IN THE CLUB!!! (British Airways)

Member Name: Purdypops

Product:	British Airways
Date:	31/01/05 (4681 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Sheer luxury for long haul flights, Flat beds

Disadvantages: Highly expensive

I have flown with British Airways on a number of occasions to European destinations, always in economy, and to be honest it never has been an issue - the flights were short and in flight cabin service good. In Feb 04, l had the joy and pleasure of being treated to a Club World (the BA term for business) flight to New York.

I'm not going to comment on prices, l didn't pay - this was part of my Christmas present - but if you want a quote, nip into a BA travel shop, your local travel agent on log on to www.britishairways.co.uk. Other sites such as expedia.com, ebookers.co.uk, or lastminute.co.uk should also be able to sort you out with flights no matter what class.

I am not an expert on airplanes - in fact l don't know a 737 from a 747 - lm a bit like that with cars too - colours that's what l remember. When it comes to the aircraft, it will be the fancy logo or pattern that maybe on the tail wing, which will capture my imagination! So, with this in mind lm not going into a technical review whatsoever. This is simply about the club world flight l was luck enough to enjoy.

We flew from Heathrow, Terminal 4, and after our usual trek around the duty free shops, we retreated off to the Terraces Lounge. There are 2 sections - the Club World passengers/Gold/Silver area and that for the First Class traveller. There is also the Molton Brown Spa area for weary travelers to rejuvenate themselves.

We made our way to the first floor to be greeted by BA staff, who checked our tickets - to make sure we were not some economy oiks sneaking in! And then we were in! The lounge really is a little oasis in away from the bustling terminal. In the lounge we were able to get comfy chairs and treat ourselves to a little liquid refreshment! At the same time there were television monitors dotted about showing the BA flights due for departure - so that we didn't miss our flight.

The lounge was bright and airy with quite a few windows letting in light, although lamps lighted it overhead as well. There was a gentle hum around the place and one felt it was not the done thing to go over board on the drinkies and loud and lairish behaviour would simply not be accepted!

There was an excellently stocked bar - catering for every taste, a good selection of wines and soft drinks, There were olives and various other bar snacks to munch on. All self service so if you want to pour yourself that extra large vodka, gin or what ever your poison may be - its up to you! Unfortunately we only had time for 2 drinks at the bar before our flight was called for check in.

If you do leave yourself with more time before your flight takes as a club world passenger you are entitled to the following perks:

o Dedicated check in desks
o On line check in
o 2 pieces of hand luggage to a total weight of 18kgs
o Hold luggage up to 32kgs maximum
o If you are on a night flight you can prevail of in lounge dining so that you can go straight to sleep once you board - this is available for a range of US flights
o To make use of the Molten Brown Travel Spa - to help you unwind various treatments (complimentary) are available!

Now being upgraded to Club World was a total surprise for me, and our flight left Heathrow at 5.30pm. We had to get a connecting flight over from Belfast, which left us with about 3 hours to get across to Terminal 4, shop and so on. If l had known such luxury was available to use, l would have insisted we book an earlier connection flight from Belfast!

So on to the in flight luxury! Once we were called to board, we trundled down to our gate - about a 10min walk! And there was a queue to get on the plane with security checks and boarding identification, but as we were priority business passengers, we swaggered right past the queue and were shown to our area!

Paul was behind me and laughing at my reaction once on the flight - it was my first transatlantic crossing so, it was all so new! We were seats 14 A & B - and we had our own over headspace - loads of room too. Our "seats" were top to tail so to speak; we could bring up a divider between us if required. We had the 6 foot fully reclining flat bed - how cool! There were movable and adjustable, monitors for in flight entertainment, adjustable personal lighting, lovely big pillow and blanket, a Molton Brown, traveler's pack and a food and drinks menu! I do think l was like a child on Christmas morning to be honest, there was so much to investigate and play with that l was flitting from one gadget to another, with little screams of delight when l discovered something new!

We had our own dedicated cabin crew serving the 16 passengers in our section. Before take off we were settled in offered papers/magazines and given either orange juice or water, along with our travel bags. After the take off and the usual flight advice menus were passed around for our perusal, at this point we were also offered drinks - l kicked off with some champagne (Charles Heidsteck - so a brand l knew of!) - then more drinks - more champagne and then a champagne cocktail - kir royale yum yum!

Dinner was a three course affair - to begin l had a prawn and crab meat salad, fillet of steak with asparagus spears, potatoes and red wine jus and to finish along with tea/coffee the most divine butterscotch cheesecake that in my life l have ever had the pleasure of scoffing!

Drinks kept flowing through out our food, l stuck with my champagne - l do have expensive tastes you see, but Paul had a delicious Australian merlot.

After this it was time for our in-flight entertainment to commence, or some people began to bed down. There was the choice of 10 films, radio, comedy and children's channels. The films were very up to date - Lost in Translation, Girl with a Pearl Earring, Intolerable Cruelty, Bad Boys 2 and l chose the classic One Flew over the Cuckoos nest. Also on the screens were Nintendo games, to keep you occupied. The flight attendants were always close at hand offering drinks and OJ or water.

The fully flat bed was a buzz in itself and l had lots of fun, bringing it up and down and up and down and for a change down and up!! What was a bit of a pain and a constriction of sorts was keeping the seatbelt on over your blanket, this was advised even when seat belt signs were off, as crew were obliged to wake you should the signs come on during the flight to put belts on. We did hit a few pockets of turbulence enroute, so the belts were required to be on. Apart from this it was such a joy to kick of my shoes and get comfy on my bed!

Also on board, during the flight in the control handset was an utterly expensive phone, which you swiped your credit card through and talked to whomever whilst flying over the Atlantic!

About 1 hour before landing we were gently awakened and offered sandwiches and coffee, to bring us around and so we could nip into the toilets to freshen up for landing as required.

So l can thoroughly recommend flying Club World, especially when some one else is paying for the pleasure of doing so! In a short 2 - 5 hour flight it may not be worth the added expense, but on over night flights and transatlantic flights, the pleasure and comfort it brings is certainly amazing. It helps to reduce jet lag and you leave the plane having had a fabulous experience on board. And everyone needs a little bit of luxury don't they!

Thanks for reading

Heather

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