Ba 217 lhr-iad cw
 

Here are some observations from today’s 388 trip.

1. The aircraft was quiet and despite the size boarding was efficient. This was my first time on the airbus 380.
2. The flight crew were excellent. They came and asked me what I needed and were professional and attentive.
3. The seat. Well to be honest I found the lay flat seat very comfortable and liked that it was roomy around my shoulders. The length was fine and my 6’1” frame had no problem. The IFE content was also solid and the screen tilted down. There was a duffle bag of three sheets but I only used the blanket and pillow. I was very comfortable and slept for 3 hours.
I find the suite very private and with the privacy screen up its really your own private space. Much more private than AA’s seats even taking into account there is someone facing you. I found this initially awkward as I wasn’t sure who should hit the up screen button first.
4. Regrettably the food was so bad I left the flight famished. Starting with a no ice Diet Coke and some silly snack mix is where this downfall started. Why would BA not provide a proper ramkin of warmed nuts? Next was a choice of three starters and I chose the one I thought was a no brainer. What I received was a shallow bowl of lettuce with most of it browned. There was a little cup on the side of the wrong salad dressing. It looked like the remnants of someone else’s salad and was really pathetic. It was just lettuce. Next were three main choices. Steak, trout, or veggie curry. Lol. Not exactly good options. Knowing what I have read about the BA beef and not about to have trout I opted for the veggie curry. Sadly it was a shallow bowl of overcooked and crunchy rice with a few scattered veggies. A cold multi grain roll shaped in a muffin accompanied it. I took two bites and put both aside as they were inedible.
For desert I chose the cheese plate that had crackers that fell apart once you touched them.
The pre-arrival snack I had was the “sandwiches”. They were bite sized versions of shrimp, hummus, and roast beef and cheese. The only thing I ate was the roast beef the size of my finger. The rest was inedible.
5. Although it’s widely known that BA’s soft product is subpar I was really surprised it was that bad.
6. I thought the hard product compares to anything AA has, at least with this aircraft type.

Having take the 217 on Thursday...

Boarding at LHR seems somewhat better organised than at IAD -but still quick and efficient both boarding and disembarking.

As always... .

I tend to find the CW seats a tad short - I'm 6'3 so can't fully stretch out so tend to have to be more reclined than flat! For couples I find the layout ideal - and for families also (2+2 in the centre 4 is great). Even if travelling alone getting to know your 'opposite' can be interesting!

Your experience does sound bad - given that it was ex-LHR. Not sure why you had the snack mix (thought this was WT+) - I had nuts - not really warmed though, and were somewhat soft. The starter I had was good (Severn/Wye salmon) followed by the Turkey (substitute for the trout :-( ). My daughter did have the curry -and like you found the rice a bit crunchy around the edge. My first choice of the chocolate and caramel slice (or whatever) had been substituted with pumpkin pie - not a great fan, and no cheese+biscuits available, but the apple and cinnamon sponge was good. Pre-arrival I just had the scone/jam/cream, although have had the sandwiches in the past.

I must admit I've never flown AA LH in business, but I prefer the BA layout - despite the having step over your neighbouring passenger if in an 'internal' seat. Foodwise, I've never had a problem, although my standards are perhaps set rather low - I've had some great food (salmon salad, beef cheek...) and a few mediocre ones.

Thanks for your feed back. It is interesting to always compare BA and AA hard and soft products.

For me, nowadays AA is getting better score.

There is trip report on BA CW posted in the trip report column on a 380. Funny enough the poster was in the same seat as mine (53A). Anyway there is a pic of the veggie curry in his report and I can assure you mine didn't look like that at all.

Also there were no mid flight snacks in the galley

I’m actually surprised at your comments on the food.

I was surprised it was so awful. The food I had 6 hours prior on the CE 320 PRG-LHR (the omelet with mushrooms) and warm crusty roll was far better than anything they served me on that 380.

For the purposes of comparison, I did two short domestic US flights with AA over the Thanksgiving holiday that were both on 787-800 aircraft. One was LAS - DFW and the second DFW - ORD. Obviously we didn't get the full J service or amenities but from a hard product perspective my fiancée and I both felt that the seating wasn't particularly conducive to couples travelling together. We had 2D and 2H and if we wanted to chat then we both had to lean forward. There's a PDA mounted parallel to the seat at chest height to allow you to adjust the seat and the curved casing blocks the view. It would probably have been better if we'd been in 2A and 2D or 2H and 2L as these are diagonally opposite one another, albeit across the aisle. There's also the foot coffin which I don't particularly like.

I know that the lack of direct aisle access for all seats in BA's "legacy" Club World cabin has been debated to death but I find the ying-yang style of seating to be a lot more convenient if you're travelling as a couple and want to partake in some conversation during the flight.