FlyerTalk Forums - A380, a good First experience

A lot of people have not had the best experiences on the A380, but as usual people are more likely to mention things when they go wrong. Fortunately for me, my first flight on the A380 was excellent, in fact the whole day was.

Not many pics here and the ones taken were a bit rushed but hopefully gives you an idea of the trip.

As I was in Prague at the time the route was PRG-LHR-LAX, I booked into the Courtyard by Marriott Prague Airport in order to be close to the airport.

For the first time ever, I decided to try public transport to the airport rather than getting a taxi. This involved taking Metro line A (green) from Můstek to the station at the end of the line, Dejvická. Eventually the Metro will be extended to the airport, but for the moment you need to get a bus from Dejvická. Strangely enough the bus stops at Terminal 3 (for private flights) before going to the main terminals 1 and 2.

If you're not in a hurry the bus is a very affordable option to the airport, as well as the Metro + bus option outlined here, there's also an Airport Express bus that goes to to main railway station as well as Náměstí Republiky which is convenient for the Hilton Old Town (best Hilton in Prague IMO). The airport express bus is slightly more expensive but still cheap by UK standards.

Courtyard by Marriott
Rate: 2300 CZK inc VAT (approx £72)

This hotel is located conveniently across the road from Terminal 1 where BA flights depart. As I hold no Marriott status I doubt I was upgraded but the room was acceptable and the rate I booked included breakfast. The hotel didn't seem too busy, only one other person in the restaurant in the evening and was quite quiet for breakfast.

Here's the room, it had a view overlooking the airport:
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BYpyfRpCYAA4G0a.jpg:small

BA853 - PRG T1 - LHR T3
Club Europe (C)
Seat: 2A
Fare class: J
Aircraft: A320
Gate: A3

Check in was quick, with no queues. The desk I check-in at incorrectly attached Club World bag tags to my luggage, the person I was travelling with used a different desk and he correctly had the yellow First tags. Doesn't really matter.

I received both boarding passes and despite my LHR-LAX flight being many hours away I was surprised the boarding pass had the gate on it. Those travelling from LHR T5 know that for many flights the gate isn't announced until closer the time. Is this something new or is it specific to the A380?

In the Menzies lounge in PRG I never bothered with food as the hotel rate included breakfast. I just had some water and waited for the flight to board. I honestly paid no attention to what food was available, but if it's anything like what's there later in the day it won't have been much.

As usual for this flight it boarded from gate A3, security checks are performed at the gate. There's also a fast track security entrance, but it seems hit and miss as to whether it's open. It wasn't open this time but there was no queue so it wasn't really needed.

Prague is one of the few airports that I regularly use where they still tear off the large portion of the boarding pass. I don't think this is really necessary as they do allow mobile boarding passes and PYOBP from this outstation. I still prefer having a real boarding pass so I always request one when I have luggage to check in, although happy with a mobile one when carrying hand baggage only.

Boarding had already commenced when through security, so there was a bit of a queue on the airbridge.

The layout on board was classic Club Europe with the convertible seats. Unfortunately newer aircraft do not feature convertible seating.

I was allocated 2A at check-in and decided to keep it (looks like my seating pref vanished from my BA profile). Normally I go for an aisle seat. But as there was two of us travelling I decided we could swap 2A and 2C if necessary. I'm glad I kept the window seat as the person in 1C decided to fully recline once in the air.

It's always a debate as to whether people should recline that far. In the end it's a benefit of the seat so they're perfectly entitled to, but personally I couldn't do it myself if someone was behind me, particularly at mealtimes.

This route has been recently taken over by Eurofleet meaning the hats and boarding music have now gone, but I've had good service from all sections of BA in the past and don't believe any fleet is necessarily better or worse than the others.

I had ordered a seafood special meal for this segment only. As I had a hotel breakfast and knew I had plenty of breakfast options in LHR if I'm still hungry I decided on going for something different.

The purser seemed a bit apologetic when handing me my meal. I think she thought I'd not like it, but I did enjoy it. Best way to describe it was a salmon daal. A lightly spiced dish with salmon and lentils.

I was content drinking sparkling water at this time of day with a cup of tea during breakfast. But it was a holiday and my travelling companion asked for a champagne, and so the purser asked if I wanted one too. It would be rude to refuse ;)

I wonder if the purser noticed we were travelling on holiday due to the iPad, because she apologised that the Champagne wasn't perfectly chilled and said she had put another 4(!) bottles on ice. So for the rest of the flight our Champagne glasses were never empty. As always in Club Europe the Champagne consisted of small bottles of Pommery.

It was certainly a nice start to the trip and the first thing I did after landing was send out a message of thanks on ba.com/welldone

As usual the PRG flight parked at a gate near the 'green mile' area of T1 and a bus to take you to immigration, or the flight connections centre in our case. I'm hoping after T2 opens and Star Alliance moves out of T3 we'll see an end to this bussing. Being in Club Europe you get a dedicated bus meaning you get a head start on those in Economy.

Flight connections are straightforward, follow the purple signs then take a bus to your required terminal. Flight Connections in T5 takes you to north security which is the wrong end for the Concorde Room, but at least you can walk to it without going down and up escalators.

T5 - The Concorde Room

I couldn't fault any of the service received at the Concorde Room this time. A warm welcome at the special entrance by south security. Once sitting down in the lounge I was approached by who turned out to be a highly attentive member of staff, she made sure I was aware of everything available on the menu and was always at hand when it was time for another drink. This is how first class should be.

I had a Cabana booked for a couple of hours, mainly in case either of us wanted to sleep or freshen up. But neither of us were tired so we used the room to watch TV. The rooms have a call button and a menu, so it was possible to order items when in the room. I gave it a shot, pressed the button, and very quickly the same person appeared who had been serving me in the main area of the lounge.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BYpymDWCEAAauMA.jpg:small
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BYp_PIoCIAALcuD.jpg:small

Not everything was perfect. Cabana 3 has a missing sliding door between the bathroom and the living room, not good if you want to use the toilets within the cabana but the main toilets are nearby so not a big deal.

The very helpful person made sure she came to tell us that her shift was finishing and made sure we got some extra drinks. This was a nice touch.

It was now a good time for lunch so I decided to give the dining room a try. Service here was also very attentive and gave it a restaurant feel.

Starter:
Parsnip soup
with a hint of chilli, served with parsnip chips
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BYpyqmzCQAEJgwm.jpg:small
I like parsnip so I thought I'd give this soup a try. It was excellent with bread and was the ideal portion size for a starter.

Main course:
Gressingham Duck
Duck leg confit served with creamed mash potato, braised red cabbage, chargrilled leeks and a cherry jus.
I'd already started eating this before I thought of taking a photo ;) Again, this was cooked the way it should be (I've had similar dishes in the past, usually in pubs, where this has been overcooked but it was fine here).

My travelling companion had the Ceasar Salad and the Sea Bass and was happy with his choices.

We both decided to skip desserts and relax on the terrace for a bit. Just to complete the overall experience we spent the last 30 minutes at the bar.

BA must have wanted people to get to the gate early. I received a text and an email saying the aircraft was operated by an A380 and to get to the gate early.

I'm a fan of avoiding the train to the satellite gates, it gets me a bit of exercise and does a bit to reduce overcrowding. There's a walkway you can use to get to the B and C gates. Although this walkway is open to the public you get some conflicting messages, e.g. the lift down to the walkway from the A gates says 'staff only' you can safely ignore this and use the tunnel.

The walk seemed longer than it has in the past, probably the extra weight of all the food and drink I've been enjoying up to this point. I made it to the C gates just as a train was pulling into the platform. I recognised some of the people getting off the train as being in the lift on the way down so it looks like taking the train didn't save any time.

There's some evidence in the tunnel as to ongoing works to add escalator access and moving walkways with the intention that this route will be made more convenient in future and will be properly signposted.

Here's a very blurry pic:
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BYpyv30CMAAw7hr.jpg:small

Terminal 5C

Terminal 5C has no dedicated lounge and so you're encouraged to stay in the Concorde Room until closer to boarding time, but those who are eligible for lounge access (Silver, Gold, CE, CW, F) can spend up to £15 each at Starbucks. This Starbucks is unusual as it also has alcohol on offer and the person in front of me decided to spend their allowance on Champagne. I spent my allowance on a smoothie and some packs of Stroopwafels (or caramel waffles as Starbucks calls them).

BA 269 - LHR T5 - LAX TBIT
Seat: 2E
Class: First (F)
Fare class: A
Aircraft: A380
Gate: C64
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BYpzNAeCMAAa5Oc.jpg:small

The A380 gates have treble airbridges. Two of these serve the lower deck and one serves the upper deck. Due to the layout of the aircraft this means that the 4 rows of First get their own dedicated airbridge.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BYpyzUNCIAEle6J.jpg:small

I didn't want to take pictures on board as a number of passengers were already on there. I like to respect people's privacy and on this route there's a higher likelihood of a celebrity and I don't want people to think I'm taking pictures of them.

My other two BA F experiences have been New First on the 747. The A380 product has taken New First and made improvements to the product to take advantage of the extra space.

The personal wardrobe (incorrectly referred to as a 'suitor' on some of the signs) is larger than the 747 version. You can easily fit in an average sized cabin bag as well as safely hang up a suit.

There's more space around you, and the seats feel a lot more private. If you have the divider up you can't see anyone when you're sat down.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BYpy4yoCcAAASQX.jpg:small

The cabin was full but service was excellent, before take off we were offered pyjamas and the wash bag, both new designs for the A380. We were asked if we wanted slippers, eye shades, etc. These are no longer part of the amenity kit but are on request.

The pre flight drinks (water, orange and Champagne) were offered once settled in the seat and top ups were offered when needed.

After take off the crew explained the dine on demand concept and pointed out the unique A380 features of the menu as well as the regular offerings.

After takeoff we were asked if when we'd like to dine. I decided to ask for my dinner a hour later as I had eaten lunch already in the lounge. In the meantime I decided to have London Pride as my pre-dinner drink.

The in-flight entertainment system was the Thales system, the same as is installed on the ex-bmi A321 midhaul aircraft. Of course the A380 has the correct BA branding, but the A321 still has a number of bmi references in the system.

The entertainment system had a decent range of movies, but being a British airline I would like to have seen more classic British programming. This was a minor point, there was enough to watch that I didn't feel the need to get my iPad out.

I decided to go for the tasting menu which is currently exclusive to the A380. Most courses on this menu had a suggested accompanying wine which I was offered but I decided to have water at this point as there was a long flight ahead.

Not on the menu, I was given a small plate of lightly spiced prawns as an amuse bouche. This was followed by the first course which was described on the menu as "Poached lobster with Charentais melon, manco and shiso dressing" this was as expected and being a big fan of seafood I enjoyed this and the preceding course.

The next course was described as "Chicken tea with goji berries and ginger", if I'd written the menu I'd have described it as chicken stock cube served in a small cup. I actually asked if I could have another one, I actually enjoyed it despite its fanciful menu description.

Next up was "Seared scallops with pea puree, asparagus and truffle sauce" which again fulfilled my love for seafood.

The most significant course from this menu was "Braised pork belly and cheek with heritage carrots, peaches, pak choi and lemon grass and lime sauce" it was cooked to perfection. I think it was a good choice as pork seems easier to get right compared to beef. When did it become customary to call older variety of vegetables as 'heritage'?

I asked for a bit of a delay before bringing the dessert which was "Praline profiteroles with quince and Manjari chocolate sauce". I'm personally not a dessert person, I much rather enjoy the main courses but this was a pleasant enough dessert.

For those who say first is just a business class product one of the key differences is the catering. With Club World you eat at the designated times and don't have the same selection as first. Most other airlines that have a reasonable sized business class cabin do the same. With first you get to choose what you want, when you want it.

The rest of the flight could be categorised as Champagne and movies, I mostly stuck with the LPGS, interestingly enough the rosé was an English sparkling wine. I thought this was a nicer wine than the Castelnau rosé in the lounges. It was good to see BA offering an English option on the wine front, now a few more English beers would be nice too.

When I decided to go for a sleep I had a nice touch of a glass of Champagne waiting for me when I woke up.

The time difference between California and the UK is 8 hours, so it wouldn't be BA if we didn't have the opportunity for afternoon tea. It was offered towards the end of the flight, which was late afternoon in LA but late night in the UK.

I decided to have the sandwiches, scones and a nice pot of tea which they refilled for me a couple of times. They tried to tempt me with cakes but the profiteroles earlier were enough dessert for one day.

The sandwiches were: "Crayfish, fennel and spice of angel(??)", "Egg mayonnaise and mustar cress" and "Smoked mountain ham and sweetcorn". Fortunately as I'm not a fan of sweetcorn there wasn't too much in the sandwich. The scones were served with strawberry jam and clotted cream. I will not disclose the order that the jam and cream was applied ;)

That's most of the important points. I will upload the other menu options later. There was a good selection.

The flight arrived around an hour late but I was happy with the flight. Upon arrival an airbridge docked at 1L so we could alight from the aircraft first. At least one of the other passengers in first must have been important as they were met by special services.

Passport control wasn't too bad although we arrived after a China Southern plane and it looked like some delays were caused by language difficulties at immigration.

Once through immigration there wasn't much wait for the bags, a small wait for customs and then off to the airport shuttle to the Crowne Plaza LAX.

Conclusion
When you're paying for your own flights and you feel you've been given good value it's a sign that they're doing things right.

I think BA managed to get the privacy levels right on the new F product. The small improvements made a big difference in my mind.

I do consider First worth upgrading for, but I wouldn't pay full fare first. I look for sale fares, POUG or UUA/GUF2 to get the extra value.

There was no evidence on my flight with teething troubles with crew readiness, although I can't speak for other cabins. There was a small issue with temperature control towards the end (a bit warm) but nothing major.