.]

As for a couple flying together, at least on the old configurations, if you want to sit side-by-side, both facing the same direction, your only choices will be the E and F seats in the middle of the aircraft. E and F all face backwards.

Missed the bit about "World Club"

In which case you get 73" seat pitch instead of 31", a seat that reclines fully & almost 3" more in seat width

If the latter doesn't seem a lot to you - try sleeping with a friend in a 4'6" bed, then do the same in a 5' bed. The difference is amazing

landl - of course the real trick is to choose a flight with a 747-400 where the upper deck is Business Class. The configuration is 2-2 and they used to actively discourage children sitting there. Quiet. Peaceful. Heaven.
Business class seating with BA is one of the best... some of the the other joys with BA, however....

Thank you all for your responses and explanations. I feel much better.

We can fly non-stop Tampa to London, so we'll be on the 777 with only 3 classes (no Frist Class). This will be in July and our first on BA.

I'm Platinum on Delta and we're used to their structure - hard to teach on old dog new tricks. Getting a FF ticket on BA was a whole lot easier than Delta!

Linda

AlanRow:

The configuration I'm looking at had coach at 3-3-3, so I thought hmmm...8 seats across versus 9. That was all.

You probably know that flying BA Business will give you access to the Ba Lounge and that often on overnight flights there is no dinner service for Business. The meal is served in the Lounge before boarding. If you access your reservation, it should tell you that. Seat selection by computer is 24 hours in advance.

When we flew BA Business Class we selected the two same facing seats in the middle based on the recommendation that they were best for a couple. We didn't like the configuration and getting in and out was problematic. For subsequent flights we've always selected the two seats together on the aisles, even though they face opposite.

In business class, you can get width or length, but not both, with one exception. If you need both, you need to fly international first class.

The exception is Singapore Airline's new business class on their 777-300ER, and will be on their A380. It's a very wide 1-2-1 configuration. When seated, you have a seat that's wide enough for two people. When you need to sleep, you convert the seat into a totally flat bed that's angled to the side. That's probably THE BEST business class out there with the most room.

Etihad's business class is also very good. Even though it's also basically 2-4-2 like BA's, all seats face forward.

Right after Swiss, BA's business class on international flights is my least favorite. The seats seem quite narrow and the "lay flat" feature on BA is a foot stool that folds down from the bulkhead. There's no room to put bags underneath the seat in front of you. They did serve dinner on a flight that departed LHR at 6:230pm.

Luckily, their was no one in the seat next to me. I did put up the flimsy divider between seats to have more privacy. This was on a long haul flight where business was the best class of service. Clearly unimpressive.

The best thing I can say for the BA flight was that since there were only 5-6 of us in all of business class, their attendants (all male) were very attentive. But the BA lounges in LHR are excellent.