Fraser

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Route: London Heathrow Terminal 4 - Washington Dulles
Airline: British Airways
Aircraft: Boeing 747-400
Seat: 62K/64B (Club World/Business Class)
Duration: Approx. 8 hours
Date: Thursday 24th March 2005

As usual the journey for want of a better word starts 24hrs before departure with the scurrying frenzy that is online check-in, for me this was even more rushed than usual as I was on a deadline having driven back from Gatwick however with 10minutes or so to spare I got home on time and reserved my seat of choice, 62K on the upper deck. I was to find later on that I had in fact been the first to check-in for the flight.

The following morning my brother drove me to the airport and leaving me at the far end of the departure ramp at Terminal 4. Surprisingly the journey was unhindered by bad traffic and I made a timely arrival. The terminal was not as busy as I had anticipated and I managed to reach the Club World check-in line without having to harass any small children! The line was short, only a couple of other teenagers and mothers ahead of me and within a couple of minutes I had boarding pass in hand and was passing effortlessly through the Fast Track security point.

Due to the popularity of the Molton Brown Travel Spa in Terminal 4 I always choose to make this my first port of call, and to my surprise the receptionist was able to offer me a choice of times for an appointment. I chose 2pm as it gave me the opportunity to go and board straight after the massage had ended. Afterwards I walked up to the top floor of the Lounge Pavilion where I got myself a Newcastle Brown Ale and watched aircraft landing on 27L from the corner of the busy lounge for a period of time.



Terraces Lounge in the Lounge Pavilion

I took a stroll down the many shops that occupy the central area of Terminal 4 and picked up a few essentials before admiring the Bentley Continental GT, the latest car available to win in the terminal. The second of the two lounge complexes at Gate 1 was close by so I chose to sit upstairs thanks to the good views over the apron. An A321, G-EUXC, was parked up awaiting departure to Brussels. Apologies for the poor reflection!


Airbus A321, G-EUXC

I also took some time to respond to an apparent last minute flurry of emails and gave both my liver and camera a workout in the lounge.


Top floor of the Gate 1 Terraces Lounge


Combiz area on ground floor of Gate 1 Terraces


World Wine Bar on top floor of Gate 1 Terraces

Following my brief stay in the Gate 1 lounge I decided to begin the five minute or so stroll back towards the Lounge Pavilion in order to arrive on time for my appointment with my masseuse. I happened to notice that my face is still on the side of the TV display unit in Hamleys!

I arrived a little earlier than anticipated at the Molton Brown Spa so was offered a refreshing glass of water. After the several glasses of wine and cans of Newcastle this was most welcome. My masseuse, Geraldine introduced herself and she gave me the back massage as requested when making the appointment. Twenty or so minutes and a few less back knots later I felt thoroughly refreshed and ready to proceed to my boarding gate....no. 2! Back where I was some 30mins before! At least I was working off the alcohol....I think. At this stage I was wondering how much of the Club World improvements of February 1st would be implemented on this flight. I was eager to try the new squishier beds and see if there was any improvement on the service.

Approaching the gate all I could see was a large scrum and at this point I was hopeful that a priority boarding line would be properly enforced which more often than not is the case. Thankfully the waves of people parted and a line of no more than three people stood before me. I was welcomed aboard and took the short climb to the upper deck.


Upper deck on G-BYGG

I was one of the first few people onboard and it didn't take long for me to notice that two 'improvements' were not in place. The beige privacy screens indicated this aircraft had not been able to make the overnight stop for new seatcovers although to be fair to the airline the fleet is being done from beginning of February through to November so perhaps I was being hopeful. My amenity kit was handed to me by Lynn, my upper deck FA, unfortunately a no-no in the new service as this was to be held back until after takeoff to allow more crew-passenger bonding! Whatever that means! To be honest it didn't bother me in the slightest and I began to take a few things from my seat for the period between boarding and pushback. I was interrupted by Paul, the upper deck purser who was making the boarding drinks round....now with champagne Well that is one out of three! At this stage I noticed the seat was slightly in the wrong configuration for takeoff so attempted to make it so. While I could get the lumbar support to function the recline itself did not, percussive maintenance failed and I thought I'd give it time to remedy itself.

Pushback was delayed thanks to one of those idiots that seems to get lost in the hinterland between check-in and the gate and they even left us with some bags to unload! The time was used effectively, handing out new style menus (2/4 ) and doing a second drinks round. Alas BA293 with a 3.05pm scheduled departure is one of the first to be affected by the daily 3pm runway change and today this meant a lengthy taxi across the landing runway to 27R. Takeoff was some 40mins late and it became apparent after the seat was indeed not going to budge, I made a quick note with the FAs and they attempted to fix it although with no success. This meant a quick transfer to the only available seat on the upper deck, 64B. The seat itself was fine, and yes did function although the lack of space to put music player, headphones, menu and lack of privacy would make this the inferior of the two in normal circumstances. Lynne, came around and took our orders for dinner, alas my first choice starter, a favourite from a few months back had run out, ironically had I stayed in 62K until after orders had been made I'd have scored it!

_____________________

STARTERS

Kiln-fired salmon, crayfish tails with wasabi and watercress dressing

or

Mozzarella cheese, Goat cheese and roast tomato timbale

Fresh seasonal salad served with vinaigrette

MAIN

Duchy of Cornwall free-range pork sausages with creamed potato and roast red onion jus

Grilled prawns in coconut and coriander sauce served with cashew nut and shallot rice

Potato and truffle gnocchi with sauteed mushrooms, asparagus and cepe cream sauce

Duck confit, foie gras, baby Kenyan beans and shallot salad with bitter orange dressing

DESSERT

Chocolate and raspberry delice

English Stilton and Butler's Secret Cheese

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The inflight entertainment began after the news and usual Well Being guff that I ignore...the choice was pretty good although I opted for Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason The first proper drinks round was taken and I opted for Kir Royale to accompany the beginnings of the movie and then chose to have the Pouilly-Fuisse 2002, Marie-Louise Parisot with my meal. I have to admit I am quite dreadful on having red wine with red meat and all that so felt a little daft asking for white, even if it was to wash down a glorified version of bangers and mash!


Kiln-fired salmon, crayfish tails with wasabi and watercress dressing


Duchy of Cornwall free-range pork sausages with creamed potato and roast red onion jus


Chocolate and raspberry delice

The food itself was served on Royal Doulton (3/5 improvements implemented) although there was still evidence of the tupperware-esque stuff from pre February 1st days! As I have come to expect in Club World the starter was superb, as was the dessert although the sausages were disappointing and I was left wishing I had gone with the prawns which I'd had before and with hindsight was the better of the two. Lynne kept my glass nicely topped up throughout the rest of the movie and by the time it was over I was ready to put the bed down for a few hours and my Bose QC2s and Cafe del Mar playlist on my Vaio pocket certainly helped me with the shuteye.

After I woke some two, perhaps three hours later we had just passed over the Canadian coast and it was time to get another Kir Royale and stretch my legs. I took the obligatory walk down to the back of steerage (I'm not going to pace up and down the upper deck a dozen times!) and before heading back upstairs. Afternoon tea was just about to be served although I was still quite full from the meal earlier but decided to take a little nibble.

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SNACKS

Sandwiches of Wensleydale cheese with carrot chutney and gammon ham with tomato and English mustard mayonnaise

or

Sandwiches of egg mayonnaise with cress and chicken Caesar

SWEETS

Fruit plain scones with clotted cream and strawberry preserve

or

Flaked almond bakewell

DRINKS

Tea, ground coffee or decaffeinated ground coffee

Selection of herbal teas - peppermint, blackcurrant, apple or camomile and honey

_____________________

The presentation of sandwiches had a little left to be desired but it was no big deal, the sandwiches themselves were ok but nothing amazing and I left the bakewell alone for fear of spoiling my girlfriends supper. Around an hour out of DC I got into my routine of brushing teeth, applying deodrant basically attempting to smell more like a human again. After sitting down and putting all my clobber in the overhead locker I chatted with my seatmate for the descent and taxi to the gate where we were dispatched in traditional style into mobile lounges for the drive to immigration. Having been to IAD half a dozen or so times recently I had learnt the art of strategic positioning for speedy exit at immigration. While waiting for the rest of the lounge to fill up Amanda from BA Special Services introduced herself to me, quite why SS chose to deal with someone who was a fair way off 4000 tier points I am not sure but she told me about the weather (hey, we're British!) and told me about the status of the BA lounge which is currently under refurbishment.

After a short chat we were deposited in the immigration area which was surprisingly empty. A brief altercation between myself, another passenger and a INS official in a booth resulted in the angry female being escorted to the back of the line and a warm welcome from afforementioned official. This was followed by one of my biggest issues with BA premium travel....the joke that is priority handling Despite some of my bags recently arriving within a couple of minutes wearing a nice flourescent orange tag it seems more hit and miss than a blind marksman. I stood at the carousel for probably 30minutes waiting for my darned case to arrive and this was made more confusing by a number of airport employees who remove a lot of luggage from the belts at various points so several times I wasn't sure if I was standing waiting for my case while it was on the floor on the other side! In the end I just circled the carousel continuously!

Overall a solid flight, not out of this world and not god awful. Would have been nice to try the new squishy beds but it wasn't promised so can't complain

Fliar

Great report, thanks for posting ^

pekko

Very nice report. Love all your pictures

flyclub

Superb report Fraser, although you didn't need me to tell you that surely?

Looks like we had a very similar menu returning in Club World last week.

However THE STEAK WAS OUTSTANDING. Truly superb, how on earth do they prepare and cook them so well?

In fact, it was so good, my father asked and received another. Really, really good. Most surprising.

Pleased you had the Key Lime Pie as well - really nice - my favourite dessert of all time.

However, very envious you had chicken ceasar sandwiches on the way out! We had some awful prawn things in FIRST on the way out to DFW last week.....

Fraser

Route: Washington Dulles - London Heathrow Terminal 4
Airline: British Airways
Aircraft: Boeing 747-400
Seat: 62K (Club World/Business Class)
Duration: 6hrs 40mins
Date: Sunday 3rd April 2005

As per the routine for all my BA flights I checked in the night before, this time from my hotel in Annapolis, the walk back made somewhat treacherous by the relentless storms of that night although I did make it back in time for the 24hr deadline and managed to once again reserve 62K before heading back into town.

I made a prompt arrival at the airport approximately 90 minutes before the 9.55pm scheduled departure giving me time to quickly change my clothing. The small queuing line for World Traveller was swamped with people while the domain of red and blue carpet was nicely empty and I felt like a bit of a prat standing alone while about 200 people fought over floorspace no bigger than a postage stamp. Within about 30seconds the agent at the First desk became free and checked my bag although was asked if I could take it to the gentleman standing about 30feet away from me. I didn't realise part of the Club World experience was doing my own baggage handling but I complied with her request. Sadly the foil sticker on my tag probably meant it was destined to be opened away from my sight / destroyed / sent to Kalamazoo or some other fate worse than death. Fortunately the agent asked if it was locked and promptly scanned the bag before I saw it wheeled off, I thought never to be seen again. I presume bags with 'suspicious' contents are opened in presence of the owner.

I took my place in the extremely long security line, somewhat reluctantly having been spoiled in the UK with a usual landside to airside transition of no more than a couple of minutes, and having had the same easy passage previously at Dulles on United. Having flown out of Dulles some months back at a similar time on a Sunday I was surprised how many people were flying alongside me that evening and it took perhaps fifteen minutes to pass through security and see the (relatively) new installation of infrastructure to support the tunnel to Concourse B. However, flying out of Concourse D I would experience the utter joy of riding the mobile lounge. Whenever I board one of these things I utter to myself how stupid the person was whose idea to have these as an integral part of the airport! After waiting onboard for several minutes we pulled away about three feet before having to yield to a small crowd of aircraft As soon as the lounge pulled up I stepped off although was caught behind a melee of dawdling passengers with huge rollaboards that traversed the entire walkway One of my pet hates! I soon left the corridor and installed myself in the British Airways lounge, warmly welcomed by the lounge attendant I was directed to the First Class area along with the other Club World passengers. At this moment BA are refurbishing the Dulles lounge in order to allow pre-flight dining for Club World Sleeper Service although as I was informed by Amanda from Special Services this means only 50 people can get into the lounge! As a result only those ticketed in First and Club World would be admitted entry with others being sent to the United Red Carpet Club (erk!) or the Admirals Club (never been).

The lounge itself was well appointed and nicely furnished, much akin to other First lounges I have visited although as you can see from my pictures definitely not fit for 50 people!




British Airways First lounge at Dulles

Gourmet sandwiches were on offer along with salads and the usual lashings of alcohol. I settled for a couple of Amstel lights and an attendant was on hand making passes round the lounge clearing away the clutter. Unfortunately the relatively small confines of the lounge meant everyone elses conversation could be heard, this usually means I get to hear the latest from the 'Sloanes' on Henrietta's marvellous new daughter and some American making a pointless call 'FROM THE BA VIP LOUNGE' (in his case Very Irritating Prick). Sadly despite this being only the third day of the month the numbers of the latest edition of Business Traveller magazine totalled a magnificent one and this was tea stained, bent and all stuck together although I fought my way through it with the philosophy tea stained, bent and stuck together was better than Tatler or the Daily Mail!

A boarding annoucement was made in the lounge at approximately 9.20pm and we were informed that a Fast Track boarding line would be made for us. I was one of the first few out of the lounge as others stayed to knock back the paintstripper wine although I preferred to knock back paintstripper onboard! There was a BA employee close to one of the check in desks who recognised the flocks leaving the lounge and told us to follow him round behind some desks and to the front of the boarding line. A small child fell victim to my prioritised boarding although the agent had no qualms about this! As I boarded the aircraft I was directed to upstairs to my seat and welcomed by the upper deck purser and FA.

People began to board as I got my pre-take off essentials out, some newbies by the looks of them as they couldn't figure out where they were sitting and then made a right hash of getting into the window seat! As I checked whether this seat was also broken (see my outbound flight) I found some loose upholstery on the cushion which would cause a headache while leaning back to watch movies and the like. A little bit of fiddling managed to sort it though and before long Gary was serving the pre-flight champagne. The menus and washbags were passed round the cabin and we commenced pushed back a little behind schedule although with a fair few empty seats upstairs. The taxi seemed to last an absolute age and the dark combined with alcohol made me rather disorientated so had no clue which way I was going! Hopefully London bound!

A first proper drinks round was made and pre-flight paintstripper champers in Club Europe glass was replaced with a healthy, higher capacity glass of Kir Royale The orders for the evening meal were taken and despite having a three course dinner before arriving at the airport a healthy dose of alcohol had relighted my appetite.

_______________________

STARTER

Mozzarella cheese, sun-blushed tomatoes and grilled artichokes dressed with peppered olive oil

MAIN

Grilled fillet steak with Madeira sauce, green beans, baby carrots and potatoes au gratin

Asparagus tortelli tossed in alfredo sauce topped with grated Parmesan cheese

Seared citrus salmon on fire-roasted pepper sauce, sauteed spinach and saffron rice

GOODNIGHT EXPRESS

Warm olive oil bread filled with shaved beef and caramelised onions

DESSERT

Key lime pie

Westcombe Cheddar and Danish Blue cheese

_______________________

With the news of the Pope's death I was quite keen to see some of the news for once having spent Saturday afternoon and evening on a pub crawl around Annapolis playing Keno Although the day BA introduce AVOD will make my flights enjoyable not having to wait for all the Well Being nonsense to end, sadly on this flight the skymap wasn't functioning You don't realise how much you use that until it is unavailable! Ideally on night flights I'd like to watch a film right from the off and have dinner towards the end of the movie allowing me to get some shuteye as opposed to get three hours into an already short flight before doing so! Anyways I digress....

The movies were just getting going or about 15mins in when the first course was brought around (I can't remember was too drunk... don't do it kids ) I was offered a fresh glass to accompany my meal and opted for the Pouilly-Fuisse I'd had on the way out. Even came with a reply of 'the educated person's wine, Mr Davidson'...whatever that means!?!? I was slightly bemused to see my dessert already sitting alongside my starter although just chowed down making sure not to dive into it a course or two early!


Mozzarella cheese, sun-blushed tomatoes and grilled artichokes dressed with peppered olive oil


Grilled fillet steak with Madeira sauce, green beans, baby carrots and potatoes au gratin

The salad and starter once again were superb, I just love that dressing for some reason and am a real sucker for Mozzarella cheese and sun-blushed/dried/bleached/(insert uber cool cooking process here) tomatoes so that was a winner. Sadly none of the mains really set my heart on fire so I opted for the best of a bad bunch, steak, this time without wilted spinach and potatoes fondantes (Hello Flyertalkers ). The steak itself was a little small and surrounded by masses of green beans although alcohol had really begun to set in so I ate the lot! Key lime pie would have been good too had it not been for the fact my girlfriend makes a spectacular key lime pie that we eat throughout the week so it didn't compare!

I sat back with my food and watched Oceans Twelve, the new months movies not getting me too excited although I didn't feel tired enough to go to bed. Fuelling myself with more and more alcohol didn't seem to help either! Although the movie was great I am sure my fourth and fifth glass of Pouilly-Fuisse just made it confusing towards the end!

As the credits rolled I took a walk down to the back of the aircraft although turbulence interrupted my tour and as I stood up to put my bed down and lay a blanket on top I got a minor ear bending from the purser for not getting in and buckling up. I seemed to nod off pretty easily and woke up startled some hours later when I heard the words 'an American 777 close off to the starboard side'. I lifted the shade off the coast of Southern Ireland to see a gleaming American 777 in the sun very close by.




The privacy of seat 62K. The only person who can just glance at you (and with difficulty is the person in 63A

________________________

***BREAKFAST***

STARTERS

Chilled orange juice and ruby grapefruit juice

An energising fruit smoothie

Fresh seasonal fruit

or

Cereals with chilled milk

BAKERY

Warm bacon roll with tomato ketchup

Selection of warm breads and breakfast pastries

DRINKS

Ground coffee, decaffeinated ground coffee or tea

Selection of herbal teas - peppermint, blackcurrant, apple or camomile and honey

_______________________

I chose to skip the breakfast as I feared for my teeth on the rock-hard bacon roll although did pop quickly to the galley and ask for the rather good energizing smoothie. Although I appeared to have startled to the attendant who promptly threw the contents of the bar on the floor of the galley!


Energizing smoothie. Note the nice amount of shelf space. There is also a cupboard underneath this

I took a walk down to the back of the aircraft and went to the bathroom to freshen up and prepare myself for landing. I headed back to my seat for what seemed like a never ending descent through thick cloud.


Seats 62A and 62B showing the facing configuration that the seats in BA Club World all have

I hoped for bright sunshine which we had seen over Ireland although as we popped through the clouds over West London the trademarks streaks of rain over the windows that welcome you to the UK distorted my view. Fortunately we landed on the southern runway and were only a short taxi to Terminal 4 and a stand was ready for us! The immigration point was a short walk from the gate and lines so short that Fast Track option wasn't required, although when you have checked luggage it doesn't matter how fast you go through the terminal you still have to wait eons for your cases.....as I found out....again! I took this time to organise my travel arrangements home, although I could have translated the Bible into Esperanto and still had time left to go to the bathroom. About 30mins later my bag arrives as I curse the fact I can't travel light! Then I remember I am grateful my bag made it to London at all after seeing it being wheeled into the depths of Dulles on the back of a trolley some 8hours previous, and it was unmolested!

With some time on my hands I proceeded to the BA Arrivals Lounge, a blessing for business folks arriving at 5am from HKG and cheapskate students like me who can never turn down a cooked breakfast....or a massage...or a shower! I went for my massage in the chair, very relaxing and effective before taking a shower and getting a cooked breakfast. The lounge was empty as this time and meant I could take a couple of photos without embarassing myself!



Arrivals Lounge in Terminal 4

I took another 15mins or so to check my email, unattended for a weekend and more before a call was made for me. My lift had arrived and left only another 45 of 3800 miles to go.

Once again, like the outbound a really solid flight, with the exception of the wait for checked luggage and the refurbished lounge although BA provide adequate facilities.

PresRDC

Okay, so how exactly do you get the pictures inserted directly onto FT? I know it works on Airliners.net, but I've never seen it done here.

Fraser

Just like you do on airliners.net!

It's a new feature (see the announcement) for the TR forum and much appreciated as I take a lot of pictures for my reports!

CharlesMD

Another fantastic trip report, Fraser! I really liked your pictures-- they came out so clear. What is your secret and what kind of camera do you have? Do you use the flash? Also, would you be willing to let me put your arrivals lounge and IAD lounge photos on my website? Of course they would be attributed to you. I visited the IAD lounge recently and it was a complete mess, as it is under construction. As a silver card holder travelling in J how did you get into the BA F lounge? As I recall when I was there it wasn't really patrolled, but things in the new lounge will probably be different. One last question is I've noticed that for most of your trips you travel via IAD. Why not BWI?

BA1321

Though I cannot speak for Mr. Davidson personally, I think it probably has something to do with the equipment used on the BWI route- a 777. This aircraft (in Club World at least) elicits a response from the BA board not unlike that of a gentleman seeing Anne Widdecombe wearing nothing but a pink thong...

Fraser

Thanks I use a Sony DSC-W1 which isn't an expensive camera! Without flash I often get a slightly blurred picture so I sometimes need a second attempt. I never use flash!

Feel free to use my photos on your site, be glad to add to the database I got in the F lounge because the Terraces was closed. Only First & CW passengers were allowed in the BA lounge, others were dispatched to the RCC.

I go for IAD because my trips end up with me in Richmond or Williamsburg (and previously Harrisonburg!) so IAD is more convenient. The 747 equipment (now gone ) was great for afforementioned reasons. Upper deck is much more pleasant than any other BA J offering I have tried. Alas my next trip is to RIC via ORD

CharlesMD

May I ask how much you paid for your camera and what its features are? I have the hardest time taking photos as clear as yours without the flash. Your pictures are amazingly clear, especially the ones taken in the dark! Why did they get rid of the 747s to IAD? If you'd like I can post the plans for the new BA IAD clubs.

Imperial Special

Many thanks for a thorough and interesting report, Mr. Davidson. It also reflects my experience with the last three transatlantic r/ts in CW this year.

I agree in particular with your comments on the mains, which are generally OK, not brilliant. I do like the Duchy of Cornwall Sausages, especially the red onion jus but I've rarely had a really good steak on BA. Last year, I had a fab Lamb Steak in F on AF, cooked medium (as Americans understand this) just as ordered. Mind you, only 2 of the 6 F seats were occupied on that flight. Every BA atlantic segment, except one BA186 from EWR, were quite in full in CW and in the case of the 747 UD - to capacity.

BA should consider delicate tea sandwiches with the 2nd service westbound or daylight eastbound. I think the effort would be appreciated. The ingredients can't be much more expensive.

Thanks again.

PhilH

Fraser, another great report. ^ When did they add the ability to put pictures in posts, only just noticed that. A great enhancement.

Must get my booty in gear and write up my Club World IAD trip.

Fraser

Phil, I only noticed the ability to add photos yesterday. A very nice enhancement ( ) I'm sure you'll agree!

I paid for £210 for it in November '04, although the RRP at that time was £250 I got two camera shops where I live into a price war and got them to throw in a case too!

As for features, haven't a clue! I know little about cameras and so bought a magazine which reviewed a number of cameras and this came highly recommended. I know it has a Carl Zeiss lens (not too specific I know but it gives nice results), 5.1 Megapixel ability and I think 3x optical zoom, the screen on the back is also huge. I also bought it because I can directly connect it to my Vaio Pocket and transfer the photos without computer so I don't need to buy Memory Sticks at expensive prices As a point and shoot camera for an ignoramus it works great.

The ones taken in the dark were done with no more than the overhead light and the small reading light. I carefully watched the screen on the camera as I tilted it to make sure I had a good amount of light.

As for the IAD rooms, am sure there is a thread in the BA forum where it'd be most appropriate!

CharlesMD

So Fraser, how is the battery life on your camera? How many pictures can you get on one charge and how big is the charger? One thing I like about my camera is that it uses AA batteries which are useful when traveling as I don't have to carry the charger! Do you carry a back up battery pack? Can you charge it from your non-VAO1 laptop, like from a USB port?