-
Hi All,
I was lucky enough to snag a couple of first seats to Singapore utilising a 2-4-1. A380 both ways so the old first seat.
Flight from LHR was terrific. Excellent service, exactly what I would expect from a great team. Really enjoyed it. Our main attendant was a lovely Scottish gentleman called David.
My only gripe is that I was asked to close the window blind as “most of the cabin are asleep”… Yes that’s why you provide eye masks. Probably not a debate worth getting into on this thread.
Flight from SIN was really poor. Not horrific, anything I asked for was given, but it was reactive, not proactive service. And the food was bad. Really quite bad. Pastries served for breakfast were cold. I don’t mean tepid, I mean cold like they were just out the fridge. I’m not sure how much control BA have for food coming out of SIN?
Such a shame for the second flight.
In terms of the hard product I knew what to expect and found it very comfortable. The IFE is old and poor, but I stuck to my own phone etc anyway and only had it on to for the flight radar. Slept very well both ways which is unusual for me.
Annoying you can’t use the upper deck toilets though! Strange decision by BA to put first on the lower deck.
We also flew Cathay and China Airlines in business when hopping around South East Asia, both were excellent. Service was way way ahead of BA. That’s probably not news to anyone who has been to Asia.
Many thanks
@Jipster – the service in BA F is unfortunately very crew dependent. On a recent flight, I had excellent service while my wife and son on the other aisle had a very grumpy overweight old bloke serving them and everything was too much trouble and reactive. The other crew members kept apologising for him. It’s disappointing about the food which is also highly erratic from outstations – it used to be really dire from Mexico and China but has improved a lot. That said the Club food is even worse and F is still an overall much better experience.
For ultra long haul – eg Australia, I wouldn’t even contemplate flying BA in F. To South America, we would choose Iberia any day, even changing flights in Madrid and for Santiago forgoing BA F.
@JDB Your comment about the BA experience in F being crew dependent also applies to Club. We had a very poor crew for our flight from LHR to SIN last December, then an excellent crew on the leg from SIN to SYD.
The first crew took two hours to come up with an “express supper” – whilst the second crew served that dish within 30 minutes.I met David on another A380 First class flight from DFW to LHR! Great guy, he lived in Madrid for a few years and his Spanish was perfect!
Would agree about isle dependent service as we’ve seen this on a few occasions in F with BA.
Don’t expect a clean cabin. Horrible, filthy planes.
And that’s not crew dependent.The refitted A380s are rumoured to be getting First on the Upper Deck.
I’m considering visiting Singapore at the end of a trip in January, I’ve never been before, is two nights with a 23:15 flight leaving on the last day too short?
The refitted A380s are rumoured to be getting First on the Upper Deck.
I’m considering visiting Singapore at the end of a trip in January, I’ve never been before, is two nights with a 23:15 flight leaving on the last day too short?
I think you are going to get a few different answers for that – some will say one day is enough, others will disagree 🙂
Personally I do think there is more to-do than some people say; probably 3 days is enough for the main things, but we have also just had friends visit us who stayed 7 days in total here, and they felt like they just about managed to see everything they wanted to…
Think there is enough to do between Botanic Gardens, Sentosa, Marina Bay, Gardens by the Bay, Zoo, Little India, Chinatown, National Museum, plus any “nature” things you may want to do.
@Richie, depends what your interests are. we found more to do than two days. Would add Asian Civilisations Museum, Supreme Court Heritage site. Architecture is stunning, and the museum of town planning was an eye opener.
Top tip: alcohol is eye wateringly expensive. Don’t expect to buy any without sobbing at the price in Singapore.Hawker centres are your friend if you want cheap-ish beer in Singapore (and some great food)
We flew to SIN on a BA 787 on 9 May. Service was poor, and the whole experience was very disappointing. Probably worth the upgrade to avoid old Club World, but the in flight experience didn’t feel at all special. Nice meal and excellent service in the Concorde Room though.
In contrast, we flew JAL J class from SIN to NRT, and are currently descending into LHR from HEL on AY.
Sadly, the old joke about BA F being the world’s best business class simply isn’t true. Finnair and JAL J class beat BA F hands down.
Just had the best night’s sleep I’ve ever had on a flight, thanks to the spacious Finnair seat, and just using my second hour of free WiFi.
Unfortunately, my OH is now spoiled, and doesn’t want to fly BA again if alternatives are available.
Maybe time to ditch the BAPP.
@Alex G. A little harsh on BA F I feel. I’ve had very good experiences.
Unpopular opinion, after my last CS flight I’ve decided I still prefer CW (the nice bulkhead seats) to CS. The knee space in the CS just doesn’t work for my side sleep bent leg position. I get CW had to go, just too many bad seats and too much variation between seats, but it had its benefits.
I put this on the main forum today, didnt think of putting it up in here!
Reading your post not sure if im looking forward to flight home on BA12! Cheers 👍 😎Good morning from Thailand!
Travelled BA11 LHR to SIN in F last Tue.
Visited CCR Lounge great TBH. Dress code was ware what you want! people in shorts, flip-flops, tracksuits etc! me i wore my chinos and shirt!
Had a look in the F lounge and was very busy came back to the CCR and stayed there!
Food dipped into the afternoon tea and later had Trout and tried the Concorde burger both awesome. Tried a couple of there cocktails too, all in all really enjoyed my time in the CCR.On board BA11
First time in F on BA A380
Seat super comfy, lots of room, slept for 6 hours!
Food was incredible….
Dinner:
Canapes – Smoked Trout Donut, Mint Pea Tartlet and Smoked duck,asparagus and truffle roll
Starter – North Atlantic Lobster
Main – Fillet of scottish beef with sides
Dessert – Baked Cherry tart
Tucked into the champers and had a couple of my fav red snapper cocktails!Breakfast:
Energising smoothie
Fresh seasonal fruit
Strawberry super bowl
Sweet Curd pancakes
CoffeeThe FA were great always asking if i needed a Champers refill or another cocktail and very chatty.
If i had a small niggle it would be the temperature of the cabin was to hot when sleeping…Again really enjoyed my flight on BA11, if only they provided caviar on board i would say would be on a par with Qatar Airways F product IMHO.
Will be looking forward to my flight home from Singapore on BA12. 👍 😎
Unfortunately, BA almost always fails to deliver a consistent service on long haul J or F. In F I’ve had truly excellent service (from young crew too) and entirely average service that would be more appropriate for business class. My strategy for J is to avoid eating and just go to bed.
For this route, I reckon I would much rather fly SQ J than BA F, as they are reliably excellent in business. As JDB said, for longer routes BA aren’t worth even contemplating. To Australia, I would favour QR J.
There’s no using an Amex 241 voucher when flying SQ…
There’s no using an Amex 241 voucher when flying SQ…
That’s correct, but personally we aren’t willing to let the tail wag the dog. There are other effective ways to use the 241 voucher, but when travelling east there are just so many vastly more comfortable options than BA. LHR-SYD in F on BA would perhaps provide the best use of a 241 (as in saving the most Avios) but would we wish to travel almost 24 hours with BA? No thanks.
Yep
Unfortunately the only other airline options using the 241 voucher hardly know what the eastern world is…
IB is very focused on Latin America (long haul)
EI doesn’t really know what long haul flights are that aren’t centred around the U.S.
Not either of their faults, they have flights to where their core markets need and or want to go to, plus there’s no point in bothering with destinations that’s not economically viable for them when they’ve got some partners who’re strong in the area.
Just a shame BA have got a lot of work to be doing as it in the first place, before they think about improvements where us HfP readers would like to see it more than anything
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
Popular articles this week:
