Another flight on in BA's long-haul business class, this time using a mileage award ticket for fun, rather then travelling for work.
To be honest, this, more than other sectors I've flown in Club World, was something of a mixed bag. Although, to be fair to BA, this was coming only a week after the inbound flight in Lufthansa First, so I may be carrying expectations set in first class through to a business class flight.
The seat is still, to my mind, the best business class product when it comes to actually sleeping; it's wide at the shoulders and, compared to many other fully flat products, reasonably wide at the feet. Most importantly, your legs are free to move as your feet aren't entombed in a small pigeon hole. I also remain convinced that the rear-facing middle pairs are fantastic if you're travelling as couple.
There have been murmerings from various sources that BA were improving the catering in Club World and that did seem to be the case on this flight. Oh, and apologies (again) for the poor photos, but I refuse to become one of these people whipping out a SLR and a lighting rig in aircraft or restaurants - an iPhone will have to suffice.
There was a mozzarella, couscous and artichoke salad on offer as a starter, but I went with hot smoked salmon with asparagus. The salmon was, by previous Club World standards, not only decently presented, but generously sized.
Braised beef short rib is a sensible sort of a thing to be serving on an aircraft - it can't be completely ruined by the fierce cooling and re-heating. The version served on this flight was actually tasty and pretty tender - it seems BA is, after all, putting some more thought into what is served to Club World passengers. Dessert was a delicious, and huge, slice of chocolate and praline layer cake, but even I consider the photo too hideous for publication.
With the seat still excellent and the food improving, it's slightly dissappointing that small details take the shine off of the overall experience. Frequent flyer forums are full of people moaning about BA providing a wine list in Club World which bears no resemblance to what's actually loaded onto the aircraft. Now, this isn't a major issue in the scheme of things and this was the first time I'd come across it, but it does look a little sloppy to suggest that there are eight wines to choose from then actually only offer three or four.
There's also plenty of chatter online about BA crews being generally surly and, perhaps, less enthusiastic than those working for competitors based in Asia or Arabia. Personally, I've generally had great service from BA crews over the years, at least eighty percent of crews have been excellent. Sadly, this flight represetned something of a bump in the road. The crew were friendly enough, but just didn't seem happy to go out of their way at all.
On requesting drinks after the meal, the steward handed over two of everything, which I'm a big fan of, but as he did so quipped "I'm leaving you a supply because we don't do call buttons.". Now, this was delivered in a fairly jocular fashion, but it still leaves a bad impression, particulalry to people who might have been using BA for the first time. As I fell fast asleep shortly afterwards, there was no cause to test quite how averse he was to the call button.
An hour or so out of Heathrow, I opened a bathrom door and, after seeing the mess some fellow passenger had left, decided to use another one. The same crew member mentioned above noticed this and had a look inside himself. I'm the first to say that cleaning toilets is an unpleasant job, but I was under the impression that it was part and parcel of the cabin crew's role, particularly on a long flight - I'd remind you of the ever-sparkling bathrooms Eva Air seem to maintain in business class. Rather than pull on the rubber gloves and make some attempt to rectify the situation, our friendly steward coughed, closed the door and then slapped an "out of order" sticker across the door. I should mention that this was a packed flight, so taking a bathrom ut of service only caused long waits for passengers as they we approached Heathrow and everybody started landing.
Reading through this, I do have to admit that the problems are pretty minor, but it is frustrating that BA can be so close to offering an amazing product and then allow sloppiness to take the edge off of the experience.
