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My review of British Airways’s First Class on Boeing 777
My main purpose of booking BA’s first class was to try out the Concorde Room, and I wasn’t really looking forward to the flight that much. I travelled in their first class once in 2016 and didn’t think very highly of it, but maybe there has some improvement since.
My flight has minor delay because of a last-minute aircraft change. There’s an A380 roll-up banner at the boarding gate which got me excited, but it turned out to be Boeing 777 in the end.
First up, a few pictures:
I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but the pictures above are actually from two cabins. This 777 has already been refurbished, which means they’ve got the new Club Suite configuration in business class (Picture 3 & 4). The seat and finish are just so similar that I could barely tell one from the other. Well, the Club Suite does have a door…
Back to the first class cabin, it has two rows and four seats in total. The seats are angled which is pretty rare for first class.
Jokes aside, you’ve got a lot of the space in here compared to in business class.
相较于商务舱而言头等舱还是更加宽敞，旁边的小桌子上可以放东西，脚凳下的空间也比较大。
Control panel and the small wardrobe:
I’ve got so many pet peeves about the design. To start with I hate folding screens, as you cannot watch the programs during take-off and landing. I also hate push-release tray as it’s just so much trouble taking them out and in, and my finger got jammed!
On a different note, I like the amenity bag and the pyjama set, although I’ve never heard of the brand – Temperley London – before.
I need to work my blog so didn’t spend much time on the IFE, but the Anti-Valentine genre did make me smile 🙂
In-flight wifi is free to First Class passengers (limited to one device), but it’s a nightmare trying to get connected. After a ton of effort I finally managed to connect my laptop, and the internet speed is not great. In addition, the socket under my seat is broken, so I have to charge my phone at the empty seat next to me.
The seat when flattened:
BA is refurbing the first class cabin as well by adding a door to improve privacy.
The menu:
I understand caviar is too expensive for BA’s catering budget, but still I think they should try harder to come up with a decent menu.
The amuse-bouche and soup:
Not impressed by the burger – I think McSpicy is better!
The ice cream is good.
I decided to try the lamb chop before landing, which turns out to be a delight. It is probably the nicest thing I’ve ever had on a BA flight, and I’m happy to pay for it in a restaurant.
The champagne and wine list:
I’m not a champagne drinker, but I know people stay hours in the Concorde Room for the Grand Siecle and then continue the drinking party onboard to make sure they get their money’s worth 😛
The experience is in line with my memory from the last flight, and although there’s nothing to write home about, I don’t think BA’s first class is a bad product either. If you’ve never flown first class, maybe grab a £2k deal when BA has a sale as a starter and save other airlines for the future.
My review of BA’s Concorde Room, LHR T5
One of the main driving causes for my Bahrain trip was to try out BA’s Concorde Room. As it is only open to First Class passengers and Gold Guest List members, I haven’t had a chance to visit yet, and I need to change that.
BA’s First Wing is awesome, but sadly I’m saying goodbye to it as being downgraded to Silver 🙁
Through the First Wing you’ll see the Galleries First Lounge, keep on walking and exit on your left, and you’ll now see the Concorde Room.
I like the logo.
Once inside, well, it doesn’t feel much different to the Galleries First Lounge.
The bar is fine, but not as impressive as the ones at the Clubhouse and United Club. One big selling point though is the free-flowing Laurent Perrier Grand Siecle, so arrive early if you are a fan!
As a proper first class lounge, there is a dining room (restaurant) where you can sit down and enjoy a meal.
I don’t find anything aspiring in the breakfast menu though. I found the lunch menu online as well and it’s a bit boring too.
The food is ok. Service is really slow though (and there aren’t many guests) so it might not work if you are in a hurry.
There is a terrace bar if you fancy more light.
Help yourself to the cheeseboard, charcuterie and drinks.
There are two cabana rooms but by reservation only so I didn’t bother to visit. From the pictures from online reports they look ok.
My first visit to the Concorde Room didn’t quite live up to my expectations. Like BA’s First Class cabin, there’s nothing wrong with it, but there’s nothing outstanding either. As I’m now a lowly Silver I will find myself at one of the Galleries lounge next time, but to be honest I don’t feel missing out.
British Airways and Virgin Atlantic relaunches Shanghai with great reward availability
After being absent from China’s market for three years and having permanently discontinued Hong Kong, Virgin Atlantic is resuming its daily service between London Heathrow and Shanghai Pudong on the first of May.
Reward availability was released this morning, and you can book literally any single day, although seats over China’s festive periods are selling fast.
Here is a reminder what a one-way ticket in Upper Class costs, and the respective fees from Shanghai / London:
- Economy: 12,500 points + 833 RMB / £208
- Premium Economy: 22,500 points+ 1,565 RMB / £360
- Upper Class: 57,500 points + 1,719 RMB / £411
You need to add another 10,000 points if flying at peak. Shanghai is operated by the older B787 aircrafts, although I think they are less bad compared to the A350 suite.
British Airways on the other hand, is also relaunching Shanghai on April 23rd and Beijing on June 3rd. However Avios seats have been available for quite a while now so it’s not as exciting.
BA’s new RFS pricing wants 200,000 Avios + £550 for a return trip to Shanghai, which is ridiculous. Unless you are looking to book first class with a companion voucher, Virgin Atlantic is the more favourable option by a large margin.
Buy British Airways Silver Card for £600 in their sale
British Airways has announced yet another sale, and as usual it offers an opportunity to earn cheap tier points and thus elite statuses.
The easiest way to view all rates is via their Low Fare Finder. From the tier-point perspective, it’s most cost-efficient to fly Club Europe (short-haul European flights in business class) and here are some headline prices (return trip):
- Belfast £156
- Catania £264
- Dublin £166
- Edinburgh £152
- Glasgow £146
- Istanbul £300
- Luxembourg £136
- Reykjavik £292
- Sofia £240
- Tirana £278
Destinations in bold earn you 80 TP per way, otherwise it’s 40 TP only. Note that there will no longer be any qualification discount in 2023, plus airfares are getting more expensive now so it’s not as cheap to earn status as in the last two years. You can earn BA Silver (Oneworld Sapphire), which requires 600 TP, in four trips to Sofia which will cost you almost a thousand pound.
There’s a way to reduce your cost though, as BA Holidays has extended their double tier points offer till the end of 2023. All flight+hotel and flight+rental bookings earn double tier points, which means you only need two return trips (instead of four) to earn your Silver card.
For a two-night trip to Sofia, the minimum cost is just over £300 pp for two people, which is a great deal. (EDIT: apologies that my calculations were wrong. You need 5 nights minimum to earn double tier points – car rental should be cheaper).
My Gold card is expiring soon but thanks to the soft landing policy I’ll remain Silver for one more year, so I’m not rushing to any mileage run right now. But if you are interested you should considering booking some flights or holidays.
Save Avios with British Airways’ Multi-Carrier Award
The Oneworld alliance has a unique feature called Multi-Carrier Award, which means if an itinerary involves multiple airline partners, the pricing of the award will adopt a different chart, and it could cost significantly less than travelling on a sole airline.
Airlines have different definitions of multi-carrier and also different pricing systems. You could find BA’s relevant page here. Basically it applies whenever your itinerary includes at least two Oneworld airlines (whether BA is one of them or not), and the following chart is for economy class redemption:
The only deciding factor is your travel distance, whether it’s one-way, open-jaw or return. In general the longer you travel the sweeter the deal becomes, and for other cabin classes you simply multiply the Avios by a factor accordingly:
- Premium Economy: 1.5x
- Business: 2x
- First: 3x
By comparison, the multiplying factors of BA’s regular redemption chart for long-haul flights are roughly 2x, 3x and 4x, although it’s just approximation and varies by distance.
It doesn’t take a genius to tell multi-carrier awards on business or first class can have tremendous value, although the latter is probably much less practical due to availability. An ultra-long 50,000-mile around-the-globe trip in business class costs only 480,000 Avios, plus other fees.
BA’s website can actually price such awards correctly. For example if you want to book Tokyo Narita – Kuala Lumpur – Singapore:
The first option which is a multi-carrier award, costs 35,000 Avios in economy and 70,000 Avios in business. The second option on the other hand, falls into BA’s regular partner redemption and costs 26,750 Avios and 74,500 Avios respectively.
Unfortunately BA’s award search engine doesn’t handle open-jaw or complex itineraries, which are what multi-carrier awards are designed for. You’ll have to come up with your itinerary, make sure there’s availability for each segment yourself, and than call BA’s customer service to book.
How to Change Your BA 50%-off Avios Tickets
The BA award ticket sale last October had up to 50% off on a lot of long-haul routes, and many of us took a punt at it. Unsurprisingly many of these flights have been cancelled (or will be), and it’s important to know what your rights are under such circumstances.
[Refund]
If you don’t mind losing the very good deal, you can of course just cancel the trip and ask for a refund.
Note that there’s still no refund option online and you must call. From my personal experience though, the refund comes through very quickly.
[Future Travel Voucher]
When your flight is cancelled, besides accepting a refund they’ll also push you to accept a Future Travel Voucher, or FTV.
Although it may make sense to accept one on few occasions, don’t do it if it’s a ticket from last year’s sale. An FTV is basically a voucher that carries all values of your previous ticket, which may include Avios, taxes and surcharges, seat selection fee etc.
It will act as part-payment towards your future booking. It means, if you accept a FTV and go on making a new booking, you’ll end up paying the current (full) price.
[Rebooking Online]
This is the best and most convenient option. Simply login to BA’s website and then rebook by selecting a new date:
You cannot change the origin or destination of your trip, however you won’t need to pay any fare difference either. You should be able to choose any flight on sale, as long as there are (reward) seats available.
[Rebooking over Phone]
It appears that online rebooking only works for direct flights though. If your flight has stop(s), or the trick above doesn’t work for you whatsoever, you must call BA’s customer service to rebook.
The biggest limitation here is, your trip must start by the original booking date + 365 days. As last year’s sale was in October, your trip will have to take place in October 2021 at the latest. It seems to be a restriction that cannot be bypassed if you rebook via the customer service.
My JER-LHR-HKG flight next week has been cancelled, and I called this morning to change my flight. As the current situation stands, I’m hoping to rebook to as far in the future as possible, which is mid October.
However, the agent from You First told me that BA will only fly to LGW from Jersey in October, which obviously is very inconvenient for my connecting flight to Hong Kong. I inquired about dropping the first leg so that I could start my trip in LHR instead, and was quoted £148 fare difference due to taxes.
I didn’t just give up and asked for a word with the supervisor. Another 15 minutes and the same agent came back telling me that their manager has agreed to move my flight and waive the charge, result! Unfortunately the trip still needs to take place by mid October or I’ll have to pay full Avios.
Hope my tips help.
Best advantages for having British Airways Gold
I’ve written about BA Silver’s benefits previously, and today let’s have a look at Gold.
You could see the list of Gold benefits on BA’s page here. To achieve Gold, you need to meet the following two conditions:
- Fly four eligible segments
- Earn 1,500 tier points
An eligible segment is a BA-operated or -coded flight, or an IB-operated and -coded flight. It must be on a paid ticket, i.e. award ticket doesn’t count.
The following benefits are in my preference order, and all (except the reward ticket ones) apply to any Oneworld Emerald equivalent.
[First Class Lounge Access]
One thing that distinguishes Oneworld from the other two alliances is that many Oneworld airlines have dedicated first-class lounges and, more importantly, Emerald elites are entitled to using them.
Being BA Gold, you could use BA’s Galleries First lounge at LHR T5, which to be fair isn’t that special. However, Cathay Pacific has a pretty good First lounge at T3, and not to mention the flagship ones at its home base HKG.
[Extra Award Ticket Inventory]
Extra award ticket inventory is made available to Gold card holders. More specifically, economy class V inventory is always open for redemption for Gold elites. You’ll see a message like this when searching for Avios tickets:
This is more useful than you think. I found it much easier to find award ticket in economy class once I turned Gold!
[Free Seat Selection]
Like Silver, Gold members can select seats for free at the time of booking. And this includes extra legroom seats in economy class on long-haul flights too, which is an improvement over Silver.
You could choose seat for anyone else on your booking as well. Even with separate bookings, you could call BA’s hotline to achieve this as long as your companions are travelling on the same flight and in the same cabin. This is called To Complete Party.
[Fast Track Security & Immigration]
You enjoy fast track security at Heathrow and select airports worldwide. From my personal experience it doesn’t make a huge difference though.
Fast track immigration at Heathrow is much more useful for me, as I’m a non-EU passport holder. It tends to save me, perhaps 30 minutes on average each time.
[Gold Priority Reward]
If there’s no award ticket space at all, you can still force open redemption inventory using this privilege. The only condition is that the revenue ticket is still selling, and you must pay double the original Avios required.
It cannot be done online, and you must book at least 30 days in advance.
I’m single so never had a chance to use this benefit! However, if you have children, therefore need more tickets and are restricted in terms of when you can travel, I do see how this privilege can be useful.
[Priority Boarding]
As Gold you are always placed in Group 1 when boarding. It means you are guaranteed to be amongst the first ones on board!
As I said before, it’s great when you are flying economy on a busy flight, as boarding early means you needn’t worry about luggage storage.
[First Class Check-in]
You can always use the First Class check-in counters at the airport. At Heathrow, there is a dedicated check-in area – First Class Wing (my review here) available which is a special experience.
[Extra Baggage Allowance]
Like Silver elites, as Gold you are entitled to an additional check-in baggage as well. However, Silver’s extra allowance doesn’t apply if the original allowance is already two bags or more, whereas there’s no such limitation for Gold.
It means, flying First you could carry 4 * 32kg pieces for free!
Note that however, it’s not applicable when flying Economy Basic – you still won’t have any allowance in the case.
Is another Avios devaluation approaching?
Right after the amazing 50%-off redemption sale, it appears that BA may be doing something dodgy in the background. I’ve just noticed something weird with the Avios pricing on certain routes.
One of them is Tokyo Haneda to London Heathrow. Earlier this year Japan outlawed fuel surcharge on most flights departing from the country (or at least it is my understanding), so HND-LHR should only carries £30-ish taxes.
When I try to book an off-peak economy-class flight on BA, although the fee does look right, you can see it tries to charge me 35,000 Avios instead of 19,500.
If you click continue it gets worse. Now the fee becomes £100 (first option)?! The standard Avios pricing is still available (19,500 points), however in this case BA wants £180 from you which is crazy.
I’m not sure if it’s even legal, when carrier-impose surcharge is banned by Japan. There are also a couple of amusing facts:
- Economy class on Japan Airlines costs only 31,000 Avios + £28.9
- Pricing on other BA cabins hasn’t changed – therefore premium economy on the same flight costs 39,000 Avios + £27.1, which works out cheaper than economy class!
Similar irregularity can be found on HKG-LHR as well. Japan and Hong Kong do have one thing in common: both of them have imposed restrictions on fuel surcharges. Admittedly the latter has lifted its restriction, however most airlines haven’t really increased their surcharge yet.
So is it a way for BA to pocket extra money / Avios from the fuel surcharge loss? It’s unwise for them to only execute it on economy class though, as that’s the least attractive redemption option anyway. Whether it’s an intended experiment, or simply an IT glitch (although unlikely) I have no clue, and I hope BA can make some clarification or fix it soon!