Just a little disappointed

[klfrodo]

Started researching our trip to London about 6 months prior to flights opening for miles purchase.

I knew BA was my option since I was using my AS miles. Business or better was my requirement.

BA Club Suite a minimum standard. (At that time), that meant A350 or 787X.

During my years of business travel, I had the pleasure of riding in all 7XX Boeing aircraft. So, let's experience the A350 on my outbound route.

 

Flights purchased for our September flight. Our return, I selected an A380. Have never flown on one and since it was only 10K miles more, we get to experience sitting in the front, along with the Concord Lounge at LHR.

 

To my slight disappointment. I'm sure, for operational reasons, BA has pulled the A350 and replaced it with a 777. At least this aircraft has received it's upgraded seating to include the Club Suite. So, that's good news. No change in seat assignments.

Guess I'll just have to take another long haul in the future to experience the 350.

Edited February 15, 2023 by klfrodo

[CruiserBruce]

Many airlines are retiring the A380s. Too expensive to operate, compared to 777s and A350s.

[GeezerCouple]

Will this still be F so you can access the Concorde Room?

 

If they haven't changed it, that's our favorite airport lounge thus far in Europe (there are many we haven't experienced, of course).  It's part of the treat of awards travel, for sure, although a really good premium bed on a top international carrier makes ALL the difference! 😉

 

The Concorde Room has (or had?) nice comfy "clubby" easy chairs, well cushioned, and nice sofas, also well cushioned... just VERY comfortable for sitting or nodding off.

(I know some seem to prefer the more modern feel of the LH FCL at Frankfurt, but for us, that's very spartan.  Wood arms... it might be "nice wood" (?), but it's not "comfy".  However, DH does make use of the private bedrooms there, for a nice quiet nap.)

 

A shame that we still don't feel good about traveling.

(I was carried off a plane from Hong Kong in mid-December, 2019, and spent 10 days on oxygen.  They diagnosed RSV, which we had never heard of at that point.  But everyone at our teaching hospital soon wondered.... "what ELSE" might I have had at that particular time...?)

I was too, too sick for us to want to risk that until there are better treatments.

 

We are very glad that we had spent the previous several years checking off the trips on our "must do" list, and quite a few on the "would be nice" list...

... except for Moscow and St. Petersburg.  "In another life", perhaps...  ☹️

 

GC

[wowzz]

10 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

Many airlines are retiring the A380s. Too expensive to operate, compared to 777s and A350s.

The OP was talking about the A350 being changed, nothing at all to do with the A380.

[zdcatc12]

19 hours ago, klfrodo said:

Flights purchased for our September flight. Our return, I selected an A380. Have never flown on one and since it was only 10K miles more, we get to experience sitting in the front, along with the Concord Lounge at LHR.

 

8 hours ago, wowzz said:

The OP was talking about the A350 being changed, nothing at all to do with the A380.

Actually they did in the initial post. Though, the post is kind of confusing. Maybe an A380 one way and A350 the other?

[wowzz]

13 minutes ago, zdcatc12 said:

 

Actually they did in the initial post. Though, the post is kind of confusing. Maybe an A380 one way and A350 the other?

OK  - thanks for the clarification.

[klfrodo]

1 hour ago, zdcatc12 said:

 

Actually they did in the initial post. Though, the post is kind of confusing. Maybe an A380 one way and A350 the other?

I'm always willing to learn how to more effectively communicate. So please help me understand how I could have been less confusing.

I said this at the beginning "So, let's experience the A350 on my outbound route.", and this "Our return, I selected an A380" shortly thereafter. 

 

I'm truly not being critical. I'm a firm believer in effective communications. If you or I say something, but the other person hears something else, well, we didn't communicate very effectively.

 

 

[Globaliser]

On 2/15/2023 at 9:41 PM, CruiserBruce said:

Many airlines are retiring the A380s. Too expensive to operate, compared to 777s and A350s.

 

This is rather a Mark Twain story. Even some announced retirement plans have been reversed. For example, see https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelgoldstein/2022/06/28/airbus-a380-shocker-lufthansa-brings-back-permanently-decommissioned-jumbo-jets/ (just a couple of months after this apparently-terminal reiteration: https://airwaysmag.com/lufthansa-close-a380-chapter/).

 

They are not necessarily uneconomical. If you fill an A380, costs per passenger are very competitive. The A380's problems are that (a) you need a lot of passengers to fill them, so this works best on thick routes terminating at slot-constrained airports; and (b) it has little belly capacity for cargo, so you basically have to fill them with passengers - unlike some other aircraft (eg the 777-300ER) that can carry a large amount of profitable cargo even if the passenger load is relatively low.

[zdcatc12]

On 2/16/2023 at 11:40 AM, klfrodo said:

I'm always willing to learn how to more effectively communicate. So please help me understand how I could have been less confusing.

I said this at the beginning "So, let's experience the A350 on my outbound route.", and this "Our return, I selected an A380" shortly thereafter. 

 

I'm truly not being critical. I'm a firm believer in effective communications. If you or I say something, but the other person hears something else, well, we didn't communicate very effectively.

 

 

I pretty much understood, but wasn't positive. It probably would have been less confusing had you switched the A380 paragraph to the end and the end paragraph to the middle. That way the first two would have been talking about the same aircraft, with the A380 info at the end.

 

 Just my 2 cents. I am only replying because you asked, I'm not being critical. Also, because there is only one character different, I could see how someone, especially someone not familiar with Airbus aircraft, could think that the 380 was a typo from 350.

[klfrodo]

11 hours ago, zdcatc12 said:

I pretty much understood, but wasn't positive. It probably would have been less confusing had you switched the A380 paragraph to the end and the end paragraph to the middle. That way the first two would have been talking about the same aircraft, with the A380 info at the end.

 

 Just my 2 cents. I am only replying because you asked, I'm not being critical. Also, because there is only one character different, I could see how someone, especially someone not familiar with Airbus aircraft, could think that the 380 was a typo from 350.

Appreciate the feedback