I arrived at my departure gate, A20, at around 12:05PM, and boarding was already underway. British Airways is one of the few European airlines that at least does a decent job with enforcing priority boarding, as they do have a dedicated "Fast Track" lane that I could use to cut the queue. Once my boarding…
Continue reading: Review: British Airways Club Europe A319 London to Brussels
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
Ben,
Do you ever take the train? It would be interesting to see your review the ICE, TGV or Eurostar.
@ John -- Yep, and I'll be reviewing the TGV from Brussels to Paris later in the trip report. 🙂
Lucky- Could you make a post about what goes in to making a trip report? Ie the process of it and how you remember all the details etc.?
@ Al -- Interesting idea for a future post, thanks. Here's the closest thing I've written in the past:
https://onemileatatime.com/is-writing-trip-reports-work/
Whenever we've traveled intra-europe, we are always amazed at the level of meal service offered on such short flights, and how incredibly efficient they are at doing that. I agree re: the seats, but feel there are opportunities for the USA carriers to learn from European service in the soft product.
Chicken served 3 ways as a snack? Looks like a meal! 🙂 I see fried chicken, but I guess somewhere there is grilled? steamed?
In case you were interested, the scenic shot you posted immediately after your last LHR photo is of the harbour at Dunkerque, France. I took a similar shot when I flew BRS - BRU four years ago.
Thanks for a great review again
I love the service in Europe - so much better in all classes. Long way to go for US and Canadian airlines.
Looking forward to that TGV report! It will surely be an interesting change of perspective.
(I don’t know what it is with BA and every first officer seemingly being referred to as a “senior first officer”)
Senior First Officer is a distinct 'rank' within BA, from what I remember you enter as a First Officer (2 bars) and once you meet certain requirements you are promoted to SFO (3 bars).
It may be possible to get direct entry to SFO.
I think the systems on regional Asian and Middle Eastern airlines trumps what you get in both Europe and North America. You get the service and food or Europe with the seats you get in the US (and in many cases, much better seating than what you get in N America).
@ Andrew -- Interesting. Kind of odd that every two person cockpit crew I've had has included a senior first officer. Not so senior if everyone has the rank, IMO. 😀
@ Lucky - Same here I can't recall not having an Senior First Officer. I think the requirements are 4 years of service and an easily attainable number of hours, plus an interview with management. If BA haven't hired in a while then there probably aren't many basic FOs around. It's just the way they structure career progression and they aren't the only European airline to do it (LH for example.)
Regarding the gate: with all the traveling I did in Europe, the only airport that's horrible with remote stands, is Frankfurt. After having flown 8 hours, I'm really not in the mood for a long drive in a crowded bus, all through Frankfurt's dungeons. I really like Lufthansa, but I really really hate Frankfurt Main.
In Amsterdam it happened to me once (and that's my home airport), although that was a Fokker 70, which simply doesn't fit at a gate. Leaving LCC carriers out, the only airport where I've regularly had remote stands (75% of the time!) is Frankfurt. It's a shame, the rest of the airport is actually quite nice.