Ironically on the day, I received notice that my nice Club Suite for my December trip had been substituted with the old Club World seat on my least favourite aircraft, I received this press release about the progress of installing the new Club Suites on their B777s. Let’s hope my A350 sticks on the way home!
British Airways is continuing with the rollout of its newest business class seat, the Club Suite, as it continues to retrofit the seat across its Boeing 777 fleet, with the rollout expected to be completed by the end of 2022. These aircraft will operate from Heathrow only. Obviously, this still leaves the A380 and older B787s where you will still get the old seats. At least when the B777s are all complete it will make it much easier to ensure you get a flight with a Club Suite rather than trying to work out which B777 flight to book to get the Club Suite. Currently, only the A350s and B787-10 have all Club Suites.
The airline already has retrofitted a number of its Boeing 777 aircraft with the latest seat and will be working with Collins Aerospace to ensure the rest of the airline’s 777 aircraft are fitted with the new cabin. I will be flying for the first time on long haul next month in the Club Suite and will bring a full review, although Paul and Marek both wrote about their experiences on the A350 pre-pandemic.
The airline’s Club Suite was first rolled out in July 2019 on the first A350 (you can read about my trip on the inaugural flight here) and since then has been installed on the new Boeing 787-10 aircraft. The seat offers direct-aisle access, a suite door for greater privacy, and flat-bed seats in a 1-2-1 configuration. Boasting 40% more storage than the old seats, including a vanity unit and mirror, WiFi, 18.5-inch inflight entertainment screens, high definition gate-to-gate programming and PC / USB power; it’s a massive step up from the old seats. I must admit in the current day of Covid I don’t like the thought much of sitting opposite someone in the old yin yang configuration.
One good piece of news is that all British Airways flights to JFK will be operated by an aircraft that has the airline’s Club Suite product. The flight where I have been changed into an old seat is a Los Angeles route – one that was previously seen as a very premium route (I’ve seen many celebrities on that route such as Ringo Star, Ewan McGregor, and Gordon Ramsey on my flights.) It seems odd to use your oldest and most disliked business class cabin on the route.
Sajida Ismail, Head of Inflight Product at British Airways, said: “When we launched our Club Suite product, it was a huge hit with our customers who loved the privacy the new seat offers. We are focused on the rollout of this product and other cabin enhancements to ensure we deliver on our commitment to provide the very best British quality, style and comfort for our customers.”
As part of the upgrade, the airline’s Club Kitchen is also getting a makeover with new Club chillers and built-in storage for snacks, drinks and other refreshments, allowing customers in Club World to help themselves to refreshments.
The latest generation of the First cabin including the introduction of the First suite door will also continue to be rolled out across the airline’s B777-300 aircraft. The First suites were designed based on customers’ feedback and based on the B787 design. That is actually my favourite BA First product. although it does lack buddy dining which is a shame. The suite includes a fixed 23-inch high-definition inflight entertainment screen that can be controlled with an integrated handset. You can read TLFL’s latest review here.
6 comments
There will still be a few non-club suite 777’s left at Heathrow in 2022
Hello,
Is there a way to find out which flights will have the new club suites
Have a flight to Miami in Feb 22. Originally we were in first but they changed the
Plane to one without 1st Class.
Whilst subject to change, seat selection in most airline’s ‘Manage My Booking’ portals will give you an indication of the seat being used. In the case of BA it’s fairly obvious.
For future travel, or if you’re unable to access seat selection on an existing booking without prior payment, a dummy booking using a fully flexible fare will usually give you the option of choosing seats – seeing which seats are on offer – before payment is asked for.
Hope this helps.
Hi Steve, take a look at expertflyer or seatguru – if the configuration is 1-2-1, it’s the new club suite. If it’s 2-4-2 or 2-3-2, it’s the old ying yang configuration.
Looking forward to finally trying the new suites in a couple weeks on the return from UVF. At 1st I was annoyed they’d moved the return to LHR ( OB is from LGW) but then I saw the seat config and immediately decided I wasn’t nearly as bothered about the move. Having had to cancel no less than 4 trips in 2020 that would’ve had me experience the suites for the 1st time this is now the 1st time in many years i’ll be looking to the end of a holiday.
The flight is a 4 class and will be doing FLUB but i’ve still opted for the new J suites over, what I presume will be, the old F seats without a door.
Long over due the back to front seats were disliked by everyone. For me Emirates business class in the A380 still sets the standard. Off to the far east with them in February.
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