A very BA experience - BA B787-9 First Class, LHR to AUH

[PaulST]

Goodness gracious me, I’ve just had the worst flight in first class I’ve ever had. Now I stress the point that it was far from horrible (unlike the EY Y flight from AUH to CAI the following day) and I count myself as very lucky to fly in first class anyway, but it appears that my run of good BA flights has come to an end.


I’ve always read negative things about BA F but my single experience (LHR-DOH 772) last year was absolutely fantastic. It’s really the crew that make the flight good, and I had a fantastic team looking after me.


Sadly, this most recent flight sounds a lot more like other peoples experiences.


The Concorde room itself was a mixed picture. I was actually surprised that the Cabanas weren’t terrible. Other videos on youtube portrayed them pretty poorly but I didn’t mind them. Sure, it’s not The Pier, but it’s not bad. The service within the cabana was also pretty good (including getting something from the lunch menu a little early), and out on the balcony, although there were a few more sour faces in the dining booths. It’s really a sorry state where people feel so miserable working in what should be the most prestigious airport lounge in Britain.


The massage was OK although short (15 minutes) and not as enjoyable as the one in the Qantas first lounge I had the week prior.


Just make sure that you book both the cabana and the day spa a week or two in advance as they tend to book out otherwise.


Anyway, things started well when I was greeted by an incredibly friendly FA who showed me to my seat (something lacking in both recent QF F flights by the way). Sadly, she wasn’t looking after me (In club world I think) and I then sat there for 8 minutes (I was timing because I was filming for my video review) before anyone came to offer a drink. Their names were never introduced and I never met the CSM (I still remember the names of everyone last time – which shows how good the impression was that they left on me). One drink, no top-ups, and everything was cleared for takeoff.

The food was quite tasty with the exception of the sandwiches at the end which were quite stale. I didn’t bother complaining as I hate to cause a fuss and probably wasn’t that hungry anyway (since the lunch service was reasonably slow…)


I won’t go through everything in detail other than to say that things were very slow. When I pressed the call bell, they responded swiftly but they weren’t proactive at all. And a few drink requests were mixed up and they clearly didn’t listen to my responses during small talk as they asked if I was flying for work or travel twice.


Anyway, I quite like the suite itself as well as the colours in the first class cabin. It’s clearly more of a business class seat (albeit slightly larger) but I can’t complain too much. At least the BA accountants haven’t killed off the PJs and amenity kit on what is a 6hr day flight.


I must admit that this flight, and the club world A320 flight from FCO earlier that morning, have left a sour taste in my mouth and I doubt I’ll fly BA in the near future. Actually that’s probably not true since there’s a lack of OW airlines within Europe, but still, I certainly won’t blow a whole lot of points to check out their premium cabins anyway.


Here’s my video. I must admit that I was a lot nicer in my description than what I really felt as the crew seemed very junior and I didn’t want to get them into trouble.

 

[kelvedon]

Another thoroughly enjoyable TR PaulST. Very nicely shot and put together.

 

[TonyHancock]

The BA crews are so variable. I always find it quite amusing when boarding; from my experience it is 50-50 as to whether the FA can find the seat. These days I just go straight to the seat and the FA catches up later having lapped the cabin.

I had a brilliant crew on my recent LHR-NRT in F. I quite like the BA 787 F set up, with the place to hang stuff and lots of storage space. The buddy seat has gone but that suits me. Also had a brilliant FA on my more recent SIN-LHR - no problems on the top ups at all. (hic ) As I am oft heard to say, I won't be taking any other airlines J product over BA F any time soon.

The CCR is an unusual lounge. On FT there is a lot of discussion around the failure of staff to provide service for anyone but "the regulars". When I first visited the lounge I didn't really know what to make of it, I noticed staff would greet some pax and not others, but these days with 80 hours a year in there I find myself greeted upon arrival by friendly staff members who I have come to know. Sitting at the bar is a great way to get to know some of the best lounge staff I have met anywhere in the world.

Having said all of that I have had some extraordinarily poor service in Club World, no top ups, failure to clear glasses, forgotten at a meal service etc etc. It can be very trying at times.....but the single best thing about BA is the BAEC. So I keep going!! Plenty more F to come this year courtesy of confirmed points and voucher upgrades.

 

[kermatu]

Nice socks.

And thanks for yet another superb video and review.

Looked like quite a good variety of starters. mains and afternoon tea for a relatively short flight.

 

[opusman]

As Lucky says, BA F is the world's best J product

 

[TonyHancock]

As Lucky says, BA F is the world's best J product

...and as I never tire of saying I would fly BA F over any J product I have flown......and that list includes QF/EY/EK/CX/JL/UL/MH/AA/AY/VA/LA.

I am really not a defender of BA, I have has many awful experiences and unless I can snag a rear facing bulkhead in Club World I really struggle to face those utterly dire cabins, but the reality is the F hard and soft product is a significant step up from J on any of the airlines I have flown.

I am about to embark on my 10th F sector with BA this year and to me it is not much different from the QF F experience (40 sectors over five years for me there.) ...apart from the breakfasts being significantly better on BA.

 

[Pushka]

There is a load of useful storage there. I like that you can hang your clothes inside your suite.

Nice report and thank you.

 

[love_the_life]

I love reading your TRs and watching your videos @PaulST. They are always great and full of useful info.
Only flown BA F once and the service was pretty ordinary at the time I thought. It was about 11 yrs ago though.

 

[Albert_Thurgood]

For a long time, I have maintained that "BA" Stands for "Brutish Airlines".

 

[gphamor]

Goodness gracious me, I’ve just had the worst flight in first class I’ve ever had. Now I stress the point that it was far from horrible (unlike the EY Y flight from AUH to CAI the following day) and I count myself as very lucky to fly in first class anyway, but it appears that my run of good BA flights has come to an end.


I’ve always read negative things about BA F but my single experience (LHR-DOH 772) last year was absolutely fantastic. It’s really the crew that make the flight good, and I had a fantastic team looking after me.


Sadly, this most recent flight sounds a lot more like other peoples experiences.


The Concorde room itself was a mixed picture. I was actually surprised that the Cabanas weren’t terrible. Other videos on youtube portrayed them pretty poorly but I didn’t mind them. Sure, it’s not The Pier, but it’s not bad. The service within the cabana was also pretty good (including getting something from the lunch menu a little early), and out on the balcony, although there were a few more sour faces in the dining booths. It’s really a sorry state where people feel so miserable working in what should be the most prestigious airport lounge in Britain.


The massage was OK although short (15 minutes) and not as enjoyable as the one in the Qantas first lounge I had the week prior.


Just make sure that you book both the cabana and the day spa a week or two in advance as they tend to book out otherwise.


Anyway, things started well when I was greeted by an incredibly friendly FA who showed me to my seat (something lacking in both recent QF F flights by the way). Sadly, she wasn’t looking after me (In club world I think) and I then sat there for 8 minutes (I was timing because I was filming for my video review) before anyone came to offer a drink. Their names were never introduced and I never met the CSM (I still remember the names of everyone last time – which shows how good the impression was that they left on me). One drink, no top-ups, and everything was cleared for takeoff.

The food was quite tasty with the exception of the sandwiches at the end which were quite stale. I didn’t bother complaining as I hate to cause a fuss and probably wasn’t that hungry anyway (since the lunch service was reasonably slow…)


I won’t go through everything in detail other than to say that things were very slow. When I pressed the call bell, they responded swiftly but they weren’t proactive at all. And a few drink requests were mixed up and they clearly didn’t listen to my responses during small talk as they asked if I was flying for work or travel twice.


Anyway, I quite like the suite itself as well as the colours in the first class cabin. It’s clearly more of a business class seat (albeit slightly larger) but I can’t complain too much. At least the BA accountants haven’t killed off the PJs and amenity kit on what is a 6hr day flight.


I must admit that this flight, and the club world A320 flight from FCO earlier that morning, have left a sour taste in my mouth and I doubt I’ll fly BA in the near future. Actually that’s probably not true since there’s a lack of OW airlines within Europe, but still, I certainly won’t blow a whole lot of points to check out their premium cabins anyway.


Here’s my video. I must admit that I was a lot nicer in my description than what I really felt as the crew seemed very junior and I didn’t want to get them into trouble.

 

[gphamor]

I share Paul's disappointing experience with BA F but mine was far worse.
It was a flight from HKG-LHR on an older plane, there was no storage space at all, the crew were worse than amateur - despite the proudly stating that they had been flying for over 15 years -, the food was inedible and it was truly the worst experience of the trip where my wife and I were fortunate to experience F and J flights on a number of carriers. These included Cathay - which was outstanding; and Singapore Airlines which was also very good.
To put it into perspective, the Alitalia flight from London to Rome in Economy was a better experience than the BA flight.

 

[PaulST]

I share Paul's disappointing experience with BA F but mine was far worse.
It was a flight from HKG-LHR on an older plane, there was no storage space at all, the crew were worse than amateur - despite the proudly stating that they had been flying for over 15 years -, the food was inedible and it was truly the worst experience of the trip where my wife and I were fortunate to experience F and J flights on a number of carriers. These included Cathay - which was outstanding; and Singapore Airlines which was also very good.
To put it into perspective, the Alitalia flight from London to Rome in Economy was a better experience than the BA flight.

I too can vouch for Alitalia. The service between Rome and Verona was far better than BA Club Europe from Rome to Heathrow. Ahhhh it's a sorry state. I hope QF never become like this...

 

[Prof Henry]

My experience with BA has only been occasional but it's steadily getting worse. The most recent was PAL-LHR in Y – distinctly inferior to the outward LHR-FCO on Alitalia. The departure was decidedly late and unexplained. The 2 FAs greeting us at the door in PAL seemed more interested in chatting between themselves; passenger in front of us travelling with an infant politely asked something in Italian about care for her baby: "Oh no, dear, we only speak English on this plane" and then turned away from her so they could get our names wrong and make very audible comments about people expecting them to speak Italian on a fight from Italy. A truly Fawlty Moment.

 

[PaulST]

It is impressive how cough they are. Since Oct last year I've flown LHR-FCO-LHR (return was in club europe) and LHR-ATH-LHR and been thoroughly unimpressed. Barely a greeting when you enter and the food they charge you for is terrible! I think I paid $20 for a toastie and small bottle of wine. The photos of the food look great so I thought that they may actually put some effort into it, but no, it looks like standard Y food (from a proper airline that actually offers food in Y). And being a BA flight attendant must now be the easiest job ever. They quickly walk through the cabin asking quietly if anyone wants food, get turned down by 90-95% of the pax and then.... chill out in the galley.
They really are a joke.