Yesterday British Airways revealed their new Club Suite, which is the name of their all new business class product. It looks great, though the bad news is that it’s going to be quite a long time before a significant number of planes feature these seats.
Routes with British Airways’ new Club Suite
For example, by the end of 2019 only six planes will feature these seats, including four factory fresh A350s, and two reconfigured 777s.
I know a lot of people are probably excited to try this product, and as of now we know the following routes will feature it:
- As of October 1, 2019, the British Airways A350 will begin flying to Toronto (BA93/92)
- As of October 8, 2019, the British Airways A350 will begin flying to Dubai (BA107/106)
Before that — as of July 1, 2019 — the plane will fly between London and Madrid, though the exact flights to feature the plane haven’t yet been revealed. I do think it’s safe to assume that the cheapest way to try the new business class product will be on the London to Madrid route (at least to experience the hard product, as the soft product will be the typical intra-Europe one).
Best fares for British Airways’ Club Suite
I’m sure I’m not the only one who is keen to try British Airways’ new A350 business class on a long haul flight, so what are the best options as of now?
Well, British Airways has some good business class fares from London to Toronto, starting at ~$1,860 roundtrip around Thanksgiving.
If you’re looking for better fares at other times of the year, there are roundtrip business class tickets from Inverness to Toronto starting at just ~$1,671.
While British Airways doesn’t have good one-way fares, they will generally let you book one direction in business class and one direction in economy, which can represent a good deal.
For example you could fly from Inverness to Toronto with the outbound in business class and return in economy for just ~$1,172.
If none of those sound appealing, Cairo is always a reliable option, and roundtrip business class fares from Cairo to Toronto are ~$2,228.
Or you can try a similar trick and book Cairo to Toronto with one direction in business class and one direction in economy for ~$1,453.
You can find these fares on ITA Matrix and Google Flights. Sadly for those of us based in North America, I don’t see many good business class fares departing Toronto as of now. However, British Airways often has fare sales, so if you’re patient I’m sure some deals will pop up.
Anyone have plans to fly British Airways’ new A350, or know of any other great fares?
(Tip of the hat to God Save the Points)
I'd like to try this out as part of an October trip to Dublin. Is it known how soon DO&CO will be catering LHR-YYZ in Club World?
CPH-YYZ around thanksgiving for 2.400$ rountrip
I’m holding out for award seats. Checking last night from DXB. Found some in Nov, Dec forward. I can’t go until then anyway - too much other travel before including RTW19 2.0 Now just need to decide between JAL & CX to get me there
@ the nice paul quite possibly, i do find the q-suites a tad narrow and slightly on the hard side i just booked BA LHR-YYZ RETURN for November so will make an informed comparison then all for the bargin price of 1380 GBP in the sale
@ Ex DOH
I think Qsuites are a more spacious design than this; but they also have multiple air nozzles. BA’s great new seat won’t overcome that disadvantage.
Claus is clearly full crap no ...yet another troll, this clearly looks like a industry leading seat id argue better than q-suites which i suspect unlike many on here pontificating i have actually flown many times and are slightly over hyped imho
@Romil - You can book mixed cabin tickets on BA’s website (by searching for Economy), or price out your ticket on ITA Matrix then plug the results into a site like Book With Matrix to book with an OTA.
Some revealing quotes from BA CEO Alex Cruz in an interview on Business Traveller:
“We had a choice between a 100 per cent bespoke seat, an evolution of the existing Club World seat, and what we have selected ... probably the criterion that over-ruled everything was speed to market ...
“[Club World cabin will be] a less dense version, yes. ... we felt we couldn’t really decrease the number of seats significantly. ... we will...
Some revealing quotes from BA CEO Alex Cruz in an interview on Business Traveller:
“We had a choice between a 100 per cent bespoke seat, an evolution of the existing Club World seat, and what we have selected ... probably the criterion that over-ruled everything was speed to market ...
“[Club World cabin will be] a less dense version, yes. ... we felt we couldn’t really decrease the number of seats significantly. ... we will reduce the size of the First cabin on the triple sevens that are being retrofitted, and also the economy cabin. So the Club Suites have come at the expense of First, and a little in economy, but even then it will be a lower number of seats.
“... we are committed to introducing the product on all long-haul aircraft, except those that we are retiring like some older B777s and the B747s.
“[the roll-out ] ... on a route like New York with so many flights ... will take three years. We want to go as fast as we can. It is not BA slowing down the process. If we have more seats, we will actually stop an aircraft to install them. We will do whatever it takes, but it’s the manufacturing of the seats. ...
“No airline of the size of BA has been able to do a programme roll-out like this in less than three or four years.
“... this is just the latest investment. ... then there will be an evolution of the First product, and then eventually World Traveller Plus hard product and so on.
“Do & Co catering ... will take six or nine months.
“... we have to be consistent ... if you’re flying in Club ... – it’s a consistency of service.“
How to book mixed business/ economy class tickets ? don't remember seeing that option on any sites
@Ramy
That nonstop fare is only for the week of Thanksgiving, when there are always great cheap J/F fares. But for most people the Inverness fare is probably easier to position to than Cairo the rest of the year.
It’s sentimental seeing a BA fare bucket in R. That used to be the standard fare bucket for BA Concorde.
When will the LHR-MAD route dates be announced?
Not sure why non stop between London and Toronto for $1,859 may not sound appealing so you recommend Cairo to Toronto via London as a better option for $2,228??
Just wondering what was the rationale behind the sentence "If none of those sound appealing, Cairo is always a reliable option, and roundtrip business class fares from Cairo to Toronto are ~$2,228."
The seats are already over-hyped. If you look closely how the seat reclines in the video, you see that the seats don’t even have leg rests. I.e., they are of the extremely tight reverse herringbone type, similar to Finnair.
If you're doing mixed economy/business, I would do the eastbound flight in business and the westbound flight in economy. The eastbound flights are all overnight, which is where having the bed will shine. The westbound flights are all middle of the day flights where you would want to stay awake anyway, so having a seat that turns into a bed doesn't matter as much.
Book a Finnair J ticket to Asia, e.g., YYZ-HKG. ~$2600 round trip or ~$1600 one way.
https://www.google.com/flights#flt=YYZ.HKG.2019-11-19.YYZLHR0BA92~LHRHEL1AY1332~HELHKG1AY101*HKG.YYZ.2019-11-23.HKGHEL0AY100~HELLHR0AY1331~LHRYYZ0BA93;c:USD;e:1;a:ONEWORLD*ONEWORLD;sc:b;sd:1;t:f;sp:2.USD.257360*2.USD.257360
https://www.google.com/flights#flt=YYZ.HKG.2019-11-19.YYZLHR0BA92~LHRHEL1AY1332~HELHKG1AY101;c:USD;e:1;a:ONEWORLD;sc:b;sd:1;t:f;tt:o;sp:2.USD.157567
Toronto to Rekyavik return can be had for about $2,200 USD.
YYZ-DXB can be had for ~$3200 in Oct/Nov, with all four segments on the A350.
Not the best deal, but not terrible either.
How unlucky. I will fly Dubai - London in July and I am missing it.
From the photos and the description I think these are the best business class seats after QA Qsuites.