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One of my controversial views in miles and points – as much as I believe fuel surcharges on award tickets are offensive and destructive – I pay them when a good premium cabin award is available at a reasonable mileage rate.
I have flown British Airways from Austin to London many, many times. Not many non-stop transatlantic service from Austin! Lufthansa and KLM offer non-daily flights (and KLM’s service is new), BA operates daily and it’s often good to have an economy award – for first class they fly Boeing 777s and 747s on the route, and for new business class suites it’s now a non-stop Airbus A350.
And since I have to connect anywhere outside of London on my way to Europe, and it’s often harder to get domestic saver awards than international, I want to buy a domestic connecting flight. And travel on separate tickets If not redeeming it for BA. This means I have a cost and risk if I avoid fuel surcharges.
- Keep in mind that you can pay a lower surcharge with Cathay Pacific Asia Miles (via Amex, CT, Capital One and Bilt transfer partner) than with BA itself or American Airlines.
- And booking two one-way tickets from Europe costs less, resulting in less surcharges.
British Airways business class is… nice, I guess? Their new business class is a big improvement compared to the old one – four short seats (completely flat, direct aisle entrance, not too long doors) compared to the eight seats on the 777 with the middle folding seats.
The new seat itself is nice, and very stylish, but a bit stiff and their much-admired bed isn’t thick enough to change that. The food has improved compared to a year ago, but it is still not very good. And service is mixed as always.
The bottom line is that BA offers an absolutely competitive business class across the Atlantic. Who is the best (aside from great routes like Singapore Airlines from Houston to Manchester and New York JFK to Frankfurt)?
From start to finish, the recent Austin – London Heathrow flight connected to Paris Charles de Gaulle was consistently safe.
We checked in as usual, and the BA counters are at the end of the terminal near the main security check.
British Airways premium cabin passengers have access to the American Airlines Admirals Club, which I have access to as a member, but it’s 20 doors away from the flight. I chose to go to the nearby Chase Sapphire Terrace, even though it was a bit dreary and chilly outside, and even though it didn’t have any indoor seating. It was still a good place to wait for the flight. They were among most of the food items in their vending machine when I was there.
Boarding continued on time and we entered the huge business class of the Airbus A350 with 56 packed rooms. The seats are attractively designed but note that the doors are very low in height, which mostly provides a sense of privacy from other passengers and prevents them from seeing other passengers.
I had row 1 and the first thing I noticed was that the cabin was not clean, even though we were among the first to board.
Distributed for flight menus:
I think the British Airways logo on the front of the cabin is a nice touch, and the blue is very attractive.
To use the toilet at the front of the cabin requires passing through the galley and is a cramped space known for its limited food supply. Block it often so employees can work during food service. I’ve been on flights where the flight was completely blocked off, not to be disturbed, but that wasn’t the case this time.
The toilet at the front was fairly standard:
For food service, both the shrimp appetizer and the salmon main were perfectly good. The recipe is improved compared to when they were doing a single tray affair surprisingly late in the covid. Both cheese and dessert are offered (at the same time, some people prefer one or the other).
I didn’t get much sleep from the flight, and even with what they consider a (thin) mattress I found the seat too hard. But BA was a huge improvement over the seats that used to fly (and still do on some planes).
Before arrival they offered breakfast sandwiches, fruit and croissants which were all good – and I think a little better than the standard American Airlines scrambled eggs. I wish they would carry actual creamer for the coffee rather than just the non-fat ones. It reduces the bad taste better.
We made good time and landed half an hour early. We took the train from the far gates to clear transit immigration and security and went through those formalities in an amazing 15 minutes to Heathrow. From there, we headed to the main lounge complex, not yet knowing which gate we were going out of (and I hadn’t been out before).
I lost my Concierge Key status from America which would have given me access to the Concorde room with two guests. I was a business class passenger with One World Emerald status. This status is only available to a single lounge guest, and we were traveling with my wife and four year old daughter. I’ve been to BA Gallery First Class with my wife and daughter before (and she’s been treated as a guest since she was two) but on this visit they refused and sent us right to the business lounge next door.
Then it’s back to the distant gates of Paris. In the past, my flights to Paris have all been through close boarding gates, but this one wasn’t posted until just before I boarded.
British Airways’ short haul has always been a surprise to customers used to traveling in American Business Class (Club Europe), which has no more legroom than economy. It actually has less foot traffic than Ryanair. But (usually) it offers enclosed middle seating, alcohol and food.
While food service is widespread on longer voyages, short-haul service delivery has seen some interruptions and crews discuss how easy it is to serve less. They have also removed the champagne separator for customers who want to drink bubbly at a separate reduction.
It was all good enough to fly to Paris. But nothing surprising about the experience. The new seat is (and was) a huge improvement over the old one, and compared to other cabins, business class is mostly about seating and personal space. But there was nothing memorable about the experience, which is a bit of a shame. Of course, I’m still grateful to be able to use my miles to shop at a deep discount!
More from the wing view
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