Underwhelming 14 Hours in British Airways Club Suite Business Class

Is British Airways Club Suite Business Class worth it? I’m flying 14 hours in BA’s newest business class from Singapore Changi to London Heathrow to find out.
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[@alanmurray4911]

Thanks for another unbiased trip report. Looking forward to your First class review soon.

[@charlesontravels]

Thanks!

[@ukdavepianoman]

I feel BA are starting to move in the right direction now by updating their awful Club World into Club Suites. But then they take steps back by stupid cost-cutting measures in premium cabins (degraded food options, poor mattress topper) - don't they realise that this will deter customers?! They should be thinking about how to exceed customer expectations. I've seen the safety video - it's trying to be amusing, but isn't that funny! Very good video.

[@nickf619]

Agreed

[@seanp7dc]

Fully agree! I'm thankful for Club Suites but the soft product needs some work.

[@MrStuartAllan]

Cracking video Charles. I agree, if it is points redemption you have a certain level of expectation vs paying all in cash. I think if I do that route I might try another carrier like Singapore or Qantas.

[@charlesontravels]

Thanks! I’d been keen to try both of those carriers too!

[@flyboy747uk]

What’s really poor with BA business class, is that they charge for selecting which seat you would like, and can be around £100 each way.

[@charlesontravels]

Selfishly that’s a policy I actually quite like. Silver and Gold status with BA gets you free seat selection. And when it costs so much that most aren’t willing to pay, it makes it a genuine benefit of status to have your pick of the best seats. Doesn’t make a huge difference in the new club suites, but on the old club world, or if you’re in economy, having that seat selection can be very valuable!

[@flyboy747uk]

@ Ok didn’t know that, so I guess it makes sense, though Virgin Upper Class seat selection is free

[@jon-ie4li]

Qatar charge in Business unless you pay for full price ticket.

[@Locutus]

​@flyboy747uk What Charles said is 100% correct. BA doesn't really want people to be able to reserve seats as it's a PIA if they have to move people for operational reasons. But if people REALLY want a specific seat, BA will happily charge a lot for it because people will pay it. They also want to reward their Executive Club members. Imagine if you're BA Gold, and all the good seats have been taken by those paying cheap fares for their one off holidays, you're going to ask why should you bother being a Gold member? It's not as if BA gives you a lot when you're Silver or even Gold. Having free seat selection is a nice, cheap and easy perk to reward Executive Club members with, something that is highly appreciated by the members.

[@Locutus]

​@@flyboy747uk I never pay for seat selection when I don't have status. I don't want to pay it. I'm happy with almost any seat on the aircraft.

[@harshilpatel684]

8:12 also if theyre 10 mins apart surely thats where the a380 comes in! Although I think the overnight flight and early morning timeslot is most preferred for a flight of this length flying West for many passengers who can sleep the whole way and feel fresh on arrival.

[@oathy03]

My Sister used to fly BA a lot when Working in America and returning home, this was a while ago and I still look at the interior and think of a Ford Escort from the 90's. Its that Grey plastic I noticed they are planning a major revamp and its long overdue, when you are paying a lot for the fare grey plastic has no place being anywhere near it.

[@jackculpan]

As you mentioned the eye mask is amazing!

[@Crazy_Charo]

Great video Charles. I've flown the BA Club Suites a few time's and found the hard product to be decent, and sometimes the crew service was amazing whilst also sometimes being neutral (not outright bad). Thankfully I haven't been impacted by brunchgate, but can imagine being quite upset and feeling shortchanged if I were given a subpar meal on a 'premium' airline.

[@jamesbarabas7422]

I was on the the very first flight to have their downgraded meal service for "late departures" in my case the LHR flight to Cape Town. Pretty disappointing to pay thousands for a flight and have BA decide on your behalf you want some half-arsed "one tray" service that shouts cost-cutting and running an airline for employee convenience rather than a passenger-centred experience.

[@Crazy_Charo]

@jamesbarabas7422 I would definitely feel upset about that. LHR to CPT is close to 12 hours, so having a bad food experience makes for a terrible flight. Let's hope that BA reverses this daft decision and brings back full service on all long haul flights, regardless of departure time.

[@jamespaul4421]

Great deal! Been twice now to Singapore but can never get a reward flight with Ba as we have to go in Easter holidays and they’re like gold dust!

[@charlesontravels]

Yeah I did feel very lucky to find availability. It was definitely made easier when we only needed to book one way!

[@obamtl]

Oh, I definitely prefer this safety video to last year's video.

[@harshilpatel684]

6:38 not the only one, those zips are so annoying. It makes reusing those bags not useful even though they look pretty and are a small size compared to other amenity kits

[@charlesontravels]

Glad I’m not the only one! Definitely broken more than I’ve managed to keep intact!

[@armychap007]

Was a great value flight in terms of you redeeming your Avios. Sadly it shows that BA just can't compete in premium cabins with other airlines. I think the cabin crew on board can often make up for shortcomings in the soft product but it seems like the cabin crew were below par on your particular flight.

[@charlesontravels]

I completely agree! And it’s not like the crew did anything particularly bad, they just weren’t particularly present or attentive, which I’m guessing might be due to the sheer volume of business class passengers. They did seem to spend a lot of time just chatting in the galley though.

[@hughjaars2285]

Hmmmm this does not bode well for our January trip - econ out Prem Econ back overnighters - but we do at least have Silver for some pre flight comfort.

[@DPWestMids-u3c]

@@hughjaars2285just flown back from the Caribbean in BA WTP overnight. Food inedible and breakfast the same as WT. The WTP offering on old configuration 777 is appalling, you have to use the WT toilets which were mostly blocked and out of order by the end of the flight. Only bonus was the 2-4-2 seat configuration and as a couple being able to book the two seats by the window. The seats have a fair recline so the seat in front is so far back that with the central small table in the way you can’t easily get out of the seat. Not worth the extra over WT.

[@DPWestMids-u3c]

New safety video … terrible - I wonder how much it cost to produce?

[@anydroid]

@@DPWestMids-u3c Agree completely. Excessive recline in WTP left me feeling hemmed in, claustrophobic and ill on a red eye. Never again.

[@ihsrosary]

What brand of champagne were they serving?

[@lawrencewang9048]

I don’t think the club suite seats are uncompetitive on paper for long haul, but my biggest gripe with BA is how poor the maintenance of these seats are! Flew LHR-CPT 2 weeks ago in Club suites and you could tell that someone in engineering had not been looking after things; the seat electrics failed 2 hours in which meant that I had to manually adjust the seat via the spring lever underneath, and all the storage boxes required an ungodly amount of force to slam shut due to latches seizing and becoming stiff. Really a bottle of degreaser and lubricant would solve the issue in seconds, but it seems no one can be bothered to do the basics. G-STBO is a 4 year old 777-300er, so everything on board is relatively new. No excuse for such awful maintenance. It’s a real shame because 5 years ago, when I was a fresh graduate, I applied for a leadership role for BA and was rejected because of how strict and rigorous the standard was. One would think that with all those ‘smart’ boys in the company, things would be running smoothly, but it seems none of their esteemed graduates even know how to look after the cornerstone of the business; their aircraft 😂😂😂

[@iTechwareOfficial]

How much avios + cash? . Did you use a comp voucher?

[@charlesontravels]

Total cost for the two of us was 110k avios, £384.20 taxes plus a companion voucher. So works out at 55k avios plus £192.10 each.

[@ahshuuun]

can we get some reviews on the asian airlines too? CX etc would be great comparing it to BA

[@charlesontravels]

I’ll be flying a few early next year including CX and JAL!

[@nickf619]

Yep, would be quite disappointed if was paying the cash fare. Using avios makes it very convenient but even so the service wasn’t great. My biggest gripe though is that thing they call a mattress topper, it’s as you say useless. I wish they’d fix that more than anything, some sort of fitted one for club suite would be great, least I can get as much comfort sleeping which is what I prioritise. But yes food and service from cabin crew below the competition, nothing terrible but nowhere near trying to be the best on this route, I suspect even Qantas would be miles ahead and I’ve never flown them despite using 3 or 4 of their lounges around the world!

[@RajSandhu-gm8iz]

Great video. Quite undwhelming for what cost over £6000 return. I'm looking to fly to Japan late next year for a special retirement family holiday. Can't stomach the thought of 15+ in economy. Have been looking at either Premier Economy or Buisness with Finnair, JAL, ANA and BA. Not cheap for four!! I've only just joined BA Executive Club so have no significant AVIOS points or status, will be cash tickets. Any thoughts from yourself or channel viewers?

[@charlesontravels]

Thanks! The challenge you’ll have with Japan as well, even if you manage to earn or buy enough points, is trying to find availability for 4 reward flights as it’s so popular. So best option might be to book the cheapest business ticket if affordable, and maybe premium if it’s not. My guess would be that Finnair will likely be the cheapest option, and that seat is incredibly comfortable (there’s a video on my channel). Haven’t tried ANA or JAL yet but from what I understand both will have great food and service, particularly ANA, and if you can get ANA The Room, that’s one of the best business class seats available. Our tactic for getting to Japan, which we’re doing next year, is to fly to Korea first, as we were able to get Qatar QSuite availability to Seoul on points, and then from there, after a few days we’re then heading over to Japan on a cheap cash ticket.

[@RajSandhu-gm8iz]

@charlesontravels Thanks for the reply. Finnair does look like a nice buisness class option for the price. ANA looks georgeous with The Room, cost about 14K for four return thou. My brother has lived in Japan for 30 years, he always use ANA rather than JAL, but both seem very good to me. Thanks again for the reply.

[@tonyhalliday3188]

Assuming you are boarding in the UK and have flexibility over routing and timing.... It's worth comparing departing UK with QR, EY, AY from LHR/LGW/MAN or BHX - arriving in NRT or possibly ICN (flights from Korea to Japan are frequent and cheap). Premium fares are generally LHR to HND on a 'major' carrier - i.e. direct flights. it is well worth considering an indirect flight if you are crossing 8 or 9 time zones as you will have two bites of the cherry in terms of getting some sleep. There's also the possibility of grabbing a shower half way? I've booked business as low as £1250 with EY and AY (one way) and seen those rates double or triple just a day either side. Flexibility is the key.

[@GauthamVishnu-x7p]

Have you flown Malaysia 🇲🇾 airlines

[@charlesontravels]

I’ve flown Malaysian once about 10 years ago on a short regional flight to KL

[@r12004rewy]

For what you paid a reasonable flight but as you say if you had paid the full fare in £s certainly not worth the money, the new safety video is excellent but perhaps BA should be spending money it cost on extra passenger comforts, penny pinching in the extreme.

[@charlesontravels]

I completely agree!

[@GauthamVishnu-x7p]

Have you been to Malaysia 🇲🇾

[@Thepastwasexciting]

The Jewel is Incredible

[@GauthamVishnu-x7p]

Have you flown Singapore 🇸🇬 airlines

[@charlesontravels]

Not yet!

[@videosofstuffthanksforwatc7197]

Nothing but being able to lay flat and sleep matters.

[@charlesontravels]

Definitely the most important factor on an overnight flight like this!

[@well-blazeredman6187]

Show me a major airline cutting back on F&B and I'll show you an airline that's not hitting its financial numbers, or is badly-managed, or both. I'd suggest that you should resist the temptation to engage in Robocop-toppling - especially there. I'm not a fan of that flight-schedule. There's a lot of time to kill after hotel-kicking-out-time. Good video.

[@charlesontravels]

The cutbacks definitely make me more inclined to look at other options! We got quite lucky with a 5pm late checkout at our hotel that made the wait a lot more manageable!

[@GauthamVishnu-x7p]

Do you live in uk 🇬🇧

[@charlesontravels]

I do!

[@KingPlastik7]

Stop cheaping out on the drinks BA