Comment: British Airways 777 First Class

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Although I have already flown many times on British Airways First Class flight, there are certain elements that would make my flight unique between London and Boston:

Redeeming miles on British Airways

I managed to book reward tickets on the following route:

BA651 Mykonos in London, departure 13:45 arrival 15:45 [Business]
BA239 London to Boston from 19h55 arrival at 22h20 [First]

We booked this using British Airways Avios – the cost was 100,000 Avios per person, plus $ 341 in taxes, fees and surcharges imposed by the carrier.

Although British Airways is known for its significant surcharges, they vary greatly depending on your departure location. These were among the lowest transatlantic fuel surcharges I have ever seen to travel in first class British Airways.

100,000 Avios is a lot, but in reality I transferred a 40% Amex bonus last year to Amex. So I really paid 72,000 Amex points per person, which, in my opinion, was not too bad.

See this post for all the best credit cards to win British Airways Avios.

Our London Heathrow Transit

Originally, our stopover at Heathrow was supposed to last more than four hours, but with the delay, it finally took about two hours. It's still a long time and I'm glad we did not plan a shorter stopover.

We arrived and departed from Terminal 5, so the transit process was simple. The safety line was not bad and we were back on the track in about 20 minutes, which is very fast by Heathrow standards.

We headed to the British Airways Concorde Room for just under an hour. I have studied this show a lot, so I will not do it again, except to highlight two things that struck me:

The lack of power outlets in this salon is infuriating. I had just done a four-hour flight without power and I had to work briefly and charge, and I could literally find no comfortable place to sit with a charger. I ended up sitting literally next to a stranger on a couch for two so I could sit in a place where I could charge.
I do not know why British Airways is bored by a spa. You can get an appointment in a few hours (even in business class) for almost any other salon with a spa. While at British Airways, I called the day before to make an appointment, they had nothing at their disposal. I just do not understand.

Anyway, boarding had to start at 18:55 at the door B45, so we headed to 18:40. This required taking the train to Hall "B".

British Airways 777 London Heathrow

I had the card "SSSS" on my boarding card and so I had to be the subject of an additional check. The way it works in Heathrow, they let you in the boarding gate, and then you're invited to sit down. Then, once embarked, they search your stuff. So, even though I always try to be the first to go on board to get pictures, I was not able to do it this time, because they were looking for me.

Boarding started around 7:10 pm.

British Airways Heathrow departure gate

British Airways 777 first class exam

After searching through my belongings, I headed for the reaction bridge.

British Airways 239
London (LHR) – Boston (BOS)
Thursday August 15th
Departure: 19h55
Check in: 22:20
Duration: 7h25min
Plane: Boeing 777-200
Headquarters: 2E (first class)

I entered through the second door on the left, where the customer service manager greeted and escorted me by another flight attendant in the first class cabin. It was the first time I had traveled to the first class of British Airways class 777, and I was amazed at how much I liked the cabin.

There was a total of 14 first-class seats – there were four seats on each side along the windows, then three pairs of seats in the center section. The cabin is spacious and I like the way it occupies all the space between doors one and two, which gives the impression of having a little privacy.

British Airways first class cabin 777-200

British Airways 777-200 first class cabin

To compare that to other British Airways planes:

On the 747, the nose has something good, although the cabin is also the narrowest of the fleet.
The A380 has an even more spacious cabin, but for some reason, I preferred the 777 cabin (perhaps because I was expecting less first class on a 777 than on an A380?)
The 787 has the advantage of having only two rows, so the cockpit seems a little more exclusive

I had assigned the two central seats of the second row. These are by no means top-class seats at the cutting edge of technology, although it's nice to be able to sit with your fellow traveler and communicate easily. This is especially true after our first-class flight with ANA a few months ago, where the central seats are designed so that you can not communicate with each other.

British Airways 777 seats in first class

British Airways 777 first class cabin

If you are traveling alone, you will of course choose one of the individual seats facing the windows. British Airways offers blinds that can be lowered automatically by pressing a button, which is pleasant to the touch. Although the seats are not at the cutting edge of technology, British Airways has done a good job with ambient lighting and ambiance.

As you can see, British Airways' first-class seats are essentially inverted chevron seats.

British Airways 777 seats in first class

British Airways seats in first class 777

In my place was an ottoman, which could also serve as a buddy seat, if you wanted to have dinner face to face. The personal television folded from the center section and had to be stowed for take-off and landing (which means you can not watch anything during these phases of flight).

British Airways 777 seats in first class

British Airways seats in first class 777

I find the placement of the seat plug quite annoying, because you can not access it while sitting. It's more on the side of the pouf, so you have to get on your knees to plug anything. Taking a picture of this picture, I also noticed how bad the cleaning of British Airways planes was.

British Airways first class power socket

Although I appreciate the privacy shades between the seats, the photo below shows how far they can be retracted. That is to say, you can have total privacy, but there is no way to put them back completely, so that the space between the seats is fully open. I do not know why they do not have that.

British Airways First Class Privacy Partition

The glossy shelf is folded on the right side of the seat. It's huge when fully deployed, but you can also fold it in half.

British Airways first class board

The seat controls are very easy to use because they are just to the right of the seat. There is a button that you can use to tilt your seat or put it back in place, which I like (when the lighting around is green, you can go take off and land). You can also control the lighting from here.

First class seat orders from British Airways

You can tell at what age this school 777-200 was based on the entertainment controller located at the back of the seat. It's also where the USB jacks were.

British Airways First Class Entertainment Commands

Finally, on the outside of the seat was a small closet where you could hang a coat or something similar.

British Airways first class closet

Although these seats do not offer much privacy, I want to emphasize that at least they are a little off. So you are never sitting directly next to someone on the other side of the aisle.

British Airways first class 777

I was waiting at my seat to board a bit of bedding, including two pillows and a blanket. Although I do not call this point of bedding impeccable quality, it was much better than the flat pillow like a pancake that British Airways had before at each place when boarding.

British Airways first class bedding

Then there was a rather disappointing helmet.

British Airways helmet in first class

A few minutes after his installation, the flight attendant taking care of me came to introduce himself. This flight was operated by one of the mixed crews of the British Airways fleet, who are their best-paid flight attendants. There is a lot of turnover with these flight attendants, although they are generally enthusiastic and well intentioned. That was the case here too.

I was first asked if I wanted to drink anything. I ordered a glass of champagne (British Airways serves the Grand Century of Laurent Perrier, which I like).

British Airways has greatly improved its glasses, cutlery and food, which I immediately noticed. I love their new champagne flutes and I also like that they are now serving hot towels on small trays instead of handing them directly to you.

British Airways Champagne and Nuts

Although minor, I would note:

Although I finished my first glass of champagne well before boarding, my drink was taken when I finished, rather than wondering if I wanted another one.
The champagne was brought to me rather than being poured in my place, as is usually the case, in my experience.

Then, I was offered a pajamas. British Airways recently changed pajamas. British Airways now offers pajamas from the British fashion brand Temperley London. I thought the pajamas were pretty good, although I really liked the old British Airways pajamas.

British Airways first class pajamas

Then, I was offered a very well supplied amenity kit, with Elemis products. Although Elemis is not my favorite brand, I thought it was an excellent kit.

British Airways First Class Kit

It is interesting to note that slippers do appear to be available only on request (or at least that was the case on this flight). The new British Airways slippers are also excellent: they are durable and comfortable.

British Airways first class slippers

About 20 minutes after boarding, I was offered the menu for the flight to Boston.

British Airways first class menu

At 19:45, it was announced that the boarding was over. The first officer then arrived at the APP to welcome him and inform us of the duration of our 6:50 flight to Boston. He told us that we would be cruising at 36,000 feet and that we should be at the hour.

A few minutes later, the door closed (with 13 of the 14 seats occupied in first class), at which point the customer service manager welcomed the announcement.

At 19:55 we started our refoulement, after which the security video was screened. The British Airways safety video is pretty fun the first time or the second time, but after that, it's a little … a lot.

At 20:05 we started our taxi, which was pretty fast. At 20:25, we were allowed to take off.

On my way out, I went through the selection of British Airways entertainment. This flight had the oldest British Airways entertainment system. Although the selection went well, I found that the screen was of poor quality. British Airways has updated screens on many planes, but not on this one, I suppose.

British Airways first class entertainment choice

The selection itself was pretty good – not a leader in the industry, but you will not be bored either.

British Airways first class entertainment choice

I also checked the air show for our flight to Boston.

British Airways map en route to Boston

British Airways now offers wifi on most of its long-haul aircraft, including this one. They have two speed options and three packages for each.

For the "Browse" package (described as intended for basic web browsing), the pricing is as follows:

1 hour: $ 6
4 hours: $ 13
Full flight: $ 18

British Airways wifi rates

Then, for the "Stream" package (described as intended for high-speed web browsing and video streaming), the pricing is as follows:

1 hour: $ 10
4 hours: $ 23
Full flight: $ 30

British Airways wifi rates

I ended up buying the "Stream" package for all the flight. Although not very cheap, the speeds were excellent and it's nice to have no data limit.

The seat belt warning was deactivated just five minutes after take-off. A few minutes later, the customer service manager walked through the cabin to greet every passenger on board. The service started rather quickly afterwards. The menu reads as follows:

The list of drinks reads as follows:

Two thoughts:

I guess they only use generic menus for all their flights to the US, but the main meal on a 19:55 flight should not be the "lunch".
"Even if the nature of the product has been the subject of the greatest precautions, there is a small risk of the presence of pellets in the product" – hah

Barely 20 minutes after takeoff, I was offered my first drink with the sofas. I like when airlines offer you your first drink so quickly after takeoff. British Airways has completely redesigned its first class catering service and I am very impressed.

I love the new glasses (as mentioned above), and I also love the way the sofas are displayed. I had another glass of champagne and then the sofas consisted of:

Devonshire crab with Oscietra caviar and pumpernickel
Duck confit with caramelized hazelnut compote and ginger orange
Feta with lovage pesto and smoked tomato

British Airways dinner in first class – champagne and canapés

Ford had the "classic mullet" to drink, which he enjoyed.

British Airways first class dinner – classic mule

Once the drinks were served, our dinner orders were taken. I was delighted not to miss anything, which is a new experience for me in first class British Airways, so yes.

After the first round of drinks, the meal service took a while. About 65 minutes after takeoff, my table was set.

British Airways dinner in first class – table setting

A few minutes later, I brought the starter. For that, I ordered Loch Fyne smoked salmon tartare, with smoked mayonnaise, salted biscuit and quail egg. It was excellent, in terms of taste and presentation.

British Airways dinner in first class – entrance

Ford had wild boar tortellini with arrabbiata sauce, which he liked very much. Once again, the presentation was excellent.

British Airways dinner in first class – entrance

Then I ate the soup with asparagus cream and summer truffle, a poached egg from Burford Brown. I was impressed to have brought the bowl with the egg and truffle, and then the liquid part of the soup was poured into the bowl in my place. Is it really British Airways?!?

British Airways first class dinner – soup

I had as my main course the fillet of halibut with roasted cucumber, chanterelles and salad cream. The dish was excellent – the fish itself was great, as were the side dishes.

British Airways dinner in first class – main course

You can order from a selection of sides, and I've had cauliflower florets, served in a separate bowl.

British Airways dinner in first class – side

Ford had Herefordshire beef fillet aged with Café de Paris butter and red wine juice, which he liked very much.

British Airways dinner in first class – main course

Finally, for dessert, I ordered milk chocolate and salted caramel amaretto pie. Yum!

British Airways dinner in first class – dessert

The meal was done about 2:20 am after the flight and I was impressed. I love their new presentation and the quality of the food was excellent too. I did not tell Ford that British Airways had made any improvements, but he pointed out to me independently that the meal had impressed him so much.

So, just as British Airways has made tremendous improvements to its business class catering service, I am pleased to see that it has made similar changes in first class.

As for the service, the crew was friendly and reasonably attentive. They were not as refined as some of British Airways' "most experienced" flight attendants in their "global" fleet (although they are also heterogeneous – some are great, some are pretty bad). But overall, I was satisfied with the service.

At the end of the meal, I was asked if I wanted to make my bed, which I accepted. I headed to the front of the cabin to use the restroom while we were occupying it. There were two toilets at the front of the cabin for first class, although both are rather skeletal.

British Airways 777 first class toilet

First class British Airways 777 toiletries

The new British Airways bedding seems to be a step forward from their old bedding. The only complaint I would make is that the duvet is not very large. I like to wrap myself in a comforter like a burrito, while that is not possible here.

British Airways first class bed

When I fell asleep, it was about 4:30. I fell asleep almost immediately, knowing that the day had been long.

Map to Boston

I woke up about 90 minutes before arrival. This is probably the right time to mention that I think it was my last departure from the UK to the United States, and I kind of liked to leave so late at night. I have three good hours of sleep.

You may think that would prevent you from sleeping at night, but when I arrived at my hotel, I could not sleep. However, I went to bed at 1 am and woke up at 6 in the morning. So I spent a full night sleeping and I did not have jetlag.

Map to Boston

By the time I woke up, they were just starting the "afternoon tea" service (although in fact, at that time, it was either 2 am or 9 pm, depending on the time zone you prefer). The menu reads as follows:

I've selected sandwiches and scones. The new configuration of afternoon tea from British Airways is beautiful. I had:

A united scone
Sandwiches, including cucumber with cream cheese, dill and chives on white bread, Marie Rose prawns on a bridge, horseradish roast beef on malt bread
Pastries, including Victoria sandwich, Dundee fruit quarters, creamy chocolate and raspberry
Chamomile tea

Afternoon tea in first class of British Airways

At 21:35, Boston time, the first officer announced that we were going down and we were going to land at 10:15. A few minutes later, we started our descent. The crew then collected pillows and blankets (British Airways has a rule not to use pillows or blankets during takeoff or landing).

Of course, we landed in Boston at 22:15, and then 15 minutes by taxi to get to our arrival gate, where we arrived at 22:30.

British Airways first class atmosphere lighting

It's a good idea that on British Airways, the pilot always makes an announcement as soon as you arrive at the door. We quickly passed through the immigration, then headed to the Hyatt Regency Boston Harbor, where we spent the night before returning to Florida the next morning (which I will review in the next installment).

British Airways 777 first line bottom

British Airways is investing in its high-end product, and this is noticeable. With this experience, I would say that British Airways has made a significant improvement to its first-class software product. Their glassware and porcelain were beautiful and the food excellent.

In addition, I liked the first class cabin of the 777 and appreciate the fact that British Airways offers more and more wifi on its long-haul aircraft.

That being said, British Airways does not offer a state-of-the-art first class product and will probably never be ranked as a product of choice. However:

British Airways First Class is the only first-class transatlantic product that you can systematically book in advance with miles saved, including with partner miles.
In this case, the surcharges imposed by the carrier were reasonable, which allowed me to feel better in the face of the experience. our surcharges on the one-way ticket from Mykonos to Boston rose to $ 228, while the surcharges on a one-way ticket from Miami to London would have been $ 800 (they are much cheaper departing from there). Europe, and in particular for selected destinations in Europe)

If you have experienced British Airways' new first class software product, what was your experience?

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