colmc

PART 1

(It's a long one!)

LHR - SFO, BA285, 15/03/2007 World Traveller Plus

I'd been looking forward to this flight for some time. It was to be my first trip to San Francisco, and also my first trip in British Airways Premium Economy (World Traveller Plus) cabin. I had checked in online the day prior to my departure and snagged seat 17J, on the right side of the cabin which had both extra legroom and a bulkhead - a winning combination in my eyes. The flight looked pretty open, and even when checking in, it seemed like the flight would be far from full.

I stayed overnight at the Premier Travel Inn at Heathrow, as this flight was departing at 10.30 am. This allowed me to sleep a little later, which is always important. I turned up at Terminal 1 around 8.30 to drop my bags, and made my way towards the BA area (Zone G, I believe) to be bet by some rather stressed out ground staff just shooing everyone away screeching "ZONE L! ZONE L!". Screeching groundstaff isn't normally an auspicious start to any trip, but off I went. The upside to this is that there were only a few people there waiting for to check-in/drop bags and pretty quickly my bag was checked, and my boarding pass was issued. Check-in desk staff member was polite, and didn't mind a bit of idle chit-chat - something (like smiles) that seem to have disappeared sometimes in airlines these days!

After dropping off my bag, I spent some time outside in the morning sun, and then headed for security. The layout was atrocious, and the queues all over the plane, and the process made slightly worse by the fact that training was taking place too, making the scanning process twice as slow as it would normally have been. Thankfully a charming businessman smooth talked his way through one level of barriers and into another queue and yours truly followed him. It took about 20 minutes to get through security all in all, so with the way things are going at Heathrow, that isn't all that bad. This left me with plenty of time to roam around the shopping mall that is T1 departures, and wait for a boarding gate to be announced. Soon it was coming close to boarding time, and a delay was announced - departure was now to be 11 am, instead of 10.30. Not terrible, but I hoped it wasn't the beginning of a cascade. Luckily, however, it wasn't and soon boarding Gate 56 was announced as the departure gate.

Gate 56 is a bit of a hike, it must be said, from the main terminal area, and when you get there it's quite small for the passenger load of a 747. It was also very, very HOT. Being an all glass structure, it was like a greenhouse that bright sunny morning and not at all pleasant. We were left waiting a little while while last minute preparations were being made, but boarding commenced on time with First Class/Club World/Executive Club Gold/Oneworld Emeralds being allowed to go through Fast-Track, while us lesser folks waited in turn. Passports and boarding cards were checked by security and ground staff, and soon we were heading on board. We were greeted by the cabin crew and directed towards 17J. The first thing I noticed it how narrow the WT+ seat appears to be, in comparison to Premium Economy on Virgin (especially their new generation) and even some seats I've seen in Economy on other carriers. Stylish looking and nicely spaced, but very narrow. However, as everyone was almost boarded, it appeared that I was being very lucky and not have a companion in 17K. Even though we were a little late starting out, the captain assured us we would be on time when landing in San Francisco, so all seemed well in the world.

Take off was smooth, and soon the crew was up and about preparing for service. Having the free seat next to me was useful as I could spread out all my clutter. Drinks service commenced quite quickly, and as per usual everything was pretty much on offer, though I'm not all too fond of the Worcester Sauce flavour pretzel sticks they serve as a snack. I much prefer the sour-cream kind :P. After drinks were dispensed, the meal service took place promptly. The announced the choices over the intercom, which was good (I hate being just given the "chicken or beef" question with no explanation of the contents of the mystery dish). The choices today were either pasta bolognese or a cod bake. I was very surprised to see a fish dish on the menu, but happy - I like fish . Being in 17J meant I got first meal service, which was nice. I chose the fish, unsurprisingly and the cabin crew asked me to let her know how it was - it was the first time she'd seen it being served on board. The meal came with a nice salad starter (green salad, potato salad, small piece of smoked salmon, lemon wedge) which was really tasty. Desert consisted of a vacuum packed piece of apple pie and custard which was a bit of a let down..way too plasticky to be tasty, plus a Cadburys chocolate bar. Trays were collected promptly, and I settled down to watch Casino Royale on the IFE/read/listen to music. Cabin crew came around regularily with juice and water, and it was also available in the galley if you wanted more. The crew, it must be said, were fantastic on this flight - professional, yet friendly, present but unobtrusive - just how a crew should be, and when they do it well, BA do it fantastically.

Towards the end of the flight I got handed a survey form from the CSD, and filled it in. Mostly good comments, especially about the crew. I don't know how much attention BA pay to the forms, but it was good to get one. The snack pre-landing was pretty unremarkable (cake, etc) but still nice to get. Soon we were almost at SF, and after a smooth landing and a quick disembarkation (being just behind First/Club helps) and through Immigration (not too bad, or too lengthy on this occasion) to collect my bag, which was pretty much waiting on the belt when I got to it - now that's good ground handling. All in all I was from plane to kerb in approx 20 minutes, which was great. So, all in all a really good flight and value for money. Good crews really can make up for lack of AVOD and an aging Premium Economy product.

More to follow!

colmc

Part 2

SFO - LHR, BA286 22/03/2007 World Traveller Plus

Well, I was kind of dreading this flight. Especially after having a week of sunshine, fun and great food in San Francisco. I decided to check in online the night before, and immediately I knew this wasn't going to be pleasant. Despite checking in as soon as the flight opened, I had been assigned 21K ("window" seat, despite my preferences being listed in my profile). The only other option were two middle seats - everything else was already assigned. I was pretty annoyed as a) I hate window seats, b) BA's seating preference system never seems to work and c) 21K on this configuation BA747 isn't exactly a window seat..it's sort of missing some of the windows. Feeling rather grumpy, at this lack of choice (especially when you're paying full fare) I finished check in and enjoyed my last night/morning in SF.

The afternoon of the flight arrived and I took the BART to SFO, which is pretty convenient for those flying out of the International terminal. I made my way to the BA area, and found only two people ahead of me in the bag-drop queue, which was good. When I got called forward, the process was painless and efficient, with the agent being quite chatty. I tried to hint at seeing if there was any chance of a seat move, but there wasn't (which I guessed as much, considering the situation with online checkin). Disappointing, none the less. She also seemed to be having trouble checking my bags on to the Aer Lingus flight I was going to be boarding to Dublin, but after a couple of attempts, she seemed to get it work and my bag was checked through.

Off I went to spend some time outside in the sun, before grabbing a bite to eat and then heading through security, which was surprisingly painless (no queues, though they did make me go through that air puffer cubicle thing, which for the sake of the TSA people's eyes they won't do again, after my t-shirt had a Marilyn Monroe moment :P). Nothing much to report airside, just sat down and read my book until boarding time came. Boarding was by row number, which meant that WT+ got the last call (again, Virgin give priority boarding to Premium Economy passengers which helps up the experience a little). Everyone was settled quickly enough, and soon I was in my seat-with-not-much-of-a-view. Push back and take off were all on time, and when airborne drinks/meal service started. The approach seemed a little more haphazard this time round, possibly because the flight was busier, or perhaps it was just the crew. Food, unfortunately, was pretty abysmal - beef casserole or chicken risotto. I chose the chicken whch basically consisted of chicken lumps, and dry, crumbly cheesy bits that once might have been rice. The starter salad consisted of some lettuce and 2/3 shreds of carrot and the desert was some unidentifiable mixed fruit pie. All in all, not very pleasant. I was going to try to sleep, but frankly found the seat too uncomfortable to get rested in. The cabin temperature had also been set very high which meant that the air was insanely dry..so much so my throat was ragged by the end of the flight. Breakfast consisted of a leathery, flat "muffin", yoghurt, juice and a fruit cup. Again, decidedly unimpressive. Of course, this time I didn't get a survey card to let my feelings be known

We arrived in Heathrow early though, and were not delayed or without a stand for long, and soon I was heading for the flight connections centre, feeling decidely worse for wear (ragged throat now sore, swollen and not very pleasant!). With minimal crew presence, disgusting food, lack of seating choice, bad cabin environment and uncomfortable seat, this has to rate as one of my least favourite flights so far. It's a shame, really, because there is so much possibility (as demonstrated by my in-bound flight).

OttoMH

Though not speaking from any sort of scientifically large sample (well, ok, 1 rtn) this sums up my BA experience.

Excellent flight outward, (helped in part i guess due to a half empty economy section - yey!), great service, good food, and a "shall i give you two bottles of wine this time sir? and perhaps a brady with your coffee?"

Crap uncomfortable flight home with some giant behind me who took exception to me reclining, (due in part i guess due to a packed to the rafters cabin), crap food and no real service, with mamoth man ensuring that sleep was out of the question.

For future vacations I am always going to volunteer to take a bump (homeward bound, of course) in the hope for a CW seat!!

colmc

Yeah, I would have volunteered to be bumped on this if I hadn't the onward flight :/

Part 3 (final part for a few days..phew!)

LHR - DUB, EI169 23/03/2007, Economy.

Feeling decidedly unwell, I trudged through security at the Flight Connection Centre at Heathrow and found the (unmanned) Aer Lingus desk. At this stage, I just wanted to collapse somewhere! After about 5 minutes, an agent turned up and issued me my boarding pass, and off I went to make the long trip to Gates 80-90 at Heathrow Terminal 1..not a pleasant place, and a bit of a walk! Immigration was quick enough and slowly I made my way across T1 to the UK/Ireland departures area.


After a couple of seating breaks, I found myself at Gate 86. Everything was very orderly for once, and the inbound flight was on time, and the passengers disembarked quickly. Not that I like delays anyway, but this time in particular I was feeling quite appreciative. Boarding commenced pretty much on time, and was done by seat row (back to front). As I had 4C pre-assigned since booking (hint at BA), this meant a bit of a wait, but it wasn't too bad. Being a Friday afternoon flight to Dublin, the A321 was pack to the maximum, but despite Aer Lingus's new style seating with less pitch than they used to offer, I still found the seat itself comfortable..and possibly a little wider than the one I spent so long coming from SF on!. With everything happening in such a timely manner we were soon airborne. In flight service kicked off soon after, and the crew performed this efficiently. I don't mind Aer Lingus's items-for-sale on-board service, though I know some people bemoan it. It's not vastly over-priced, and with a journey like this, it's a pretty logical thing to do. All I wanted was water though! With a journey time of only 50 minutes, we were soon approaching Dublin, and after a bit of a taxi, we ended up at a gate at Pier B. Cleared immigration and waited for luggage, which appeared in under 10 minutes - a record for me in Dublin airport!. All in all, a pretty good flight - on time, clean, comfortable and good value..and quick baggage for once. I can't fault Aer Lingus this time round. The charging for luggage thing is a little annoying, and a tad to Ryanair-esque for my liking, but other than that...good all round experience with EI