- Introduction: British Airways Club World London City, InterContinental London Park Lane, and a day of sightseeing in London
- Review: Tampa to New York JFK on Delta in First Class
- Review: New York JFK to London City on British Airways Club World London City
- Review: InterContinental London Park Lane
- Trip Report: A day of sightseeing in London
- Review: London City to New York JFK on British Airways Club World London City with a stop in Shannon
- Review: New York JFK to Tampa on Delta in First Class
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As I blogged about in mid-September, British Airways recently launched their Club World London City service, an all business class product between New York JFK and London City Airport. It is operated by an A318 with only 32 business class seats. In this economy that’s a risky move, not to mention this is a tough market in general, given the number of all business class airlines that have failed.
In early October I was contacted by British Airways marketing (I assume based on the fact that my original post about Club World London City ranked pretty high on Google), and after they gave me a bit more product information they invited me to try out the new service. So in the interest of full disclosure the flight was comped, although they asked for my honest feedback on the product, which is exactly what I will provide. I wouldn’t be doing anyone a favor by giving inaccurate remarks, since I hope my positive comments can reinforce what they are doing well and that my constructive criticism can convince them to improve in some areas.
Anyway, after looking at my calendar I decided to wait until late October for the trip. The first half of the month was busy for me, so I decided to depart on a Tuesday and return on a Friday. That basically gave me 48 hours in London, coincidentally a city I have never visited, as pathetic as it might be.
British Airways has two flights a day in each direction as of mid-October, and the flight times are quite nice. I went with the following flights:
BA004 JFK-LCY 11:10PM-10:45AM+1
BA001 LCY-JFK 12:30PM-6:15PM
So why did I go with those flights? Well, the JFK-LCY flight time is brilliant for me. I like to take eastbound transatlantic flights that depart as late as possible so I can get some decent sleep. The other departure is at around 7PM which is a bit too early for me, although I realize it probably works better for people that need to work full days on both ends of the flight. As far as the return, the other flight is at 4PM, which I would have actually preferred, but the lure of flying BA001, “Speedbird One,” was too much to pass on.
As luck would have it I managed to snatch a $199 ticket on Delta to New York JFK to catch this flight (and as a Delta Platinum Medallion my upgrades cleared both ways), and I also managed to use my two free Priority Club nights from the promotion earlier this year for two nights at the InterContinental London Park Lane.
So there’s the intro. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride. A full report on all aspects of the trip is coming. Thanks for reading.
I have traveled a bit and done some sightseeing in Europe, but have not yet been to London. I have seen Germany, and France, but would like to see England as well as Scotland.
@ Eric -- Yep, gotta love the FTC. I've always disclosed when I received "freebies" (which isn't all that often), so I find it pretty sad that this is something the government now has to regulate. As far as sleep goes, you're right, I didn't get a whole lot of sleep. Actually, I typically don't sleep at all on eastbound transatlantic flights starting in the northeast, because the flight is just too short. But, I...
@ Eric -- Yep, gotta love the FTC. I've always disclosed when I received "freebies" (which isn't all that often), so I find it pretty sad that this is something the government now has to regulate. As far as sleep goes, you're right, I didn't get a whole lot of sleep. Actually, I typically don't sleep at all on eastbound transatlantic flights starting in the northeast, because the flight is just too short. But, I did manage to get about two hours of sleep on the flight over, all while everyone else was sleeping. So I can judge the bed and the service. :D
@ Steve -- I'd be happy to answer that now. As far as I know, I was the only person aboard this particular flight to review the product. I know they invited others too, but for that day I'm pretty sure I was the only one. As far as the flight crew knowing, I can assure you they didn't. I was taking pictures and we actually started a conversation about it, as they were curious (in a nice way) about why I was taking so many pictures. Ultimately this is a flight where the crew should be giving their 110% for everyone (be it someone paying $9,000 or someone reviewing the product), so I think they were just all around fantastic. For more details stay tuned for the review.
When you write your longer review, please mention whether you were one among several reporters/bloggers/reviewers and if the flight crew knew it or not.
I'm wondering if they might have made subtle upgrades (better wines and meals, for example) to influence the press.
I know that it is difficult to see differences when the sample size is one, but whatever you can do to address this very small risk would be appreciated.
Looking forward to your review!
Good thing you disclosed. Wouldn't you be committing a felony if you didn't, according to new FTC guidelines? LOL. That's awesome that you have gained that much visibility with your blog!
How much did you sleep on that flight over to London. You get way too excited to waste time on sleep when in biz class - especially with the added pressure/stress of flying on someone else's dime who clearly has an agenda. By...
Good thing you disclosed. Wouldn't you be committing a felony if you didn't, according to new FTC guidelines? LOL. That's awesome that you have gained that much visibility with your blog!
How much did you sleep on that flight over to London. You get way too excited to waste time on sleep when in biz class - especially with the added pressure/stress of flying on someone else's dime who clearly has an agenda. By no means will this influence your review - you are an honest and forthright fellow - but I imagine your time would be spent absorbing every feature and amenity associated with the flight in order to write an accurate and thorough review (that's what I would do anyway - maybe I'm projecting...lol).
I look forward to the rest! Photos! You know I love 'em. :)
Eric