This is basically a 'dream' BA flight thread - or a fantasy BA flight thread, if you prefer.
I was thinking of what my ideal flight situation would be if I could control how things are done on a up-to-9 hours, overnight BA flight and became curious as to what your dream BA flight would realistically be. It may sound like a contradiction to say a "dream" and "realistic" in a single sentence but basically I'm trying to avoid saying things like "a BA private jet with a double bed" sort of things. I was thinking of something that can be done with the current hard product.
What I have come up with for my dream BA flight, for an overnight flight of 6-9 hours' duration can be summed up as a "sleeper cabin", a little section of the cabin, separated by a bulkhead or a curtain, not the whole cabin - a whole cabin would be completely unnecessary.
When I say "overnight", I am referring to any flight that involves late-night hours at either the point of origin or the destination time zone.
My dream conditions for this "sleeper cabin" is as follows:
- Pre-flight dining of good quality
- NF cabin or CW at a push (but no lowering of the divider permitted if CW - it can be disruptive to sleep)
- No food on the flight other than sandwiches and other "silent" finger food (= no noise from the crisps, cutlery, crockery etc)
- Anyone being deemed noisy and/or disruptive to sleep will be moved away from the cabin immediately and therefore it's clearly indicated as such, and that it is a "sleeper section" in the description at the point of sale and that it's only suitable if they just want to sleep, so that people would know in advance what they're buying
- Window shades are permitted to be opened during the first and final 20 min of the flight only, to prevent bright light in case it's daylight outside
- Cabin lighting is kept dark for the duration of the flight other than the first and final 20 min of the flight
- No overhead personal light use is permitted, only the small light
- Two bottles of 500 ml water provided at the start of the flight
- Thick mattress with very slightly raised feet
- No PA except for the essentials, other than during the first and final 20 min of the flight
That's it! Basically everything to maximise good quality, uninterrupted sleep, and nothing that may compromise the sleep quality.
I think I have been scarred by too many disrupted sleep on flights from serious noise issues when my purpose of paying for premium cabin so that I can get some decent sleep.
That's my seriously boring dream overnight BA flight of up to 9 hours' duration.
I have a different take on a longer flight, even an overnight one - a really nice meal on board first, but taking no more than 2 hours and 15 min from take-off to complete, with the second meal being a 'quiet' service with a room service breakfast style menu to maximise sleep.
Now, what is your dream BA flight? (Obviously pretty much a fantasy flight so it doesn't need to be completely realistic...)