BA First + Concorde Room - BA125 LHR-BAH-DOH
Jul 23, 2016, 8:27 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: Sydney
Programs: QFF WP/OWE
Posts: 368
BA First + Concorde Room - BA125 LHR-BAH-DOH
Hi all, on a recent trip to the UK/German/Russia (from Australia), I was keen to try the new Airbus A350 and blew a few Qantas FFPs on an award flight from EDI to DOH via LHR and BAH. The second leg (LHR-BAH) was with BA (BA125 772) in First Class and this was my 3rd BA flight, but first in First.
I came at it with some trepidation. While I like BA (being a legacy carrier with a lot of history…etc), I’ve heard a lot of negatives about them and my first experience (CW on BA6) was only average. I hope for a good experience, but my expectations were low. In summary, I was pleasantly surprise!
It all started at 0500 at EDI where I caught a 767-300ER down to LHR where I had ~2.5hrs to connect and enjoy the Concorde Room. The CCR was pretty full (no cabana or day spa) but I did manage to get a table and some breaky. That was all fine and I took off to the departure gate. In typical BA fashion, boarding was a dog’s breakfast. Almost everyone, except Y pax with no status at all, are allowed to join the priority queue so it’s always as long as the standard queue. I was greeting upon boarding and showed to my seat by Yvonne, who would look after me the entire flight. The CSM, Chris, promptly came and introduced himself with a hearty hand-shake. Champagne was served (and refilled before takeoff), small talk was done and we were off a few minutes late. Warm towels, amenity kits (and PJs+ slippers) were handed out as were warmed nuts. More bubbles arrived followed by two starters and a main (see the video for details, including the full menus at the CCR and onboard). The food was all good and I struggled to finish it (I made the rookie error of eating too much in the EDI and LHR lounges).
There were only two pax in the 17 seat First cabin and, as you’d expect, the FAs were very prompt with their service. They were always close by and responded to call bells quickly. Plates were removed as soon as I’d finished eating and I settled down to watch some of the IFE. I figured Spectre (the most recently, only average, James Bond film) was a good option since I’d watched most of the new films that interested me on the BA6 the week beforehand. The screen was a decent size although the system lagged a little.
Inside felt reasonably solid considering the aircraft first flew in 1995, although the First cabin was refurbished in 2010. I quite like the layout and feel that the colours and materials are quite classy (granted, I’ve only ever flown F with EK so I can’t really compare that authoritatively.), more so than EK’s ‘1990-Lexus’ woodgrain. (EK’s F product is fantastic, I just think it hasn’t aged well). The seat was comfy although I didn’t really like the seat adjustment options (there weren’t many - but it does go flat) and there was no massage option. There was a decent amount of room although, other than the space to store the a coat and shoes, there was no where to store stuff (as you’ll see in the video, I have a lot of crap!!)
Two USB ports and a universal power point were close by, although for reasons I’m not sure why, after I connected my iPhone, all of my music was deleted. I simply got it back off my computer, but that seemed odd.
Another thing that I hadn’t noticed since my last long-haul fight (JFK-LAX-SYD) was how the humidity (lack of it) affects my nasal passages. After 4-5hrs (including 1hr flight in the 767 earlier in the morning), my nose was getting quite irritated. I felt much better after the 12hrs in the BA 789 last week. I’ve got an A359 booked tomorrow so we’ll see how that goes!
I saw the CSM several times during the flight, including a pleasant thank you for letting them fly me to DOH shortly before I deplaned. The crew were really good and have certainly raised my expectations of what to expect from BA in the future.
Check out the video below for footage of the Concorde Room (sadly the camera struggled in the low light so I had to delete a lot of the footage) and on board the 777. I’m happy to answer questions and get feed back as to how I can improve future videos.
I came at it with some trepidation. While I like BA (being a legacy carrier with a lot of history…etc), I’ve heard a lot of negatives about them and my first experience (CW on BA6) was only average. I hope for a good experience, but my expectations were low. In summary, I was pleasantly surprise!
It all started at 0500 at EDI where I caught a 767-300ER down to LHR where I had ~2.5hrs to connect and enjoy the Concorde Room. The CCR was pretty full (no cabana or day spa) but I did manage to get a table and some breaky. That was all fine and I took off to the departure gate. In typical BA fashion, boarding was a dog’s breakfast. Almost everyone, except Y pax with no status at all, are allowed to join the priority queue so it’s always as long as the standard queue. I was greeting upon boarding and showed to my seat by Yvonne, who would look after me the entire flight. The CSM, Chris, promptly came and introduced himself with a hearty hand-shake. Champagne was served (and refilled before takeoff), small talk was done and we were off a few minutes late. Warm towels, amenity kits (and PJs+ slippers) were handed out as were warmed nuts. More bubbles arrived followed by two starters and a main (see the video for details, including the full menus at the CCR and onboard). The food was all good and I struggled to finish it (I made the rookie error of eating too much in the EDI and LHR lounges).
There were only two pax in the 17 seat First cabin and, as you’d expect, the FAs were very prompt with their service. They were always close by and responded to call bells quickly. Plates were removed as soon as I’d finished eating and I settled down to watch some of the IFE. I figured Spectre (the most recently, only average, James Bond film) was a good option since I’d watched most of the new films that interested me on the BA6 the week beforehand. The screen was a decent size although the system lagged a little.
Inside felt reasonably solid considering the aircraft first flew in 1995, although the First cabin was refurbished in 2010. I quite like the layout and feel that the colours and materials are quite classy (granted, I’ve only ever flown F with EK so I can’t really compare that authoritatively.), more so than EK’s ‘1990-Lexus’ woodgrain. (EK’s F product is fantastic, I just think it hasn’t aged well). The seat was comfy although I didn’t really like the seat adjustment options (there weren’t many - but it does go flat) and there was no massage option. There was a decent amount of room although, other than the space to store the a coat and shoes, there was no where to store stuff (as you’ll see in the video, I have a lot of crap!!)
Two USB ports and a universal power point were close by, although for reasons I’m not sure why, after I connected my iPhone, all of my music was deleted. I simply got it back off my computer, but that seemed odd.
Another thing that I hadn’t noticed since my last long-haul fight (JFK-LAX-SYD) was how the humidity (lack of it) affects my nasal passages. After 4-5hrs (including 1hr flight in the 767 earlier in the morning), my nose was getting quite irritated. I felt much better after the 12hrs in the BA 789 last week. I’ve got an A359 booked tomorrow so we’ll see how that goes!
I saw the CSM several times during the flight, including a pleasant thank you for letting them fly me to DOH shortly before I deplaned. The crew were really good and have certainly raised my expectations of what to expect from BA in the future.
Check out the video below for footage of the Concorde Room (sadly the camera struggled in the low light so I had to delete a lot of the footage) and on board the 777. I’m happy to answer questions and get feed back as to how I can improve future videos.
Last edited by PaulST; Apr 28, 2017 at 6:49 pm
Jul 26, 2016, 12:58 pm
#7
Join Date: Apr 2009
Programs: BA Gold, Hilton Honors Diamond, Mucci de buveur de gin
Posts: 3,060
PaulST - thanks for a great report! A really good video which shows off the BA F product really well. The food looks half decent (bearing in mind the number of moans we hear about it on the BA forum) although the main course could perhaps have been presented a bit better (granted, with something like what you had, it's difficult!). I always wondered what you got to eat on the short BAH - DOH stop so thanks showing that too!
Jul 27, 2016, 12:34 am
#8
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: Sydney
Programs: QFF WP/OWE
Posts: 368
Thanks stu.
Yeah the BAH-DOH jump was pretty brief. My tip would be to change out of your PJs before you land ing BAH, or whilst on the ground there as you're really only in the air for about 20 mins and that's not much time for another glass of champagne and a quick nibble.
Yeah the BAH-DOH jump was pretty brief. My tip would be to change out of your PJs before you land ing BAH, or whilst on the ground there as you're really only in the air for about 20 mins and that's not much time for another glass of champagne and a quick nibble.