BA First SYD - LHR
 

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Nice report. I look forward to the rest.

I had serious misgivings at the time, but I am beginning to think I made the correct decision to take advantage of the BA 2 for 1 CW sale for my trip in the Fall instead of the F seats I was planning on buying. If BA keeps this up in F they will never recover the passenger load they once had, especially at the massive price difference between CW and F. In my case it was a $14,000 difference.

Beautiful pictures. Thank you for a great photographic/text report.

HIDDY - Thank you for your trip report and great pictures. It's a bit sad, IMHO, that after flying F SYD-SIN-LHR, you're still hungry and need to visit the BA Arrivals Lounge in London for breakfast! :eek:

(Now when I arrive in LHR flying UA Y from SFO, I may still be hungry, but that's different. :) )

Once again HIDDY, you're proving yourself quite handily to be a very formidable trip reporter. :) :)

I hope for a better outcome for my BA F trip SYD-BKK later this year - different equipment, though - 744. I'm flying QF F on the BKK-LHR sector, which does mean I miss out on the BA Arrivals lounges... (no BAEC status, only QF WP).

I blew QFF points on that one to try both BA and QF. Better than cash outright I guess. Of course, I also hope BA F will still be around on that sector when I get to flying it.....

There's always a reason to visit a lounge. Who said you needed to be hungry, let alone thirsty? ;) .....Let alone sober? :D:D:D

Thanks for writing such a beautiful report.. The photos were great.. I completely agree with your assessment of BA first.. However.... the T5 CCR really made up for a lot of disappointment ... The food and drink at the lounge is just first rate.... Once again.. thanks...

I've been following your series of reports, thanks for taking the time to share the highs and lows of your trips with us HIDDY. Thanks especially for the wonderful pics. :)

It seems like HIDDY's finally getting the hang of writing a decent trip report. :D

Thank you for a brilliant trip report. I know from experience now that it takes a lot of effort to compose such comprehensive reports.

Sydney looks very nice - I'd simply love to visit some day but such a long flight puts me off. I could only manage such a marathon flight in F.

Your photo of the Qantas A380 reminds me of this very morning when I was at a flea market near Heathrow. A Qantas A380 flew quietly overhead on final approach into LHR. Everyone just stopped what they were doing and looked up. Previously only Concorde could command such rapt attention.

Sorry that your F experiences were not top notch.

Look foward eagerly to further installments.

This Trip Reports forum is really addictive. I spend my Sunday afternoons reading trip reports in preference to blockbuster novels now :D

Great report and wonderful pictures. I really enjoyed this one:
http://p2qgda.bay.livefilestore.com/...J/SNC11764.JPG

Two more great reports, with excellent photos ^

Great report HIDDY. Shame about the not-so-great BA F sectors.

When entering Galleries Arrivals, does the agent scan the pass or just look at it? I seem to remember on my one and only visit there last year she just looked at it, which struck me as a bit odd, given how many people try to blag themselves into lounges. :D

Some nice pictures there, particularly of the QF First Lounge at SYD. ^

Nice TR! Thank you for the good read ^

Thanks for the very comprehensive report HIDDY.

As BA crew, nothing you wrote about the BA First experience came as a surprise ... most of us agree that the hard product is well past its expiry date, and the soft product, including food, is subject to unacceptable degrees of variation - as became apparent to you during your experience.

The pre-departure nuts will be gone, as will the canapes and chocolates in the next couple of days (cost-cutting). Nuts will be offered after take-off, and the canapes are to be replaced with amuse-bouches.

As for the crew cutting corners - there really is no excuse - but it's BA after all .... still a lottery, especially in the Economy cabins. Changes are under way, but it will take time.

Excellent repot. Thanks!

Thanks again Hiddy - shame it did not appear to be up to what F should be. Looking forward to the next one:)

Regards AKS120

Great TR Thanks for Posting.

Cheers Larry.

Well it did take us a wee while to get from T4 to T5 and we did have to go through immigration and collect our luggage so it was a while after we had eaten on the plane. You could call it greed as well of course. :D

Wow that is a big difference - you made the right decision.

Thanks SanDiego1K

You can obviously spot a literary genius when you see one. :D

It's a shame that BA F can be a bit of a hit and miss - Good news was that the next flight was much better.

Ah thanks - Mine must seem boring compared to yours though. :D

Good job I know your sense of humour. ;)

You know the SIN-SYD leg is quite short so once you get to SIN from LHR and have a stopover it's not at all bad even in Y I imagine. Definitely worth doing as Sydney is a great city.

Yes how could you not love a Koala - Lovely little animals.

Cheers. ^

Hi Genius1 - I haven't got a clue to be honest. She did take a while so I'm guessing she must have done more than just look at the BP stubs - maybe she was getting the CCR invitations sorted as well.

Thanks.

Maybe we were lucky but both cabins were pretty fresh looking and there was nothing wrong with the seats so that side of it was no problem. The food quality and service wasn't the best though. I have to say they were the worst two BA flights I have ever had in over 40 years of flying since the old BEA days. Lets hope they get it sorted out.

Thanks for commenting. ^

Next one was better. :)

Thanks Larry.

Ah you flatter me dear HIDDY; unfortunately you must have confused me with PUCCI GALORE as there are no MUCCIs or any other lollies for you to pick up here. :D Don't worry, your reports are totally cool! ^

Excellent trip report - I must say though, the BA-F product on your flight looked a bit lousy.....There are many airlines in J that would provide a better overall product than BA did on that flight. As for the empty box of chocolates.....being a self-confessed chocoholic myself....that is quite a pathetic effort by BA, especially for F customers on a half-full flight....

Great report, HIDDY.

I recently flew HKG - LHR on CX F, and although the seats were old generation, the meals and service were just outstanding. BA really need to polish their act.

Ahh. The Flight of the Uncooked Sausage! :D

Sorry it was a comparatively bad set of sectors HIDDY, but as you pointed out the on-product is getting frayed around the edges quite badly. The CCR services looks good and well delivered though.

A shame. It seems like the crew really didn't want to be aboard that flight to say the least.

HIDDY, is it possible to sneak out of the CCR for a crafty fag when departing LHR?

Excellent question, Donkeyk. Begs the question if there is a thread anywhere about airports which give the smoker a chance of a fix whilst airside?

Quite a trip report! ^ Factual, to the point and brilliantly illustrated. Certainly puts me off cashing some miles for an F trip though.

Who's PUCCI GALORE? ;)

Have had a lot better I have to say.

Thanks VanMan - Our next LHR-HKG F flight was far better.

Hi Kevincm - Maybe some of the bad news coming out of BA is affecting their performance?

The departures CCR as you know is airside unlike the arrivals one. Although I never bothered on my last visit I believe you can get escorted back out landside for a smoke. Downside is it's a bit of a hassle as you have to go back through security. Really not worth it to be honest unless you have plenty of time on your hands.

I was thinking about that as well...maybe you could start one? I can certainly mention a few airports that still cater for smokers.

Another winner Hiddy! ^

Like everyone else I loved your TR. Ooooo ahhhh the veal didn't look so good (to me anyway). Uncooked sausage, burnt veal, cold tea, stale sandwiches...in F no-one can hear you scream.

I was so disappointed when our $$$$$'s didn't quite stretch to BA F but after hearing the comments here and other forums, I think it was kismet. For us in Australia, those BA F prices are really steep and I would have been disappointed if I had your experience paying those bucks.

I'm a Hiddy fan too...looking forward to more :-)

Diva
http://1stclassdiva.wordpress.com/

Nice report, get any weird looks taking pictures on the plane? I've got a BA F trip coming up and still contemplating whether or not to go "all in" on the trip report.

Cheers sobore. ^

Understandable that you don't want to splash out unless you're guaranteed to get a good flight which unfortunately BA can't seem to deliver on a regular basis at the moment.

Always getting weird looks from the wife. :D

Day flights are easiest and cameras are so small nobody notices. Night flights are the problem when you don't want to use flash and have to rely on the light available.
Have been caught a couple of times by cabin crew taking pictures of the food but nothing has been said. I like trip reports with pictures so if I were you I would just go ahead and do it. ^

The Crafty Fag
 

Fire away (pls excuse pun). I'm useless at links
[URL="http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/travelbuzz/981748-crafty-fag-smoking-airside.html"]

Enjoyed your trip report. Easy reading!

HIDDY, I've thoroughly enjoyed both your report and your photos. They make me want to head out to the airport straight away and settle into a comfy chair aboard a westbound 747 speeding off into the evening sky. Alas, there'll be nothing like that for me until maybe next spring, but thankfully reports like yours make the long wait more bearable. Thanks for the First Class effort!

Given the quality of the competition on routes to Asia and Australia, it's surprising that BA has allowed its service to deteriorate so badly. Perhaps if management sent out the occasional ghost rider to monitor the service, with appropriate ramifications for those crew that failed to provide service consistent with training, some improvement might be seen.

I've flown well over 100,000 miles in BA's FIRST and have generally enjoyed excellent service but on the two flights I've flown where the service was substandard, it was so much so that I assumed the crew had been last minute replacements from European domestic services, especially since they seemed unfamiliar with things like the aircraft galley or proper presentation of the meal.

As to taking photos of the food, I always tell the crew that I have a friend who works for a US airline and I wanted to show her what a proper First Class service looks like. Another line I've used is that I'm trying to learn adjustments and settings on my new camera and that food photos offer a nice variety of colors and textures to focus on and learn from.

How did ye do that? :-:
I used the "insert link" icon and came out with that cr@p. :td:

great report Hiddy