LAX-LHR Club World A380
With a serious case of DYKWIA

After a great holiday it was time to start the long trip home.
We had a departure time of 15:30, and I was happy to get to the airport in plenty of time to avoid any worries with LA traffic.

We arrived at Avis just before midday and took the short hop on the shuttle bus to the TBIT terminal.
It appeared a very busy afternoon at LAX in the terminals we passed on the way. But the BA check in area was still quiet at midday as you would expect 3.5hrs before the first BA departure of the day.
There was no one in Club or First check in lines with only approx 20 people waiting in standard line.

Security was fairly busy but fast track was lots quieter. As we progressed through the empty tensa barrier maze we were asked to cut through the barrier to the front of the line. It appeared this was due to the fact we were travelling with a buggy. It was a fairly stress feel compared to my recent experience with the TSA in the US.

Its been about 5 years since I’ve departed though LAX and I thought the general departure lounge was very nice, open and bright. It did have the usual shopping mall feel that is so common in modern terminals these days

We proceeded to the new ‘Oneworld’ lounge and were warmly welcomed and advised that they would make a PA call when our flight was ready to board, as well as an estimated time of boarding.
The lounge was very busy when we arrived at 12:30 and the only seats available were near the fake fire place towards the bar area.
The lounge did start to clear approx 1pm when the Cathy Pacific HKG flight was called followed by an Air China flight to Beijing and by 13:15 it was deserted, before it slowly started to fill again with BA passengers.

I would note that most of the Lounge is quite dark and gloomy compared to the bright main departure lounge areas.
The Wifi had a good strong connection with decent speed, even when the lounge was full upon our arrival, but there was no mobile phone reception across the 3 networks we were using which was a bit painful.

The food was good but the selection was a little limited. I would put it on a par with the BA Galleries lounges at LHR. I enjoyed a large bowl of the butter chicken which was excellent. I had always thought butter chicken as a mild dish, but this version had some heat to it which made for a good flavour.

Alcoholic drinks are provided from a bar service which is not very good when the lounge was so busy and only a single bar tender was available. Also at busy times a lot of people were sat at the bar, which limited the areas you could stand to wait and be served.

Boarding commenced around 30mins before the planned departure time. Again we boarded when pre-boarded was called due to travelling with a small child.
As we proceeded through the gate we were asked to leave our buggy with the gate staff, when they realised we were flying club they let us take the buggy to the plane door and suggested they should be space in the cabin for the buggy to be stored.
However when we boarded the cabin crew wouldn't let it on the aircraft and took it back on the Jetty. They assured us that it would be ready for us on the Jetty upon our arrival in LHR. This was a little disappointing that they could find space for a buggy on a 777 on our outbound flight but not on the A380 for our return.

At this point I was hoping that we wouldn’t have to wait for a long time for it upon arrival at LHR and get stuck waiting for the transit trains or immigration.

The crew on the whole were older than the crew we had on our outbound flight. There were efficient and professional but the service was fairly matter of fact and almost stern at times. There was no interaction with the passengers. I’m not sure if this was due to the crew or just the sheer number of passengers they have to cater for making the service more regimented.

We settled into our seats on the lower deck in the first CW cabin behind First.
The seat looked and felt identical to that we had experienced on the 777-200 albeit with a different seat fabric. Again we had been pre-assigned 3 of the middle 4 seats.

Boarding was via 2 doors on the lower deck and 1 door for the upper deck.
All the WT passengers on the lower deck had to pass my seat, and although we were told the flight was completely full the boarding appeared to complete very quickly and the doors closed.

The IFE system on the A380 is a vast improvement, with a far larger screen and increased selection of programs. It also has a good route map system that had various viewing option, but it didn’t have any external camera’s which was a little disappointing.
The only other benefit with the A380 is some flashy mood lighting, which slowly brightens and darkens the cabin. I thought it would be a bit of a gimmick, but it does allow your eyes to slowly adjust as the cabin is brightened in the morning after a night flight.

Cockpit view on the Route Map


The speed of the bar and food service was similar to our outbound flight, so it was still a rather drawn out affair. For the early the departure this isn't too much of a problem because its still early in the day. I would hope for the later 9pm departure it would be a little quicker allowing passengers to get some rest early in the flight.

Here is the menu for our return flight


By the time my order was taken my 1st choice starter ‘Baby Tomatoes’ was already gone and I selected the Salmon.

The salmon was better than I had expected, and the salad was also very good.


I followed this with the Pasta, which was a little bland. It was very filling and after eating in the lounge I only managed to eat half of the dish.


The childs meal was very large for a 3 year old, and would even be large for an adult. Even the crew were slightly surprised by the size of it.
It started with 6 x small Cheese and Ham sandwiches, carrot sticks and a large bowl of grapes.

This was followed by the predicable Chicken Goujons, mash potatoes and broccoli. Ben eat most of the sandwiches and grapes but didn't really touch the hot food.



Following the meal service we all attempted to get some rest.
This wasn’t a problem for our son who slept for 5-6hrs.

I struggled to sleep and only managed to sleep for less than 1hr.
There was a young baby in the cabin which was crying at various points, but I was more disturbed by the nagging older women who sat in seat across the aisle from me.

OMG she was annoying and distrubing, and I appreciate the how the crew kept they nerve with her. If it was me I would have ended up throwing her in the luggage hold, before we even took off. Most of her requests would have been fairer enough in isolation, but her constant badgering of the poor crew, talking to them in such a condescending manner was embarrassing for everyone in her proximity.

Here are some of the highlights/lowlights.

•She made the crew put her bag in overhead locker saying that she needed wheelchair assistance and it would be ‘impossible’ for her to reach the overhead locked. However there must have been a miracle mid-flight because she was fine getting it up and down repeatedly during the flight.

•She demanded to know why all the other passenger had menu’s and she didn’t . It was explained to her she had ordered a special meal hence she couldn't order for the meal.

•Then she demanded 2 blankets. The crew had a quick search of the cabin but said the flight was full and everyone had a blanket with no spares. At which this women got most upset and finally a spare blanket from economy was found.

•When her meal arrived she pulled a face a demanded another low salt alternative without even tasting it. Cabin crew were getting quite annoyed by this point, but did return a few minutes later with some alternatives meals, all of which she refused. Instead she just sulked like a toddler and said she would write a letter of complaint instead.

•She started to watch some films using the IFE. During which she started to struggle using the touch screen, which I can understand as it doesn’t always respond especially if it catches your nail opposed to your finger.
In the end she got so frustrated she slammed the IFE screen shut with such force it caused the divider between the two seats to fall. As you could imagine the poor sod seating in the seat next to her was awoken with a jolt.

•Toward the end of the flight, she wanted to sit in First class to ensure she would be one of the first off the plane due to a tight connection. A connection which it later transpired was 2.5hrs

•Then just prior to landing she demanded medication for a stomach ache. The crew were quite stern with her by this point saying they were not able to provide medication as they can’t diagnose such issues. However she was later provided with rennes or something similar, which I can only presume was a members of crews personal items.

•The final straw was when the crew were preparing the cabin for landing. The floor around her seat was covered in her 2 blankets, 3 pillows and a selection of magazines etc. She point blankly refused to tidy it, or even attempt to clear these items. She complained of the same stomach ache and just ignored the crew. The crew eventually had to clear the items themselves.
Some of her complaints or requests for assistance may have been genuine. But the way she treated the crew initially meant she was not treated with much trust, hence their lack of compassion.

•It even continued when we were disembarking when she spoke with the crew as she exited the plane wanting to know where her wheelchair was. She wanted it at the door but they explained it would be at the top of the jetty. The whole time this argument continued she blocked the door so no one else could leave via door 2.

After a restless night it was time for some breakfast.
This is the first flight I have taken from the West Coast since the full breakfast has returned to the menu, replacing the previous soggy bacon rolls.

Here is the menu.

I selected the Traditional English Breakfast. It was good and rather filling. Although I preferred the breakfast on the short hop from DUB to LHR earlier in our trip.

The cabin was cleared and we were soon on approach into LHR well ahead of schedule. With some favourable tail winds the flight from LAX was only 9.5hrs.

The plane arrived at a T5C gate and we quickly disembarked from the front of the CW cabin.

As for your our buggy, we were told that it would arrive at the top of the jetty. We waited with a few other parents for our buggies. We had to wait until all the passengers and the crew of our flight had disembarked before the buggies finally arrived. This meant we were now at the back of the line of some 400 passengers trying to get the transit train and through immigration.
As expected the transit was completely rammed for the journey between the c gates and the main terminal. Normally if I arrive at a T5B gate I quite enjoy bypassing the transit and walk using the walk ways underneath the transit level, it gets the blood moving again after a long flight and is generally quicker than the transit. However from the T5C gates it’s a little too far, especially with the luggage we had in tow.

Luckily upon arrival at the immigration hall it wasn't too busy. The new additional e-gates were in operation and most people were being directed to them. The lines for these new gates were quite long and didn’t appear to be moving very quickly.
We had to go to the normal gates as our Son is only 3 years old. Only 2 posts were being manned for EU passports. The line was short and moving quickly, as such we were through far quicker than if we had joined the e-gate lines.

Finally down to baggage reclaim. Now I have found T5 to be very good for luggage in the past, but recently the wait times have increased in my experience. This flight continued the trend, maybe down to the use of an A380? I would say we had to wait a further 15mins for our luggage. In total from leaving the plane door, waiting for the buggy to claiming our luggage took 1hr 5mins. Which in my opinion is ‘ok’ but far from a premium experience I have enjoyed in the past.

While waiting for our luggage I was asked to compete a BAA survey on the use of the A380. In summary it asked if I enjoyed the A380 and would I pick flights in the future specifically to fly the A380. Reflecting on our experience I wouldn't be in a rush to fly the A380. In my opinion in CW the only minor difference is the improved IFE over the rest of the fleet. This benefit is outweighed with difficulties with dealing with the logistics of processing 470 passengers on the same flight.

We were not travelling onto DUB until the next day, so had a day in London. So prior to leaving the airport we stopped by the Arrival lounge so I could get a quick shower and we could get some food for our Son as he had slept through breakfast on the flight.
The refreshing shower was welcome, but the shower cubicle was in poor condition with trim coming away from the wall. It still had a very disturbing gurgle sounds coming from the drain system.

So in conclusion an enjoyable flight. Nothing outstanding either from the A380 or the crew but I’m still glad we paid for CW for a more relaxing flight. Even if it was disturbed who thought the crew were here personal servants!