As many of you may know, I reviewed British Airways business class last year, on the A380 from Los Angeles to London, and on the 777 from London to Los Angeles. To say I was underwhelmed would be an understatement, especially on the outbound flight, where the service was horrible. I was curious to see…
Continue reading: Review: British Airways Club World 777 San Francisco To London
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Nice and well balanced review, thanks! For me, the BA seat actually works very well for sleeping, despite all the other disadvantages. I would take a BA window seat for a night flight any time.
I wish they wouldn't turn on the cabin lights to full brightness for breakfast. I get that they need to see what they're doing, but given the long drawn out dinner times, I'd rather just keep sleeping.
How come you didn't use the new Cathay Pacific lounge/s? You're OW Emerald, right? Or....Sapphire?
"The seats have a complete lack of storage, aside from a small compartment underneath the center console"
Then...it isn't a complete lack of storage, is it...
Too bad most of the food was underwhelming. At least the dessert and breakfast were good.
One thing you didn't touch on was the IFE. Good options, or bring your Ipad?
Good review and mirrors my recent experiences.I have moved on from apologising for BA after one to many awful experiences. You are right the food is terrible and service is too slow.
I have to say though I find the seat good for sleeping, far better than the virgin seat, I'm 6ft 5 and flew virgin last night. Clearly I had stretched my feet Into the aisle whilst asleep and was woken by one of the crew falling over them! Not an issue on BA, but yes the seat is well behind the AA fleet now.
I think we all get you hate BA. Why don't you just stop flying with them.
Choose another carrier, until people do that en mass, there will be no need for BA to make any improvements.
@ Jon -- I don't think you read my review. I feel like I got an excellent value flying them, and I'd fly them again under similar circumstances. I'd like to think this was a balanced review, and I wanted to make a point of sharing that the service was significantly better on this flight.
@ RB -- Well the only airline with first class to Europe out of Seattle is BA, so I'd say their first class is the best. Still don't love it, but in absolute terms...
@ Chris_IOW -- You're definitely right. If you're that tall, then the Virgin seat isn't going to be very comfortable. Agree I don't love herringbone seats either, but in my case I'd choose it over a non-window seat on BA for sure.
@ Julia -- Hah, fair enough. I don't watch much entertainment on planes. BA's selection was acceptable, which is to say it wasn't as bad as the selection on some Asian airlines (Air China, Asiana, Korean, etc.). However, it paled in comparison to the better systems out there, like Emirates, Singapore, Cathay, etc. So I'd bring an iPad, personally.
@ Melissa -- For one, I've reviewed the Cathay lounge before, so I was curious to review the BA lounge, since I haven't been there in over five years. I also wasn't sure if the Cathay lounge was open. I'd definitely make a point of checking it out next time.
@ Brad -- I actually LOVE that the Brits say "shed-jewel." It's worth pointing out because we never hear it in the US, but I definitely think it's the right way to say it. That being said, if I used it in the US people would look at me like I have two heads, so I typically say it the wrong way.
Having flown BA transatlantic a couple dozen times since AA joined oneworld I generally agree with your reviews of both Business and First. There's better experiences out there but I still end up on BA b/c 1) low prices & good (albeit expensive) award availability, 2) lots of connections onward from LHR, 3) good preflight dining, and 4) engaging flight crew. Couple weeks ago the purser reasoned that #4 is why they still get full flights like yours despite better seat and food on other carriers. I always preflight dine heading East and skip the onboard meal, but enjoy a formal drawn-out meal and a 2 hour movie heading West along with some banter with the crew. Very British and very pleasant.
I flew LHR-JFK this week. Kind of incredibly, for a Tuesday night flight, J was 100% full, economy had maybe forty people. This was one of those occasions where I was happy not to be in business - my four-across row made for a much more spacious bed than the "coffins" up front. And I got plenty of sleep, since I wasn't waiting up for multiple mediocre courses!
Sorry but this review is just silly on so many counts.
First you are flying from the Bay Area to London. What's the choice! BA, VS, UA or Norwegian. How does this relate to them as there are no other sensible options?
Second, you regularly complain about BA but keep flying them. Why? Oh, as an afterthought you mention the price. So, if it's value you want, why not relate the product to the price? UA and VS are more expensive but are they worth the extra? I've done UA several times and I would judge that most of the shortcomings you mention are worse on UA.
Fourth, the flight departed at 4:30pm. Who wants a full meal in a rush then? The criticism would be better aimed at how early they started the breakfast. For the later flight this would be fair criticism but not for a flight leaving so early.
And I could go on. The point is that you provide no context, just soundbites.
I agree with NB's comments. You obviously don't like BA, then why fly them?
You and a couple of spoiled pansies - Ford and Lucky - you seriously need to get a life. Two little drama queens!
I don't find this service bad at all. I think you are just spoilt now. Imagine your readers being as critical and nitpicking about your blog. How would you react?
Thanks for the review. I have only done one trip in BA business. Although it did include 4 legs with a total time of around 48 hours including transfers. I absolutely agree about the hard product, except I'd be more scathing.
Agree with you about the soft product: food awful and service totally dependant on the quality of crew. Like you, in an ideal world I would not travel with them again. However, although not as good as your deal, sometimes the price between Sydney and London is extremely competitive. Mind you my partner would still need some convincing.
Lucky,
For this promotion, weren't the British Airways flights operated by American Airlines also available for the promotion? I ask because it's my understanding the service is much better and I'm looking at JFK to London once another promotion pops up.
Corey
I think Club World is great if you consider them as being between premium economy and business class.. They're not as good as a real business class on airlines like JAL, Cathay or Singapore Airlines but they're much better than a premium economy seat on those airlines and with sales they're sometimes priced almost like a premium economy seat.
I've got to say - I fly BA really regularly for work between IAD and LHR - well, 5 to 6 times a year, so maybe just slightly regularly. That being said, I can't get over how silly this review seems. For me, as a business traveler, BA is fantastic value and great service whether I'm in World Traveler Plus or Club World. I've flown BA dozens of times from NYC, IAD, BOS and I've never once had a flight attendant be as rude as you've claimed they have been to you. I'd say that I've been lucky, but I wonder if perhaps your years of flying First and the high profile you have as one of the premier travel bloggers has clouded your judgment on what's rude and what's actually just someone not falling all over themselves to see to your every need.
I think what bothers me most is that this review is that it's clearly from the perspective of a leisure traveler. Moreover, your complaint that the seat is uncomfortable and tight is hilarious. I'm 6' and probably have 50-60 lbs on you and I find this seat to be perfect for 4 or 5 hours sleep on a trans Atlantic. I mean, I can get a decent night's sleep in World Traveler Plus if that's what the budget is dictating. Maybe give economy or economy plus a try on your next trans Atlantic and see how unbearable the Club World seat is after that! Perhaps it isn't reasonable to compare business products between airlines as much as it is to compare the business offering on your flight to the the economy or premium economy options! I mean, shoot, I'd rather fly Cathay premium economy than AA first any day between DC and Dallas, but that's a dumb comparison.
Finally - I've read a good number of your reviews and will continue to do so because, although I find virtually all of your complaints on may products to be middling and silly - I really do find your pictures to be outstanding, your reports to be exhaustive and am genuinely pleased with the diversity of premium products you've been reviewing (particularly this year). I do have to say, though, one thing that drives me bananas is that you guys complain EVERY single time you order beef on a plane that it is overdone and borderline inedible...stop ordering it!!! Okay, maybe I'm being hyperbolic...maybe you've had a good steak on Etihad...
@NB
I happened to fly out the week after Ben on the same flight and return.
See if this will make you happy:
British Airways currently has the best business class service available anywhere at the sub-$1200 price point.
As a bonus, their lounge occasionally has cereal!
At the above-$1200 price point, it a shit product.
Steven
@Lucky
We all know, you don't like BA and I also know that you try to write fair reports, but sometimes you fail in some points. You claim the seats in CW to be extremely narrow at window and ailes rows. BA CW has one of the widest seats (at least in the shoulder area) of the industry. With 25.25" it is much wider than LH, LX or even the CX/QR seats you love so much. I also never had any issues with the footrest in CW. Yes, it folds down if you try to use it as a seat, but it us not mentioned for this. The blanket is very thin, that's right. But I do have an extremely thin blanket, which is quite warm and due to the warm cabin on BA, I never thought the CW one to be too flimsy.
I agree that the food in CW could be better (the same is true for First Class on BA). But it's a British airline, so what do you expect 🙂
Slightly less BA bashing than normal which is good. I'm glad you point out the value for money aspect of the flight because at the end of the day this is really the most important factor overall in a review in my opinion. I'm just really bored by your BA reviews because you clearly have a mindset regarding them - just as you clearly have a mindset regarding Emirates showers - and there are so many of them (reviews of BA not Emirates showers per se). I'm not apologising for BA's shortcomings...and I'm not saying your review is inaccurate. I presume that the reality is that you continue to use BA transatlantic due to cost - Americans get a VERY good deal on BA flying West when including AARP etc. This cost element should therefore be absolutely central to your review for it to be balanced. I don't like sticking my hand in a food blender and guess what I don't do it as a result. So why continue to review BA? There's no real point in you doing so until they introduce a new product. You like Virgin, why not fly them more? You have the funds.
I don't sit on my shoulders. And while my shoulders were thrilled with the industry-leading room, my elbows were pressed against the bulkhead and the divider. There is nowhere to set a drink/iPad except on the serving table, leaving a bit of a conundrum at meal-time. Any seat position with the exception of almost fully reclined leaves the footrest a moot point; my wife couldn't reach it.
I can't for the life of me understand the defense of BA's product. In our experience, BA is the worst biz-class offered.
@ Leo -- You're almost more than welcome to just not read the reviews, right? You know they don't have a new product, so why did you bother reading? The reason I reviewed them again is because there's value in more data points. This is only my third ever review of BA's longhaul business class, so there's value to reviewing a product more than once. For example, if I had just reviewed them the very first time from LAX to LHR, I'd say they have the worst service in the world. Now I believe it's inconsistent, since I've also had some good experiences.
So you're more than welcome not to read reviews, though I'll keep writing about my experiences. After all, that's what I do.
I agree with John up above - you look at things from a leisure traveler. I fly DFW/NYC-LHR once a month and I ALWAYS try to fly BA Club World over AA First or even new business. Why? Service is better, food is better, drinks are better, arriving at T5 vs T3 is better! And the IFE is not half as bad as you say it is. 🙂 While AA new product is better on the 77W and marginally better on the 787, and while I agree that there is limited storage space on BA, overall I still prefer flying them over AA almost anytime. The best regular service to London from the US is probably offered by Virgin in business class, but the lack of connections from LHR make flying them impractical (as sometimes I have to fly to Italy and MAD for work).
i traveled a similar route exactly 4 weeks ago , but took the 747 upstairs where it was much more roomier and then the connecting flight was the 777 , it was an amazing business class deal that i couldn't turn down ...but i thought there was needed improvement on all ends . the most disappointing was when i found glass from the plate in my dish after consumed half of it and the crew was apologetic but after a month of emailing customer service , they have no answers
I think this is a very relevant review from
a business traveller standpoint. The amount of sleep available is certainly a key factor when I'm looking at flights and knowing BA take so long over the meals on this flight is good to know.
Especially relevant when added to the fact he seats are exposed and therefore even if you passed up on the meal you would struggle to sleep unless on a window seat.
We all know what you get with the seat but comments like this around the service are really useful especially when faced with a good deal on price, now an informed decision can be made about whether that good deal is a false economy or not.
One of the most useful reviews you've done recently for me personally Lucky, thank you.
The delay in meal time is by far the worst. If you are paying for Business class, you either want to be sleeping or working. Nobody is there to have a drawn out crappy meal.
@ Roberto -- I'm a bit confused. You're suggesting I'm looking at this as a leisure traveler, and suggesting that it's business travelers who care about service, food, and drinks? Seems a bit backwards to me. If we're going to segregate leisure vs. business travelers like that, I suspect that business travelers care about sleep and leisure travelers care about the food, drinks, service, and entertainment, no?
Ben ... a simple google search would show you that pronouncing "schedule" as "shed-jewel" isn't correct, despite what some British prescriptivists may say. The *wrong* pronunciation of schedule (i.e. shed-jewel) didn't originate until the 19th century, when some Brits took on an accent. Anyway, have fun continuing to say words like "queue" and "keen" or whatever else you may say that you think makes you sound sophisticated...
@EW
And if you really start to think about it, there aren't really ANY wrong pronunciations, provided people understand what you're trying to say
For $1100, or even for the original $1600 price, this is an excellent deal for Europe in Business in the summer time. Usually coach in the summer time is around $1200-$1300 (and I've paid far more for coach to Europe). So I think I'd be happy with this product at the price point, even if I'd be a little bit annoyed with the drawn out food service. Good to know the service was solid. It is, like most carriers, inconsistent, which is what I've come to expect, even from the best (EY is a PRIME example of this).
"About 20 minutes after takeoff the CSD came through the cabin to welcome everyone aboard and to take meal orders. I thought it was a nice touch that he did it himself."
Sadly, this isn't so much a result of a "nice touch" as BA's reduction in crew levels (implemented a couple of years ago), which means that the CSD now works as part of the usual CW crew team for the main meal service. So, as friendly as he may have been, he was merely performing part of his usual duties by taking meal orders.
I believe the only exception to this is the A380, which BA still crews sufficiently to allow the CSD to focus their time on, you know, directing services across all cabins...!
Lucky youre posting a tremendous amount in this thread...?
Are we finally seeing some fight back?
If so, I like it!
A bit overdue and behind shedjewel hehe.
I fancy you totes btw.
@Lucky - I happen to be BA crew..@chilangoflyer is correct, our CW seats are just over 20" wide. Also, just as a quick point of note, we do actually have a great express dining option on our sleeper service routes in club world, details of which can be found here: http://www.britishairways.com/travel/club-sleeper-service/public/en_gb
You did unfortunately get the worst BA plane for at seat storage, with the tray being smaller than it is on their other aircraft. On their non-777, it's easy enough to fit a 15" or even 17" laptop into the drawer.
The upper deck 747 and A380 window seats have nice storage compartments (for example, 64A/64K have 3 large compartments, providing the most at-seat storage space of any seat on any airline except SQ and EY first.
At some point you should try the 747 in 64A or K, or the A380 in 53A or K. Also, given the curve of the seat area, most right-handed people find upper deck A more comfortable, whereas lefties prefer the K side. This is in contrast with the normal seat contour, but is because of the extra space for the storage compartments.
After your previous experiences flying Club World, with the exact same complaints about lack of privacy for seats at the aisle, why wouldn't you just select two window seats for yourself and Ford? Is being seated side by side that important on a flight on which you admit you're going to be sleeping through anyway, or were there no two window seats available?
@Lucky are you sure Lufthansa doesn't have first class out of SEA? They fly a 747-400. I was on that flight a few weeks ago on a trip to Italy and I'm pretty sure they have first class.
@ EW Don't you know that the English pronunciation (received pronunciation that is) is always the right way? 😉
That said, American-isms are creeping in on this side of the Atlantic, it seems acceptable to say "can I get" rather than "can I have" these days - well, language changes, fair enough, however the please is often missing now. We always ran on 'P and Qs' so expect less of those from the UK in future (not from me I'm always polive unless circumstances say otherwise! ).
People quoting Brexit - please stop eh? If I wanted to read a Brexit forum I'd not be here. (Remain voter before I get inaccurate stick for voting leave).
I fly business with BA regularly, including on 777s. I've had my share of complaints with BA, and I find that the quality of the offer is unfortunately going down, but I don't think your review is entirely fair. Business clasd cabin is one of the most convenient for work, especially if you sit in a window seat. The foot rest is what it is - a foot rest, not a seat, so if you put excessive pressure on it - but why would you?! - it will give in. Storage is much better than many other airlines and I always manage to fit my laptop, ipad, phones, wallet and passport pouch. There is an express tray in business class for flights that leave at night. On some red eye flights, there is even the Sleeper service which I find awesome - you get your full meal in the lounge at the airport before boarding. After take-off the cabin lights are dimmed so you can sleep throughout the flight in a quiet environment. I will happily take BA business class over most US carriers anytime.
If you know you only get 2 hours or so of sleep then why does it matter that the meal was "drawn out"?
Personally I prefer a longer meal service on a flight that long, and BA usually come around twice with pre-dinner drinks which means more time.
And of course you can snack on sandwiches and crudités at the BA lounge.
The Cathay lounge is the official overflow lounge for the later A380 flight, which you can't board directly from the BA lounge anyway
I am not sure about how much experience in premium cabins of other airlines some people in here have. Yes, BA might be the best for you, have you ever tried something else though? If so, how many times, how often, how many different airlines and cabins?
Lucky is not reviewing in absolute terms, he is implicitly comparing with all the other cabins, airlines he has ever flown, he is comparing the crews he has met and the meals he has had. Afterall, this is why we read him, he has a ton of experience and we want to see what his thoughts on the matter are.
Put it differently, if I put my 10 year old nephew who has never been in an airplane in his entire life, into BA First, he will probably think this is the best thing in the world! But who would take his opinion seriously due to his lack of extensive experience?
So please, if you want to defend BA, Air India, some obscure Chinese/Taiwanese or other Asian airline, so be it, attacks ad hominem are not necessary.
You have a valid point about the service, they could speed it up a fair bit. You do end up sitting for a long time waiting for food...
I think VS does better in that respect.
@Lucky. I'm on a 772 LHR to JFK in a couple of weeks. I had booked a window seat but just switched to an aisle because, while not claustrophobic, I am definitely not keen on tight spaces. From the pictures, the window seats look very tight and very confining. Does it look worse than it is or should I stay with the aisle. I took 10J so I wouldn't have anyone leaping over me during the flight. I have never had this much trouble picking a seat before. No good option.
@Lucky:
Yes, it is
@Steven
I mentioned the shoulder just because is gets smaller near the feet. The point is that the seat is on the wider seat of all Biz seats. If you want more space to the sides you have to accept less privacy than the window seats offer (like the ailes seats or USAir). If you feel cramped, that might be your feeling. I never had any problems in CW, and I am not on the small side either.
I use B.A. regularly between LHR and GRU and have absolutely no complaints about the service /food or comfort. I have never found the food to be less than more than acceptable and sometimes very very good. Service, as on all airlines, depends on who is working at that particular time, but it's never been less than good and again sometimes very good. I don't know what all the fuss is over the seat arrangement, I always choose an isle seat to avoid stepping over another passenger (which actually is no big deal) and the screen provides complete privacy. The seat size might prove difficult for the ever increasing number of obese passengers but that's their problem. Yes, there are better airlines but I don't care, B.A. do the job at a sensible price and they are far better than any U.S. airline I've used (Delta/U.A.)that's for sure.
It really disappoints me that British Airways isn't as good as it should be. British hospitality is renowned for being the best in the world, and British Airways should be as good as- if not better than- competitors on the Continent and in the Middle East.
The reputation of countries lies upon the standard of their airlines. We've got the airport- Terminal 5 is undoubtedly the best in the world- so why don't we have the best airline?
Ok that fritiata is NOT a Fritata! It has a crust! Fritatas are sort of like omelets, not quiches!
In fairness I get my Macbook into the storage compartment so am a little confused by that comment.
Slow food service is a BA vice, although ex West Coast to Europe departing late afternoon a wait seems kind of seems obvious, surely they'd want to serve dinner at, well, dinner time?
From the East Coast however it's a different matter, I've stopped using them because I find other airlines do a better job of getting a service done quickly at the start and delaying the morning service to maximise sleep. However this was a West Coast flight.
Lack of close proximity storage space is an irritant. You're handed a bottle of water, have a drink and then put it . . .. you want to have a kip and take your glasses off, and put them . . Yep. Everything goes I. The shoe drawer. Not fatal, but irritating - it's as if the designers just never looked at other cabins, before applying crayon to paper.