BA long haul flights

[Parabola]

Hi there,

I am looking for a flight from manchester to san francisco. I usually fly with BMI or Virgin, however these airlines are very expensive at the moment. BA are offering some competitive prices, but I have never flown with them. Also I really want my own TV, so does anyone know if all their 747's offer this service?

Thanks

[Olivero]

Yes.
Next...

[GCH]

Yep
All the 747s in the BA fleet have AVOD (on demand entertainment) via your own screen.
Some of the 777s do, some dont, as still in the process of refitting the fleet

Edited by GCH on Wednesday 22 October 20:20

[Parabola]

thanks for this, I spoke to someone at BA and he didn't seem to know what he was talking about so this is a real help,

cheers

[off_again]

As mentioned, 747's yes and maybe not on the others. However, do note that the SF route is VERY competitive and lucrative - hence you are more likely to get all of the decent stuff.

I am off to SF in a couple of weeks, so 10 and a half hours in an aluminium tube beckons. Oh joy....

[ManicMushroom]

GCH said:

Yep
All the 747s in the BA fleet have AVOD (on demand entertainment) via your own screen.

Hmmmmm, is this just on first class or on other class's aswell.(i ask because i am going on a long haul with BA next year)

[SS2.]

Yes, Video on Demand for each passenger.

If you are planning on travelling 'cattle' and there are no legroom seats available, 38A/B or 38J/K are not too bad - they're window seats and are located just in front of the middle bulkhead which means you can recline without disturbing anyone behind and you won't spend 9 hours being kicked in the back.

[SS2.]

ManicMushroom said:

Hmmmmm, is this just on first class or on other class's aswell.(i ask because i am going on a long haul with BA next year)

It was on all classes out and back on our recent [747] long haul trip with BA..

[Parabola]

SS2. said:

Yes, Video on Demand for each passenger.

If you are planning on travelling 'cattle' and there are no legroom seats available, 38A/B or 38J/K are not too bad - they're window seats and are located just in front of the middle bulkhead which means you can recline without disturbing anyone behind and you won't spend 9 hours being kicked in the back.

Great, thanks, I prefer aisle seats really, know any good ones?

[GreenDog]

ManicMushroom said:

GCH said:

Yep
All the 747s in the BA fleet have AVOD (on demand entertainment) via your own screen.

Hmmmmm, is this just on first class or on other class's aswell.(i ask because i am going on a long haul with BA next year)

It just seems a lot better when in First for Club

[Zeek]

Parabola said:

SS2. said:

Yes, Video on Demand for each passenger.

If you are planning on travelling 'cattle' and there are no legroom seats available, 38A/B or 38J/K are not too bad - they're window seats and are located just in front of the middle bulkhead which means you can recline without disturbing anyone behind and you won't spend 9 hours being kicked in the back.

Great, thanks, I prefer aisle seats really, know any good ones?

www.seatguru.com

[SS2.]

Parabola said:

SS2. said:

Yes, Video on Demand for each passenger.

If you are planning on travelling 'cattle' and there are no legroom seats available, 38A/B or 38J/K are not too bad - they're window seats and are located just in front of the middle bulkhead which means you can recline without disturbing anyone behind and you won't spend 9 hours being kicked in the back.

Great, thanks, I prefer aisle seats really, know any good ones?

38C or 38 H, perhaps ? The layout being '[window] A B C [aisle] D E F G [aisle] H J K [window]'.

Once tickets have been purchased, its easy to change seats by logging on to www.ba.com.

[Nicol@]

Find out what size plane you are on, then see here.

http://www.seatguru.com/

Just be aware that gold and silver card holders book their seats long before the blue card and regular travellers (normal seat reservation is 24 hours before the flight)

[Puggit]

Zeek said:

Parabola said:

SS2. said:

Yes, Video on Demand for each passenger.

If you are planning on travelling 'cattle' and there are no legroom seats available, 38A/B or 38J/K are not too bad - they're window seats and are located just in front of the middle bulkhead which means you can recline without disturbing anyone behind and you won't spend 9 hours being kicked in the back.

Great, thanks, I prefer aisle seats really, know any good ones?

www.seatguru.com

And try http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=... to ask the questions.

BTW - BMI don't fly to SFO, LAS would be the closest, and then onward with United (shudder)...

[Parabola]

thanks for this, this is a real help.

one more question, what is the service like? Anyone had any poor experiences? I'll be flying economy by the way!

[SS2.]

Parabola said:

one more question, what is the service like? Anyone had any poor experiences? I'll be flying economy by the way!

I can't compare BA with many other long haul carriers because I tend to fly mostly BA.

Not forgetting that economy is economy, its a little cramped (I'm 6'2"), but the food is OK, the cabin crew friendly, the drinks keep coming, etc etc.

TBH, pretty much all of my BA long haul flights have been fine and I've not had any bad experiences as such - but that's not to say that someone won't be along in a minute who has, mind..

Edited by SS2. on Wednesday 22 October 21:54

[Nicol@]

Parabola said:

thanks for this, this is a real help.

one more question, what is the service like? Anyone had any poor experiences? I'll be flying economy by the way!

Good service whenever I fly with them (most recent was nearly a month ago).

With the tv on demand, you can pause it whenever you like, but no games on screen (only the higher classes get that).

Seats in economy are narrow, so don't go eating lots of pies before you go.

[blackvanman]

Parabola said:

thanks for this, this is a real help.

one more question, what is the service like? Anyone had any poor experiences? I'll be flying economy by the way!

I've never had anything but great onboard service on BA - including economy. You would have to be very unlucky to have a bad onboard experience.

Nicol@ makes the excellent point though that if you purchase a discounted economy ticket with BA and don't have status (i.e. you aren't a BA Silver/Gold/Premier) you can't choose your seat until T-24 (unless travelling with an infant).

You should be ok if you get online right at T-24 but don't pin your hopes on getting the most desirable seats.

[Trevelyan]

SS2. said:

TBH, pretty much all of my BA long haul flights have been fine and I've not had any bad experiences as such - but that's not to say that someone won't be along in a minute who has, mind..

Edited by SS2. on Wednesday 22 October 21:54

Well I'll never fly BA long haul again. Last time I used them was for a 25 (ish?) hour flight from Sydney to Heathrow with just a refueling stop on route. Less than an hour out from Sydney the entertainment system packed up for half the plane, including me. They tried to repair it at the stopover and managed to break the system completely. 24 hours staring at a blank screen 10 inches from your nose isn't fun. Finally landed at Heathrow first thing on a Sunday morning, only to be told that the luggage would be delayed due to BA baggage handling staff shortages (basically they hadn't turned in for work). It took about two hours for our bags to get to the luggage hall, by which time all of the passengers from subsequent flights were also packed into the hall. Never again. BA did give us all compensation though - £15 of vouchers to use in their in flight shop on my next flight. wkers.

[Puggit]

I'm also a non-BA flier (but I am bmi gold). Far too many delays...