May 11
PHX-LHR
BA 0288
Old First sold as CW
Seat 1A
Scheduled: 19:40 - 13:25
Actual: 19:40 - 13:37
Because BA is offering
old First as CW on select routes until October, I took advantage of this and reserved seat 1A. While others may prefer row 2, I like the view from the three windows, and the quiet at the front of the cabin.
I arrived at PHX around 17:00 for the flight. The check-in counter no longer has a dedicated first/gold line, but the wait in the CW line was about 5 seconds in duration. My bags were quickly tagged to London, and I headed upstairs and was through security within 5 minutes. Even without TSA PreCheck for this international flight, it was quick to clear security at PHX on a Monday evening.
I made my way to the Club at PHX, and I was the first passenger in the First section of the lounge, and was alone for roughly thirty minutes. The lounge never reached more than 50% of capacity, a pleasant surprise as I've never experienced it this empty. Since my last visit, they have rearranged the chairs, with no noticeable changes. This lounge is basic but pleasant, and offers a great view of the 747 when it arrives. There are a very limited of power outlets, so arrive early if you want to work on your laptop.
While I was hopeful for New First, I checked online and confirmed that the inbound aircraft would be old first seats. I actually have an old Apple empower adapter for my MacBook Pro, and this is one of the few remaining opportunities to use it (the other being AA MD80s).
I wasn't particularly hungry, so I really just had still water and worked prior to the flight. I talked with a few of the passengers, as they were trying to understand the concept of Old First sold as CW.
Our flight was a touch late, and as is typical in Phoenix, BA calls for boarding from the lounge after most passengers are already on board the aircraft. The boarding process was a bit flawed this time, as they did not enforce the fast track lane. That said, I only waited a couple of minutes before boarding. I was welcomed aboard and quickly found my seat.
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I had a pre-flight still water (orange juice and champagne were offered as usual), as well as the BA and Elemis amenties kit/wash bag. While the quality of what is included in the elemis bag is not stellar, the bags themselves I find very useful for travel. I'll put shoes in them, or cables or smaller gadgets. BA have at least removed the scary razor and restored the eye mask and ear plugs based on customer feedback, undoing a poorly received enhancement. I still don't understand why they don't just put the toothbrush/toothpaste combo in the toilet, and I do think they could make the contents more interesting.
Phoenix has a very short taxi from BA's gate 25, as it is right next to the start of the runway. We were held a bit by air traffic control, and then cleared for departure.
For dinner I had the prawn starter (ok), salad (ok), and the beef for the main (edible but not great). As much as I am not a fan of the beef, my recent attempts at chicken, fish, and pasta on BA have been even worse. I skipped dessert as I wanted to sleep and find that dessert prevents me from sleeping quickly.
I recently created my own more comfortable bed experience for when I fly on BA and airlines like CX. It's a 3/4" yoga mat trimmed to fit inside hand baggage and roughly matches the height and width of my body. I also brought a thin flat sheet for use on top of the yoga mat. This works surprisingly well and is much more comfortable. Unfortunately the light in the cabin was dark, and so I have no photos to show this.
The main drawback is that I must check baggage as it takes up the majority of my hand baggage, and it also results in me brining along more luggage than I would like. Packing minimally for two weeks is not easy when visiting climates with a variety of temperatures, with both formal meetings and casual workout clothing.
I slept for maybe 2-3 hours, which is about as much as I typically get on this flight. It was definitely a more comfortable experience with my upgraded environment. Sleep was however impacted by the temperature in the cabin rising to at least 25C.
I watched a pair of movies over the course of the flight, Jupiter Ascending via the IFE, and Lucy on my iPad. Both kept my attention and were entertaining, but also allowed me to do some light work in parallel.
The Old First experience is fine, but it definitely feels old. The sad IFE screen, the old empower port, the lack of storage space of any kind at the seat. But the bed is nice and the additional personal space over CW is worth it.
Breakfast was served about 75 minutes prior to arrival and it was fine, a mix of fruit (good), bacon roll (better than the usual BA experience), and orange juice.
Overall the crew was friendly and accommodating. While not the most memorable BA crew, there was nothing bad about the experience.