the business trip (British Airways in general)

Member Name: M0zza

Product:	British Airways in general
Date:	19/06/06 (3265 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: flat bed, in-flight service, food and wine, check in

Disadvantages: everything else!

Actually not a business trip at all, but as we were travelling to the US for our wedding and honeymoon this month we decided there was very good occasion to treat ourselves by flying British Airways Club / Business class. I have always had a high opinion of British Airways, this was my first business class flight with them and I was very much looking forward to it.


Booking and before travel ~~~~

As we were also organising a wedding, on this occasion I left the flight booking to Kuoni who organised much of our trip. I nevertheless carried out my own research into flight prices and our trip Heathrow to San Francisco and then Los Angeles to Heathrow cost approximately £2,400 each in club world and would have been about £600 in coach.

The business class travel would have been slightly cheaper with United Airlines, Virgin and American Airlines, however United and Virgin are not in the One World Alliance meaning we could not accumulate points to our regular airmiles accounts and American Airlines business class does not have flat beds or direct flights to / from these destinations. So British Airways was the best choice for us.

A couple of months before the flight, my (now) wife made a call to BA customer services to get some peace of mind that there would be space to hang her full length wedding dress during the flight. She had not honestly anticipated a problem so was surprised to be rudely told that they might be able to hang it up but only if there was room left after the flight attendants had hung up their coats and jackets and of course there might be other passengers also travelling with wedding dresses. She replied that it was unlikely club world would be full of brides-to-be but the customer services assistant was quite determined to spoil her day by butting in that there could be people in coach with wedding dresses and she could not expect to take priority if there was limited hanging up space. Well I would hope they would do their utmost to accommodate every bride but having paid £4,800 for our two tickets then I have to say, priority is exactly what we expected. After this telephone encounter I wrote to BA with the same issue, my letter was initially ignored and after chasing up I finally got a response telling me that the wedding dress should be packed and checked in with the rest of our luggage. We ignored this advice and after discussing with the lady in the bridal shop, she paid £50 to have the dress specially packed into a travel box for the cabin.

Check in, baggage allowances and lounges~~~

Our business class tickets included a chauffeur service to and from the airport, we did have to pay a supplement as we are over 50 miles from Heathrow however that was just £33 for the round trip which we were happy with and the service was very good, timely pick ups and nice cars.

We were flying from Heathrow Terminal 1, which is predominantly for European flights but strangely BA flights to Tokyo, San Francisco and Los Angeles also leave from here. Business class check in has a separate entrance to the main check in area and so avoids some of the normal Heathrow bedlam. We were checked in within five minutes and then took the security fast track channel thus avoiding the queues through there as well. On the return leg in Los Angeles, the check in was also completed within five minutes of arriving in the airport but there was no fast track security line.

Checked baggage allowances on BA to the US are two bags weighing a maximum 32kgs each. On US routes the allowances in coach are the same for checked bags but the cabin baggage allowance is 18kgs in business, three times that allowed in coach.

I was quite disappointed to find myself travelling from Terminal 1 at Heathrow as I am familiar with that lounge having used it a few times before. A restful oasis in a busy airport it is not. We found the lounge to be as crowded as ever and we needed to search for a seat, fortunately it is a very large lounge and I doubt that it would ever not be possible to find space, particularly as most flights are to Europe and there is a high turnover of passengers coming and going. There are about six computer terminals available with internet access and I was able to get onto one after a short wait. A full range of soft and alcoholic drinks are available and at the time we were travelling breakfast cereals and pastries were on offer and plentiful. If you would like a pre flight glass of champagne, you have to ask the staff and they will get you this from the first class lounge. The Molton Brown spa offers shower facilities and massage treatments that are complimentary to those travelling long haul in business class. My fiancé was was offered a massage appointment within half an hour and was very pleased with this as the only other time she has tried to claim the complimentary massage was when in the Virgin lounge and discovered that it is advisable to book it days or weeks in advance to have even the faintest hope!

On the whole though, we did not particularly like this lounge because it is crowded and felt like a canteen and we felt sure that the lounge at Los Angeles would do better. Unfortunately not, Heathrow Terminal 1 lounge could be held up as a beacon of what an airline lounge should be like in comparison to what we found at LA. I have been in quite a few lounges and I do not recall one as bad as this at a major airport. I was very surprised to find that Qantas and BA do not maintain their own lounges at a hub such as Los Angeles and even more surprised to find that this tiny space was also shared with Thai Airline, the Lan (South American) airlines and Air Tahiti (or something). I noted that other airlines such as Singapore and Malaysia had their own lounges and even Lufthansa only shared with one other. We struggled to find a seat and when we did we had to clear away dirty plates, cups and glasses. We were in the lounge for three hours and only once did I see any of the tables being cleared by staff. There were drinks available but no food other than bits of cheese, once in the three hours a plate of sandwiches was brought out but it was a small plate and some passengers dived upon in a rather unseemingly manner so we went without. The lounge did not have business / internet facilities, showers and not even bathrooms. When I did wander outside in search of a bathroom, I stumbled upon the British Airways first class lounge (shared only with Qantas) and unsuccessfully tried to talk my way into it as it was completely empty but was well stocked with food, beverage and reading materials. I am generally effective at complaining but they would not budge an inch although they did tell me that passengers are always complaining about their business lounge!

In-flight~~~

We were on the upper deck, which had space for 20 passengers in a five row 2-2 configuration. In each pair of seats one faces forwards and the other backwards so you face your companion, have dinner together and can talk more easily and cosily. If you are not actually travelling with the person you are paired with then there is a folding privacy screen that you can pull over. I thought it might seem rude pulling the screen over but I noted that the sole passengers did not share my qualms, understandably as I think few would want to sit opposite a stranger in this way for eleven hours.

There was ample room in the cabin and each person has a footstool that forms the end of the 6-foot flat bed when the seat is fully reclined. We were extremely comfortable for the entire flight, whether sitting, eating or sleeping and indeed on the overnight return flight I slept for seven hours almost as well as if I were in my own bed.

As business and first class are amongst the first to board the plane there is time for a pre-take off drink whilst the main cabin is boarded and we were also provided with a meals menu. For the main meals there were three starters to chose from and four main courses which included a poultry option, a red meat, a fish and a vegetarian option. On both flights we were offered an aperitif shortly after take off and the main meal, served by course, shortly after that. Throughout the rest of the flight drinks and snacks are readily available in the galley and another proper meal was served about an hour before landing.

The in-flight entertainment comprised about 16 TV channels, 10 radio channels and loads of computer games. Of the TV channels, about half were films and included King Kong, Failure to Launch, Brockback Mountain and Good Night and Good Luck the rest of the channels were showing programmes such as Will & Grace, Friends, Creature Comforts, Himalaya and some David Attenborough documentaries.

The flight attendants were extremely helpful throughout the flight and did an excellent job. On boarding the outward flight I mentioned that we were going to get married and when we disembarked we were presented with a very nice bottle of champagne.

Arrival~~~

After landing, first and business class passengers are allowed to leave the plane first. This is extremely fortunate arriving somewhere like America which seems to have one of the most inefficient immigration processes in the world so we managed to get there before the queue got too long. Another advantage of business class is that checked bags are marked as priority so that they will be the first onto the luggage carousel at reclaim. Although our bags were marked accordingly on neither flight did they come off amongst the first and in fact far from it. At Heathrow they took that long that I actually went over to the desk which was right next to our carousel to make my point.

Whilst I was having this conversation out bags finally arrived amongst the last few and we discovered that my brand new, hard shell, indestructible (I thought) £150 samsonite case was badly damaged. It looks like it has been flung from a great height onto something very hard, one side of it is completely bent out of shape and as it is the side with the hinges I doubt that the case will last much longer. I have filed a report but was then told I need to phone some number during the week and no doubt I will have a battle ahead getting this case replaced.


Summary~~~

I was extremely happy with every aspect in-flight but BA needs to understand that the service does not start and end with the flight itself, particularly when paying business class prices. I found BA woefully lacking in nearly all other respects. The Heathrow lounge is not pleasant and the LA lounge is a disgrace. I was also dissatisfied with how my wife's wedding dress query was dealt with and how two customer service agents both showed such little understanding and unwillingness to assist somebody who has just spent almost £5,000 on their flights.

On flight alone I would have rated BA as a four, a more competitive price and it would have been five. However considering the state of the lounges, the wedding dress saga, the lack of priority at baggage reclaim and my ruined suitcase I have decided that they only scrape a three. If you are considering a long haul business class flight, BA has the huge advantage of fully flat beds outweighing many of the shortcomings, but other airlines are gradually catching up with this concept. Once they do I can see no reason to choose BA and I am truly surprised and disappointed to find myself coming to that conclusion considering my previous high regard for BA and that I had such high expectations

Summary: In-flight was faultless but a better all round service should be provided for these prices.