BA news & offers: UK to US in CW from £1263, First wing & check in enhancements & more

BA Club World to the US from £1263

Rather than having to start from Dublin, British Airways have been doing some great deals recently to the US direct from the UK in Club World. There is now another sale to the US but there is no end date which means they can pull the deal at any time. If you are interested I would book now as they rarely last more than a few days. There is also a specific sale on that lasts until 31 March 2018 for flights during 29 October to 11 December 2018 for similar destinations. Flights are available on either British Airways or American Airlines and prices are similar from regional airports including the connection via Heathrow. If you need help deciding which airline to go for you can read my business class reviews here.

There are lots of destinations to choose from. If you fancy a city break there’s New York, Chicago, Vancouver or Boston. If you want to chill on a beach there are plenty of options with Miami, Los Angeles and San Diego available. If the recent snow has made you think about next year’s ski trip you can choose from Boston, Denver and Calgary, for example. For Disney and theme parks you have Orlando, Miami and Los Angeles. Finally, if you fancy doing a US road trip which is one of my favourite holidays, you could start from Las Vegas, San Francisco or Los Angeles.

The rules

• You must travel outbound on Tue/Wed/Thu on each transatlantic sector and inbound on Mon/Tue/Wed.
• Travel dates vary according to the destination but most go up to 12 months ahead
• You must reserve 6 months in advance for most of the cheap fares but not all
• You must stay at least 7 days

The prices start from:

• New York £1326
• Boston £1263
• Chicago £1406
• Miami £1386
• Phoenix £1616
• San Francisco £1461
• Los Angeles £1461
• San Diego £1461
• San Jose (California) £1496
• Orlando £1568
• Denver £1461
• Las Vegas £1451
• Toronto £1390
• Vancouver £1486
• Calgary £1436

And whilst looking I also found Hong Kong for £1797 during the summer which is a good price for BA.

One of the easiest ways to find out when fares are cheapest and book is using British Airways low price finder which highlights the months and then the days the lowest fares are available on.

British Airways improvements to Heathrow

This week British Airways introduced a trial of enhanced (in a good way this time) check-in features for First and Club World at Heathrow. Club didn’t get a lot apart from rope barriers instead of the ugly Tensa barriers but it does look better from the photos I have seen. The First Wing did a bit better. I actually love the First Wing and think it is one of the best things BA have introduced for quite a while apart from the new Club World catering and bedding. The First Wing is available for BA Executive Club Gold cardholders and above as well as customers travelling in First. It is a separate area of the terminal with check-in and a direct security channel straight into a walkway to the First lounge. You can be curbside to champagne in hand in around 6 minutes as there is rarely a queue.

The new enhancements are designed to give a luxury hotel feel to the First Wing. There will be soft music, a signature scent and a welcome drink as you wait for a check-in agent, exactly like a hotel. Whilst these are not earth shattering I like the attention to detail and it will add to the premium feel of the First Wing. Once entering the lounge you will be greeted at the entrance by an offer of a glass of champagne or soft drink as they were doing around Valentine’s day. This one I’m not so sure about. Probably for the occasional leisure traveller, this would be welcomed but personally, I would rather they used the manpower for this to do something more useful. I can quite easily pour my own drink and plus I prefer the Henriot Rose anyway!

On my last couple of visits to the First lounge, it has been very crowded with dirty plates and glasses so slow to cleared and the buffet half empty. I would rather they got the basics right first than started trying to pimp it up! One interesting thing that happened in January was that I responded to the text survey with my thoughts as it had been particularly bad in the lounge that day. Shortly after landing I got a call from a BA manager at Heathrow to find out about my experience and apologise. I even got some unsolicited Avios too! I thought this was a great way to deal with a bad situation (they were very short of staff due to the flu outbreak).

New Concorde team

The British Airways Special Services Team have been around for a while looking after British Airways Premier customers. You can’t get a qualifying number of tier points to be a BA Executive Club Premier member. It is one of the most exclusive statuses you can get as it is by invite only and has to be approved by the BA board! There are only around 1200 Premier BA members worldwide. It is normally reserved for those who hold influence over major corporate travel buying decisions.

Premier members enjoy special services such as access to the Concorde Room, guaranteed seats even on fully booked flights, connection flights held for them and chauffeur driven ground transportation in a Jaguar to the aircraft at London Heathrow. Each Premier used to be given a Meet and Assist upon arrival at First Class Check-in by a member of BA Special Services. These are the team responsible for looking after VIPs such as when I followed Don Johnson being escorted to the Concorde Room by one of the team. It was just as well as he thought that the First lounge was the Concorde Room!

The Special Services team are now being rebranded as The Concorde Team. They will still be based at Heathrow Terminal 5 as well as New York JFK, but they will be offering chair-side check-in at the First Wing instead of at a desk and they will take care of your luggage too. If you are on a remote stand they will send a car to take you to the steps of the aircraft. The trial of baggage services for First luggage on certain routes will now be available for Premier members. They will collect your baggage from the carousel and deliver it to you personally. The Dorchester Hotel has designed a bespoke training package for the team to deliver an individually tailored service for customers.

Time lines for new Club World bedding/food on Singapore & Sydney routes

BA have confirmed that the new bedding should be introduced on the Singapore and Sydney routes between July and September 2018 with the new food service to follow at the end of the year, Here is the current list of operating and scheduled routes for the new bedding and food:

New York JFK refurbished lounge to open in October 2018

BA have revealed a more precise timeline and further details for the New York JFK new lounges. The First lounge at JFK has been closed recently to allow the work to begin. The new lounge will have a pre-flight dining area in the First lounge and a lobby bar. Previously the pre-flight dining area was only in the Galleries Club Lounge. The lobby bar will allow people to congregate around a central point, with a screen for big sports and entertainment events. The lounges are due to open in October 2018. Currently, the First Wing has opened but other than looking a bit nicer it doesn’t really serve much purpose as there is no dedicated security or shortcut to the lounge.