British Airways Economy: A380 vs 787 Dreamliner vs 777 – Which Is Better?
When you are booking a long-haul British Airways flight, the aircraft type is probably not the first thing most families look at. Price, dates, departure airport and flight times will usually matter more, particularly when you are paying for four seats. But once you start flying the same routes regularly, you do notice differences.
We have now flown British Airways economy on the Airbus A380, Boeing 787 Dreamliner and Boeing 777, including daytime outbound flights and overnight returns during the busy summer period. Anna and the girls would probably tell you that economy is economy and there is not a huge amount between them. I notice the differences more.
None of the three suddenly makes long-haul economy luxurious, but the cabin layout, noise, aircraft age and where you actually sit can make a noticeable difference over eight or nine hours.
If we had the choice again, our order would currently be the A380 upper deck first, the Dreamliner second and the 777 third. The interesting part is why, because simply booking the aircraft at the top of that list would not necessarily give every family the best experience.
Getting excited to board the A380 - Av Geek moments!
The Biggest Difference Was Actually the Cabin Layout
One of the reasons these flights felt different was how the economy seats were arranged.
On the British Airways 777 we flew to Orlando, economy was configured 3-4-3, giving ten seats across the cabin. The Dreamliner was 3-3-3, with nine seats across, while the economy cabin we deliberately chose on the upper deck of the A380 was 2-4-2. British Airways publishes representative seat maps for its aircraft and advises checking the actual configuration through Manage My Booking, as layouts can vary. Those numbers sound like a fairly minor detail until you spend a long-haul flight sitting in them.
The 777 felt the most packed in to us. It is an enormous wide-body aircraft, but fitting ten economy seats across the cabin creates a different feeling from the Dreamliner and particularly from the A380 upper deck.
The Dreamliner still felt like economy, but the 3-3-3 layout felt slightly less dense. As a family of four, though, it creates another problem. Three seats together works very well for three people, but somebody is then sitting separately. On our overnight flight, the three girls sat together and I sat behind them because none of us particularly wanted the children sitting beside somebody they did not know overnight.
The A380 upper deck potentially works very differently for a family of four because of the pairs of seats beside the windows. Two people could sit directly in front of another two, which is something we would seriously consider next time.
British Airways A380 cabin seating in 2-4-2 configuration.
Why We Chose the A380 Upper Deck
We chose our A380 seats quite deliberately. British Airways has economy on both decks of the A380, but we selected the smaller World Traveller cabin towards the rear of the upper deck. We liked the idea of being in a smaller economy cabin with fewer passengers rather than sitting in one of the larger sections of the aircraft. British Airways currently lists 104 World Traveller seats on the upper deck and 199 on the main deck.
For us, that decision largely worked. The upper deck felt relatively calm and surprisingly quiet, and we liked the atmosphere of the smaller cabin. It never felt quite as much like being in a huge economy section as the 777 did. Where we would make a different choice next time is the exact seats.
As there are four of us, we chose four seats across the middle so that everyone could sit together. In hindsight, we might have been better paying the additional seat-selection cost and booking two of the window-side pairs, with two of us sitting directly behind the other two.
That is where airline seat selection becomes frustrating when you are travelling as a family. Paying a little extra for one or two seats is one thing. Paying additional seat-selection charges for four people can quickly add a meaningful amount to the cost of the trip. At the time, sitting four together seemed the sensible compromise. Having now tried it, we would at least price the two-and-two option next time before deciding.
There was another downside to the upper deck that we had not anticipated: the overhead luggage space around our seats was very limited. We had normal small cabin cases rather than anything unusually large, but there simply was not enough room for all of them close to us and some had to be stored further forward. That would not stop us choosing the upper deck again, but it is something we would now factor into the decision.
The Dreamliner Felt the Most Modern
The Dreamliner did not beat the A380 overall for us, but it probably felt like the most modern of the three aircraft. The cabin felt quieter than the 777, the lighting made a difference to the overall atmosphere and the larger windows are immediately noticeable. British Airways’ 787 economy cabin is arranged 3-3-3, which also contributed to it feeling slightly less densely packed than the 777 we had flown previously.
The flight home on our most recent trip was overnight and it gave us a useful comparison because that is usually when economy comfort matters most. It was still difficult to sleep properly. We would not want to give the impression that choosing a Dreamliner suddenly turns World Traveller into a comfortable overnight bed, because it does not. The seats are still economy seats, space is limited and the folding headrests only help so much. If we were choosing purely between the Dreamliner and 777 for another overnight economy flight, we would take the Dreamliner.
The BA Dreamliner with larger windows and better cabin lighting
The 777 Felt the Most Cramped – But It Had One Big Advantage
Of the three aircraft, the 777 would currently be our last choice in economy. The biggest reason was simply how crowded the cabin felt. Ten seats across makes a difference, and we noticed it over a long flight. The aircraft also seemed noticeably noisier to us than the Dreamliner and, perhaps surprisingly, noisier than our experience upstairs on the A380.
The aircraft we flew had been refurbished and the entertainment system was considerably better than the one we experienced on the A380. The screens looked newer, responded more quickly and generally felt much more current.
By comparison, the entertainment equipment on our A380 showed its age. The screens were smaller, slower and were one of the obvious places where the aircraft felt older. So the 777 actually wins that particular comparison for us. It just would not be enough to overcome the denser cabin if we were choosing between otherwise similar flights.
It’s a monster - The BA 777 on stand at Gatwick
What About Seat Recline on an Overnight Flight?
Seat recline is one of those subjects people have very strong opinions about, so this is simply our own experience rather than an attempt to establish airline etiquette for everybody else.
In a tightly packed economy cabin, once the seat in front comes back, the usable space becomes noticeably smaller. On one overnight flight, the passengers in front of us had reclined far enough that cabin crew eventually had to ask for the seats to be moved upright so that we could eat.
For us, that simply highlighted how limited the space can become in long-haul economy. It can affect your tray table, the angle of the entertainment screen and how easily you can move around your seat.
Some passengers will quite reasonably say that the seat reclines and they are entitled to use it, while others prefer not to recline because of the effect on the person behind. We are not interested in starting that argument here. From the point of view of comparing the aircraft, the relevant point is that the denser the economy cabin feels to begin with, the more noticeable that loss of space becomes.
Would We Pay More Just to Fly on a Different Aircraft?
Probably not by itself. We would not turn down a significantly better fare, better flight time or much more convenient airport simply because one route was using a 777 and another had an A380 or Dreamliner.
Aircraft type is a tiebreaker for us, not the starting point. That becomes even more important when you are paying for four people. A relatively small difference per person quickly becomes a much larger difference across the family, particularly once seat selection is added.
We are already seeing the same thing when comparing airports. Sometimes another Florida gateway can offer a much better points redemption or lower cash contribution, and that saving matters more than chasing a particular aircraft. Our Orlando vs Melbourne vs Miami airport comparison looks at why we now consider the whole itinerary rather than automatically choosing the most obvious airport.
If two flights were otherwise very similar, though, aircraft type would influence us. Given similar times and prices, we would take the A380 upper deck or Dreamliner over the 777 based on our experiences so far.
Economy vs Premium When You Are Paying for a Family
There is another obvious answer to many of these complaints: pay for Premium Economy. And sometimes we do.
We have previously flown TUI Premium and will be flying Premium Economy again on another trip. There is no question that paying more can buy additional space and comfort, particularly on an overnight flight. The difficulty is that there are four of us.
An upgrade that looks fairly reasonable when you are pricing one or two seats can become a very different decision once you multiply it by four. Add seat-selection costs on top and the difference can start eating into the budget for the holiday itself. That is why we do not think saying “just book Premium” is particularly useful advice for every family. Sometimes the numbers work and sometimes they simply do not.
Our TUI Premium review looks at what paying for the upgraded cabin actually gave us, while our BA vs TUI comparison looks more broadly at how the two airlines worked for our Florida trips.
For next year’s trip, we are using Premium on the overnight return because that is where we think the additional comfort has the greatest value for us. That does not mean we would automatically pay for it on every flight.
See What Our British Airways Economy Travel Day Was Like on the 777
If you want to see what one of these flights was actually like rather than just compare the cabins on paper, our British Airways Gatwick travel-day video follows the journey from the airport through to our long-haul Economy flight. It gives a much better feel for the cabin, boarding and the overall experience of travelling to Florida with BA.
A380 vs Dreamliner vs 777: Which Would We Choose?
If we were choosing again based purely on our own economy experiences, our order would be A380 upper deck first, Dreamliner second and 777 third.
The A380 wins because the smaller upper-deck economy cabin felt quieter and calmer, and the 2-4-2 layout creates some potentially excellent seating options for families. Next time, we would seriously consider paying more for two pairs of seats rather than sitting four across the middle. The smaller overhead bins and older entertainment system were definite compromises, but neither would be enough to change our overall choice.
The Dreamliner comes a very close second. It felt modern, relatively quiet and slightly less densely packed than the 777. For an overnight flight, it would certainly be our preference between those two aircraft.
The 777 comes third because our experience of the 3-4-3 economy cabin simply felt the most cramped and noisy. The refurbished entertainment system was much better than on our A380, but over a long flight we would prioritise the overall cabin experience ahead of having the newest screen.
The biggest thing we have learned, though, is that the aircraft name alone does not give you the answer. The exact cabin, seat layout, where your family wants to sit and how much the airline wants to charge you to choose those seats can change the experience completely. That is why we now look at the seat map as well as the aircraft before booking.
For a couple, the two seats together on the A380 upper deck might make it an easy decision. For a family of three, a Dreamliner 3-3-3 layout may work brilliantly. For a family of four trying to keep everybody together without paying heavily for seat selection, a completely different configuration may make more sense.
There is no aircraft that suddenly makes economy comfortable. But there are definitely economy cabins we would choose before others. For us, if the price, route and timings were broadly equal, we would be heading upstairs on the A380.