-
To maximise the First experience I’m surprised no one has offered the helpful tip of booking with a different airline 😀
Wow! 😲 For those who haven’t experienced F in multiple airlines, BA has a completely excellent offering. I bet you wouldn’t refuse an upgrade 😊
BA F is usually a lot cheaper than other airlines in F and there’s the added bonus of being able to use Avios to book it.
I did make the point that it was cheaper than anyone else, precisely because it’s nowhere near as good. Use of Avios is a relevant point, even if we have all strayed completely off topic again.
The same characters hijacking threads with snobbery and trotting out the same self-centred talking points ad verbum… Head for Therapy? 🙂
Wrong initials – Head for Pherapy.
The same characters hijacking threads with snobbery and trotting out the same self-centred talking points ad verbum… Head for Therapy? 🙂
I think you need to check the definitions of ‘snobbery’ and ‘ad verbum’.
But thank you anyway for the ill-mannered/ill-considered advice.
Substitute a smoking jacket or paisley dressing gown for @JDB. I was thinking Leslie Howard, but Noel Coward will do!
@LL, definitely not with a drawstring. I remember someone being arrested in his nightwear once, which was a Superman onesie, complete with cape. He was still wearing it when he was taken to be interviewed, it caused much hilarity.
99% of people will never even experience BA F, let alone any of the other carriers, we are truly blessed on HFP!
I remain surprised that this is a work trip in F. Granted it is in budget, but surely J on any number of airlines – BA included – would have been cheaper. One wouldn’t want to get known by the finance team as an outlier who maximises the budget. Perhaps good advice is to enjoy this trip but focus on lowest reasonable cost J itinerary in future.
To maximise the First experience I’m surprised no one has offered the helpful tip of booking with a different airline 😀
Yes I know to JFK the options are limited, and if the budget only just stretches to BA it’s unlikely to stretch to anyone else (except AA).
What airline would you suggest? To the best of my knowledge, only BA and AA offer a “First” cabin on non stop flights between London and NYC
@BWS Might have been cheaper in First
@Savage Squirrel were you thinking of Noel Coward in that film in his silk dressing gown, very nicely spoken, continuing to run his crime empire from a most luxuriously appointed and serviced prison cell ?
I remain surprised that this is a work trip in F. Granted it is in budget, but surely J on any number of airlines – BA included – would have been cheaper. One wouldn’t want to get known by the finance team as an outlier who maximises the budget. Perhaps good advice is to enjoy this trip but focus on lowest reasonable cost J itinerary in future.
My first F flight was in a similar situation to the OP – my large employer’s online travel booking system showed BA F cheaper than BA J for the particular flight I needed.
I did make sure to screenshot and keep copies of the quoted fares for F v J, to cover myself for obvious reasons!In my experience F can indeed be cheaper than J, or maybe £200 more, and I have flown for work this way.
Anyway – I have found the service in F inconsistent – wonderful warm and welcoming or sarcastic, slow and unenthused. The latter really disappointing and has happened twice now! Interestingly the worst experience was when I was travelling alone (in 1A I might add, and a gold card for what it’s worth) the best when with my partner. I do wonder if this was just a woman who didn’t like other women…! Anyway – overall it’s a real treat and the Concorde room is lovely!
Enjoy!
The same characters hijacking threads with snobbery and trotting out the same self-centred talking points ad verbum… Head for Therapy? 🙂
I think you need to check the definitions of ‘snobbery’ and ‘ad verbum’.
But thank you anyway for the ill-mannered/ill-considered advice.
One might comment ‘QED’.
I agree with @JDB that the Club pax/crew ratio is bad – last time I flew F it was 1 in 4, and 1 in 10 in Club. Maybe OK for an overnight flight, but not so great in the daytime (presumably why they introduced the “help yourself”).
Hope the OP enjoys F. Personally I’m not sure I’d pay more for a better experience on other airlines – there’s only so much value you can get from a flight. BA First is often only a few £100s more than J, and well worth it IMHO.
Ask for a cabana in the CCR room – they are a bit sterile but very private and you can order whatever you like (they have dedicated staff)
I had no idea the cabanas had servers in them or I’d have paid more attention – thought they were just glorified baths. But with champagne? Changes the whole picture 😂
I had no idea the cabanas had servers in them or I’d have paid more attention – thought they were just glorified baths. But with champagne? Changes the whole picture 😂
If you request, two men will cool you while you’re in the bath with huge wicker fans while giggling like Kenneth Williams. Remember, they are laughing with you, not at you.
The first time I went in the CCR Mick Fleetwood was playing the piano. Later I passed him on the way to the loos and realised that he is quite unbelievably tall!
*We assumed he was en route to his home in Maui and not employed to entertain the lounge guests!
The first time I went in the CCR Mick Fleetwood was playing the piano. Later I passed him on the way to the loos and realised that he is quite unbelievably tall!
*We assumed he was en route to his home in Maui and not employed to entertain the lounge guests!
Were you on the same flight or did you go your own way? (Ba-dum tsch)
Start of The Chain of jokes. Best advice Mick gave to the pilot: “Don’t Stop”!
@BWS – in my Dreams 😂. Only to NYC, sadly, not quite Everywhere!
The Concorde Breakfast Lounge in arrivals.
@BWS – in my Dreams 😂. Only to NYC, sadly, not quite Everywhere!
This gives me an idea for the summer party – a conversation starter on badly behaved celebs we have encountered in airports/on planes.
This is my first time flying First so I was wondering if anyone had any tips/suggestions, such as things to order/avoid on the menu, both on the flight and in the Concorde/Chelsea lounge or any services t o make the most of.
Congratulations. Yes, use The First Wing for check-in/document check etc if you have baggage. That is all the way down at the south end of departures but it also has its own security channel which is usually more relaxed and much more efficient if you get a secondary inspection. That takes you direct into the so-called first lounge but you want to go straight through, exit by the horses and cross the area at the top of the escalators to find the CCR entrance. There’s a cloakroom just inside the entrance if you don’t want to be wheeling your bag around all day. Failing that, if you end up in north or south security, stay on that level, turn right and swim against the flow to the non-descript back door to the CCR all the way past the south security discharge area.
CCR menu switches from breakfast to lunch at 11:30 so you might manage both! You can eat/drink anything pretty much anywhere but dining on the terrace is quite pleasant as are a few drinks at the bar.
On board you should be plied with as much drink as you want and ask for some slippers – if only for toilet visits. You won’t always get your choice of meal, even in F, they don’t have 8 of everything and orders ‘should’ be taken in status order. But you can dine when you want and there will be a light option later on or whenever you want. Like everything BA it will all be massively dependent on the crew.
On the return there is a dedicated F/status check in area in T8 which leads you towards the TSAPre line, but without that they may escort you to the front of the regular line. The Chelsea lounge is ok and yes, ask at the bar what the ‘guest champagne’ is if you are into fizz. Food is good quality but otherwise it is a bit soulless. However you can wander freely between there and the Soho lounge where there are at least some windows. There are showers if it is the end of a long day. You can choose to sleep and the crew will make up your bed as soon as you want. That won’t stop the noise from the meal service for those that want it, nor the unnecessary noise from the galley thereafter. You can ask not to be woken for breakfast and changeyour mind later if you do wake up. There is an arrivals lounge in T5 with showers, one floor up once you are back land side, within which there is small Concorde dining area. Same breakfast options as in the CCR but anything else, juice coffee etc, is just brought in from the buffet.
Enjoy!
Blanket statements about BA Club being dire are totally inaccurate – we have just returned from SYD on BA. Straight through in Club Suite and the return in the old seats with a stop in SIN. I had no complaints about the crew, cleanliness of the plane and with regard to the food I tend to eat in the lounge and only have starter and dessert on board.
First of course is a lot better with a more comfortable bed and better food.
You are extremely lucky if you encountered a clean BA aircraft. Buy a lottery ticket this weekend.
Re flying to Sydney, I wouldn’t contemplate using BA on that route for all the above reasons but also the terrible outbound timings with two overnights onboard.
I had plenty of clean BA planes and never a dirty one (only longhaul in last 20years), but never won on the lottery. And NO I am not visually impaired, or any thing else you can think of.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
Popular articles this week:
