I’m very loyal to British Airways, but for a recent business trip the flight time on a BA code share with American Airline’s to Miami was much more amenable and so I took the brave step. This step was buoyed along by the fact that the flight was on one of AA’s brand new 777’s – of which I have heard good things about.
Highs
- The seat is great! It is a herringbone layout but pointing away from the aisle (i.e. the reverse direction of Virgin so you don’t have to stare at someone else’s feet). As a result it is incredibly private and spacious – in fact there are similarities to the layout of BA first class – but of course without the glamour and first class trimmings and the real comfort you get for paying the extra. It is nice to have space for storage even during take-off as well as a side table and when reclined the bed is definitely more comfortable, contained and bed-like. In BA Club in comparison it feels a bit more like a seat you might roll-off, and in Virgin I felt overly enclosed on both sides. Having had a peep into the small first class in front, the business seats are more private than the first class ones. That said – pretty sure that there was a famous american musician in first (who smiled when I was snooping) so clearly enough privacy!
- The food is actually pretty good (see below for pre-flight concerns). Good choice of main courses, plenty of fruit and salad and a really good snack bar on offer outside of meal times.
- Warm nuts – little things, but I love that BA do this in first class, so it was a nice touch to have these after take-off in business class. (I would have liked these on the way home from DC a week later in BA club!!)
- The mini-business cabin. I had seat 3J which is in a mini-cabin right behind first class. The seat layout is 1-2-1 and this mini-cabin has just 2 rows. Much quieter than the significantly larger cabin behind (although see noise issue below).
- The loos – there is one really nice big toilet cabin between the 2 business cabins where you can actually get changed without having to sit on the loo to navigate the process.
- There is Wifi! I didn’t use it as I knew I could get far more work done offline, but for $20 for the duration of the flight, I think that is pretty good value!
Lows
- BA lounges are great, even the busy London ones. The Admiral’s Club lounges aren’t as nice. Fortunately at LHR there is a BA one too, so I used that! Having toured different Admiral’s Clubs in the USA for the rest of the trip, we are definitely spoilt in the UK by the BA ones!
- Treated myself to a pre take-off (plastic??) glass of fizz. Not really very nice, in fact I didn’t come close to finishing it. The rest of the way I worked so it was water and juice for me! I’ve read elsewhere that in general the wine selection is not on a par with BA.
- The cabin air conditioning was incredibly noisy, in fact I don’t think I have ever been on such a noisy plane. I was chatting to another passenger as we waited to disembark and he agreed the noise the A/C created was ridiculous. I had to resort to noise-cancelling headphones at all times just to stave off getting a headache, and at times when I wasn’t wearing these I certainly couldn’t hear any of the Captain’s announcements or even the cabin crew when they were speaking to me! Whether something was wrong I don’t know, but had there been I think an apology would have been issued (perhaps over the tanoy we couldn’t hear?), but it wasn’t good.
- Special meal options – I always seek dairy free, but this wasn’t offered. No bother – clearly vegan would be a standard option? Apparently not – only vegetarian, no-gluten and religious meals are catered for. I had quite a funny little chat with AA about this on twitter and did take extra supplies. As it happened their veggie meal was almost vegan and gluten free so I do wonder why they don’t do themselves a favour and make it vegan to please more passengers.
So a really good seat and what should be a private and quiet cabin, but the air conditioning racket would really put me off another trip (especially having flown back from Dulles on the BA A380 that purred softly). Definitely the best cabin layout around and knocks the socks off Virgin which I found to be a little gimmicky and cramped. Saying that, my loyalties remain with BA as it is always good, whether old or new, and does the job without fail. I believe that AA are currently replacing aeroplanes and so the layout I had on this flight isn’t always available yet.
Having flown with AA, I will certainly continue to investigate other bits of OneWorld though, a useful network indeed!!
Who was the musician you spotted? Give us a hint!
Author
The thing is i have no idea… But he was too cool and bling and ‘escorted’ to be anything less!!
Holy shtiizn, this is so cool thank you.
Reblogged this on jetjunkie and commented:
A great insight if ever thinking of flying business class
Author
Thank you!!
Author
Hi – there is a BA one from earlier in the week that may also be of interest?
Thanks… I’m just trying to show my followers more information about travel oppurtunities. You don’t mind if I reblog?
Author
More than happy!! I’ve just followed you as i’ll be interested in others that you share too!
Thanks …I must follow you too!!
I don’t think I could ever fly business class – I’d be ruined for life haha. Love that Tweet conversation with AA – gosh you think for a 2k ticket you might have gotten a special meal geez.
Author
And once you do it once, it becomes very difficult to do anything but! Fortunately long-haul travel with work is always business class, and my accrual rate of miles means for holidays we normally have enough when we plan ahead!
Wow Anna, I really can’t get over the meal issue.I think they’re having a laugh! If you are travelling on a flight that is long enough to require proper food, I think that this should be the airline’s responsibility, not the passenger’s. The situation is made worse by the fact it’s business class with a price tag like that …
Author
It is crazy! BA bend over backwards to help (sometimes getting it wrong and acknowledging that too) so they are my preferred. They do themselves a disservice in a way though – the meal would have met vegan standards I suspect, so why not go the extra mile and make it so and keep people happy. Health in the air is important and as you say – at that price they are having a laugh…!!
Not impressed with AA replies to you on Twitter and the noise problem sounds (no pun intended) horrendous. Such a shame on both counts.
Author
You are right – they have a really good product that doesnt rate as it should as a result
Shocking to read the twitter exchange when you are paying for that kind of ticket. As to the rest of it-I think you’ll have a hard time coming back to economy, the space looks pretty luxurious!
Author
I know… have managed to avoid long haul economy for a long time now, the thought terrifies me! Bulkhead or front row seats it will need to be next time!
Interesting to read how you got on – I haven’t flown with AA for years after a trip to Costa Rica years ago that involved getting bumped off one flight and another being 5 hours late, plus generally awful customer service. Not sure I’m convinced to give them another try yet unless I have to – the special meal thing is ridiculous in Business!
Author
Sounds like I got lucky with the ontimeliness and service… When I wrote this I thought I was being fussy about my no-dairy, but the amount of people that have raised the point that actually it isn’t good enough… perhaps I have more of a point than I realise!!
Nice report. Shocked at the Twitter response, they have been nothing but helpful for me, but I’m not inquiring about special meals. That being said they do offer special meals you just have to call in. As for vegan as a very frequent US traveler I can’t recall any airline offering vegan, only veg.
Author
I think we are spoilt in the UK that the prime carriers offer not just religious options but also special diets that are as important in my opinion. Vegan is an easy way of covering off a lot of issues! I was surprised that as part of OneWorld they don’t match up to some of the other carriers in terms of what is possible. But that said – on board there was plenty to choose from and the staff were actually very sweet and helpful beyond what the twitter responders managed!