Nice report. I always wondered about the day break rooms, they don't sound too promising.

Yes they are nothing to write home about. I was most disappointed that they didn't have a flat lounge chair to snooze on.

The Photos

After a beautiful couple of days in my favourite city it was time yet again to head to an airport and another airport lounge.

Once at the airport I went to go to the Premium check-in area but it was closed. Is this more cost cutting on BA’s part? I made my way over to the row of normal check-in desks and noticed that there was a dedicated F check-in line there. There was one guy with a huge box in the queue and someone already at the desk. The queue dragon asked me if I was in First and informed box guy that she would have to let me go first.

The agent was soon free and I approached the desk. Thirty seconds later I was on my way to security with my BP.

I went to the fast track line and my BP was checked and I was let through despite the lack of YVR Fast Track sticker. There was a family with child in front of me in the security queue which meant a bit of a wait while they faffed about. Once they had been dispatched I was through in a minute but was asked if they could swab test my fag bag. This only took a few and I was on my way to duty free to buy some ice wine and then on down to gate 64 and the BA lounge.

There is a separate First class side that has the usual goodies including half bottles of Pol Roger champagne and other red and white wines. A coffee machine and around the corner a row of top shelf spirits with mixers, soft drinks etc as well. There were some cheese and crackers, crisps and pretzels available along with some cake and other sweet treats near the coffee machine. There was not a lot of seating although it never felt overcrowded.

Two PCs were placed by the wall and they had a little bottle of anti-bacterial hand wash next to them.

I grabbed myself a final Caesar and some cheese and crackers and grabbed a pew.

There was a TV on the wall but it was not switched on. There was a great view out over the apron and of the landing runway.
Not long after I arrived my plane arrived and pulled up at the gate just below the lounge.

I was tempted by the Nanaimo Bars in the lounge and decided to have one with a glass of bubbly as I watched the activity around the aircraft.

One oddity in the lounge was the inhabitants. By the time the flight was called there were 3 father and son teams, two other ladies flying solo and myself. I was wondering if there had been some father son convention in town.

I left the lounge a little early and went for a stroll up and down the terminal and headed back to the gate at the announced boarding time.
They began boarding families and people needing assistance only. Of course others from the lounge approached and were let through so I don’t know why I bothered waiting but I did. Eventually they allowed First, Business and OW Elites to board. I don’t know why they can’t ask for First first like AA do.

Anyway I had my passport and BP checked and walked on down to the aircraft.

Flight BA084 YVR-LHR Seat 1K
Aircraft: 747-400
Departure time: 20:35

I boarded through door 1L and was greeted at the door and escorted to my seat. The crew member came back with a sleeper suit and amenity kit and asked if I would like something to drink. Yep you guessed it.
The amenity kits are in a new Hindmarsh case and contain D.R. Harris goodies including lip balm, skin tonic, toothpaste, mouthwash, eye gel and moisturiser cream. The also contain socks, eye shade and a D.R. Harris branded toothbrush.

A glass of bubbly was soon brought to my seat along with a small bowl of macadamia nuts and I sat and supped while waiting for boarding to complete. My glass was re-filled again whilst we still on the ground, at which time I noticed it was the Bolly.

The captain announced a flying time of 8 hours and 35 minutes to take the 9 people in first to London.

After we were closed up we pushed back at 20:34 and taxied over to the other side of the airfield to the take off runway. At 20:53 we were making our way into the sunny skies over Vancouver. I picked the right side of the plane to sit as I had a great view of downtown Vancouver out of my window.

After we levelled out a bit the crew came around with the menus and asked what I would like to drink before dinner. I asked for a scotch and dry and only realised later that I had ordered a mixed drink when they use Johnnie Blue! Oh well.

The Menu

Dinner

Starters
Vodka smoked salmon and prawns

Warm goat’s cheese tart with tomato galette

Wild mushroom bisque with truffle foam

Fresh salad leaves with your choice of balsamic vinaigrette or creamy peppercorn dressing

Main
New Zealand lamb with herb mustard crust, port jus, lentil ragout and asparagus

Atlantic halibut with creamed leek and spinach

Murgh masala with stir-fried okra and cumin rice

Rice noodle and vegetable salad with Alberta beef tenderloin medallions marinated in Korean bulgogi sauce

Dessert
Lemon curd tart with raspberry sauce

Warm apple and pear flan with vanilla sauce or vanilla ice cream

Cheese Plate
Camembert – A classic unpasteurised French cow’s milk cheese from the Normandy region, Camembert features a creamy texture with full flavour.

Cheddar – A full flavour and buttery texture are hallmarks of this classic cheese.

English Stilton – Stilton is an English, cow’s-milk, semi-hard, blue, unpressed cheese with a natural brushed rind.

A basket of fresh fruit

Snacks
Penne pasta with Mozzarella and Neapolitan sauce

A selection of biscuits

A selection of cheese and fruit

Beverages
Twinings Teas – Traditional English Breakfast, Darjeeling, Earl Grey or Pure Green

Twinings Fruit and Herb Infusions – Pure Camomile, Pure Peppermint, Lemon and Ginger or Blackcurrant, Ginseng and Vanilla

Coffee – Freshly roasted and ground, decaffeinated, espresso or cappuccino

Pralines and Cookies

Drinks

Wines

Aperitif
A sparkling aperitif combining Cr�me de Cassis (a blackcurrant liqueur) with Champagne, creating a refreshing cocktail.

Champagne
Pol Roger Brut 1999, Vintage Champagne
Pol Roger, founded in Epernay in 1849, is one of the truly great names of Champagne and is one of the very few proudly independent family houses left. They reserve their Vintage declarations for those rare years in which all the climatic and winemaking conditions come together in complete harmony. This wine is a blend of Pinot Noir, which contributes intensity of flavour and body, and Chardonnay, which provides fragrance, delicacy and finesse. This is a real treat.
OR
Bollinger La Grande Annee 1999
Founded in 1829 in the village of Ay, Bollinger is one of the great names of Champagne – synonymous with the finest quality. This wine is sheer class – rich, complex, intense and rounded. Powerful flavours of toasted nuts, wild fruits and cr�me brulee abound, balanced by a lively acidity. La Grande Annee is Bollinger’s prestige cuvee and is only made when an exceptional vintage occurs.

White
Billaud-Simon Chablis Premier Cru Les Vaillons 2006
Very aromatic with white flowers and a touch of honey on the nose. This state-of-the-art winery allows careful temperature control and this, together with the lengthy lees maturation, results in the finest and most concentrated unoaked Chablis. It is already delicious.

Pazo Senorans Albarino 2007, Rias Baixas
Until recently this style of delightfully crisp, dry white wine was one of Spain’ best kept vinous secrets – thankfully they have now decided to share it with the rest of the world! The grape variety is the Albarino, and Rias Baixas is the area of production, situated on the Galician coast of northwest Spain. Bodegas Pazo de Senorans is undoubtedly one of the region’s star performers – this wine has aromas of white peach and pear, whole the palate has lively, lemony freshness, a hint of spice and a very good weight.
OR
Weingut Brundlmayer Gruner Veltliner Kamptaler Terrassen 2007
Gruner Veltliner, Austria’s signature white wine grape, is increasingly fashionable in top restaurants on both sides of the Atlantic. Like Chardonnay with herbs and spices, Gruner has the body to stand up to food but is refreshing enough to drink as an aperitif.

Hahn SLH Pinot Gris 2007
This Pinot Gris is a ripe, aromatic, fairly full-bodied California white with opulent peach and tropical fruit notes and some honeysuckle overtones. The wine comes just from the Lone Oak Vineyard in Santa Lucia Highlands (SLH), an area on the western hillside of the Salinas Valley in Monterey. The Highlands was granted AVA status in 1992, and Nicky Hahn, owner of Hahn Estates, played a key role in this.

Red
Chateau Batailley 2002 Pauillac
This wine is a classic ref Bordeaux from a vintage that is maturing nicely. It is very dry and deep ruby colour, with elegant blackberry and truffle flavours, and cigar box notes.

Chateau d’Esclans Rose 2006, Cotes de Provence
Sacha Lichine used to strut his stuff as the owner of Chateau Prieure-Lichine, one of Bordeaux’s top estates. But since 2006 he has been in Provence – and what a good job he’s doing. At Chateau d’Esclans he found a patch of eighty-year-old Grenache vines and is making a superb range of roses from them. The lovely pale colour hides a wine of real depth and concentration that is packed full of fruit.

Saintsbury Carneros Pinot Noir 2006
Saintsbury makes some of the most “European” California pinot. This answer to red Burgundy was grown in the Carneros AVA, just north of the San Francisco Bay, where cooling breezes off the Pacific Ocean couple with shallow clay soils to provide a perfect environment for growing fine Pinot Noir.

Dessert
Chateau Coutet 1998, Premier Cru Classe, Sauternes-Barsac
Chateau Coutet is one of the oldest estates in Sauternes and prides itself on its exalted history – its buildings date from the end of the thirteenth century. The winemaking follows the same painstaking traditions – grapes are not harvested in bunches but individual berries are picked, as they are ready. The harvesters have to go through the vineyards numerous times and a harvest can last several weeks. The result is a sumptuously sweet wine that combines superbly with the expensive French oak in which it matures.

Warre’s 1992 Colheita Tawny Port
Complex, sweet, nutty flavours offer an admirable after-dinner glass.

Spirits, Digestifs and Liqueurs
Gonzalez Byass Sherries

Smirnoff Black Label Vodka

Tanqueray No. Ten Gin

Johnnie Walker Blue Label Scotch Whisky

The Glenlivet 18-year-old Single Malt Whisky

Woodford Reserve Kentucky Whiskey

Camus XO Cognac

Soft Drinks
A selection of traditional and modern drinks

Highland Spring still or sparkling water

The drink was delivered along with some canap�s which was accompanied by some quite turbulent air making photography a little tricky. The canap�s consisted of a mini meat pie, toast with parma, asparagus and mozzarella, bread topped with crabmeat and a samosa.

Hot towels came around followed by the F purser who took the meal orders.

I changed into my PJs prior to the meal service. Why does it say “for use on aircraft only” on the packaging?

I started my meal with the salmon and prawns which were ok and followed this up with the salad. I had some garlic bread to accompany these items and the soup which was up next. They botched up the dressing on my salad but I didn’t complain.

I had also asked for a glass of the Pauillac but it didn’t appear and I had to ask again. The crew member who I had originally asked came by a little later and apologised for forgetting the wine.

The lamb was next and it was quite tasty although the lentil ragout tasted like something I would have eaten from a Campbell’s can.

I was getting a little stuffed at the gills and asked to wait a while before deciding on dessert. The purser came back after I had finished my drink and asked me which I would like as he would put one aside for me. I said not to worry I was ready now and I would like the Lemon Tart.

This was delivered a little later and went down a treat. To finish the meal I ordered a double espresso and a glass of the single malt. These were delivered as well as the box of chocolates which was left at my table for a while.

Sleep came quickly and I crashed not long after this despite the espresso. One of the crew came around with a pillow, which were not on the seats when we boarded. There was only a cushion initially. I was feeling a little chilly so I grabbed the duvet and proceeded to extract it from its plastic sarcophagus. How come plastic makes so much noise in a silent cabin – it is only plastic!

I lay down again and went to dream land snuggled under my duvet.

Approaching London I awoke and was asked if I would like any breakfast. I declined and instead just opted for a peppermint tea.

Breakfast

Starters
Chilled Fruit Juice

An energising fruit smoothie

A selection of yoghurts

A selection of cereals

Fresh seasonal fruit plate

Bakery
A wide selection of breakfast pastries and rolls

Main
Scrambled eggs, bacon, bangers, mushrooms, tomato and roast fingerling potatoes

Cheese omelette

Pancakes with blueberry compote



After my tea I dressed again and prepared for landing. I noted that the CSD had not visited the First cabin and also no immigrations cards were handed out. I asked a crew member for a card but it never materialised.

We landed at 13:36 and taxied to the B gates where we had to wait around 10 minutes for a plane to leave our gate. We eventually pulled up to the gate and the airbridge was drawn up to door 1L which meant a quick escape for the F passengers.

I made my down to the transit system where another Canadian F passenger said to me ‘did they hand out immigrations forms?’ I said no and he concurred that the crew were not the best.

One of the two IRIS machines was working although I was delayed a little by someone who it failed to recognise and spat them out. They of course decided to see if it would work a second time. It didn’t.

Once through I made my way out through customs and down to the HEX where I just missed a train.

I suppose this was the perfect ending to a very lacklustre flight on BA. It is a shame they often fail to meet my expectations.

More BA F to come in a few weeks and a trip to HEL in the meantime.

Be back soon.


The Photos

More great updates to your trip report Moomba ^ It's a shame BA's service is so inconsistent at times. I was pleasantly surprised by the AA food.

How the heck did I miss this? At least the bubbles of the world are being drunk in a safe fashion both on the ground and in the air.

You may be addicted... I can think of worse addictions in the world.

Excellent work Moomba ^

Hi Moomba........Interesting report and opinion on the BA F cabin. ^

I don't have as much experience as you of the BA F product but my three recent flights in BA F I have to say were pretty disappointing. For me, the standard has fallen since my first trip in F two years ago. Inconsistency seems to be the problem from what I could see.
Yet I still read some great reviews about BA F and can only guess they pull out all the stops on certain routes. Certainly wasn't on any of the routes I was on.

I have always been impressed with AA food especially in J across the pond compared to BA's offerings. Note that I was given a four course meal and a three course second meal on a short LHR-JFK sector and galley FM has stated that BA are cutting back on their second meal which was only an afternoon tea before now.

It is a shame as I do want to like BA but I seem to fall foul of dodgy crew so often.

On the other hand, despite other reports on here, I have had mostly excellent service and food on both CX and QF (with a couple exceptions on both re food quality).

The whole BA F does not have the feel of a true First class like CX and QF. It is little things like food presentation, which is really lacking, the quality of the food and wines isn't a match either.
Even as I noted the other night the fact that they have their duvet and under blanket wrapped in plastic. Both CX and QF have cloth bags to store the linen in which is so much classier than the plastic cling wrap on BA.
The on the ground experience is not so good either and you just get the impression you are just another passenger with BA. On QF and CX I am made to feel like a First class passenger all through the experience.

A good crew on BA can make all the world of difference but there seems to be a myriad of little things that are barely perceptible that lower the tone.

Maybe I am just being too picky but I don't see why BA can't live up to the standards set by QF and CX.

Great report - as usual - thanks for posting ^

I was fascinated to see some of the inconsistent/poor service issues that you encountered. I flew the same route (rtn) a few weeks back in F having selected BA for these First Class long-haul flight after pro-actively switching my business to Star Alliance carriers (mainly SQ/LX/TG) following some disappointing BA experiences. I genuinely wanted to give BA another chance. I believe that the level of service/product I experienced was rather poor. In summary:

Outbound, LHR-YVR:
1. Grumpy "welcome" in CCR at LHR T5. No explanation of services offered to us.
2. No pro-active service delivery in CCR - I had to request any beverage/food from the bar. Wait staff stood around, occasionally clearing tables. Also, no snacks (except biscuits!) in the CCR? Was told we had to go to the Galleries First lounge if we wanted nibbles – how odd!
3. Upon boarding the a/c, not shown to my seat in the FIRST cabin. Nonchalantly pointed towards the seat.
4. Seat/panels/cabin environment very tatty/worn/dirty.
5. Starter was not as menu - Potted Crab - missing two of the three key ingredients - luckily not the crab!
6. Main course meal totally inedible - Spring Lamb Assiette – at least 2 x other pax sent it back too. Selected a CLUB meal as the only other suitable replacement.
7. Afternoon Tea service sandwiches were bordering on stale - hard, curled edges.
Crew were sympathetic but, in general, could only work with what they are given. Actually had quite a chat with the First Purser, who said he was sick-to-death of apologising on behalf of the product/airline and has to do so on virtually every flight!

YVR-LHR:
1. Similar to the above in regards to the state of the cabin.
2. TV monitor was absolutely filthy when used at the safety demo by crew - no offer to clean it – it must have been obvious to the crew who set up the monitor for the safety briefing.
3. The seat did not recline/move at all until a crew member spent a considerable time "fixing" it. Embarrassing, really.
4. The service delivery was somewhat shambolic:
* Salad delivered before soup, despite my requesting the opposite.
* Missing cutlery (soup delivered with no spoon)
* The dessert I chose, Banana Spring Roll, was inedible and a somewhat bizarre concoction to say the least. Even the crew s......ed at this mess of a dish.
In summary, no-one died, no-one was injured (to my knowledge) and we arrived in relative comfort BUT I do not believe we received appropriate value from the First product - not a First Class experience at all - certainly not as advertised/marketed by BA:

“First offers exceptional comfort and refined surroundings with an individual yet discrete style and the finest quality of service. The result is a flying experience that is unmistakably First”

NoY, each of your ten commments was negative. Was there nothing right with the flight, or were you only commenting on the deficiencies?

Oh dear I didn't want this to turn into a BA bashing thread. It is a TR.

Hopefully BA will be able to redeem themselves on my next flights.

Yes, the positives were the crew who, in general, were fine. I was only highlighting the negatives of BA F, as Moomba's trip report refreshed my memories of those disppointing flights.

Hope you don't see my comments as BA bashing I was merely highlighting the negatives from my flights that were brought to mind when reading your report. As you say, hopefully BA will redeem themselves on our next flights. In my case this will be BKK-SYD-BKK in December/January, again in First.

The Photos


Off to HEL for the weekend started with an early departure from work and a couple of very slow tube journeys to Paddington.
There I was able to catch the 13:40 HEX to London Heathrow Central Station.

Upstairs and out into the daylight of the courtyard in front of the terminal building. A quick check of the monitors and I realised I needed to be at Zone G which is down the far end. On arriving there I realised that the AY desks are opposite the BA desks which makes sense I suppose give they are both One World. What doesn’t make sense of course is that CX and AA are at the opposite end of the terminal.

There was no one in the queue for Business class and I was quickly checked in and issued with a boarding pass. I moved on upstairs and approached the fast track security with some trepidation. After my last stint there I wasn’t going to fall for the same trick. I was able to peer through and see the line was not very long at all and decided to move on in.
The BP checker checked my BP and I went on in and joined the short queue. Whilst it did move it was at a snails pace. The security people must all have the sloth gene in them as there was no hurry about anything they were doing. Except talking which they were doing a lot of to each other.

I finally made it through unscathed and walked down to the passport check area where I was dealt with swiftly. Why is it only at T3 they do this?

I did a bit of shopping and asked to have it stored for pick up on my return.
They needed my return flight number and time of arrival. I pulled out my itinerary and realised I had not re-printed it since the last change which just happened to be the return flight for this weekend. I asked the sales person to hang on to it and will be back with the details.

I walked down to the BA Galleries lounge and asked the agent if she could look up my return flight details. She looked at my AY boarding pass and said no we don’t have access to that information. She didn’t even attempt to enter the PNR or anything. The return flight is actually a BA flight with a AY code share but it was obviously too much trouble for her. I went inside and down to the computers where I was able to bring up the flight details using check my trip. Out I went again and back to duty free where I filled in the form with my return flight details. The sales person told me where I need to pick up the goods on my return.

This service is only available to EU passengers and is a good way to circumvent the war on liquids when you are travelling hand baggage only.

Back to the lounge where I was swiped in a second time and made my way inside where I could finally relax.

I grabbed a small plate of stroganoff and rice as I had yet to eat any lunch. A glass or two of wine accompanied this repast.

As usual I had arrived way too earlier and needed to cool my heels for a while before thinking about heading to a gate. About an hour passed and I decided to go to the chemist for some last minute essentials for my trip and then headed down to the gate.

AY use a real gate a LHR T3 unlike BA who force people to endure busses for all their current T3 flights. Hopefully they won’t do that when they have 747s departing their in October.

Anyway I was on AY which meant a nice gate lounge to sit in for a few minute before boarding was announced.

Boarding was soon announced and Business class and OW Emerald and Sapphires were invited to board first. Then boarding was to proceed using the row numbers.

Flight AY840 LHR-HEL Seat 1A
Aircraft: 320
Departure time: 16:10

The seats on AY in J are the same as the economy seat with the middle seat blocked on both side. I usually don’t like bulk head seats but on recommendation from FT I chose the first row. I was glad I did as there was definitely more room in this row than in the rows further back.

I stashed my bag in the locker above and made myself comfortable. After boarding had completed the crew member came around and offered to hang my rain jacket in the closet. She then went through the cabin with a bottle of water and some paper cups inviting each passenger to take a cup.

The captain announced an ATC hold of 10 minutes and a flight time of 2 hours and 25 minutes. The safety demonstration was played on the IFE system.

There were 7 people encamped in the business class cabin for this flight. We pushed back at 16:35 and taxied out to the runway where we hit the sky with those 320 engines screaming their guts out at 16:51.

The aircraft was fitted with IFE that was switched to a nose wheel view for take off and then once in the air was switched to a camera pointing down. Pretty cool stuff for a domestic config plane.

Hot towels were handed around after the belt sign was switched off followed by an offer of an aperitif. Da, da, da, da I chose champagne. Very nice it was too. It was a wee bottle of Joseph Perrier Cuvee Royale Brut. A small bag of pretzel bits was also given out on which to snack.

After everyone had finished their drink the meal service was played out. The crew member delivered everything from the galley by hand without employing the use of the trolley. There was no option for the meal and everyone got the same meal deal.

On the tray was a salad plate with tuna, potato and bean salad. The main course was a chicken Chasseur dish with squash, spinach and lovely risotto. The dessert was a berry mouse type arrangement.

The food was pretty old school but was very tasty and quite filling for a ‘dinner’ service. A bread basket was offered after the crew member had handed out the meals to the first row. She also asked what wine I would like to drink. She repeated this row by row which seems a very efficient way to work the cabin. After she had finished serving the cabin she was back around again with the bread basket. Finally coffee was offered and re-filled whilst I sat and ate my dessert.

The IFE display had moved on from a view outside to a CNN production that was shown with English subtitles on the screen.

The seat on AY is quite hard and not terribly comfortable to fly in and I wouldn’t want to spend much longer than this flight in the seat.

I asked for another bottle of bubbles after the meal service which was cheerfully supplied by the crew member.

Now I thought the Brits clung to the past in a somewhat OTT manner but this champagne label takes the cake. On the bottom of the front label it stated ‘As supplied to the late Queen Victoria and King Edward VII’

The remainder of the flight was pretty uneventful and I spent most of the time staring out the window.

We landed at 21:17 local time and taxied to the gate. I was first off the plane and thanked the crew on my way out. Passport control was directly across the hall from the gate. I was quickly processed and went straight on out to the forecourt where I found the bus stop that the Finnair city bus left from. I had a ten minute wait before the bus came along.

A little over half an hour later the bus dropped me off at the station and I walked on down the ways trying to find my hotel for the night.

I found the Hotel Kamp and after a bit of a kerfuffle about the fact that I had an award stay followed by a paid stay, I managed to secure a suite upgrade for my two nights in Helsinki. When I approached the room I noticed it was the Tove Jansson suite who is the creator of the Moomin characters. I thought this was quite apropos as at one time a well known celebrity on the BA board said she always thought of Moomin when she saw my handle.


Next up a couple of days in HEL (picture report) and the flight back to London.



The Photos

My my Moomba... what a small bottle of bubbles you have there...

... no wonder you needed two bottles!

Good stuff as usual ^

That's a new one on me, how do you use them?

Helsinki one of my favourite destinations. ^