I had my first A350 flight with BA on Wednesday 4th May on BA274 from LAS to LHR so thought I’d post some comments for the benefit of others.
Online check in was fine, although I couldn’t get my BP on my phone. It would, however, allow me to print a paper copy. Document check was done at gate E1 at Las Vegas where I was told the reason for not being able to get the digital BP was that they needed to check my passport, but that begs the question why I could still print a paper copy?
The aircraft was delayed on the inbound, not arriving until 2108. Boarding was by group number which was good. I was in 26B so an aisle seat (contrary to MMB which labels it as a middle).
Pillow and blanket were on the seat. The latter no longer seems to be plastic wrapped which is probably better for the environment. Headphones were in the usual plastic bag. No amenity kits in WT+ so I’m wondering if they’ve been enhanced away since my last flight in September?
I found the seat uncomfortable. No matter how I had it adjusted I felt as if I was always sliding forwards. In spite of that I did sleep on and off. Plenty of recline despite being next to the bulkhead between WT+ and the smaller WT cabin. That said, the recline is somewhat fierce and lots of passengers seemed to struggle either getting the seat back or up again for landing. You can, however, get your table out even when the seat in front is fully reclined
No IFE box or anything else attached to the seat in front so no issues with legroom.
Toilets are at the rear of the smaller WT cabin. Small but functional. Just a little further than normal when compared to, say, the 747 etc.
Service seemed weird. I’m not sure if this is the new normal for eastbound evening departures or simply because we were delayed (2333 take off instead of 2130 departure) but there was no bar service before dinner. The trolley appeared and dinner was served: chicken or pasta. I had neither as I’d eaten at home. Only drinks on the trolley were wine so anything else had to be brought from the back.
I asked for a Speedbird / Brewdog so it had to be fetched from astern - or would have if there were any. There weren’t. Only beer choice was Heineken which, in my view, is absurd. The UK and US both have a flourishing craft beer scene and yet the only beer on offer is Heineken. There were none in Club either as they checked.
Im not sure if there were any drinks runs during the night as I dozed on and off but I don’t recall any while I was awake.
Breakfast was abysmal. There was a box with a water, yoghurt and muffin plus what I believe was meant to be a cheese and tomato croissant, except the tomato had been replaced with a smearing of red paste. The following picture shows the offending item. It went in the bin, uneaten.
Drinks were tea, coffee or orange juice. That’s what was loaded on the cart. I asked for apple juice (mainly to see what the response was) and - yes - it was available but had to be fetched from the rear galley! I’m not sure why a carton couldn’t simply be placed on the meal cart, replacing one of the 3 or 4 orange juice ones.
On approach we had the usual confusion about landing at T5 rather than T3. There were lots of us who had very short connections as a result of the delayed departure. Those who were connecting at T5 were told that a bus transfer was involved - but those connecting at T3 were told to proceed immediately to their departure gate. On landing we taxied promptly to our gate but then had a further delay as there was no one to turn on the guidance system.
Transfer to T5 was fine although we had the usual wait for the bus. We left full and standing and the driver was then chastised for leaving early and not at the scheduled time.
No e-gates were operational at the UK Flight Connections immigration and only two officers manning the booths, but there was no queue so it didn’t matter.
No Fast Track security at Flight Connections - the escalator was blocked off. At the top of the escalator there was only a single x-ray machine working - which then broke down (something to do with a sensor) much to the exasperation of everyone in the queue. To HAL’s credit they did get the adjacent machine fired up quickly (and it’s one of the newer ones so no need to take laptops or liquids out of bags) and then the cantankerous machine spring back to life so the delay there wasn’t too bad.
Gate A1 and BA1336 up to NCL was uneventful. Flight wasn’t too busy. Crew were good. At £35 for a taxi to Bill Quay I decided that the Metro was the more cost effective option to get me home.
Finally, a picture of the breakfast croissant:
I’m flying to LAX on Sunday on the A350 service so it’ll be interesting to compare that trip with this.
Overall the flight wasn’t bad. I certainly don’t think there was anything particularly “premium” about the Premium Economy / World Traveller Plus experience but maybe that’s par for the course these days and we all need to manage our expectations accordingly.