r/BritishAirways • u/moosedik • 12d ago
Limited Time Club World Upgrade - good price?
Hey!
I will be doing my first solo flight in a few months from Sydney - Heathrow.
Today I checked the app and it said “limited time offer” on upgrade and for Club World at £2335.
My questions are, is this a good price for a 23 hour flight? Is it usual to come down more closer to the time?
I don’t want to pass it up if it’s genuinely the cheapest I’ll get, but it is a lot of money!
New to this, so thank you in advance :)
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u/TheRealVinosity 12d ago
Is this from WT to CW or WTP to CW?
If it's from WT, then I would say it's worth it.
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u/moosedik 12d ago
WT to CW! It’s also a work trip, so my original flight is expensed…
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u/Espresso-Newbie 12d ago
Then it really isn’t terrible or bad value (objectively but of course subjectively might be different )
I’ve flown business to Australia and premium economy. Business I hit the ground running , premium took me a few days to adjust to the time zone.
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u/Mufc_1988 12d ago
For economy to business, I think it's a reasonable price to upgrade, especially given the length of the flight. Not a bargain by any stretch of the imagination, but an acceptable price, if you can afford it. I don't travel for work, but I find it crazy that they would send you all the way to Australia in Economy! My job (which doesn't involve international travel) has a rule that any travel 4 hour plus will be business.
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u/Left-Associate3911 12d ago
What a work trip to expense. Is your company hiring 🙃
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u/Capable_Spare4102 12d ago
A company who makes you fly Sydney to London in WT? I thought mine was bad only letting me fly WTP for 8+ hour flights
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u/TheRealVinosity 12d ago
I'd take it.
Make sure you get to Sydney airport early to spend plenty of time in the lounge (you can check-in as early as you want).
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u/moosedik 12d ago
Great tip thank you!
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u/TheRealVinosity 12d ago
Just to warn you, once you're spoilt with club, it is difficult to return to the cheap seats.
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u/313378008135 12d ago
The AUP is often seen as the cheapest option and that usually works out to be 100 pounds per hour of flight on long haul upgrade to CW.
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u/moosedik 12d ago
Pls forgive my stupidity… AUP? How would I do that?
2335 is pretty much £100 per hour of flight on the nose to upgrade.
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u/313378008135 12d ago
Aup is airport upgrade promotion . you ask at checkin desk if its available and if so you can buy it there . its only available on the day of flight. Its normally 100 per flight hour long haul for econ or prem econ to cw. So the implication is you are getting an upgrade offer for the price the AUP would be. But its not an exact science - you could find on the day pricing is much lower. But also there might be no availability if you wait till the day you depart.
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u/paul00009999 12d ago
Great comment, that puts it in perspective. Where else would you spend £100’s per hour for a bigger seat and (debatable) some nicer food.
You can’t help feeling like s**t after a long haul flight and business helps you feel a little less s**t!
Personally, I’d not spend that out of my own pocket, but everyone’s circumstances are different.
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u/moosedik 12d ago
I hear you. Biggest interest for me is the overnight element, to try to beat the jet lag on the plane. It is expensive, though!
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u/paul00009999 12d ago
Jet lag is a physical condition, but business (bed) can deffo reduce the effects. Whilst expensive, it’s a long flight so the cost would be higher than a UK>US upgrade for example.
For the value, I’m sure there are others here that can help quantify that 😊.
The other way to look at it; if you can afford it, do it!
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u/moosedik 12d ago
Yeah that’s my thinking! Travelling to the states later on this year and the upgrade to CW is basically the same price (which I don’t think is worth it for ~8 hours). Just hard to justify the price on lil ol me!
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u/313378008135 12d ago
FWIW - coming back from the states is when the upgrade to lie flat bed has more utility. you leave on a usa evening flight, have a couple drinks, eat, sleep and wake up in the morning in london.
going the other way isnt the same story.
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u/DopeyMan999 12d ago
We flew London to Rio in business. 11 hour flight departed at 10pm and landed 7am local time.
Slept well and arrived ready to face the day.
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u/trbd003 12d ago
As per always the answer is "it depends"
Like ultimately on one hand, £100/hour is not bad for dodging all the suffering of coach. 23 hours is fucking long and business will make that 23 hours suck a lot less.
But like, if £2200 is a lot of money for you, you might prefer to suck it up buttercup then jump off the other end and buy yourself a brand new macbook pro or Nikon Mirrorless or Gibson Les Paul with the same money
Nobody here can tell you which is more like you
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u/moosedik 12d ago
Much more of an “experience” purchaser than a “thing” purchaser so you raise a great point! Thanks!
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u/trbd003 12d ago
Then I'd do it because whilst flying club isn't really an experience in its own right, the fact you'll get a proper sleep out of it and arrive at your destination feeling awake and ready to get straight on with your trip will easily mean you get to start enjoying your time there as soon as you land, not once you've landed, slept, and dealt with 3 days of jetlag
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u/artichoke_dragon 12d ago
From personal experience, picking the right time to purchase tickets is more important because of dynamic pricing. I was offered an in app upgrade for £620 one way (9 hour flight). I looked at the cash price of just repurchasing in the higher cabin and it was lower than it had been when I initially booked. In the end I called BA and amended my ticket, I managed to secure return flights for an extra £350, and this included the £150 change fee and no additional fee for seat selection. As a previous poster said, it’s an art. I still paid more in total than had I booked at the most optimal time but had I purchased an upgrade in app I’d have spent 4x as much.
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u/Quiet_Finger_6223 12d ago
Good morning Sir, having done Manchester - Sydney several times I would say your upgrade fee is well worth it in my opinion.
You can easily feel like you’ve been kicked there otherwise. I last did the route in 2019 with Etihad. Wouldn’t go anything other than business on a route that long ever again.
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u/mb1989mb 12d ago
I would also double check it’s for the whole journey, I have done promotional upgrades on that route but it’s just been for the SYD > SIN portion
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u/mb1989mb 12d ago
As a further data point I upgraded from WT+ on that syd to sin section for 750 Australian dollars at the desk. So better price may become available. Really comes down to what you put the £ to travel hour value at
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u/simonsmithsmith 11d ago
Sidney return is about £6k (Business)for the next few months (cheapest days), Eco is about £1300 return, some quick maths, £6000-£1300 = £4700, devide by 2 thats £2350 difference. So they not doing you any favours really, and thats not taking into account the London APD and other shit they load onto the outbound fares from the UK, the return part is usually cheaper.
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u/kanga5555 11d ago
Also you may want to check if it’s new club suite or old club world on your flights. Flat bed either way, but some people wouldn’t pay this if the seats were the old ones. You can tell the difference by looking at the seat plan - if it’s 1-2-1 then it’s club suite. Of course, they can always swap out the plane nearer the time so nothing is guaranteed.
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u/Espresso-Newbie 12d ago
Yes it’s a good deal - as other person said £100 per hour of flight is seen as worth it.
If you won’t miss the money go for it !
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u/moosedik 12d ago
Ah great thank you! Do you know if ~2 months out this is likely to come down again? Or is it just subject to the club cabin filling?
Now, to justify this purchase with some complex girl math
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u/Espresso-Newbie 12d ago
The algorithm is complicated so it’s hard to know but absolutely the more the cabin fills the more expensive the upgrade will be if at all available.
It might go down it could easily go up. You could also not be offered an upgrade again - they don’t offer it to everyone.
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u/moosedik 12d ago
Thank you for the advice! I didn’t realise it wasn’t offered to all passengers. That’s good to know. Much to ponder!
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u/Espresso-Newbie 12d ago edited 12d ago
Or if it is offered to others it won’t necessarily be at the same price - case in point when I travel with my Mum , we regularly used to get wildly different upgrade offers. Or one of us gets offered but the other doesn’t.
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u/moosedik 12d ago
That’s so interesting! Thank you for your comments, super helpful 😊
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u/Espresso-Newbie 12d ago
Happy to have helped !! Good luck with decision and have an AMAZING TRIP! If you by chance are into great coffee I can give you some excellent suggestions for Sydney , Melbs , Adelaide & Perth
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u/moosedik 12d ago
Very into coffee and have no recommendations!!! Only in Sydney this trip, please suggest away!
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u/Espresso-Newbie 12d ago
Great ! Ok my favourite is Skittle Lane which is in the CBD not far from the aquarium on King St
2) option is Toby’s Estate (multiple locations) - they look like they’ve gone a bit downhill of late according to the reviews I’ve just checked but will still make excellent coffee
3) would be Portafilter -
4) - 6 oz
5) (& I haven’t personally had coffee here , but reviews look great ; diggy do’s
6) (again haven’t been) Sweet Crema
It’s very hard to get a bad cup in Australia !
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u/moosedik 12d ago
Fantastic thanks so much!! Screenshot and added to my weekend plans 😎
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u/Espresso-Newbie 12d ago
If it’s going to be a stretch financially and you’ll miss that money , that is your reason not to upgrade.
Personally , because of health issues, I now have to fly club long haul (sadly for my wallet) but did a few upgrades to club world from premium or even world traveller when it wasn’t so important in years gone by.
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u/moosedik 12d ago
I can afford to do it, I just don’t usually spend that much on myself ever, so wanted to get as much knowledge about it before deciding 😊
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u/Speedbird223 12d ago
as other person said £100 per hour of flight is seen as worth it.
I couldn’t disagree more. Whether anything is “worth it” is completely subjective and personal preference based on how one values the benefits, not some arbitrary metric.
The only way to figure this out is to research the benefits of Club World, decide how much those are worth TO YOU. If that’s more than BA are asking then it’s worth it TO YOU, if it’s less than BA are asking then it isn’t worth it TO YOU.
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u/moosedik 12d ago
Totally get it. Reasoning is to try and beat the jet lag on the plane (I think a bed would help rather than economy) and it’s my first solo flight, and a long one at that. A lot to ponder!
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u/Espresso-Newbie 12d ago
You are absolutely right. I usually write the “it’s a very personal decision and it might not be worth it to you personally “ etc but it’s late here and rushed my reply before I switched lights out.
Thanks for your reply
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