[Anonymous]

[business traveller]

My return from Houston to Heathrow was on an older Boeing 777-200 four class. I was booked in seat 11K in Club World which is a standard window seat.

I arrived at the airport in good time and check-in was easy as I was able to use the First desks due to my Gold Executive status. We were advised the flight was full so there was no option to change seats but was on time. The security was busy and initially only two TSA officers checking passports and only one lane for the x-ray. As the queue built they opened another passport check and a second x-ray lane but this still took around 40 minutes.

Once airside I headed for the dedicated BA lounge but was advised by the receptionists that there was a separate First lounge opposite that I could use, again a perk of being Gold. The First lounge was quiet at first and there was a good selection of drinks. Food consisted of fresh sandwiches, cheese, biscuits, etc plus a hot dish of chilli that was excellent, nice and spicy. The lounge became busy, I guess due to the full flight and the fact there is a second BA flight later in the day. we were advised boarding would be delayed as they had to change a wheel and tyre. Boarding was announced in the lounge and the gate was a two minute walk.

At the gate First class passengers and Gold card holders were invited to board. The queue was long and I overheard an irate passenger complaining to the gate staff that all in the queue could not be Gold only for the person to be informed that as well as the fourteen First passengers there were fifty-four Gold card holders travelling. So that is nearly a quarter of the passengers in First or Gold before business class were allowed to board!

My seat was clean but the cover was loose and could not be fixed. As previously mentioned there were no empty seats to move to. The service was fine with the usual pre-flight drinks plus amenity bags and menus, two rounds of drinks and then dinner.

The flight was bumpy during the night due to strong tail winds but I managed some good sleep and opted for the fruit and juice plus tea for breakfast. We landed on-time at Heathrow after only one circuit in the hold and were on stand after a short delay. Immigration was surprisingly quiet and the bags were delivered within ten minutes of arriving at the carousel.

All-in-all a good flight only let down by the issue with the seat cover and limited choice on the older IFE.

Review courtesy of Seatplans.com. Original review by user YellowBelly can be found here

[Author]

Posts