Singapore via First and Club on the World’s Favourite Airline

Index to Genius1 Trip Reports

British Airways. Two words that when spoken together either evoke a rose-tinted notion of nostalgia and homeliness, or send chills up the spine and elicit a faint whimper of exasperation from being on the receiving end of one too many IT failures. Once branded as ‘the world’s favourite airline’, following years (some would say decades) of change, the airline has received heightened criticism in recent months as a result of an almighty mismatch between the post-pandemic return of passenger demand and the recruitment of sufficient numbers of staff. Longhaul service has been slow to return and is still not back to anything resembling pre-pandemic service (at least in Club World), whilst flight cancellations, long check-in queues and baggage going astray are all too common occurrences.

Why, you may therefore reasonably ask yourself, am I flying with BA on the second longest nonstop route in their current network, to Singapore? Using an American Express companion voucher, these flights were booked in BA’s incredible value (and since unrepeated) half price Avios sale of October 2020, originally for travel in June 2021. Two flight cancellations and subsequent reschedules later, the trip eventually took place in April 2022. Not having flown BA longhaul since late 2018, I was keen to see first-hand how the pandemic has impacted service in the two most premium cabins BA fly.

Ahead in this report:
• LHR-SIN on a BA 787-9 in Club World, with updated impressions of two of BA’s lounges at LHR T5
• 4 nights at InterContinental Singapore, with Club InterContinental lounge access
• SIN-LHR on a BA 787-9 in First, with updated impressions of the Qantas International Business lounge at SIN

In a separate report, I’ll also detail one of the best hotel experiences of my life; two nights at the iconic Raffles Singapore. See here: Raffles Singapore: One of the World's Greatest Hotels

LHR-SIN

It was a sunny mid-April afternoon as our Uber dropped us at Heathrow T5 a little over five hours ahead of our 21:25 departure. Departing on a notoriously busy Monday, I was keen to ensure there were no check-in related issues, hence arriving earlier than normal. I needn’t have worried, as we were directed to an empty desk on arrival at the First Wing where a friendly agent priority tagged our bags and issued boarding passes, without checking any of the required travel documents as they’d all been uploaded to ba.com in advance of travel. BA’s systems are not particularly good at keeping pace with government restrictions, and so I would always advise checking the FCDO travel advice website (for those based in the UK), coupled with a check of the relevant overseas government’s website (Singapore’s is particularly clear), rather than relying on what can be outdated information on ba.com.

With nobody in front at First Wing security, we were in the moderately busy Galleries First lounge in short order, to find the return of partial self-service for the first time since the pandemic. A new and distinctly temporary-looking ‘market table’ concept had been set up at the front of the oddly named Refectory, offering a selection of alarmingly un-chilled salad and sandwiches, together with soup, other hot dishes and cakes.













Complementing this, snacks were available at the Gold Bar and both Coffee Houses, where self-service drinks had also returned, although only assisted service was available at the Coffee House closest to the entrance from the First Wing.









The Champagne Bar is no longer, having been converted to a high-top laptop table to make up for the fact that the Work and Entertainment Zone was replaced with sleeping pods last year. Self-pour champagne is now found at the Gold Bar and on the First Terrace where a table-top ambient bar has been added alongside the existing chiller.





Options to both eat and drink were still available via the QR code-based waiter service menu, although this has since been scaled back as more self-service options return. As of late July when I last visited the lounge at the time of writing, the Refectory’s buffets remained largely closed to enable lounge staff to plate ordered food from the adjacent kitchen, and the temporary tended bar remained in front of the Wine Gallery.

If this all sounds like a hotchpotch of options and service styles, that’s because it is; it would be much easier (and less confusing for passengers) for BA to return to all self-service, with a selection of to-order items, as was the case pre-pandemic. We can only hope for a return to decent food quality too; the current fare is distinctly school canteen-like for the most part. One exception is the afternoon tea, which we ordered from the online menu and enjoyed on a table that, like a fair chunk of the furniture in the lounge, had seen better days.



Since my last visit to the lounge in October, BA had added some fresh roses in various places which have certainly added a luxurious accent to an otherwise slightly faded space.

With the Galleries First lounge filling up, we headed on foot over to T5B and the Galleries Club lounge on the mezzanine of that satellite building; often a quiet haven away from the busy T5A lounges, that evening was no exception – at one point we had the lounge to ourselves, and there was never more than a handful of groups present.



This lounge hasn’t received much in the way of refurbishment over the years; it has the same carpet as opening day, and a motley collection of furniture mostly from the Galleries and Galleries Evolution concepts, with some new stools from the latest lounge concept and even a few super old Terraces sofas and armchairs recycled from closed lounges (at Gatwick’s North Terminal if I’m not mistaken) if you look hard enough. Truly emblematic of BA’s ‘make do and mend’ ethos.









When we travelled, the T5B lounge had reverted to self-serve drinks from both Coffee Houses, the Silver Bar and the Wine Gallery. Food (with the exception of snacks such as nuts) was all waiter-served via the online ordering system and a temporary service station set up in front of the Chef’s Theatre. Full self-service returned to all of the T5 Galleries Club lounges in August.



















A coffee passed the time before boarding, the time of which was easy to gauge thanks to being able to watch our aircraft, a 7-year-old 787-9, G-ZBKD, being towed onto stand at T5C from its daytime visit to the maintenance base.



Boarding at Gate C52 hadn’t quite started when we arrived, although things got under way fairly quickly with Group 1 (First passengers and oneworld Emerald members) called after the obligatory passengers needing more time to board and families with young children. As this gate only has one airbridge, we were met at Door 2L and directed to the left to the mini two-row Club World cabin, located aft of the two-row First cabin.

BA’s fleet of 18 787-9 aircraft are all equipped with very outdated 2006 version of the Club World seat, albeit cosmetically refreshed in keeping with the design found on the 787-8, A380 and Gatwick 777 fleets. The 787s are rumoured to be the next in line to receive BA’s latest Club Suite cabins after refurbishment of the Heathrow 777 fleet completes this year – and this can’t come soon enough.



In a 2-3-2 layout on the 787, these seats lack any kind of storage save a drawer at floor level which is completely inaccessible when the seat is in bed mode. Aisle seats lack privacy, whilst window and middle seats lack direct aisle access, with the exception of those at the rear bulkheads; we luckily had Seats 7AB at the rear of the forward cabin, probably the best pair along with 7JK, despite their proximity to the washroom and galley. BA did not specify personal air vents or even overhead lights in Club World on the 787-9, the only lighting within the seat coming from an adjustable and dimmable reading light over the shoulder. Despite their significant shortcomings, these seats remain pretty comfortable in both seat and bed mode.



Upon boarding, each seat had a bedding pack from The White Company containing a thin and oddly shaped mattress pad and duvet, alongside a comfy pillow and noise reducing headphones.



Pre-poured champagne or still water (with glasses a quarter full…) was offered from a tray and jackets were taken whilst menus, Harrogate still water bottles and The White Company amenity kits were distributed. The amenity kit contents is perfectly adequate, although it would be great if BA offered slippers and PJs on overnight flights.







Whilst we were on the ground, pre-dinner drink and dinner orders were taken, with the friendly cabin crew addressing each passenger by name which is always much appreciated and is particularly noteworthy outside of first class cabins.







A 12h45 flight time was announced by our Captain, who explained that four members of flight crew were onboard today given the length of the flight. We were delayed pushing back due to late cargo being loaded, an issue with the cargo door, and whilst engineers attempted to reset the alarm in the 2L washroom behind my seat; this latter issue couldn’t be fixed, and the washroom was locked out of use for the flight, leaving just the two washrooms at 2R in use for Club World passengers.

Departing an hour behind schedule from Runway 09R, the cabin crew were quick to spring into action with a post-takeoff drink and (packaged) nuts, served on a black plastic tray. I like the crystal glasses BA introduced to the Club World service in 2018, which this evening held a Citrus Burst.



Since reintroducing ‘proper’ catering in Club World post-pandemic, dining in BA’s longhaul business class has been a continuing sorry situation. Due to cabin crew shortages and flights consequently operating with the minimum number of crew, service has been pared back to a one-tray service, even on the longest of flights such as Singapore. There is no choice of starter or dessert, which are served together with cheese and one of three hot main courses all on the same crowded tray at the same time, along with cheap warm bread.

I opted for the braised lamb shank, which like everything on the tray was perfectly fine and edible, but unimaginative, poorly presented and way too small a portion for the length of flight. The less said about the plastic pot of mint sauce and the tiny sachets of salt and pepper contained within the serviette / cutlery wrap the better. The highlight of the dinner had to be the cheese ‘board’, which in actuality was a bowl containing two slim slices of low-quality hard cheese.



It feels odd writing this trip report not to be able to describe in detail the service that accompanied dinner, primarily because there wasn’t any; the tray was plonked down, with everything pre-set including my glass of cabernet sauvignon. Refills were offered, but not particularly proactively given how busy the crew were dishing out trays as a consequence of being short staffed. A second water bottle was offered as trays were promptly cleared, and hot drinks were served. Full Club World service will not be restored until the winter schedule starts at the end of October.



Given one washroom was out of service, the two remaining washrooms were kept relatively clean if you didn’t look too closely at the floors, with wipes, soap and hand lotion (the latter two by The White Company) moved across from the closed washroom. BA specified a tiny changing seat in their equally tiny Club World washrooms, which is better than nothing but not really sufficient for changing into comfier clothing for sleeping.



The cabin crew were happy to hang my clothes on request, and I got a decent rest aided by an uncharacteristically cool cabin.

Upon waking, I pressed the call button for a coffee, which was served with packaged biscuits.



I watched House of Gucci (a solid 7/10) on BA’s Thales IFE system; a noticeably buggy step down from the Panasonic system installed on more recent aircraft deliveries and refurbishments. I did find the system was easier to control on the handset than via the touchscreen, although the handset didn’t like being used when the USB power was in use for some reason. 4 hours out of Singapore, all the divider screens in Club World went down automatically and the IFE reset itself, which was slightly alarming in the middle of a dark cabin. Wifi was available (packages up to GBP22 for the duration of the flight), but was so slow as to be unusable.





With no snack menu beyond a paltry selection of unhealthy packaged options in the Club Kitchen, I was hungry by the time the second meal service was offered around 90 minutes before landing in Singapore. Once again, this is a one tray affair, which replicates the main meal service minus the cheese ‘board’ and crackers. The three-in-one bread roll that is normally offered with the main meal service was served with the second meal service on this flight. From a choice of two hot main courses, I went for the herb roasted chicken breast, which was again fine but far from intercontinental business class standard. With both the Club World and First galleys out of peppermint tea, a green tea concluded the flight.



As we started our descent into Singapore, one of the cabin crew who had been working in First came through the cabin and checked on passengers; I requested another water bottle and was addressed again by name, which was all the more impressive for not having had any interaction with this particular crew member previously.



Parking at Gate D36, we left the aircraft by Door 2L with the crew holding back rear cabins. There was only a short 10-minute wait at immigration, and with our bags amongst the first off we were soon in the taxi queue. An unusual 20-minute wait later, and we were on our way to the InterContinental with a very talkative driver who was clearly delighted to see overseas visitors to his city once again.

Part 2 continues below