After an unusually long five-night stay in London, and my second visit to the city in as many months, I was truly keen to depart. The previous night had been a “work” evening, and I was lucky that the situation was unique and permitted me to leave shortly before 23:00, providing at least a baseline amount of sleep.
A car was waiting outside of the hotel at the early hour of 6:15 am; although the drivers’ instructions were to go to T5, I asked him to drop us off at Terminal 2 instead, where I would say farewell to my mom, whom I had spent Mothers’ Day with.
After a rapid check-in process with Lufthansa, off to the Heathrow Express to get to Terminal 5.
A stop at the check-in counter to verify my visa and get a printed boarding pass, and through the rather slow security.
Alas, I do not have any OneWorld status; my two home airports have limited (AA to DFW and BA to LHR) or nonexistent OW service. Since my main travel is Trans-Atlantic, I would be left with only AA & BA, neither of which elicit my enthusiasm. In fact, my last British Airways long haul flight was 5 years ago. The route was from Beirut to North America, and I decided it would be more comfortable to fly BEY-LHR on the A321 with flatbeds vs. BEY-FRA in Euro-business. Indeed, the first leg was rather comfortable, but I vowed never to fly Club World again after the Trans-Atlantic segment. Setting aside the indisputable facts that British Airways has a cramped configuration, generally lacklustre service, and forces you to go through LHR, I found the seat horrendously uncomfortable - an economy class seat that happens to go flat, much too short for me to relax in.
All this to say, if I fly British it’s within Europe and in business, so the journey of escalator rides and walks to a lounge that is right next to security (but inaccessible) is very familiar.
To give credit where it is due, the breakfast spread was completely acceptable and the lounge wasn’t as full as it tends to be.
With pride, I can present my one bag for the four-day escape. Inside: a change of clothes, toiletries, PJs, laptop, camera & lenses, Bose headphones, and book.
The assigned gate for BA233 was C66, so I left the lounge 40 minutes before departure, and arrived at the C satellite to the “final boarding call” announcements.
On board, the cabin was much as I remembered, perfectly fine for the three-hour journey to Moscow, and better than economy for anything longer - but far from a premium product.
I have found the British have a penchant for soft seats and mattresses - a certain type of soggy/springy feel, uniquely British - which would describe the Club World seat rather accurately.
The flight was rather full, so I would look into the (un)smiling face of a Russian man for take-off and landing, happily raising the divider at the first occasion to do so. British Airways has the distinction of being the only airline to charge for all seat assignments, including in their premium cabins, and was charging no less than 100 USD for a seat on this flight. Without status and not on the corporate dollar, this price seemed absurd, so I held out until online checkin. Of course at that point no window seats were left, but I was still spared of having to sit in a rear-facing middle seat, and had a perfectly acceptable aisle seat, 10D.
Shortly after boarding, passengers were handed out a bottle of water, menu, and amenity kit. Bedding from the White Company was already on the seat upon entering the aircraft. It’s nice to see a local brand being used on BA, and the bedding is rather nice.
I noticed with curiosity that the startup of the Dreamliner sounded different with the Rolls Royce engines - having flown this aircraft primarily with the GEnx engines, the RR rumble felt much deeper.
Shortly after take-off, the passenger in 10A inquired about the entertainment system, only to be informed that it was disabled for this flight as “it is a European destination”. This did not please Mr. 10A, and he promptly made it known that he has been flying this route for the past 10-20 years and there has always been inflight entertainment. Not knowing the specifics of the route, I stayed silent, but certainly agreed with his ire for British Airways’ absurdity. Either way, regardless of whether if it was a mistaken crew or airline policy, flying Club World (complete with bedding and amenity kit) but with the system “disabled” is rather peculiar.
I stopped sympathizing with Mr. 10A shortly thereafter, however, as it turned out he was a hot-headed and noisy complainer, muttering profanities under his breath and throwing his table tray onto the neighbouring seat. It was a relief when he finally retreated to his cocoon and raised the privacy divider. He would continue emerging from his seat to pester the crew for this or that and would always make his presence known.
Other passengers included an older Australian couple, who had boarding passes printed on Qantas stock - a long journey - and a panoply of businessmen.
Service was performed on trays brought from the galley, no complaints here, it was simply a traditionally inedible airline breakfast.
Reclining the seat after the breakfast was complete, I was surprised to find the bed not quite as uncomfortable as I had remembered, lying completely flat in the bulkhead row I was touching the wall with my feet and the back of the seat with my head - fairly standard. Bending your legs is impossible considering the seat width is comparable to that of an Economy seat.
Shortly before landing flight attendants walked through the cabin and asked if anybody would like something else to drink, served nicely on a porcelain tray with some nuts.
Customs forms were handed out as well, littered with spelling mistakes & dated 200_, apparently also unnecessary to fill out...
We landed to a fairly grey day with light drizzle in Moscow, and I was the first passenger to get off the plane and head for immigration.