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My first TR - BA NF LHR-DFW

My first TR - BA NF LHR-DFW

Old Feb 26, 2012, 4:49 pm
  #1  
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Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: London
Programs: BA Gold
Posts: 4,026
My first TR - BA NF LHR-DFW

Having a go at my first trip report, unfortunately I forgot my camera so have to rely on a few iPhone snaps for images.

Whilst not a regular flyer, 2011 was a particularly busy year flying by my own standards with a new job and honeymoon meaning I did 18 long haul flights and 42 AMS-LCY-AMS flights over the year. And for the first time in my life I managed to do every long haul flight in nothing less than Premium Economy, going regularly up to CW as the last few trips came in. The problem this gave me is that I no longer want to fly in Y long haul again, and became very intrigued as to what F in BA was like, having done it on Emirates as part of my honeymoon. So when an opportunity presented itself to try it out, who was I to say no...

As part of my job, I now semi regularly have to come over to our office in Plano, so do the LHR-DFW route. Having achieved Silver status mid-way through last year and the acceleration of Avios that gives, I now book into WTP and MFU to CW - and plan my trips around availability on that. When this trip came up, I was 205TP away from attaining Gold before the TP levels changed, and having been advised that if I paid to upgrade my seat to F, at the very least I would get CW TP's, possibly F, I got to T5 after a horror show of a journey and, with the 'play' money left from a significant financial windfall last year burning a hole in my bank account, approached the ticket sales desk and enquired about upgrading to F.

A few minutes, and 399, later my booking had been changed, with the wonderfully polite lady at the desk turning her screen round so I could see the seats available. After no consideration whatsoever, I chose the seat I've always wanted to fly in, and refreshed my BA app



As is usual at T5 in my experience, 'Fast Track' security was 'A Bit Quicker Than Usual But Not By Much Because The Person In Front Of Me Can't Empty Their Pockets Or Bags Correctly' security.

So used am I to turning left after security to go downstairs and then back up into the GC lounge, I actually started to do so, before remembering that the rather understated (read anonymous) CCR door was right there on the right and turned back.

Annoying man from the security line was trying his hand at getting in as a Gold card holder, but was politely refused. The look he gave me when I turned up and got ushered in, with my jeans, t-shirt, tatty (but oh so comfortable) trainers, and very much in need of a haircut, will probably amuse me until the day I die.

So, my first time in the Concorde Room and, if I'm honest, I was massively underwhelmed. For something so exclusive, it just didn't have that wow factor for me. I sat down outside on the terrace, and was very quickly approached by a waiter who took my drinks order - an orange juice and a glass of Champagne (orange juice first, would be terrible to start the day with an alcoholic beverage ) - while I looked over the food. When he returned with my drinks, I went for the porridge and the eggs benedict, taking my solitary, somewhat poor, snap of the view when he left.



10 minutes later he was back with my food, but no cutlery, which he went to retrieve, returning a further 10 minutes later with no apology, leaving me with luke warm food - although it was still tasty enough. At this point, both my glasses were empty and there was no offer to refill either. Once my food was finished I caught up with some work emails and eventually realised I'd been sat there for 45 minutes with no offer of a further drink, or taking the plates away. Not what I would expect from something that was supposed to be the pinnacle of BA's luxury.

By this time it was showing my gate was open, although the flight wasn't for another 1hr 15, but was going from a B gate. Having never previously had the opportunity to use the B lounge before, and having heard it's usually much quieter than the A lounges, I decided to head over. Upon reflection this was a mistake - it was PACKED.

Fortunately as I was looking around for somewhere to sit, a group of four got up from a table right next to me so I quickly grabbed it. That was when I realised what was on the TV - it was the heinous Jeremy Kyle (for non-UK residing readers, this is a program that makes me sad for humanity, showcasing the lowest members of the gene pool in UK society). I wonder if that was what made the other four leave. Anyway, what else was there to do to get through this audio visual assault than...



Once I'd finished my glass, I wandered down to the gate as the flight had started boarding and within moments found myself in a long queue on the air bridge behind a group of young American's returning home after backpacking about Europe. One of the girls had the most high pitched laugh I have ever heard, and in days gone by I would have been the person that spent the 10 hour flight next to her, but not today! As we came down the air bridge, I caught sight of the plane and saw the blocked off windows - I was getting new first!

At the aircraft door, I was greeted by name and shown through to the F cabin where I was taken to 1A and immediately offered my choice of drink. As I was in F, the obvious choice here was to go for more champagne, so I was presented with some Laurent-Perrier Grand Sicle which was lovely.



The lady looking after me could not have been friendlier, helpful and attentive - a real credit to BA. After handing out the amenity bags and sleeper suits, showing me how the seat works, telling me they call 1A and 1K 'the movie star seats' because film stars always want to sit there, and having a bit of general chit chat about what I do and the reason for my trip, she left to do the same with the passenger who had just taken up the seat behind me. This gave me the time to properly take in my surroundings. I'm a big fan of BA's CW product, and in my opinion the seat itself is the best of any business class that I've flown with the possible exception of Emirates A380 business, but this seat was a whole other level above that - it was so spacious and comfortable that I was actually able to fall asleep in it while it was upright, and that NEVER happens to me on a plane. And, of course, what use is a trip report without the obligatory leg room shot...



The screen for the AVOD is significantly larger than in CW (as you would expect), but I found this only highlighted the low resolution of the system - the dark scenes in The Troll Hunter were very blocky for example - so I watched films on my iPad instead after this.



The drinks orders were taken and I had a G&T, and was told "I'll keep an eye on you and make sure your glass is always full" - which it was until I had to say no more! - before the food order was also taken.

I went for the Loch Fyne smoked salmon with horseradish blini, sour cream and Keta caviar to start, and British beef and baby onion pudding, with creamed mash potatoes, curly ale and buttered baby carrots for the main.

I was also given an entree that wasn't listed on the menu, which was goats cheese with a blackcurrant jelly I believe. Whatever it was, it tasted great!



The salmon starter



The beef and onion pudding



Thought the presentation of the main was a bit lacking, but the most important thing really was the taste - and there were certainly no complaints with that, it was beautiful.

Once this had all been consumed, I took the option of the trio of chocolate desserts, which were also amazing, but so rich that I couldn't finish them - another first!



Once that had been cleared away, I glanced out of the window and spotted some amazing mountains coming up - one of the good things about 1A is that one of the windows allows you to see ahead - which I got a couple of shots of.





The cabin crew came round, filled up drinks and closed the blinds of the unoccupied seats, which was about half the cabin - seat 1K was empty, so had a great sense of privacy - and we had a chat again about the circumstances around me upgrading (she did say they were wondering who it was that paid to upgrade), before I settled down to watch some films and, as mentioned before, actually fell asleep with the seat upright!

One thing I did find irritating was the ambient light kept switching itself on whenever I switched it off - I don't know if this is a glitch or a feature, but I do wish it would have just stayed off. When the blinds are down, the cabin really is incredibly dark, much more so than on the upper deck - no wonder I dozed off so easily...



After a few hours watching films and having the unexpected nap, I was feeling a bit peckish, so asked if they had any of the scones with clotted cream and jam available - having had them in CW before, I was hoping they would and was delighted they did. They were, as ever, unbelievably good and I was very tempted to have a second portion, but had another glass of champagne instead...



One thing I noticed throughout the flight was how quiet it was in the F cabin - much, much more so than on the upper deck in my view - and that if there was any turbulence, I certainly didn't feel it (and I'm certainly one for noticing it). It all made for a very relaxing flight.

We landed right on time, and continuing the day of firsts there was no queue at immigration or customs (this has never, ever happened to me - it usually takes a good 90 mins to clear both at DFW), my bag was the first one off and I went from plane touching down to being in the car on the way to my hotel in 25 minutes.

So how do I feel about First on BA? Overall it was a very pleasant trip, the service on the flight was exceptional, and the seat is very comfortable. However, it wasn't as big a step up over CW as I would have hoped - if I had been paying full price to do it then I would have been disappointed I feel. But as a one-off upgrade to get some extra TP's to reach Gold I'm very happy with it and will probably look to do a trip to JFK in it with Mrs. Lem next year sometime. Hopefully the experience in the Concorde Room will be better then, that was a hugely disappointing part of this trip.

So there you have it, my first trip report - apologies for having to use my phone for snaps, I can't believe I forgot my camera - hope you enjoyed it and I may do some more for my upcoming trips.
darthlemsip is offline  
Old Feb 26, 2012, 8:50 pm
  #2  
 
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Glad you got the upgrade, thanks for sharing
millsdale is offline  
Old Feb 26, 2012, 10:55 pm
  #3  
 
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Great report.
Paint Horse is offline  
Old Feb 27, 2012, 6:43 am
  #4  
 
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Thanks for your report. I loved my trip last year in 1A although I was, like you, a bit underwheled by the CCR.
GodAtum is offline  
Old Feb 27, 2012, 7:52 am
  #5  
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Interesting TR, thanks.

Glad you had a good flight.
BA304 is offline  
Old Feb 27, 2012, 9:35 am
  #6  
 
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Thank you for a lovely TR, shame though about the CCR perhaps you should have found a manager to make a comment, as this seems to be the norm as a lot of people have written in saying they are not terribly happy about the lack of service, especially when paying top notch for a product. Anyway the food looked really good and glad also you managed to get some sleep^
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Old Feb 27, 2012, 10:06 am
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Great work there mate.

I too have the BA app on my S2! It great for someone who loves to travel!
PK777 is offline  
Old Mar 4, 2012, 9:53 am
  #8  
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Thanks for the comments all.

To cap this off, I flew the return leg in CW, sat in 64K on the UD, and didn't have that great a time. Food was good, but my seat wouldn't lock into a flat position - this despite the crew trying to force it manually - which meant I couldn't sleep as the seat would move every time I shifted slightly. Not what I needed when I had a full days work the next day!

I very much longed for a seat in First I have to say...
darthlemsip is offline  

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