Up, Up and Away! (British Airways in general)

Member Name: emmakate06

Product:	British Airways in general
Date:	24/02/09 (82 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Pleasant friendly staff, comfortable

Disadvantages: Meals not varied enough

I recently flew with British Airways to New York from Terminal 5 in London Heathrow. Terminal 5 is specifically for British Airways flights so there are plenty of BA staff on hand to help you with any issues of checking in. There are numerous check in kiosks which allow you to check in yourself using either your credit card or passport which you scan into the machine. On these kiosks you can select your seat from the current availability, print your boarding pass, complete the security questions then just simply take you luggage to a fast drop baggage point. Really quick and painless to use and should you get into any difficulty there are numerous floorwalkers ready to assist you should you require it. For those of you who prefer the convential way of checking in, there are still plenty of check in desks where you can obtain your boarding pass the more traditional way. We had some assistance during our check in process as we had already prebooked our seats and the seats which were being displayed on the screen were different. The lady which helped us with our problem was very efficient and courteous and was able to explain the problem quickly - We had been upgraded to business class which was why our seat numbers were different! Great start I must admit!

So, we had obtained our boarding passes, dropped off our luggage and we made our way through security. Due to being upgraded, this now meant that we could go to the Club Lounge. Here you have WiFi access, unlimited drinks, food, selection of daily papers, a spa, showers, and comfortable seating. We were in the Club Lounge at approximately 10:30am and there were numerous displays of fresh fruit, bacon baguettes, and other delightful treats which you could help yourself to as you pleased. There were numerous tea and coffee making facilities, fresh fruit juices, soft drinks and alcoholic beverages and spirits which you can help yourself to from the fridges. We found our 2 hour wait in here to be very enjoyable and comfortable and the time passed very quickly.

On boarding the aircraft, we were greeted with pleasant smiles and politeness. The lady in charge of the business class area came and collected our coats and offered us an orange juice or glass of champagne. A little while after, we were also presented with a menu for the flight. The seats were very comfortable and could convert into a fully flat bed, however I did not try this due to being wide awake and in the day. I did see some people taking advantage of this though and it looked very private and comfortable. There is a privacy screen between each seat which can be put up at the touch of a button to ensure your privacy throughout the flight. We were also provided with a beautifully soft pillow and quilt for our comfort.

I cannot fault the staff throughout the flight, and I often got the impression that they could not do enough for you, a far cry from the service we got in economy on the way home. No sooner had they offered you a drink, they were back again to top it up, always with a smile and always as courteous and polite as before. I had also mentioned to one of the ladies at the beginning of the flight that I was slightly nervous of flying. I do fly quite regularly, yet still get terrified on take off or if their is turbulence. The lady I had mentioned it to, came over at regularly intervals to make sure I was ok and not worried. If there was any turbulence she came over and took the time to reassure me, which I really appreciated.

The inflight entertainment system has rapidly improved since I last flew with BA and they now have an on demand system. There is a catalogue of about 40 films, both new and old which you can choose at your leisure as well as having the convenience of stopping, pausing, rewinding, and fast forwarding as you wish. You can also browse a collection of CDs and choose your own playlist by selecting either full albums or individual tracks and adding them to your list which you can then play when you want to. This service is also featured in economy and I found it to be great to be able to have such a wide choice. I was fortunate in having my favourite film of all time to choose from which is Braveheart, this lasts for 3 hours so that was half of my flight time over. This was a big bonus for me!

The food was lovely, though a little too much fish for my liking. For starter I had salmon with a side salad, and then for main was fish pie. Im not actually too sure what the dessert was, it was described as a rhubarb crumble with ginger custard, however it looked more like blamanche with no crumble nor custard. I was a little confused by this but ate it all the same. This was then followed by tea or coffee. The afternoon snack was sandwiches, however the filing was salmon, so having already eaten salmon, cod, prawns and haddock as part of my main meal I decided to give this a miss!

On arrival in JFK airport there was an issue with the doors in which they couldnt open them, so their was a half hour delay before we could actually get off the plane, but we were kept informed throughout, offered drinks and the staff ensured that we were comfortable whilst we waited.

I checked the cost of flying business class on the dates we went and it would have cost us £2500 each! Whilst the service was fantastic and the cabin extrememly comfortable there is no way I would pay this much for a flight, so really appreciated the opportunity to have tried it at no extra cost.

Overall, I was really pleased with the service I recieved and found the staff to be more than helpful. I would highly recommended flying business for that fantastic once in a lifetime trip such as your honeymoon or another special occasion, and if money was no object I would love to fly like this all the time. It was a great start to a wonderful break away.

Summary: Excellent service.