British Airways A380 First Class: Pleasant But Unmemorable

I was a bit surprised you picked this since you recently blogged about how they're going to be retrofitting their A380s in the near future. Did you book this before that news?

@ pstm91 -- They're going to reconfigure the jets in 2026 or so, so these will still be flying for a few more years. Ultimately I was on a first class award connecting from Etihad, so there's not really another first class option across the Atlantic that's better. American has first class, but that's being eliminated even sooner, in 2024 or so.

Ben, don't you prefer LX First over BA First? I do, Hard & Soft Product. Not to mention the mess with LHR compared to ZRH. Just my point.

Ben, I really think you are spot on with the comparison to American Airlines' first class. BA's investment in the soft product has improved, the hard product has remained the same for at least 12-13 years but it's generally a decent seat - it is the human capital investment that is really lacking. Going from being addressed by name and referred to amongst the crew by name on SQ to a 15 minute wait for a coffee on BA. That really sums it up perfectly. Flying BA is a decent use of miles but to pay cash for first class, or even your company's cash... I am sure it would be better to fly Upper Class on Virgin or route through Germany, France or Switzerland and fly in one of their F cabins. I'd argue that if you are in one of the premium Upper Class seats on their a330-900s you actually have a very similar amount of room to the BA F seat. Simply doesn't compare to ANA, Cathay, SQ, Swiss etc.

Hey Ben,

Just to give some context to the service being slow despite the low load.

BA has the following crew complements in F:
14 seat cabin - 3
8 seat cabin - 2
If there are less than 8 pax in the 14 seat cabin one of the crew goes help elsewhere.

The F crew also look after the pilots. And some of these can also be more demanding than actual F class pax!

I think BA 1st class on A380 is one of the best Business class products out there. I prefer Eithad's or Japan Airlines 1st class product.

@ Duck Ling -- Very interesting, thanks! That might explain a lot. It seems a bit ridiculous to send a first class crew elsewhere when the other cabins (except premium economy) were proportionally even less empty than first.

@ Nelson -- For sure, SWISS is definitely better in first class than British Airways.

I really appreciate the deodorant stick they include in this kit - it's an inoffensive smell and a really practical thing to have on hand instead of needing to dig through my luggage. The little face wash is terrible, though. I'm actually wearing the pajama shirt and EK pajama pants right now, haha

The toilet roll is tacky and very unhygienic. Unacceptable, even in Economy. Just wow, that is disgusting!!!

Which lounge did you use at Heathrow ?

@ D3kingg -- I visited the Concorde Room and Galleries First Lounge, and will be reviewing both.

Weather IRROPS must’ve cleared out by the time you flew, last Sunday when I transited Heathrow, nearly every flight was completely full and the Economy rebooking line was at least 300 people long in the transit area…

Thanks for the quick update Ben. TBH outdated seat , laughable tec, very average food ( and service ) and below par service. This is just unacceptable for first and BA only trade on a ( poorly founded ) historic reputation. Compared to a “ real “ first class this really is embarrassing

BA is almost always cheaper than any other first class offering out there when paying cash. Cheaper than LX, LH, EK, and EVERYONE is less expensive than AF.

Just missed you Ben if you flew yesterday.

The variance is the biggest problem on BA F. A good crew do come in to bathrooms regularly and your meal will be served in a full cabin less than an hour from take off. A poor crew and you never see them. I travel BA F several times a year and honestly price-wise it’s fine. It’s often better than any other equivalent service-per-pound I can get on other routes. I just wish there was consistency as it goes between spot-on and first day on the job.

All that being said I really like 1A/K on the A380 as the staircase in the middle means a lot of privacy and rarely find myself being disturbed by crew.

Could be worse. Could be AA.

The food presentation looks quite good. As Ben stated, BA doesn’t have a caviar service, but that is also not part of Swiss’s FC (only on a rotating basis).

I had four BA FC flights in the past and overall enjoyed them. I agree the skills of the crew varied significantly.

British Airways [insert aircraft] First Class: Pleasant But Still Unmemorable

FTFY.

Oh, Lucky. When you say ‘I’ve had better service on just about any Asian airline’, I wish you’d be specific. There are three groups to choose from — and I’m including only East Asian carriers, not South Asian ones like Air India or SriLankan:

Group 1 (outstanding and exceptional across the board): Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific, All Nippon Airways, Japan Airlines, EVA Air, Starlux Airlines, possibly also China Airlines.

Group 2 (well-intentioned but short of perfect): Thai Airways, Malaysia Airlines, Garuda Indonesia, Korean Air, Asiana Airlines. Likely also Vietnam Airlines, Philippine Airlines, Royal Brunei.

Group 3 (completely forgettable; avoid): All Mainland Chinese carriers — I’m not sure how Hainan and Xiamen (which were excellent prepandemic) have fared since 2022.

I’m pretty sure you mean only the crème de la crème, like SQ, EVA and ANA, the first two of which gave you outstanding experiences on this trip — EVA in particular. The Taiwanese have got aviation luxury nailed down to a point. The Thais? Not so much.

Irrespective of aircraft, BA's food in first class is usually good. If one wants a nice seat/suite, one books a recently updated 777. The current CEO is desperately trying to restore the quality that Alex Cruz destroyed. In spite of the challenge, BA's A380s will receive their updated first and business suites before Lufthansa receives its updated business class suites.

That roll of toilet paper sums it all!

Why would you route through Germany if you’re travelling to London — especially if it’s a work trip on your company’s money? Ben clearly makes the point that if you’re flying US to London, there isn’t a better (and almost certainly not a cheaper) non-stop FC option.

The comparison with Virgin UC makes no sense to me: outdated herringbone seats that are ridiculously cramped compared to BA’s FC; plus the chance you’ll end up seated next to the bar, listening to a group of drunk loudmouths arguing about whose football team was better. No thanks.

My most recent BA FC was last month from Miami. It pretty much matched Ben’s experience. I had a mature F/A who clearly knew her stuff, and for whom nothing was too much trouble. Compared to the hyper-attentiveness of the best SE Asian service she would have scored badly. But I actually dislike that kind of Singapore/EVA/Cathay service, which I experience as intrusive, obsequious and often robotic.

Pretty much everyone always uses my name on every BA and KLM Business Class flight (the ones I take most often, for work), let alone BA FC.

@The Nice Paul - nice to see you! It’s been a while since I’ve seen you chip in… I’ve always appreciated your PoV… you’ve been missed!

Oh boy - the toilet roll!

When BA F is bad, it’s REALLY bad. My last F flight had two gossiping (male) FA’s who just could not be bothered. Slowwwew service, forgotten courses and general incompetence.

That said, the bedding / amenity kit / guaranteed pajamas / LPGS / and meals are very good! BA is let down by its service. It’s not a one off - the last few times I’ve felt it was a junior thrust into F unplanned.

If they retrained the service to the poor performers, it would lift BA back into a solid F product. Until then, the “BA F is the best business class” jokes will keep coming…

I’m not sure about 2026. Our booked A380 to IAD was taken out of service a few weeks ago.

There's no incentive for BA to change. They have a rusted-on customer base of wealthy Londoners who apparently don't know to expect anything better.

I wasn't impressed by Vietnam Airlines. The actual service during meals was as you described, but the general lack of cabin discipline was shocking - bags on seats during takeoff and landing, passengers fully reclined at takeoff, passengers up to use the toilet after landing before we'd even left the active runway, and all completely unchallenged by the crew. It didn't fill me with confidence that they'd be able act assertively in a real emergency.

Caviar is vastly overrated.

Too bad the pj's don't have footies, it would be more in line with the the childish comments about an extra roll of tp set out, and especially the roll in use not being folded into a perfect point. My goodness, doesn't BA recognize how refined and fragile their FC passengers are?

It is no surprise BA is significantly more profitable than AF and all the Asian airlines with superior F products (but not quite as profitable as the US airlines, which have truly perfected the model of overcharging and under-delivering). Most of the commentary on blogs tends to forget airlines (at least those not in the Middle East and the developing world) are businesses in a ruthlessly competitive industry and not just prestige projects and / or there for the convenience of those churning US credit cards.

The overwhelming majority of BA F seats fly between London and the US, where the only direct competition is business class products on VS or the US airlines, hence BA F is 'good enough' to be better than all of the competition. Speaking as one of those wealthy Londoners, I'm not really interested in doing a short haul eurobiz connecting flight and then messing around in Paris or Frankfurt and wasting four hours of my time just to be able to fly AF or LH F to New York and BA is well aware of this fact. You'd be mad to fly BA F from London to Dubai when Emirates F is the same price of course, but BA is well aware of this and prices BA F as not much more than Emirates J as a result. In short, BA F is basically 'business class plus' but that's exactly how BA wants it to be.

Interesting info to share. Unless BA dynamically staffs crews based on loads (if their baseline staffing is greater than the minimum), which I very much doubt they do, the policy makes no sense

Hi The Nice Paul, when mentioning Virgin Atlantic, I was referring to Virgin Upper Class's Retreat Suites specifically on the a330-900 which is a wonderful product, with great tech, lots of space, a proper buddy seat for dining and a massive TV with wireless charging etc. I was absolutely not referring to their outdated and much maligned herringbone product, as I was specific about the a330-900. The service on Virgin is often better and the planes are brand new. BA is fine, but for first class it is by no means fabulous.

I generally find BA’s FAs to be very friendly and fun BUT often only if you engage them in an intentional way and ask them how they’re doing, crack a few jokes etc. I’ve often gotten a few extra freebies in Y or PY when being very friendly to them. It’s odd to have to be proactive to get good service from a crew, but it seems to work with them.

It’s very rare that I’ve had a truly awful crew member on BA but there have been a couple.

Where would you put China Airlines? I'd move OZ up and put CI in Group 2,

Tbh I'd also put China Eastern and China Southern in that Group 2, esp MU on their newer craft. But again, being Chinese/Taiwanese usually helps the service.

Elitist.

Washroom are very poor in F on BA. The size of economy class, from what I remember when I flew Y class, and the pajamas are not good quality with no pockets. Otherwise I have no issues with their product. Please don't refer to an USA carrier having first, it's non existent.

You must be new here.

I have done 10 RT on BA A380 this year. They are investing 4 days on each FC FA to improve service , and it shows. I find it a very good but not cutting edge service. Next flight is after Christmas and some O/D are very dear…as in $32k RT.

First class is meant to showcase the very best customer experience that an airline can offer. Perhaps you don't have much experience with first class travel, but take it from me, this effort was ordinary at best. BA knows very well that they have a lot customer base and effectively zero competition across the pond in first, so they charge champagne prices for a boutique beer experience. On other routes with super-premium competitors; to Japan, Hong Kong, or Singapore, for instance; they rely on discounted first class fares and a lot of Brits who will always fly BA no matter what.

You should book a trip from London to Singapore, flying with Singapore Airlines on the way out, and BA on the way back. Any class of service will do, but you should try biz or first so the difference is completely obvious.

The service pace in First has slowed significantly in recent years. That’s my biggest complaint. The rest - seat, food, etc - is all fine. Not spectacular but perfectly acceptable for the price.

Having three flight attendants for 14 seats and two for eight seats simply isn’t enough given that one of them is assigned to galley duty leaving only two or one to actually serve. I can’t blame the crew. There just simply aren’t enough of them to serve at a sensible pace. That becomes a real problem on a short night flight.

Admire the naivety thinking that spare crew went to help elsewhere.
Skiving.
BA lost the plot years ago stemming from the top and it took no time to reach every level. Trouble is it takes much longer to rebuild those past high standards.

Yes, on the night flights definitely eat beforehand and try to sleep straight away as you will likely be woken up in at least 5/5.5 hours as people around you are clinking their cutlery as they eat breakfast. Daytime flights it's not really an issue unless you have a lot of work to do and want the table do be a proper desk. I've noticed that BA F fares skyrocket in May and are very comparable to the European carriers but for the rest of winter they are quite reasonable to many N. American ports. Failing that, I would hop over to CDG or ZRH over a nonstop.

…said no regular reader of this site EVER.

@jcil It is not about whining or being fragile.
When you pay thousands of dollars for First or Business Class, you have a certain set of expectation about services provided by the flight attendants.
Just like Pete says above the best customer experience.

Ben's post here is not a complain to BA, but as a review of his own experience.
In a simple analogy, it's like paying for a fine dining service, only to have sub-par services provided by the restaurant.
I will give a 4 out of 5-star review, but it's still not a complain.

@Pete I will take BA first and then SQ later.
I'd prefer to have bad experience first and good experience later 😀

Do people actually go to the lav to change into and out of the pajamas? I think I’d likely just sleep in my clothes. I’ve only flown in economy for intercontinental flights so am ignorant on the norms.

LTNS Paul - welcome back! 🙂

I completely agree with you. SQ is faultlessly polite, but come across to this Aussie as robotic. I like to ‘help’ an FA when travelling - hand them the emergency card during manual safety announcements, make up my own bed, hand a glass over, rather than letting them take it etc) but SQ will insist they do everything. I feel that it drains the ‘relationship’ of its personality by clearly defining it as a servant/master situation.

Again, completely well-intentioned; just not to my taste.

I was in First on a LHR-JNB round trip. They managed to run out of desert choices on the 787, ie with very few seats to begin with. My IFE was broken on both legs. I sat in the same seat on the same jet, by chance, so I suspect they knowingly send out broken equipment as opposed to blocking the seat. They eventually emailed me to tell me that they credited 20 000 points to my Avios account, except I don’t have one. It’s really carelessness all around. I slept well, wifi worked, food was ok. Coffee maker also broken on one leg. All a bit of a joke as far as first class experiences go. Now that AAdvantage arbitrage benefit has gone vis a vis BA booked flights you won’t see me again on their jets.

Sad to say I don’t go to London because of BA, the ridiculous add on fees, the food and the Monarchy. And NYC now has better theatre scene so I am quite happy to fly LH First from Germany or even AF business from anywhere in France back to SFO. And France and Germany have so many more great destinations. I am quite happy with BREXIT.

What a moronic comment. The theatre scene is far better. Free museums. We have a huge variety of food. London has far more to offer than any American cities. At least you don’t have to tip everyone for even breathing and we have public transport . Even Leeds has more culture than most American cities.

I've spent a LOT of time in NYC, and. LOT of time in London, and for shopping, theatre, fine dining, and general elegance I have to say that London wins, hands-down. For opera and classical music lovers, it's a draw. Likewise for museums.

Both cities have their advantages and disadvantages, but if I were forced at gunpoint to choose which I was to spend the rest of my life in, London would win, hands-down. As always, YMMV...

The trip over to Zurich in Swiss first followed by a painless 45 minute transfer to a London City flight is no hardship.

Good point! I'd probably take the BA flight on the way back so I could sleep for 8 of the 14 hours...

The poor buggers. Those of us who fly up the front and have access to priority service phone numbers are inclined to forget how those less privileged are regarded.

Behaving in a friendly manner with the cabin crew is a good policy in any cabin class on any airline.

My impression of BA First is that it intentionally not positioned too much above Club World (Business). BA was one of the first carriers introducing PE and then starting to unbundle fare in Y. Like this they have a product almost on every dot of the demand curve.

That's a very sad looking afternoon tea....

So you avoid London "because of...the Monarchy".
As Icarus says, what a moronic comment.
Totally moronic.

What a moronic comment. Perhaps you have an undescended teste?

Peter, get a life. do you have an undescended teste?

As many here have said before, BA F is simply a decent business class product. That toilet paper roll thing is pretty telling; not a good look for that particular crew.

I've just flown to LHR on United in J, not a flight I had high expectations for but goodness, it was delightful. Very tasty food served right away, decent low-end champers (Heidsieck Monopole), friendly seasoned FAs who constantly looked after our aisle but were not intrusive at all, perfectly comfortable hard product on which I was able to get three solid hours of sleep on a speedy as hell (thank you, jet stream) jump across the Atlantic.

All that and a very comfortable Polaris Lounge and I will strongly consider UA in the future. I know US crews can be a roll of the dice, though I've certainly found the same to be true on BA and even VS.

Ben's review is completely correct. This product is OK but totally underwhelming and it's so obvious that most of the staff have no clue of the expectation of travellers travelling in F. I went to Dallas on a BA380 in F a few months ago and it was at least 20 minutes before anyone even noticed I was sitting in the cabin. The service level was indeed well meaning but amateurish slow and uncoordinated. As they like to say BA F is one of the better Business Class products out there!

I like to help my crew too and SQ is happy to play their role when I’m helping.

BA first has always been a nice business class product.

Yes but my point was that on BA if somebody has a neutral attitude towards the crew they will likely be treated neutrally or maybe even what they perceive as badly. To me it’s sort of a strange factor on certain carriers that you have to make an effort as a passenger in order to get good service. Being a rule follower and polite seemingly isn’t enough for some crews.

Conversely as an AA hub hostage, no matter how friendly or engaging I am with some AA FA’s they still treat me like a piece of crap. That’s AA’s culture though.

I flew Polaris business on United to Chicago some weeks ago which was the first time I had been on that airline for 10 years. I was shocked at how good it was great privacy on board, good service and absolutely nothing to complain about. At least you know you are going to get a decent seat on there...BA still selling 'business' class at high prices and then surprising you with their old bangers with those ridiculous old seats.....what a nerve they have. Everything in every way seems to be crumbling and every member of staff you speak to seems totally exasperated. I have had Gold status for years but I am now just using up all my points and have not bought a cash revenue ticket for 8 months. I have had enough.

Randy I don't believe you must get out much!

I think relative comparisons is important. Comparing BA to a legacy European or American carrier would be appropriate, but if you are expecting Qatar or Emirates level of service and that is your comparison then that's like comparing apples to oranges, but they are both fruit.

I used to frequently fly USA-South Africa in BA First. It was totally comfortable…but the F FA’s tried to get too familiar. Not that I’m explicitly gay…I’m very reserved…but an F FA used very sexual/crude language once, and another wrote a love note with his contact details in my LHR arrival packet. I’m easy going, I am rarely troubled…but interesting experiences!

Now I fly Qatar to Africa. KLM my back-up (geez their AMS connections are short, but they work).

My only my comparison was an AA F FA. He always flew my LAX-YYZ route, back when they had it. He was generous with loading me up with all the remaining liquor on the aircraft after landing, which I never asked for…but I didn’t care for when he’d try to kiss me in the galley after exiting the lav.

Oh well…I’m not as young now, so it’ll never happen again.

New CEO, new training regime and new F product coming in a couple of years. BA will get much closer to the ME carriers, but the price will also likely go up.

Ben, where's the link to Ford's travel agency? There was a mention the other day of his being able to book high end properties with $100 hotel credits, etc., but I can't find it at the moment!

Pajamas are much more comfortable!

Changing in lav is normal.....

@Ben, did you mean "less full"/"emptier" rather than "less empty than first"?

@Ben, did you mean "less full" or "emptier" instead of "less empty than first"?

This is actually really accurate. I think you got this nailed down already, but I wanted to add that Group 2 airlines tend to be not as refined and not as well run as Group 1. For instance, what keeps Korean Air from being in Group 1 is that their fleet plans don’t make the most sense and their leadership is questionable. They have not done anything about their aging A330 and 77E fleet and the inconsistency of their premium product; a Group 1 airline would’ve made it more consistent with their 77Ws and 787s or retired them, and also stuck to one or two narrowbody types. Only thing is that I’m not sure about is whether Philippine Airlines belongs in Group 2 because not only is their product inconsistent and business class outdated on the 777, but they have some 9-abreast A330s, and one of the worst connecting experiences in the world in their main hub in Manila. It seems like they’re much more focused towards serving Filipino VFR traffic than being a strong connecting airline compared to the others in that tier. I think Royal Brunei falls in the same boat but I don’t know much about their onboard product.

We recently flew BA economy LHR-DEN on the A350. Service from the friendly crew and food were absolutely top notch. I couldn't believe how good the meal was. Coming back our flight was cancelled and we were re-routed via PHL on AA; the difference was shocking. Surly, condescending crew who were obviously bullying one of their colleagues and absolutely disgusting food. It's honestly the only time in my life that I've not eaten more than a couple of bites of a plane meal but it was that bad.

How long did it take you to come up with that one?

They don't trade on reputation (god help them if they relied on that), they trade on their huge route network and being the only FC between the UK and US which is a huge market.

Call the police Jordan, something must be done!

I fly this often, as it is my go to because I live in Vienna, and have to get to Dallas.
For a round trip ticket through AA, or using miles, I feel it is a winner.
I would not book it through BA, more money and miles, and if you have to cancel you are high and dry. Through AA you can get a flight credit good for a year.
I always sleep as the seat is roomy, the food is usually excellent, and I find the crews to be very good.
In comparison to an American flight or Air France, this is a no brainer for me.
It is by far the best choice. Book it through AA though!