Flying First Class on a day flight?

[dutyfreerum]

DH and I have been saving our airmiles up. We usually fly premium economy, can’t really justify business class as can’t sleep whatever seat I’m in.

We are booking our winter sun holiday for next year and have seen we can get a day flight in First Class on BA. It would be about £400 extra cash & extra airmiles.

We’d like to experience using the Concorde Room at Heathrow and also being pampered up in the sky.

Sounds good.

My question was… is it worth it? Has someone done it?

We have! It was an amazing experience, the Concorde lounge is fabulous and you feel like a VIP the whole time. You'll love it .

Go for it!
The only downside is that it will make flying economy so much worse when you next board a plane. 😢

Where’s it going to? I’d probably pay £400 for both of us to go from business to first on a long flight but not more than that and not a significant amount of airmiles. The new club suites in business are lovely.

Not done a day flight but did fly back from Phoenix to London first class a few years ago on a night time flight and yes I thought it was worth it to be pampered for a few hours. We also picked a later connecting flight back from Heathrow so we could experience the Concorde lounge (not sure if I'd bother with that again - it was crowded. Although we did make use of their cabanas to get a shower). Downside apart from cost - our dc now want to travel like that all the time (and it's not happening!)

Done it and love it!! The Concorde lounge is also fabulous, such a nice relaxing way to start the holiday. Go for it and enjoy!

We have done it (on avios too!). First class is a real step up from business, which I didn't really expect.

The concorde lounge is lovely but we didn't have enough time to enjoy it and didn't really want a cocktail at 9am! The food in the "restaurant" there was lovely though and served as if you were in a posh restaurant.

It's also nice to go through the dedicated First check in and security at Heathrow.

It can certainly be worth it, DH can drink and eat a good couple of hundred quid's worth of stuff in lounges and on board....
Also it's just so much less hassle. Check-in, security, boarding all so easy and civilised as opposed to, well, you know what cattle class is like.

Would be to Barbados or Mexico City. Haven’t decided.

Enjoying reading that people loved it! Makes me want to go.

Yes and we did it. If I spend hours in a tin can, I want to enjoy it.

We only fly long haul every 6-8 years and save up for it.

It really depends on what type of plane you're flying on (and to a lesser extent, your destination). If it has Club Suites, First Class isn't massively different and not worth paying much extra for. BA First Class is often referred to as Business Plus rather than a 'real' first class. If it's the old Club World seating, yes First is worth paying a little more (personally my limit is never pay more than $500 and rarely for flights under 8-9 hours). The Concorde lounge at Heathrow is a bit shabby these days (and no longer has a spa etc) but the new lounges at JFK are fab. The First Wing at T5 is closed at present but will reopen before next year when you're planning to travel.

Personally if you want a more special flight experience, I'd use your Avios on Qatar. Their Business Class is better than BA First Class and the Doha lounges are incredible.

We have flown BA first a few times. It’s fine, I’d say it felt more business than first. It’s lovely if you want to sleep. The lounge at Heathrow is ok, maybe a little shabby, but pleasant. The restaurant is good to get a quick bite, has a kind of gastropub vibe. I didn’t realise the spa is now closed, that’s sad!

I flew first class about 4 years ago with BA ( Montreal to London ). It was a night flight and all I did was set up my bed and sleep ( which is the first class experience at its best but for some reason I feel like I missed out ).

If I was gonna fly first class again I would do it during the day and sip champagne and feel bougie ☺️

Agree look at the alliances. Qatar airways is amazing especially if flying via Doha. Obviously not for Mexico.

First class is nice. Bigger seats/beds/screens than business and more “fine dining” style service., which you can have as and when you want. You’ll get Temperley pyjamas (even on a day flight - although they’re cheap and cheerful) and the current range of toiletry bags are really pretty and they have Elemis creams which I like.

the Concorde lounge is good and the food is served restaurant style in private booths. It’s marginally better than the onboard food but not great.

Caveat, I haven’t flown first. But BA business class with the flat beds is very nice….

This.

Beware.

I would say yes, it is. I haven’t flown First Class with BA since 2022 but it was a really enjoyable experience. I find BA Club Suite (the newer configuration) better in someways however the seat itself is quite narrow and I don’t find it very easy to sleep on whereas First has wider seats and I sleep like a baby. And of course, you have dining on demand onboard and as someone else has mentioned, the First Wing (fast track lane for security that takes you straight to the lounge) is closed.

The Concorde Room is lovely but I wouldn’t say upgrading to First just to use the Concorde Room is worth it imo. Very haute Try and sit on the terrace if you can. Lovely cabanas outside. The food is very “haute cuisine” with the presentation.

Very true. I look at all sorts of ways to avoid flying economy long haul!

Is it only £400 more than premium economy? If so surely that's a huge bargain and well worth an extra £400 if you can afford it. If it's £400 more than business class, then from the comments here then it sounds like you might be better saving the £400 and going business. Disclaimer - I've never travelled anything other than plain economy so have no idea what it's actually like in business, first or the various lounges.

Do it. It's an amazing experience. We flew to Vegas first on points. Bit more swanky than business (also on points), get own pjs, more personal service. Concorde restaurant nicer (I hate the BA business lounge, full of people shuffling around, being quiet working, and acting important). The first lounge was more relaxed.
Look at it as a saving on buying 1st direct. I doubt I'll ever fly 1st by paying money directly and not sure it's worth it, but by paying a bit extra it certainly is.

The Laurent-Perrier Grand Siècle on BA first class made it worth every penny 😀. I had a fabulous cabin crew who kept me so topped up I sadly don't remember much of my last SYD-SIN leg. Unfortunately I think they have changed it after many years. Seriously though, first class is totally worth experiencing at least once if you have the opportunity. £400 is a total bargain.

We flew business class for the first time ever last year on a day time flight. It was amazing and we probably won't go back to economy. So we'll go on long distance holidays less often so we can afford business class.

Yes, they stopped LPGS last month. 😓Now it's a 'rotating selection' inflight and Pommery in the Concorde room.