BA business

[prinnycessa]

Inspired by another thread on here about how poor BA economy is these days. Is this true of business too? If so, which airlines do you guys prefer for business?

From my research I thought BA business was good but interested to hear recent experiences

Qatar and Virgin good.
BA was ok but you can be sandwiched between other guests which I think is less than ideal considering the price. You need to choose seat carefully.

The new ones they have (sorry no idea which planes are great if you’re travelling alone as they’re much more separated). The order ones are good if you’re in a group but as pp said, not good on your own as they can be a bit close. I’ve nothing to compare to.

Depends which plane you're on. Some BA business is lay flat luxury. Some is just slightly wider seats with a foot rest

Passengers not guests!!!

Ba premium economy is fine

Went last Nov Jfk to lhr. Bliss. Slept like a log

I'm assuming your question means BA's Club World rather than Club Europe?

I like BA's Club Suites a lot. And they're finally going back to a proper pre-Covid meal service from next month. Sadly the wine selection is pretty dire these days.

I like Qatar apart from their food (their menus just don't appeal to me) - and their Customer Service is horrible if there are any problems. But their lounges are outstanding and getting Diptyque toiletries as the amenity kit is a winner.

I used to fly Emirates a lot and loved their A380 seats - food was a bit average though although much better in First. Their IFE is the best. And I've had some excellent manicures in the spa in their Dubai lounge.

I also used to fly AirNZ business premier a lot and they were my absolute favourite. They don't fly my routes anymore although maybe just as well as I hear standards have slipped a lot. They did a fantastic bacon butty for breakfast. And had the best staff ever.

Cathay are fine. Bit robotic. Singapore used to be outstanding but have gone off the boil a little and are lose out to Qatar in the TRAX awards now.

BAs club suites are good - they’re basically the same as the Qatar seats. The previous flat beds, while revolutionary at launch over 20 years ago, were seriously dated. The food has improved over the last 6 months, thought to be honest I barely eat on planes nowadays. I stick to eating in the airport / lounge before departure - fortunately I have a concord room card so can always get a decent drink as well. What let’s BA down is the patchy service on board - when it’s good, it’s exceptional. But the rest of the time it’s hit and miss. Though, they have ratcheted up the personal at-seat greetings over the last 6 months ;)

@HundredMilesAnHour yes club world. We are flying club Europe in Feb though, is that OK? What can we expect re food etc?

Thanks everyone

I flew BA Business LHR-YYZ on the 787 a few months ago. It was fine. Food and service were good. What I didn't like were the backward facing seats. All the window seats were facing backwards so for take off and landing you had to lower the privacy screens and sit face to face with a stranger. Odd configuration.

I did the trip again last month on Air Canada Signature (business) with a front facing window seat - so much more pleasant!

BA Business is great and the lounge at Heathrow is great too. I wish I could always afford to fly Business. Don’t rate Virgin Upper Class at all.

BA Club World will finally be going back to food service close to pre-pandemic at the end of the month, months after most other airlines resumed normal service.

Flying east we take Qatar or Finnair in business. Flying west we've been splitting between Scandinavian and BA, but went with SAS this year due to already resumed pre-covid service, no charge for prem econ bulkhead seat reservations, and easy upgrades into a much better business class product to our destination whereas BA's flights are hit or miss with the ghastly old club world layout. We will still take Club Europe to our departure airport, and we have reasons to be in Scandinavia at that time for a few days. If we hadn't I would have booked us BA tickets, but on AA aircraft. Virgin don't seem to fly anywhere I need to go these days, and I really dislike their old business class, so we never take them anywhere.

If you want an internationally competitive business product on BA, you need to book First.

I haven't flown CE since Covid (I tend to fly mid-long haul) but there are reports that the CE food has improved:

www.turningleftforless.com/what-to-expect-from-new-british-airways-club-europe-meals-and-catering-in-2022/

CE isn't a bad product but if you have BA Exec status, it's not really worth the premium to fly CE since you already get priority check-in/security/boarding/lounge access etc and the seats are identical to economy (expect the middle seat is kept free, well, it is most of the time) so it ends up being quite a big premium to pay to sit at the front of the plane and have a meal and drinks. Of course if you don't have status, then CE is probably worth it and makes your trip a lot less painful.

Gosh, I don't think I've ever heard anyone call the BA lounges at Heathrow great before. 😮They serve a purpose. They're a shadow of their former selves. The bathrooms need gutting, the spa has been closed for good, the food can be pretty grim and they're usually rammed. Don't get me started on the coffee as the lack of discernible caffeine in it is a pet rant of mine. But I guess if you're used to pay-for-entry lounges, they probably seem pretty good. However, if you want a genuinely great lounge, head for Qatar or Cathay's lounges in T4/3.

We flew long haul on BA Economy Heathrow to San Francisco this summer. We usually fly only short haul so it was a new experience for us. It was upstairs on the A380 and it was fab. We splashed out on Club World on the night flight coming back home from LA and really, I wish we hadn't bothered. There was nothing wrong with it per se. I just don't think it was value for money. We loved the peaceful and quiet business class lounge in LA. The lie flat seat (new configuration) was decent. But it was a night flight and we had eaten (and drunk!) plenty in the airport. So we ate our evening meal on the plane and then tried to settle to sleep, but the engine noise made it too difficult to fall to sleep properly. So I lay awake for hours and hours, alternating between snoozing or playing games/watching telly, feeling really dehyrated and thirsty and overly hot, until they came round offering each awake person breakfast. LIke an idiot I said "Oh yes, full English, please" and realised it was a mistake as soon as it was put in front of me as my body clock thought it was 3.30am and I just didn't have the appetite for it. I looked around and most other people were still asleep or had eyes shut and didn't even have any breakfast. The next leg was later that afternoon from Heathrow to Manchester. Boarding was crap, they didn't do it properly and we ended up queuing up with the rest and boarding wtih them. Pointless extra cost. We were then served afternoon tea but again, because we'd eaten in the airport lounge I wasn't hungry and the journey was so short it was virtually shoved at us. The best bit about it was being able to get off the plane first at Manchester.

I'm not bothered about all the extras you get like the "amenity kit", half of which you don't use. I just think for a night flight, if you're a light sleeper like me and know you won't be able to sleep deeply, what is the point? You may as well doze on and off sitting up in Economy or Premium Economy.

I really wasn't impressed with the business class lounge at Heathrow. It was mayhem, we struggled to find a seat. It wasn't the luxury experience I'd been expecting at all. Nothing like LA.

I wouldn't pay the extra again as a treat as I don't think the extra cost is justified. But if someone else was paying......

I like the lounges at LHR, but the seats on an airbus for a short haul flight aren't worth the money.

My outbound flight was a codeshare on a Dreamliner, however, which was brilliant.

Thanks everyone, that's super helpful. We booked CE with avios so it wasn't that expensive at all and we have quite a lot of companion vouchers to use so had to do it really

I think club world is worth it and their new layout is excellent with private “booths” and lie flat beds. Food was good. Lounge at LHR didn’t even have enough seats!

Exactly my experience. Not worth it for short haul, but it is like night and day on long haul. Being able to lie flat and sleep makes all the difference!

Can you use the lounge before departure for CE as well as CW?

@prinnycessa yes

Thanks

A bit niche, but, for anyone travelling as/with a wheelchair-user, Qatar kicks every other airline's arse in both economy and business. Next best: JAL.

Booked BA today and first class from here in the US to London was only $400 more than CW. So it was a no-brainer. Booked first.