British Airways - BAW

We went out the Boston on the Boeing 777. World Traveller has cosy seats and decent legroom. The food was quite nice and we had seatback tv's! Not very good films though! The cabin crew were polite if a bit distant and ever so slightly stuck up. I think this has been mentioned to BA. The in-flight comfort pack was pretty standard-toothbrush,toothpaste, socks and eyeshades and a destination guide with the menu. Virgin's is better though. Club World looks very good and First is lovely-actual beds with private screens but just too pricey for the average person!
All in all, I enjoyed my flight with BA. There were 2 UM's whom got pushed up to Club.

The flight took off and arrived on time.

Lunch:
Salad
Chicken Pasta OR grilled salmon with vegetables
Cheesecake
Cadbury's Dairy Milk bar

Afternoon Tea:
Sandwiches
Scones

The Return flight

The return flight was not so good. I would say it was below average. Firstly I was told by the check-in staff at Boston Logan that I was sitting behind the bulkhead which means 2 seats in the row instead of 3 and more legroom. I got on the plane-an old 747-200 unclean plane,to find I didn't have this seat! Very unhelpful check-in at BOS! Bad legroom and hard seats. Not enjoyable at all! I normally love plane travel but I wanted this journey to be over as soon as possible!

However as there were no seatback tv's, the bulkheads were non-viewing seats so the person sitting there moved so I quickly dived for it! Got very good legroom there. You can still see the screen a bit but take LOADS of other things to do. Time passed VERY slowly. The food was awful and it was quite cramped. Afternoon tea was dry ham sandwiches and the brunch had tiny portions.
Menu-BRUNCH
Orange juice-bitter and warm.
fresh fruit-fresh?
mixed grill OR chicken-the grill was ok but tiny portions!
breakfast pastry-dry

Refreshements-awful sandwiches and tea or coffee.
For the price, I feel that the food should have been much better. Airline food in Economy is standard but it should be edible! The food on the outbound flight however was quite nice.

The cabin crew were lovely, but why were the pursers and Cabin Service Director all men? BA=Sexist one may think! I noticed this happens quite a lot... Only one purser was a woman on the outbound flight! Quite odd considering how many more female crew than male crew there are.

It took a while for the cabin crew to answer the call bell though but they were very polite and friendly and very helpful. 10/10 for them. More friendly than on the previous flight. The uniforms are a bit out-dated but are being changed next year! I was particulary impressed with one stewardess, Laura who I think was Irish.

I'm sure the flight was lovely in Club and First, but beware of the old World Traveller-avoid it!

I expected more of a modern airline like BA on my return flight.

I feel BA have focused to much on the Club and First class passengers. There are 4 classes on the modern BA longhaul flights-First, Club-Both with beds, World Traveller Plus and finally-World Traveller.

UPDATED: BA LHR-Lyon July 2003

Check-in @ LHR was quick, easy and painless at the special Club Europe check-in. We could then use fast track security which was super!

The lounge at Terminal 1 is amazing. There was plenty of room, a large selection of food and drink and newspapers. There are showers and sleep suites. The restrooms are very smart and have an attendant.

There was no priority boarding at the gate. The plane was full in Euro Traveller and about a third full in Club. It was an A320 and very clean and smart with photos hung up at the Club bulkhead.Took off only slighly late. The 4 cabin crew were very pleasant and attentive(all males) especially Peter the Purser. Nice breakfast and lots of coffee! Egg, sausage and bacon. Fruit salad. Orange juice and Peter kept coming round with lovely hot pastries-crossiants etc.

Club really did feel like a separate cabin with a large selction of newspapers and hot towels and the curtain. One of the passengers from World Traveller tried to switch seats but a steward politely but firmly directed her back.

We were in Row 1 so we had plenty of legroom but there is generally ample legroom anyway in Club Europe. Nice leather seats, the middle one in kept empty unless flights are packed. The middle seat in squashed up thus giving more room.

Easy enough baggage reclaim. Very short wait at Customs.

BA-Katie's favourite airline! I like BA so much I joined their Executive Club!