Hello readers!
I have got into the habit of taking a trip somewhere now in winter as a treat before the inevitable rush at work in December before Christmas. Last year, it was Hawaii -
2 studs do Hawaii (via AMS, DUB, JFK, LAX and CDG for good measure on the way back!). This year, I fancied something different. I had a wad of Avios to use and a BA upgrade voucher burning a hole in my account. One of my good friends lives in Vancouver and I hadn't seen her in close to ten years so that seemed like the obvious choice. However, the Avios availability into Vancouver was not great. Eventually, I found availability in J flying into Los Angeles and availability in J flying out of Vancouver. Both legs were upgraded to F using my upgrade voucher. The Aberdeen to Heathrow legs were booked into Club Europe. It was quite handy flying into LAX actually as I was going to be a few hundred TPs short of another upgrade voucher and, having no plans on the day after arriving into LAX, I could do a short TP run to make sure I would get to the 2500 TP level before my year ended. I also booked an internal AA flight from LAX - PHX - YVR for around £300 in First Class. I had been to New York in January this year and was looking forward to going back to another 'cold' country during winter.
Fast forward a few months and the day of departure had come. The first flight leaves Aberdeen at 6.20am (yawn!) so I was up at 4.30am to grab a shower, get dressed and make my way to the airport. Check in was quiet as I arrived less than an hour before take off. I made my way to the nice (relatively) new lounge at Aberdeen and downed a few coffees before heading down to board.
BA1301, ABZ - LHR, G-MEDM, A321
A nice greeting onboard from an 'experienced' cabin crew member and I settled into 1F. The captain let us know that there was a delay in leaving due to high winds in the London area but that he hoped to make up the time on the way down the UK.
BA cleaning at its best.....
After taking off, the crew came around taking orders for breakfast. There was a choice between a full English or a fritata with peppers and tomatoes. I went for the fritata and it actually tasted quite nice although the cheese sauce was a bit watery.
For the rest of the flight, I napped given the horrendously early start I had that day. We landed only 5 mins later and made our way straight to the gate. I went through flight connections and up to the "magic door" which is one of the entrances to BA's Concorde Room. Some chancer at the door (who obviously had access to either the business class lounge or the first class lounge) wanted to take a short cut through the Concorde Room but was promptly told where to go to get himself there. Yes, it would be a great shortcut given that it's another 5 min walk to the other lounges by going downstairs, through the shopping mall and then back up again but I like that BA keep that entrance solely for passengers who are entitled to use the CCR. I headed out to the terrace and grabbed a seat.
Even though the terrace overlooks the main terminal, it's actually surprisingly quiet. All you can here is some quiet hubbub from downstairs and the faint beeping of boarding passes. The service on the CCR terrace can be hit or miss but it appears that BA actually now have a member of staff situated on the terrace at all times. I was approached within a few seconds of sitting down and my order taken for drinks. Given that I was now on holiday, I thought that I would have a glass of fizz - Laurent Perrier Grande Siecle - it's 5pm somewhere, right?
After a top up, I headed in to the restaurant to have a bite to eat knowing that it would be another few hours before I got something to eat on the flight to LA.
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Some great soft boiled eggs (although could have done with another bit of toast!).
After breakfast, I headed to the Elemis spa where I had pre-booked a back massage with You First (the service which BA first class passengers can use to pre-book spa treatments 28 days before they travel). The massage was great - just what I needed. After the massage, I was given a glass of water and asked to fill out the evaluation form. I went back into the CCR, charged my phone for a while and then headed across to the B gates where my flight to LA was leaving from.
BA281, LHR - LAX, G-ZBKE, B789
This was to be my first time on a B789 so I was pretty excited. The flight was called for pre-boarding and then F passengers invited to board. Boarding pass scanned, passport looked at and I was off....... to a set of stairs and outside to a bus. Way to go BA! Great "premium" experience for your F class passengers. Add to it the fact that we didn't even get a bus to ourselves but were stuffed on with as many people as they could get on before the doors were shut wasn't exactly a great PR advert for BA.
Yah, KLAZZY!
Thankfully there were some covered stairs as it was raining outside. When I got to the door, I showed my boarding pass and the lovely CSM (I think), Jo, showed me to my seat, 1A. This was to be my space for the next 11 hours.
As I settled in, a lovely young girl came over and introduced herself and said that she would be taking care of me during the flight along with her colleague, a young guy. Being a mixed fleet crew, it's not a surprise when you see crew working in F who are mid-20s if that. Not that it mattered - the two of them were brilliant throughout the flight. I was offered a pre-departure drink (fizz obviously) and some PJs for the flight along with a washbag.
Menus were handed out. I had pre-booked the chicken, leek and ham hock pie as I had zero confidence that BA could do a decent Lobster Thermidor in the air lol.
Overall, I quite liked the seat. I think that it could do with some more privacy at the side to make it more suite like. However, there was enough space for me and I didn't have an issues in sleeping and didn't feel cramped at all. The warbrode is a decent size and fit my jacket and shirt. My shoes and carry on bag went in the overhead locker. I also like the reduced size of the F cabin - 8 seats (compared to 14 or 17 on other BA planes). I also thought the dimming window feature was quite cool and made for some great pics later on in the flight.
Top ups of fizz were offered before we pushed back and made our way to the runway. The reduction in noise on the 789 was noticeable as we took off towards the west and made our way to LAX. Flight time of just under 11 hours.
After take off, I changed into my PJs and orders were taken for pre-departure drinks. Once these were handed out, the other member of crew came around to take the meal orders. I started with a Kir Royale and some mixed nuts.
While watching a film, tables were set for lunch.
Anti pasti amuse bouche was a nice pre-starter to have accompanied with some tasty baguette. The crew also had no issue with me doing a mini wine tasting before deciding what white I wanted to got for with my starter - thumbs up to that!
It was so bright outside that I had to keep the windows dimmed most of the time.
The starter of smoked salmon and crab was brilliant - so tasty and I loved the small pieces of sphered apple on the plate.
One thing I LOVE on BA is the soup. They are constantly good and this butternut squash soup was absolutely no exception. The added chestnuts and pumpkin seeds on top were yummy!
And then the pie. It was good but the pastry was just a bit too heavy. It still tasted nice though.
At this point, we were approaching Greenland and the scenery was spectacular! I tried to get some good pics but the glare from the sun was annoying!
Mr 2A had gone to sleep by this point so as soon as the rest of the cabin saw me taking pics, I had 4 others at my suite asking if they could take pictures out of my window. I joked "Sure, £10 a pic" but all in good fun. I let them take all of their pics as I sat in the buddy seat and we had a decent chat. The two crew appeared and also wanted a look at the view as they said that they never get to see too much during service periods.
I then asked for my bed to be made so that I could cosy up with dessert and a movie.
After a short nap, I woke and decided to get some cheese while I listened to some music. A great selection of tasty cheese and really nice crackers! Another thing BA does consistently well.
I dod not get bored of this wing view once!
Time was passing and I was having a great flight. It was so nice just chilling under the duvet watching a movie or listening to music whilst sipping on a drink. F definitely is the way to fly and I am so glad that I had the miles to burn to take this trip! Before we knew it, we were a few hours out of LA and the lunch service started.
The cheese soufflé was brilliant and the taste was so good.
I didn't fancy scallops so went for the pasta for main and wasn't disappointed.
Another wing shot..... sorrynotsorry!
And some fruit so finish off a brilliant meal service.
Approaching LA just as the sun set made for some more brilliant views!
We landed near enough on time and I had a chat with the crew at the front. Turned out that the young guy at the front who was looking after First was on his first shift in F. I told him that he had done a wonderful job and that he should be proud of himself. He seemed happy with being told that and told me that he was looking forward to going to Disney during his time in LA. Hehe. I was surprised how quick it was to get through immigration and collecting my luggage. My bag was 6th off - something I have never, ever experienced before on BA on a first class flight.
So overall, a really good flight here. I was impressed with the F product on the 789 and I had no real gripes with the food whatsoever. Coupled with an attentive crew made for 11 hours that went by in a shot! Thanks BA!
I hopped on the free bus and made my way to the Hilton at LAX. Standard airport hotel with a fine enough room. After grabbing a shower, I had a beer down in the bar and then headed to bed after the long day I'd had!
Thanks for reading this part! Comments and questions all welcome
