That does sound bad!! I've been reading similar stories on the BA forum. Last time we flew BA first was on the home leg from Singapore in July 2007. The cabin was very tired, but the service was excellent. Club world is where we have had some pretty poor service over the years.

I agree the Qantas First lounge in Sydney is spectacular - my daughter and I booked in for treatments and floated on the plane feeling very relaxed. The new terminal 3 First lounge sounds OK though.

We aren't terribly demanding passengers - as long as I have a totally flat bed (not that horrible thing in Qantas J) and a couple of glasses of nice bubbly, I am happy. However we pay for this ourselves as it is leisure (we do have a business, but totally local, so no way to do a combined business leisure trip and pay for some of it via the business) so if I can get flat beds and nice service for half the price, I am happy.

Like you if it is a good experience I will be looking to swap - looking forward to hearing your experiences.