Business class UK to Tokyo

[tribpot]

Ds (12 but will be 13 when we travel) and I are going to Tokyo in August this year. We had thought about flying BA from Heathrow in Club World but having watched a few video reviews I think it's worth considering the alternatives.

We would need two seat configuration by the window, so 2-x-2, which rules out a number of options I think. It looks as if Scandinavian or Lufthansa might be worth a look - we live in the North of England so would be looking at a connecting flight hence no advantage to Heathrow over Copenhagen or Munich.

Does anyone have any advice? BA is much cheaper than Japan Airlines and I wondered if the quality of the business class product was accounted for in the price difference.

We have flown Club on BA to Tokyo but we are 35 mins from Heathrow. I think they are fine. Seats go more or less flat and that’s what I want more than anything else! Sleep is possible. Food ok and service good enough. Pre flight lounge has decent food and drink and, although it now needs a refurb, it’s ok.

I would look at travelling times and what you get for your money in terms of seat/bed!

It's worth noting that if you want the window then one of you will be facing backwards. Only in the middle do you sit side by side facing the same way. When I've traveling club with one of the kids I go for the middle seats because you get the pod with no divider between you .

I quite like the middle. No aisle disturbance and, remember, don’t sit near the loos!

Hmmm. I’ve travelled business on BA on several routes but not to Tokyo. The newer planes are definitely much fresher and feel more swish. The older planes do feel a bit tired. Obvs you still get the nearly flat bed and decent food / drink, but it’s worth (SeatGuru?) finding out what sort of plane it is on the route you’re considering.

Lufthansa and the others I’ve never experienced.

Would go for the middle seats if in CW with child/children. Have also flown CW to Japan and if it is the BA5 you are thinking of using, it can be one of their more modern aircraft. BA also now fly into both Narita and Haneda airports.

The airline quality reviews for both JAL and SAS are mixed to say the very least. If you did use Lufthansa you would probably transfer through Frankfurt (as it is one of their international hubs) rather than Munich.

The 2-4-2 configuration in Club on BA is only on certain aircraft though e.g. the Dreamliner is 2-3-2. There's new catering being rolled out and the new White Company blankets and pillow on the overnight is lovely.

Thanks all - yes, I can see the advantages of taking the two middle seats in the 4 in terms of disturbance, altho I wouldn't like being boxed in by other people's feet. But ds will want to be by the window! It's a shame the aisle seats just don't seem to have very much privacy.

We flew KLM business class to Tokyo a few years ago, and that was pretty comfortable, but I can't remember the exact configuration of seats (I was travelling with DC aged 12 and 16, and they were happy to be left to themselves during the flight).

Also KLM has lots of connections from UK regional airports, and the lounge in Schipol is not bad if you have a few hours between flights.

I book a lot of business class flights at work and am realising more and more how over priced BA is.

The middles eastern airlines such as Emirates and Qatar have much better business cabins IMO, albeit you would have to change which might not suit you. There is a big potential cost saving and more of a luxury experience though. Have a look at the new QatarSuite which offers a double cabin.

ladypenelope
The Qatar suite is more than BA First!
It isn't at all comparable to CW for price or experience

Also, Seatguru will give you all of the aircraft configurations for all airlines, even the different variations of the same aircraft.

www.seatguru.com

If you give your DS the window seat, he gets all the privacy!!! Can you have the window seat on the way back? Of course lots of people have to have aisle seats but if you go as far forward as possible, on most seat configurations, you won’t be near the loos and there are less people to disturb you as they pass by. With BA you can pay to reserve seats although we never have and have always been happy with the allocation. However if you want a forward pair, I would reserve as soon as you can.

I am not sure if the other carriers you mention means changing planes or whether they just touch down. I tend to prefer the quickest route and with connecting BA flights, they will rush you through at T5 if you are on a knife edge for time.

I have been First on BA, via Avios, but I wouldn’t pay for this over Club. If you are on a Jumbo, there may be Club seats up the stairs. These are fantastic and it’s a small cabin just like First.