London – Hong Kong, BA First.

The return to Auckland. Just I had turned into a pumpkin with no status on arrival at LHR three weeks before I entered LHR T5 and was, just as quickly, a prince again. BA, First Class to HKG.

Check in was interesting, no less than 3 people challenged me as to whether I was eligible to use the ‘First’ check-in area and none of them were particularly polite about it. Once I got to the check-in desk the guy who checked me in had his tie half undone and looked pretty uninterested and un-kept. I would have thought BA might be a little more selective of the people they placed on those check-in desks?

Next through security which was quick, although maybe the guy telling everyone not to pick up the trays that carry peoples bags and belongings through the x-ray machine might have been more helpful if he had pointed out where the trays automatically stop, rather than just yelling at everyone not to pick them up.

From reading on here I knew to turn right and head towards the doors that allow access to the Concorde room (CCR) where a BA staff member sitting behind a desk checked my boarding pass before allowing me entry to the lounge.

The lounge itself was reasonably busy so after booking a spa treatment I went to the restaurant for some dinner. I have to say the whole dining experience was pretty poor, there was only one guy working the place and he was far to busy with pretty much every booth filled with people wanting to dine.

The food was fine, if not pretty small portion wise but the dirty plates with finger marks it was served on and the cutlery that needed to be replaced because it had food still on it from a previous diner really let things down.

On leaving the dining area I grabbed a drink and went out on to the terrace area which overlooks the gates and T5B. A good selection of magazines and newspapers were available to choose from and it was a nice way to kill some time before my spa treatment, which was also very nice.

Around 2100 it became quite apparent the staff in the CCR wanted me to leave so they could go home themselves, as I was obviously the only person left in the lounge at that point. The cleaners working around me were none to subtle so I decided to head down to the gate.

My flight was departing from T5 B which requires a short ride in a train to the terminal and a couple of long escalator rides to the departure gates. T5B was pretty deserted when I got there, with only my flight and one other left to depart it that evening.

As the flight wasn’t yet boarding I took a seat to wait. I was holding my boarding pass and passport and the man sitting across from me suddenly said a little too loudly “2A, S**% that’s first class”. The conversation then progressed along the lines of -

Me “Well, yes,” (trying not to draw attention)
Man “S**%, that’s bloody flash”
Me “Um, I guess so, why, where are you sitting?”
Man “54H” (or whatever it was)
Me “Wow, row 54, that’s crazy! How many rows are back there?!”
Man “…open mouth…”
Me – exit stage left before he could reply. (I actually got up as I could see they were letting people on through the first/business class line for the flight so figured it was time to go).

I mean really, you have to have a bit of fun don’t you. He’ll be telling his mates for years about that moment, the guy he meet who had no idea about economy class.

On boarding through door 2L (Why did they build that terminal with only one air bridge per gate?) the cabin crew member walked me through the BA premium economy cabin to my seat in First.

As an observation it would seem to me that for some people the further forward in an aircraft they sit, the worse their behavior. I was wearing jeans and a sweatshirt/hoodie, clean, tidy, no rips (and probably with a combined cost of more than many suits), so why is it that a fellow passenger needs to make comment about ‘an upgraded passenger’ when I enter the cabin, while looking at me? It’s not the first time it’s happened. I guess for some 50 year old men it must be quite confusing to live in a world where you judge a person by their appearance at your peril. Hey buddy, 1A or 54H, we all end up standing around the same baggage carousel. You’re really not as important as you think you are. The FA and I shared a knowing look.

Anyway after sitting down I was offered a drink, PJ’s and a ‘wash bag’ which I accepted. On returning with my drink the FA said they hadn’t loaded any champagne glasses so he provided it in a wine glass instead. Now this will sound really weird, but for me half the fun of having a glass of champagne is the glass it is served in, I don’t drink much or often but was looking forward to that glass while enjoying the First surroundings, so I was a little disappointed, especially considering it wasn’t like we were leaving some backwater where it would be hard to source such glasses.

After a delay sitting on the aircraft for over an hour as they off-loaded a passenger we finally departed for Hong Kong just after 2320. Because we had been delayed on the ground dinner orders had been taken prior to take off ‘to speed things up when we get airborne’.

An announcement the IFE had been turned on was made, and as I was looking forward to watching a movie with dinner I went to select a film, no joy though, as it would seem was the case with everyone else trying to use the system. After a few minutes an announcement was made that the IFE would have to be restarted and this would take ‘approximately 30 minutes’. In the meantime the cabin lightly was turning on and off at random intervals including the two overhead lights controlled by each passenger at their seat.

Dinner was served but the only light available was from the little ‘bendy’ light on the side of the seat, the couple across from me were dining together but gave up because as the women said ‘its like being interrogated having that bendy light pointing in my face’.

To be quite honest I thought some of the business class meals I had had on Qantas flying to London were of a better quality and presented than what was served to me on this flight, certainly it wasn’t a stand out meal anyway.

Two hours into the flight I gave up waiting for the IFE to come on (it hadn’t been working at all for anyone up to this point) and put the seat flat to try and get some sleep. Unfortunately it was so hot in the cabin that I couldn’t get much more than a couple of hours sleep (although the other passengers seemed to do okay). The lights turning on and off at random intervals didn’t help either. In the end I decided to get up and had a chat with one of the FA’s as the IFE still wasn’t working. The FSD then advised he had set the IFE up so it played the standard offerings as AVOD wasn’t going to work but this should also deal with the lighting issue, so I went back and watched a couple of movies. The crew were good at ensuring I had whatever snacks or drinks I wanted during this period which was nice (I was the only one awake in the cabin).

BA’s non AVOD offering was pretty poor and didn’t tell you how long a movie had to go or how long ago it started so I ended up seeing parts of three movies.

About 3 hours out from Hong Kong the flight got quite rough and the seat belt sign was on more than it was off, as a result breakfast into Hong Kong was a rushed affair and I ended up having toast and a cup of tea about 30 minutes before landing, not the crews fault but I would of preferred something a bit more substantial.

We landed in Hong Kong 45 minutes late and even though my bag was tagged with a priority sticker it was one of the later ones to appear – at least it arrived which is the main thing I guess.

So impressions of BA First: The seat is pretty basic and looked a bit tired but the thing I enjoyed the most was the personal space and privacy of the cabin. The food was nothing special, the IFE was poor with no AVOD and the crew were at times wonderful and at other times indifferent.

I don’t think for the money I would pay the difference to travel First over Business again.

To come, Hong Kong – Auckland, Air New Zealand premium economy – or maybe not...