Infinite Possibilities

I haven't flown BA in a number of years. I recently flew BA 294 from ORD to LHR. I was favorably impressed, probably beyond what I had been led to expect by this forum. It was the service which set this apart from my past TATL flights on US carriers. (And, I took the flight as a BAEC Blue, so I shouldn't have received any special treatment.)

A few notable highlights:

• I had a window seat on the 747 UD. I actually appreciated having my own private compartment. On the other hand, as a 6'3" person, I had trouble laying flat. I ended up putting my feet on the storage compartments by the window. It wasn't the most comfortable, but let me lay flat. And, somehow, I managed to get out of my seat to use the lavatory without waking up the person over whose legs I had to climb. But, the "private compartment" feel still sets this apart from the normal US-LON offerings.
• I asked for the express meal. It really was express, as it seemed to be served very shortly after takeoff. I believe I was ready for bed before my seat mate had her main course.
• I woke around 4am (London time) feeling quite peckish. I asked the flight attendant if I could have a muffin. She offered to serve me the entire continental breakfast even though it wasn't quite time yet. (I felt like I had dine-on-demand, even though I know that isn't offered in CW.)
• All the food was good. The portions were a bit on the small side (as expected with the express meal), but the quality was quite good.
• The bedding was quite good.
• Interestingly, I got a pre-check boarding pass for the BA flight. I was connecting from a BA codeshare operated by AA, so AA issued the boarding pass for both the flight they operated and the BA flight. But, the boarding pass AA issued for the BA flight said "Pre-check". If the connection hadn't been so tight, I would have tried using it at ORD security just to confirm it worked. (Instead, I used the T5-T3 bus and arrived late in the boarding.)

Now, the arrivals lounge in LHR was a different story. But, it at least let me get a shower and fresh set of clothes before heading into London.

Based on this flight, I think I might prefer BA over the US airlines once I have sufficient status to book slightly larger seats and if I can avoid a tight T3-T5 connection in ORD. I'll have to take a few more BA TATL flights to confirm my impressions.

Phil the Flyer

Well if nobody else will give the OP’s post a ‘thumbs up’ for a positive BA experience I will!

BAW845_Matt

I'm taking this flight in June - could you say what was on the express menu and how it differed from the regular option?

Hilde

Thank you for sharing this experience! I am doing the same flight in July, with CW seats on the UD. Particularily glad to hear you got such personalized and good service. I am looking forward to my inbound flight from ORD, that’s for sure

Infinite Possibilities

The express meal had a choice of two of the three starters from the normal menu and a choice of two of the three desserts from the normal menu. The items eligible for the express meal were indicated with an asterisk. If I recall correctly, all the options were cold (which probably enabled them to serve the meal so quickly).

I believe the starter choices on my flight were salmon or side salad. I can't seem to recall the dessert options, although I remember how good the one I chose tasted. :-) The express meal also came with a bread basket.

All told, it was not a full dinner (so, you might want to plan ahead and eat a later/larger lunch). But, it was still high quality and it was served very fast.

Can I help you

The express meal is is a choice of the two cold starters plus the soup and the two cold desserts.

Oxon Flyer

We should have a special thread just for "BA CW is Great*" reports. There are so many of them.

* providing you're sat in a window seat on the Upper Deck of the 744

Infinite Possibilities

I suspect that a large bit of the negativity on this forum is due to comparing BA of 2018 with BA of 1998 or even 2008. A more fair comparison is between BA of 2018 and other airlines of 2018. And, at least on this flight, BA2018 stacked up well against their 2018 competition.

(Yes, my experience would almost certainly be different if, for example, I were a single traveler in the middle of the plane in seats E or F with a stranger on the lower deck. But, I wasn't. So, my thoughts have to be taken with the caveat that sample sizes of 1 have inherent problems. I'll have to update the forum after I've had a chance to broaden my experience some.)