We had been looking forward to try British Airways business class, but we knew that we wouldn’t want to fly it unless it was on their new Club Suites. Luckily, British Airways flies the new product consistently between London and Dallas Fort-Worth, so we immediately agreed that we must fly this particular route. At the time, LHR-SFO was also available, but there’s no fun flying a 777-300ER that is not guaranteed to have the new product! Flying British Airways would also allow me layover in London to visit my sister. We flew this flight as part of our Europe trip during Thanksgiving week.
And of course, we didn’t mind adding another plane into our collection either, especially a Boeing 787-10, which we had not collected yet!
Table of Contents
British Airways Business Class Booking
I made the booking a month prior to the flight. I started the trip in Barcelona, with a connecting flight in London. I made sure to book the longest layover available at the time, so that I could make it a double whammy and visit my sister. The layover gave me almost 24hrs in London, which was absolutely perfect for us.
We booked the flight through American Airlines miles, which was a fantastic deal of 57.5k miles + $326 taxes/fees per person. There was no business class availability for the Barcelona to London leg, but I wasn’t too disappointed since European regional flights do not offer a superior hard product for these flights anyway.
Choosing seats on the business leg costs extra, so we decided that we would wait until check in, crossing our fingers that middle seats together would still be available. I find it absolutely ridiculous passengers paying for business class, albeit with points, are not allowed to choose complimentary seats. How silly.
Origin: Josep Tarradellas Barcelona-El Prat Airport (BCN)
Destination: Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW)
Flight Number: BA193
Date: Monday 29 November 2021
Scheduled Departure: 12:20pm
Scheduled Arrival: 4:40pm
Duration: 10:20hr
Cabin: Business
Aircraft: 787-10
Tail Number: G-ZBLB
British Airways Business Class Boarding
This was the first time Eric and I boarded a plane together at London Heathrow Airport. We took an obligatory picture in front of the check in area.
When we arrived to the gate area, every thing seemed like it would be roughly on time, until they had let us know that we would be delayed by around one hour due to maintenance issues. Our connection from Dallas Love Field (DAL) to home was booked with a four hour layover, so I felt quite confident that we would still have no problems making the connection.
The boarding area was spacious, and I always love the beautiful views of planes parked at the gate, and planes taking off in the distance.
Boarding was uneventful, with customer that need extra time, and First Class passengers boarding first, followed by status members and Business Class.
British Airways Business Class Cabin & Seats
Club Suites are arranged in a 1-2-1 configuration, with the middle passengers facing each other, and window passengers facing away from the aisle. Since Eric and I were flying together, we chose middle seats together. The middle seats were able to be selected until check-in opened. Because of the pandemic, the check-in process was not allowed to be fully completed online, which meant that the seats that I chose did not stick. At T-24, there were only two pairs of middle seats remaining, so we were worried that we wouldn’t be able to sit together. Frankly, I find premium class a much more enjoyable experience when you are enjoying the experience with someone else.
In the end, we managed to get seats 17 E/F. We had no particular preference for which center seats, so we were satisfied with the selection. We rarely choose seats in the far back, but beggars can’t be choosers.
I managed to snag a few pictures of the boarding process. I am not that use to taking pictures during this time, and certainly not of the entire cabin. I will try to snap more pictures for future reviews so that it is easier to visualize the entire space.
The cabin has this striking, high-end feel to it. It could be argued that the styling appears slightly drab, due to lacking pops of colors (why not add some British Airways colors somewhere?). I find the detailing quite refined, and the suite doors at every seat really make this product shine.
Just look at the upholstery of the chairs! I am a sucker for cloth chairs, since they feel way cozier than leather. The detailing on the chairs themselves has this pin-cushiony quality that I really enjoy. The seat belt system was also quite elegant, and I did not find it the least bit uncomfortable.
Since I am only 5’8″, I had no trouble with space with the club suites at all. With the door closed, it felt very private. There was a divider between the two seats that you could close for privacy if there was a stranger sitting next to you. The divider, however, did not open very far, which was a let down for Eric and me.
The table folded out from the side, and provided a large surface that isn’t just a boring old rectangle.
When you are ready to settle down for a snooze, there is a small “mattress” with cutouts for the seatbelt. It is very thin, and provides almost no extra support, but it did help mitigate the gap of the chair when put in the lie-flat position.
The blanket with the mattress was packed up in a bundle, and was already in the feet cubby upon boarding the aircraft.
Finally, there is a lightweight grey blanket. It felt decent quality, but maybe slightly scratchy. I had no problems cozying up and falling asleep. Falling asleep on a plane in a lie-flat seat is easy regardless, since you have the slight hum of the engines from the 787 for white noise, a belly full of food, and being tired from a busy trip.
The IFE was large. I don’t usually make too much use of the IFE during my flights, so I usually play mobile games on my phone, listen to music, or read on my Kindle.
British Airways Departure from London Heathrow
Oh boy was the departure eventful, and stressful. Ever since we got onto the plane, there was barely any cell/data signal. As I mentioned above, the flight had already been delayed, so I was eager for boarding to wrap up quickly, so that we could go on our merry way. Booking a separate ticket for connections always runs the risk of a misconnect, but I knew that worst case, I would be able to cancel the DAL-SJC through southwest even with twenty minutes before the flight.
Well the nightmare of misconnect became true as we sat on the plane after the doors had closed, and we began our taxiing. I was expecting a long line for take off due to the many flights leaving LHR, but at some point, we were just idling somewhere, and I knew something must’ve been wrong. There was no announcement for almost an hour, as we all sat in our seats wondering what the delay was. At that point, our four hour connection in Dallas was getting shorter and shorter. I didn’t have cell signal either, so I couldn’t look up more details, and alternative flights.
Finally, the flight attendants started passing out some bottles of water to us as our pre departure beverages, as the pilot announced that a passenger was not feeling well, and that they would obviously prioritize removing the passenger as a precaution. Waiting for the medical staff to arrive on the plane and escort the passenger felt like a life time. Especially without signal, and without being able to contact family to give them an update, made the experience especially stressful.
We had to return to the gate to offload the sick passenger. At this point, I knew that there would be absolutely no way that I would be able to make the connection. I would have only 30minutes to get from DFW to DAL to catch the connecting flight on Southwest, which is not going to happen. Luckily, I found a smidgen of cell signal in the airplane bathroom, and my sister had been watching my situation unfold by tracking flight updates online. She knew that I would misconnect, and quickly held some options for me through American Airlines. There were two more flights that I could take from DFW-SFO even after I arrived to DFW, so I breathed easily knowing I had opportunities to return home on the same day. Communication on the plane was still difficult, so I decided to stop stressing out about it, and arranged a plan for my sister to ticket the connecting flight for me in case the wifi on the plane did not work.
Once the medical team escorted the passenger off the plane, the pilot notified us that the plane would have to be refueled due to the fuel spent taxiing. In total, the medical emergency delayed our flight by 2.5hrs in total, which was on top of the 1hr maintenance delay. After the entire debacle, we headed off westbound towards DFW at around 8pm.
Never had I been so thankful for sitting in business class. I would have been extra annoyed by the 3.5hr delay if I were sitting in the smaller economy seats.
British Airways Business Class Meal Service
In flight meal service started once we were around cruising altitude, with flight attendants taking down our meal orders.
For the main meal, I chose the lamb hot pot, and Eric chose the chicken breast (not because we want to eat chicken breast, but we thought the dish would probably look nice). We both got one each of the oat crumble, as well as the cheese board.
Main Meal
Starter
Roasted Cauliflower (red pepper dip, chimichurri)
Main Course
Roasted breast of British chicken (duck fat-roasted potatoes, bread sauce, autumn vegetables, chicken gravy)
Lamb hot pot
Ricotto mezzaluna (asparagus, mushrooms, panna sauce)
Desserts & Cheese
Apple and cinnamon oat crumble
Cheese board (mature cheddar, Red Leicester, chutney)
Tea
Specialty coffee
I didn’t know what I was expecting with the lamb hot pot, but it ended up more like a lamb stew with lots of veggies. Everything was served on one tray together, which I don’t mind, because that makes the meal service speedy and efficient. I was pretty tired at that point anyway. The roasted cauliflower was either a thick soup, and almost a thick dip kind of texture. I half drank the “soup” with a spoon, and half dipped with some bread. The bread was also beautiful presented as pull-apart bread of three different flavors.
We were right in our assumption that the chicken breast meal would look very appetizing, because it sure was. We weren’t surprised, however, to eat the chicken and find it quite dry. We have been surprised before, but not by British Airways catering. The “cheeseboard” was disappointing, as the cheese tasted very basic. The oat crumble was overly sweet, so I only ate a bite of it.
British Airways Business Class Light Meal
For our light meal, Eric and I both got the prawn curry since they had run out of the rigatoni. That’s one of the main downsides of sitting at the back of the cabin, being asked last for meal service. We both got the banoffee style pudding.
Light Meal
Starter
Avocado and edamame super green salad (wasabi cream)
Main Course
Prawn curry (pea basmati rice)
Mezze rigatoni (grilled artichokes, roasted tomatoes, panna sauce)
Dessert
Banoffee style pudding (caramelized dates, walnuts)
The super green salad was delicious, and the prawn curry was also surprisingly flavorful. These strong flavors work perfectly on a flight, because I really do feel like my senses are dulled in the air, and the spices on in the curry made this dish not only taste good, but smell irresistible too. I was quite disappointed with the banoffee style pudding, because I love a good banoffee pie. The side of bread was the same as the main meal, so I had no complaints.
British Airways Business Class Service
The service on British Airways Business Class could have definitely used some polishing up. The biggest issue being meal service. Although we are aware that flight attendants have specific sections that they are assigned to, we found it jarring how uncoordinated the flight attendants were with each other. It is pretty clear that Eric and I are a couple, seated together in the middle, so would it be so strange to expect that we would want our meals served together? For both meal services, the flight attendant on my side of the aisle would be ten or so minutes faster than the one on Eric’s aisle, thus I would get my meals sooner than him. We always make sure to swap our main dishes when we are flying premium class so that we get the opportunity to try more meal choices, but this disjointed service made it much more awkward and difficult.
The flight attendants themselves were fine. With the pandemic and all, I couldn’t have expected them to linger around the passengers longer than necessary, so I certainly do not blame the staff for that.
Summary
Overall, I was very impressed by the British Airways Business Class Club Suites, which are being retrofitted across their fleet. British Airways has longed had the reputation of there unfavorable 2-4-2 business class on their older product. With the arrival of the club suites, space and privacy no longer becomes and issue, and I have a very comfortable hop across the Atlantic. The seats were plush, cozy, and well designed.
Service could have been improved, but in this scenario, the seat more than made up for the blip in service. Also, the nice seats almost made me forget how stressful the long delay was at departure. The wifi was a godsend, since it allowed me to catch my family up with my situation, and to let them know that I had booked a new connecting flight.
And for closure, yes, I ran through Global Entry, boarded the DFW Skyline train, and sweatily arrived to the American Airlines connecting flight a few minutes before boarding, paying just 12.5k each for the flight that had a last minute cost of ~$300.
Highly recommend the British Airways Business Class Club Suites to anyone considering this experience. Although I have not tried their older product, I would imagine it would be worth going out of your way to try this hard product if it interests you.
