BA-Flyer

Date: December 2011
Route: BA 16, Sydney (Kingsford Smith) - Singapore (Changi)
Aircraft: Boeing 777 G-YMMI
Seat: 3A (New First)

I arrived at Sydney airport about 20 minutes after check in opened and headed straight for the First class counters. Both available counters were busy, and I had to wait several minutes. At the first counter, a couple were repacking their bags as they were over the weight limit. Personally, I think they should have been asked to step to one side, rather than blocking the desk so others had to wait. At the second counter, the lady couldn't find her passport and was searching her bags. Again, I think she should have been asked to step aside.

Rather than have dedicated fast track immigration counters, premium passengers are simply taken to the front of the line by a member of staff. This resulted in a few grunts and sighs from the people behind, when I 'pushed in'.

Once in the lounge I headed straight to the spa to book a treatment. I was given a choice of a facial, pedicure or manicure, and went for the the facial.


Looking towards the stairs leading up to the main entrance

I then headed to the restaurant area, and found that there were not enough tables available. Actually, if all the people who were just sitting at the table using their laptop, or reading the newspaper did so in other areas of the lounge, it would have been fine. Why are some people just so inconsiderate? (I should point out that although several flights were departing, there were more than enough seats in other areas of the lounge).

After waiting a few minutes, I got a seat at the bar, looking towards the kitchen. Whilst it wasn’t uncomfortable, I would have preferred a proper table and chair, rather than the stool and limited space the bar offers.

The menu, with my choices highlighted:

Rangers Valley 300 day grain fed tenderloin with bearnaise, harissa and chips


Pavlova in a glass with mango and passion fruit


A quick check of the flight status. I really like the old style information screen.

After eating I made my way to the showers to freshen up. I was impressed by the mini aerosol can of Gillette shaving cream, but preferred the Elemis products provided by BA. The lighting could be dimmed, and there was a radio / music player, but this was broken. Something I didn’t like was the flush for the toilet – you have to firmly press your fingers against a touch sensitive button for a few seconds, rather than waving your hand in front of a sensor. I really don’t want to think where the last persons hand had been before they touched the button! Rather than provide paper towels, there are what I can only describe as rags. Not particularly absorbent, and covered your hands in white fluff as they began to fall apart. On the plus side, no loud gurgling as the water drains away.










The touch sensitive toilet flush

I then headed next door to the spa for my facial. Qantas definitely beat BA in terms of the appearance of the spa. I’m not saying I don't like the T5 Elemis spa, but the Qantas one certainly looks more appealing. The facial took about 20 minutes, and also included a massage of the shoulders and neck. Classical music was played throughout.


Inside the treatment room

Boarding had not yet been called, but as it was nearly time to leave anyway, I took a few final pictures, and headed for gate 32.


The library


View from the main windows. Unfortunately, I could not get a good view of either Speedbird that was operating BA16 and BA10.

I was one of the last to board, and was shown to my seat in the full cabin. This was likely to be my only sector operated by new First, and I definitely prefer this new version. The seat area was very clean and smart - unlike so many of the ageing old First cabins. I've not included any photos of the seat, as by now I think we are all familiar with it. (But if you are not, Genius1 has some excellent photos in his Hong Kong trip report).

The CSD came round to ask if I knew how to operate the seat controls. I did, so he wished me a good flight and moved on to the next passenger.

The flight itself was excellent, with fantastic service from the crew. My only question was regarding the USB port on the TV screen. I was under the impression that this should be able to charge my iPhone, but I was told that it is only for connecting an external player so you can watch content on the big screen. Either way, not a big problem as I just used the main plug.

The menu, with my choices highlighted:

Smoked salmon and trout terrine with preserved lemon and dill cream and basil oil


Pan-fried breast of chicken stuffed with scallop mousse served on a bed of roast vegetables


Warm apple crumble with creme anglaise


An individual selection of sandwiches featuring egg with mayonnaise and chives, roast beef with horseradish cream and Cheddar with rocket

And finally, the wine list:

Immigration at Singapore took about 10 minutes, despite me being one of the first to arrive at the immigration hall. Bags were already on the belt when I got there, indicating that priority luggage had worked.

BA-Flyer

Date: December 2011
Route: BA 12, Singapore (Changi) - London (Heathrow)
Aircraft: Boeing 747 G-BYGE
Seat: 2K (New First)

The only reason I had a stopover in Singapore (and also Bangkok on the return), is so that I could fulfil the requirement of having 4 BA flights for the Executive Club. (Living in Sydney means that my annual trip home for Christmas is the only chance I get to fly BA, as company travel is with Qantas). Despite this, the tier points from this flight will take me to Executive Club Gold.

I’ve been to Singapore before and have done the main tourist sites, and since it was pouring with rain for most of the day, I decided to stay indoors watching films on my iPad. Baggage counters at Sydney open 3 hours before departure, so I assumed it was the same for Singapore. However, when I checked online and saw it was 6 hours, I decided to head to the airport early.

I took the underground / MTR to the airport, and made my way to the BA counters in Terminal 1. I couldn’t see an obvious counter for First, and after asking, was directed to a premium zone, in a sectioned off, more private area. This area handled check-in and bag drop for the premium passenger of several airlines, including BA. There was a row of about 10 desks, each with a smart leather chair to sit in whilst the agent processes your bags. Despite my boarding pass clearly showing my first name and surname, the check-in agent wrote my middle name as well. She then called me by my middle name, as did the security guard. On exiting the premium check-in area, your hand luggage is x-rayed – I’m not really sure why, as security procedures at Singapore are done at the gate.

Both the First and Club World (business) lounges are upstairs, and I accidentally went to the business lounge, as that is more clearly marked by large BA / Qantas logos on the wall. The ladies on duty directed me to the First lounge (which is around the corner), and is more discretely signed with black text on a silver background.

I headed straight to the shower rooms, which are arranged in a circular fashion, around a large water feature. There was no waiting, and I was shown straight to shower room 1. Unlike the Qantas First lounge at Sydney, there was no selection of toiletries inside – just a towel and Molton Brown combined body & hair wash. (I already had shaving cream and a toothbrush, so I didn’t bother asking to see if they were available on request).

The shower was an interesting design – 1 tap controlled the flow of water at head level, and a second tap controlled 3 jets of water at body level. However, the absence of a shower door meant these jets sprayed water out of the shower cubicle, leaving a pool of water on the floor.


Nice design, but not very practical



Having experienced the Qantas First lounge in Sydney, and the BA First & Concorde lounges in London, I found this jointly managed lounge to be rather underwhelming. A very limited selection of buffet food is on offer, but no menu or waiter service. The computers are well overdue an upgrade and there is no spa. In fairness though, there were plenty of seats, and the lounge had a peaceful and calm feeling (up until the point 2 families with small kids arrived). At that point, I decided to go and explore the business lounge.

Whilst it is much larger (at least twice the size), it was also much busier, and there were very few seats available. I suspect there were many Silver Executive Club members using the lounge, before travelling in Economy, as I’m not sure everyone could have been in business class. The food appeared to be identical, except that the First lounge had ice cream on offer. I didn’t think to check if the wine or champagne was different, and since I had already showered I didn’t see that area.

Boarding used a dual airbridge, with staff checking boarding passes to make sure economy and premium passenger went the right way. I was escorted to my seat, and was pleased to see it was new First. (I had been expecting old, as ftdashboard.net reports only 43%).

The CSD introduced herself, and explained that I had been selected to fill in the customer survey. (I always thought selection was random, but maybe it is based on some criteria). The purser then gave out the menus, and made a point of letting me know that I could eat whenever I wanted (although 20 minutes notice was needed for hot food). The service was excellent throughout the flight, with my wine, water and orange juice glasses constantly being topped up. I really appreciated the attention to detail - for example, adding a slice of freshly cut orange into my glass of orange juice. The only thing I missed was the box of chocolates after the main meal, but I'm not sure if these are even offered on a night flight?

The wine list was the same as the flight from Sydney to Singapore.

Menu (my choice highlighted in red):

Ruby grapefruit, spinach, Roquefort and walnut salad


Grilled fillet steak with black peppercorn butter, mange-tout, carrots and potatoes au gratin


Tea and fresh fruit before breakfast


Traditional English breakfast


Once again, the USB port on the TV screen refused to charge my iPhone. However, this time my seat came with a guide to the features of new First, and it quite clearly states that you can power and recharge handheld devices. Perhaps I have had 2 faulty seats, or maybe the iPhone needs more power than the USB port is able to supply? If that's the case, I think that represents a design flaw.


This was the second flight where USB charging did not work.

This was my first experience of new First where damage / wear & tear were already visible.


Chipped paintwork on the TV screen


Damage to the tray table

We arrived at Heathrow a few minutes before the night time curfew ended, but still arrived at a gate ahead of schedule. However, despite being one of the first arrivals to T3, we parked at the furthest possible gate from the Border Control. There must have been a reason, but I can't think why. Other passengers were clearly frustrated at having to walk by several empty and nearer gates.


After a year away from home, this was a very welcome sight!

I was first to Border Control, and rather than follow the maze of crowd control barriers I simply walked up the path marked 'crew' and along the front to the first manned desk. The Immigration Officer complained that I had come the wrong way. I said that I didn't see the need to walk the long way when there was no queue, but I just got a blank stare back.


Empty baggage reclaim at T3

My bag was the seventh to come through, but unfortunately it had been damaged quite badly. The handle had been dealt such a blow that the metal snapped, and the jagged edge had ripped a hole in the fabric. I went to the luggage desk where it took almost 10 minutes to be given a reference number, along with a phone number I will have to call to arrange repair or replacement.

This was my first arrival into T3, and I expected better directions to the AA arrivals lounge. I started following signs, then I realised they were directing me to the Virgin arrivals lounge. I had to back-track and look again before finding my way to the AA lounge. I had thought about going to T5 for the Concorde arrivals room, but as my coach left from the Central Bus Station, I decided to stay in the T3 area.

BA-Flyer

Date: January 2012
Route: BA 9, London (Heathrow) - Bangkok (Suvarnabhumi)
Aircraft: Boeing 747 G-CIVB
Seat: 1A (Old First)

This is the first time I have departed from LHR T3, and although I didn’t find anything particularly wrong with it, I still found myself wishing I was in T5. (Perhaps this is a testament to how good T5 really is).

Fast-track security was no quicker than the regular lanes, perhaps because the security staff were more interested in chatting and joking with each other than actually doing any work.

After security there was a passport check, which consisted of an extremely bored looking girl (who looked no older than 20), glancing up from her mobile phone at my passport, then looking back down at her phone. Not a word was spoken. Why on earth do the government pay these people to be there? They are hardly the best ambassadors for tourists leaving the UK.

My wishing for T5 grew even stronger as I approached the lounge and thought about the Concorde Room I was missing out on.


Rather confusing sign directing the way to lounges. BA is not in section B, but rather section F.

The first thing I always do when arriving at a lounge is book an appointment for the spa, as I know they can be hard to get. The reception desk at the spa was empty, and one of the cleaners from the showers had to physically shout for the Elemis representative to come out. (First impressions count, and I was already not impressed). The guy appeared from behind a curtain and explained that he was on his break. As he was the only member of staff in the spa, I was asked to come back in an hour. Luckily for me this was not a problem, but as I discovered when I read some pages from the visitor’s book, the lack of appointments was a big issue. Page after page criticised the spa, with one person commenting “if you can’t provide a proper level of service, don’t have a spa at all”.


Champagne bar


Coffee machines


The unstaffed service desk

Next up in my lounge routine was to eat, so that I had a few hours before the meal service onboard. At this point, the restaurant was closed as staff prepared for the First dining service, and I was asked to come back in ten minutes. Whilst I waited I listened in on an Australian family who were complaining that there was no high-chair available for them to seat their small child. The problem was resolved by fetching one from another lounge nearby, although the family were told they had to return it after 30 minutes. Again, first impressions did not seem to be meeting the standard expected of a first lounge.

By now the dining room was open, so I took my seat and promptly ordered. As I waited, I observed several people being turned away as they were not flying in first. Perhaps a sign at the entrance explaining eligibility criteria would be a good idea?


Unfortunately the glare from the lights obstructs the view out the window.

The menu (my choice highlighted in red):

Compared to the menu in the Qantas first lounge in Sydney, there was a lot less choice. Although in some ways this was a good thing, as it made it easier to decide what I wanted!


Free range pork rilettes, pickles, red onion jam and sour dough crisps


Pan roasted guinea fowl, braised red cabbage puree, marsala jus, game chips


Iced Scandinavian berries, warm white chocolate

After a delicious meal I headed for a shower before my visit to the spa. The shower room was on the small side compared to other lounge facilities I have used, and compared to the marble counters found at SYD and SIN, the plastic counter at LHR felt cheap. As I have already mentioned in my earlier report, the quality and choice of amenities is not as good as Qantas.


The shower room

In the interests of comparison I chose a facial at the spa, as this is what I had at the Qantas first lounge in SYD. My first observation was that the treatment at SYD also covers your neck and shoulders, whereas at LHR the treatment concentrated just on the face. Also, at SYD they use a proper massage table, whereas at LHR you sit in a massage chair. Although the chair massages the back and legs, I found the treatment in SYD to be more relaxing. Unfortunately I didn't get any photos of the spa area.

With 40 minutes to go before I needed to board, I had explored the BA lounge, so thought I would take a look at the Cathay lounge for comparison. The lady behind the desk was surprised to see me, and pointed out BA had their own lounge. I explained I just wanted a look so she let me in. First impressions were that it was very small and fairly basic. I remembered I had forgotten to print my hotel confirmation, so went to the business area to find computers still running Windows XP, and the printer was broken. People were being paged over the PA when a shower room was available, which made me wonder if they have a shortage of showers? (From what I could see, they are shared between business and first). Despite not being T5, the BA lounge still seemed to be the better lounge.

The Flight

Other than guaranteed on BA16, I had been expecting old first on the remaining sectors. I was lucky to get new first on BA12 as well, so wondered if this luck might extend to BA9. No! This was old first, with emphasis on the old. I had to use my hot towel to wipe the seat controls, and remove a thick layer of grime from the edges. The thing that annoyed me the most was that it took no effort at all - a quick wipe and the dirt came away. There really is no excuse for letting the controls get that filthy to begin with.

Annoyingly, the choice of films had barely changed from when I flew SYD - LHR, so I made the most of the films I had on my iPad.

The CSD made a brief appearance to introduce himself, and that was the last time he was in the cabin.

Menu

Despite being listed on the menu, chocolates were not offered. (Are you supposed to ask for them? On the last flight, the crew came through the cabin with them).


Warm pumpkin and sage ravioli, pine nut and herb salad with cinnamon balsamic dressing


Seared Loch Fyne rainbow trout with sauce Duglere, smoked trout and almond croquette, butternut squash fondant and spinach


Fresh seasonal fruit appetiser


Waffles with caramel and cinnamon butter

Bearing in mind the food is prepared at 30,000 feet with limited resources, it was not too bad. I thought the fish was over-cooked and dry, and the waffles were not the best I've ever had. But as I say, taking into account the circumstances, it was enough to keep hunger away.

The champagne was Laurent-Perrier Grand Siecle.

Upon arrival at BKK, all the crew luggage arrived first, followed by a mix of some bags tagged priority, and others which were not.

BA-Flyer

Place holder for BKK - SYD

BA5E

Thanks for the first part of your TR thoroughly enjoyed it, the food looked really good in the lounge, only done the rocket and parmesan salad, as we have normally checked in with only 1 1/2hrs to go, and it would be wasted to eat a full meal before getting on the aircraft and starting again, infact would never have enough room to eat a meal. Look forward with baited breath for the next installments.^

matthandy

Nice report BA-Flyer. I'm looking forward to the rest. Is this part of the 'buy J fly F' promo that BA had running earlier this year? I should have bought a ticket as I'd really loved to have gone home for Christmas!

I did this trip in June, although via BKK in both directions, and on the 747. It looks like you got exactly the same menu on the way to SIN as I did to BKK, although your food looks to be much better presented. Thumbs down to you for only highlighting Genius1's report and not mine .

You were pretty lucky to be able to use the spa, by all accounts. It gets totally jammed up with appointments so usually by the time that the BA passengers arrive in the lounge there are none to be had.

Bring on the rest!

Firemansam

I'll be damned if that was a portion of Tenderloin you got served in the Lounge.

GodAtum

Thanks for your report. It;s a shame the 1st class lounge was so busy! When I was transitting in Dubai EK Business lounge I went round asking politely for people to move from the dining area if they were not eating. After a few tries I got one person to move. Admitedly it was easier as I was carrying a full plate so people were perhaps more willing to give up their seat/

mkjr

maybe a good cut but wholly bleed batman...let the thing rest a little.

mkjr

looks like sirloin to me. perhaps not even that good.

BA-Flyer

Yes, this whole trip was booked under the 'Buy business, fly First' promotion earlier in the year. (I'll be watching closely for a repeat offer in 2012)!

I honestly did plan to include a link to your report, as I remember thinking how great the photos of the Sydney lounge were. But I could not for the life of me remember your user name, despite trying several searches!

uk1

Strange. It might be described as "tender loin" but definitely not "tenderloin" ie fillet - and 99% certain it was sirloin. Wonder why they mis-described it?

They use to present the steak on the chips - glad they don't do that now with all that blood ....

Firemansam

hmmm even doesnt look like sirloin, i am thinking rump from the looks of it. Either way if it has flavour and is tender then all is good

hilltopper

Great report so far, thanks for sharing.
The food on the SIN-LHR leg looks very underwhelming, even by BA standads (which rarely outshine competition).

abfab80

Hi, I did a similar trip on Dec 26th, although my trip back was on Qantas First A 380. Did the Qantas lounge Spa staff call the day before your flight to book your Spa treatment ? I think they do that for QF and BA F pax but didn't call me or my travelling booking partner and I don't know if that was because it was Christamas day or becuase I was a UK resident or because I wasn't a QF member