This is the outbound journey of this review, where I did not go into much detail about the seat as the seats were identical. If you want to read about the unique first class lounge experience at Barbados, it is worth a read!
This was a flight I had booked on Avios using a Gold upgrade voucher. I paid 125,000 Avios to Barbados (for business class) + £750, or with RFS, you could use 180,000 + £450, all off-peak.
Check-in
First class passengers at Heathrow can use the BA First Wing. This is a separate area with its own security lanes and a passageway directly into the First Lounge. In good times it can take less than 10 minutes from entering the airport to sitting with a glass of fizz in your hand in the lounge. This was not one of those times.
I was checked in by another lovely First wing agent – they always seem a cut above elsewhere and very friendly. I could see there was a big queue for security coming back past the entrance. She said that it could take 20 minutes or more due to an issue with one of the scanners being closed. It was around 7.15am and usually, both would be open by this time. She recommended going through fast track instead, so I thought I would give it a try.
The queue for Fast Track was bad, also going almost back to the entrance where you scan your boarding pass. After about 10 minutes, I finally got to the front and then discovered why. I have no idea if it was the security agents themselves or the equipment, but on one side of the two lanes they were pulling over about 50% of people’s bags. Surprise, surprise, I got my bag pulled for a random test.
I waited around another 15 minutes for them to get to me as I counted nine people in front of me! On the other side, one person was waiting. I’d normally expect a maximum of two or three people to be waiting. This is not random. Something was going very wrong on my side.
Eventually, the sole agent got around to me, and I made it into the Concorde Room in a foul mood. Heathrow really needs to sort their act out as I think I have never been targeted so much for secondary searches as in the last 3 months, and none of them related to anything that I have done/forgotten etc. Other than the First Wing, I have a 100% rate of secondary searches or testing, which is getting very tedious now.
Concorde Room Lounge
First class passengers can use the Concorde Room along with GGL card holders. The Concorde room is a big step up from the First lounge, which gold cardholders can use. Sadly the private cabanas have gone, and there is no more spa either, but it is still a haven of peace compared to the other lounges. They lost the boardroom area to Forty Winks, the nap pods where you can rest on loungers. There is a small work area by the terrace if you need it.
The Concorde Room has a restaurant area, but you can eat anywhere. If you want to be sociable, the high communal tables are the place to hang out or the bar.
I was feeling somewhat anti-social after my early morning start and security experience, so I chose to sit in the restaurant.
I went with my usual breakfast order of the maple glazed bacon chop with an egg. Be warned this does take a while to cook – up to 20 minutes, although they will tell you that when you order. I passed this time with a rather average fruit salad and a bucks fizz. The Concorde room serves Laurent Perrier Grand Siecle champagne. I also had a cappuccino which came with the speedbird logo in cocoa on top. As usual, the bacon chop was delicious, with the sweet maple glaze counteracting the saltiness perfectly. For me, it is one of the best dishes in the CCR.
The server was friendly and generally efficient, and I started to feel more relaxed than when I had entered. Sadly this did not last….
Boarding
I had been given a B gate, as is normal for a long haul departure. But when I got near the gate and saw that it was downstairs as it confirmed my suspicion that it was a bus gate. I detest bus gates and particularly when you are travelling in first. Nothing says first class like being rammed into a bus with 50 other people coughing over you and being flung around halfway across the airport having on for dear life before you have to lug your heavy bag (because you can’t trust your luggage won’t be lost) up a big flight of steps!
Prior to Covid, it was very rare to have steps to an aircraft for long haul, but now it seems to be happening all the time. If you are going to do it BA, at least, try to make the bus journey a bit more pleasant with separate buses for business/first like Qatar and others do.
So by the time I got to my seat, I was really not in the best frame of mind, but the cabin crew member serving me immediately made me forget about that. I always say you can nearly always tell it is going to be a good flight in the first few minutes, and that was the case here. I did mention to her about how unpleasant the bus journey and steps were (I have a knee issue which is really exacerbated by steps), and she really took note as you will see later.
I was offered a glass of champagne (always helps a bad mood!) and a wash bag plus pyjamas.
The washbag by Alice Temperley contained the usual Elemis amenities, which I really like. I think you get a lot inside the bag, and they are high-quality products. I also like the pajamas.
The kit contains:
- Elemis Frangipani Monoi hand and nail balm
- Elemis Rehydrating Ginseng Facial wipe
- Elemis cleansing micellar wipe
- Elemis lip balm
- Elemis Pro-Collagen facial mist
- Elemis Deodorant
- Elemis Ultra Smart Pro-Collagen Serum
- Elemis Ultra Smart Pro-Collagen eye balm
- Eye mask
- Ear plugs
- Socks
- First branded pen
- Mirror
I had a glass of the Grand Siecle champagne and then was presented nuts in a bowl. Hurray, I thought! The old first class nuts are back. Until I started to eat them and realised they were the Club Europe ones that I am not keen on, but they had decanted them into a bowl! (full marks for the initiative to the crew).
The IFM also appeared very on the ball and came to welcome me and had a chat later as well. I always think that they are a lot of how a crew perform on the day, and this lady was obviously leading the way.
The cabin and seat
This aircraft had the old configuration of 14 seats in first class and was pretty much full. I usually for 2 or 3K in this configuration as I like a window seat, they are not right by the galley/toilet and I am right handed so prefer to have my drink on the right side of me on the side table.
The B777 is probably my least favourite out of the BA Firsts, but that is not to say that it is bad. Just other types have better storage or are more modern. The main storage is in the rather small wardrobe. It’s pretty shallow apart from the area for shoes at the bottom so you can’t get a lot in there. That’s pretty much the only storage for take-off and landing which is not really adequate. Once you have taken off there is plenty of room on the side but not anywhere else to store things out of sight.
The seat controls are simple mainly as there is not much you can control. You turn the dial to recline the seat into a bed or to put it back upright again. There is not separate leg rest control which always irritates me as reaching the footstool without reclining quite a bit is impossible if you are my height (5ft 6) or shorter.
The seat and surrounding appeared in good condition and clean.
However, for lounging and sleeping, I find the seat very comfortable and not too hard. I do also like the individual lamps that you can control and the window blinds which always look classy to me.
At the seat, you get given both a large plump pillow and a small day cushion, and I like having both so you can arrange a comfortable position in various ways.
You also get a mattress cover that has some decent padding and a duvet as well as a day blanket. As it was a day flight, I only had a short sleep, but I did use the duvet as it was very cold onboard. The first seats are definitely much more comfortable for sleeping than Club Suites due to the amount of space to toss and turn if you need to.
Food and drink
You couldn’t pre-order for my flight, but you can request the menu in advance from YouFirst, but usually only within a few weeks of departure.
Here is the food menu:
I was quite torn what to have as a few friends had given me a run down on various dishes and both the beef starter and main courses looked good. But I’m afraid double beef was a step too far after the bacon chop so I went for the prawn cocktail even though I was very perplexed by the mushrooms. What chef in their right mind goes, I know what would make a classic prawn cocktail even better, mushrooms?!
The meals service started with the offer of a drink and canapes:
I really enjoyed these with my glass of champagne and they looked beautiful too. Here is the drinks list:
Next, my table was laid, and I was offered a break basket selection. I really like having the olive oil option, as some of the Mediterranean breads don’t seem right with butter.
Apart from the very random addition of the mushroom slices, the prawn cocktail was excellent with large juicy prawns and plenty of tasty sauce hidden under the lettuce. I also enjoyed the Pouilly Fume with it.
Next came the rib of beef, and this was really something. A huge, almost prehistoric-looking rib of beef, cooked until it was falling apart with some tender roasted shallots and a great sauce. This is how beef needs to be served on a plane. Anything else is sacrilege unless you like your beef very well done. The side dishes were also good, particularly the dauphinoise potatoes. I paired it with the Cellar Selection Grand Cru which turned out to be this:
Pauillac is one of my favourite Bordeaux wines, but I often find the BA first wines a little underwhelming. However, this was fantastic and had that complexity, smoothness and refinement that I often find lacking in the first wines. Probably one of the best wines I have had on BA first for a while.
I was pretty full, but I did like the sound of the espresso cake, which as I suspected, was very similar to tiramisu.
I was delighted to see that they had cognac on the menu as it has been MIA for ages on and off. However, when I requested it, it turned out there was none on board. Sigh, #brandygate lives on!
Second meal
Despite what felt like a huge meal I decided to take one for the team and try some afternoon tea before landing for the review. I only had the scones and sandwiches as I was still full from lunch.
The scones were huge, but the sandwiches tiny. As I generally am not keen on cakes, I would have preferred to have a bigger selection of sandwiches maybe. I also could have done with more cream as although I only had one scone they were so big there was not enough to do both sides.
Entertainment, Wi-Fi and power
The seats have a multi-country socket and two USB points, so it is well served for charging your electrical items.
Wi-Fi is free in first, but it never specifies which speed you get. I’m convinced you get the slower speed, as I find the free one pretty useless except for simple messaging.
I found the selection of films pretty good with plenty of new and interesting films. I watched Blind Ambition which was about four Zimbabwean men that form their country’s first Wine Tasting team. If you think Cool Runnings for wine you are in the right area. I absolutely adored this inspiring film, and if you love wine, then it’s a must-see. Even if you are not that into wine, it’s well worth a watch.
The definition is pretty good but not as good as the newer First. The screen size, I think, is also perfectly acceptable.
The controls may look old-fashioned, but they work well, and that’s what matters in my book.
Arrival
Barbados has no jetbridges, so I knew to expect stairs on arrival, which BA can’t do anything about. Plus, you walk across the tarmac so much better than a bus. The cabin crew member serving me remembered what I had been saying about my bad knee and carried my bag down the stairs for me. I thought that was really lovely, and that finished a fantastic flight off in a great way.
Conclusion
The day started badly with Heathrow’s security issues and then a bus gate. Luckily the cabin crew were fantastic onboard and really made up for the shaky start. The food was also pretty faultless, and I would not have complained if I had that in a restaurant (apart from the weird mushrooms!). It was good to see some really impressive tasting wines in First rather than the usual slightly disappointing ones that are all fur coats and no knickers as the saying goes!
25 comments
Hi,
Just wanted to comment on your Security Experience – I have the exactly the same sentiment as you with respect to security at not only Heathrow but in general the major airports in UK. They are such PITA – I feel that they are just indeed badly trained and also high on their power trip. This is why always transferring at Heathrow if at T5 I will always get out and use the security at the First wing as they slightly (not yet completely) less PITA to he usual/fast track ones.
The other airport (my home airport) but now slightly less – is AMS. Same badly trained agents.
Cheers!
Next time ask if they don’t mind compromising the security of the nation for your convenience.
I think you are completely missing the point. It’s not about not having security it’s about the balance between security and having long queues. It’s also about wasting time on someone that is zero threat every time. If you secondary searched every person then yes potentially it would be safer. However the airport would grind to a halt. This is why they don’t.
As an example of the issue for unknown reasons at Heathrow you will have some detectors that are set overly high for example. I can walk through T3 wearing exactly the same outfit with nothing dodgy and get pulled over every single time for something imaginary. At the first wing I get pulled over for the same outfit once in a blue moon as a random search. This is not how security should work. It should be consistent.
In the US they are far far superior. Instead of wasting everyone’s time they pre-vet people that apply for pre-check with a full security background check. Then you get a separate lane with less scrutiny. This is what they should do here. As every time they are searching a frequent traveller that is zero threat they are taking time away from actual threats.
I’m sorry….but what does a threat look like? You say your ‘zero threat’ how does the machine know that? Just because you go through LHR Sercurity many times doesn’t mean your less of a threat……until pre checks come in. Does what your wearing mean your less likely to be a threat as another person wearing something else?
No I mean that if it’s scanning me, so the metal detector/body scanner and I’m wearing the same clothes/jewellery etc there should be the same result unless it selects you for a random check. It’s checking for metal so they should be calibrated the same and therefore the same clothes/shoes etc should produce the same result.
Michele, you mention sacrilege. I winced when I read they are using Le Grand Siecle for a Bucks Fizz. How absolutely fabulously…sad.
They do have other options available in the CCR including a sparkling English wine. I don’t know what they use for a Bucks Fizz.
It is stated on the breakfast menu that they use LGS champagne.
Great article, I too have tired of the irrational security checks with no apparent rhyme or reason. I’m flying out of LCY next week. On my last visit, apart from a chaotic queuing system going through security, there were about a dozen passengers hanging around waiting for the secondary check. A shame, it used to be a fantastic airport.
That’s a shame. It’s a while since I’ve been through LCY. I’d guess the issues are to do with so many new staff but I’m still not sure why that leads to more checks.
I’m a bit conflicted over the security issues.
If it were predictable, it could be circumvented – so secondary check selection has to be random.
It could be that Intelligence information suggests an increased risk, so scanner sensitivity is increased.
And, what better time to try and do something nefarious than when queues are long, tempers raised and security stretched…
It’s the fact is varies so dramatically between terminals, and it’s been like this since the summer in T3 for me. I get the unpredictable part but then, for me that’s what random searches are there for. I just wish they would go with a TSA pre-clearance model. It’s better for everyone – people are pre-vetted so it’s safer, it needs less staff and you have more time to spend on the people you don’t know about.
Pretty poor of BA not to have a separate bus at least for First class passengers.
I recently almost missed a flight due to security at T3 when the completely uncooperative staff had every second bag pulled over, then unbelievably opened the secure sealed bag of the passenger in front of me and proceeded to open the also sealed bottle of Balvenie at a glacial pace to put them through the scanner. No amount of complaining from the passenger and no amount of pleading that I was in a desperate hurray made a difference. Completely inconsistent service. I went through the test security at T5 last week where I didn’t have to remove liquids – super quick.
And don’t even start me on the bus debacle when travelling in a premium cabin. Utter shambles. Happened last month on way to BDA. It may appear a first world problem to some but we pay thousands of pounds for a better service that often turns out to be less that mediocre.
Thank you Ely. I’m glad some people get it. I don’t get why people think it’s ok for the shambles at Heathrow to still be continuing at this point and that we should just put up with it. If I wanted long queues and a bus I’d fly Ryanair or EasyJet.
Just wait until later this year when EVERY UK citizen will have to be fingerprinted every time you want to travel to the EU. They “think” this will take 2-3 extra minutes per person but worse will be at the ports when everyone will have to step out of every car, van or coach, and here they think 5 minutes per person. Prepare for sheer hell.
it will not ever come in as it will not work been delayed many times now.
I thoroughly agree with Heathrow having trusted travellers/TSA pre-clearannce as so much better when going through security in the states!
Hi Michelle,
Thank you for the very accurate review. I do understand your frustration with the security. I remember I used to wear a belt which was fine to pass through most security checks and yet my local airport always insisted on my removing it before passing through. It just gets to be more and more frustrating each time it happens.
As to BA First – the food and wine is really underwhelming. I find it hard to see any premium elements at all. Better airlines are using plentiful caviar, wagyu beef, bresse chicken, turbot and so on, and much better wines and champagne in their First class. Its like the joke says, BA First is the world’s best Business Class.
Best
J P Williams
I completely agree with your issues about Heathrow security staff, Michele.
Recently I almost missed a flight due to the speed of the security line. The staff seem wholly undertrained (but not understaffed). Another passenger had to ask others to let them ahead in the queue as they were about to miss their flight. When they told the security staff, they sort of shrugged their shoulders, and then proceeded to stop the queue when one of them went to the toilet.
All the while the clock was ticking, and blood pressures rising. A member of staff was stood on the sidelines complaining bitterly if someone didn’t follow the correct procedure immediately. One almost wanted to tell them that the long queue was not to do with passengers, but rather, it was to do with staff just stood around chatting.
I also agree with your comments on security – but I was travelling economy on EasyJet at the time 🤣. I don’t think your class of travel should really matter if I am honest! Also – how many people actually pay money for flights in premium cabins now? Last year I travelled in a premium cabin and paid the fare available – I travel perhaps once or twice a year and never for work so I don’t collect points. I was acutely aware that most of my fellow passengers had paid barely one tenth of what I paid for the flight – it wasn’t a good feeling!
To be fair in security it’s often down to specific threats, so increased searches are targeted by time, date and/ or destination. That’s why it can vary by terminal on the same day
And the detectors are literally random generators as well as metal detectors, so they are designed to beep randomly, even when no metal is detected. Dave for the x-ray machines.
As above, it has to be random to prevent people playing the system.
If you think about it, one way of getting something nefarious on board would be to book a first class ticket if those searches were less frequent.
All this doesn’t excuse not having enough people to conduct the extra searches, but if the intelligence arrives in on a morning when they are low on staff there is not a lot they can do
It’s nice to see you experienced how 99% of the world travel… being crammed onto buses and getting coughed on LOL.
Since BA and AA are the only airlines with non-stops from Phoenix to London we fly BA several times a year. Sadly BA regards Phoenix as a secondary destination because they now fly the A350 with no First Class. The biz is infinitely better than their previous horrendous back-to-front layout but we no longer get access to the Concorde Lounge. The problem at LHR is with the bloody unions who do everything they can to slow things down. 99% of the time we find the cabin crew to be wonderful but BA management I think are the worst in the whole industry.
BA are the most dreadful airline in the sky They sold me a First Class return to Dubai but tried to put me on a business class seat on another Airline
I was on my way to Cairo just before Christmas, and they downgraded my partner from business to economy, and they were selling business class seats on that flight. We showed the agent at the airport, the screenshot
They abandoned me in Madrid, and would not arrange a flight to return, because it code share with Iberia, and neither airline, took responsibility but they were also selling seats on the flight they bumped me off
The Chief Executive keeps sending silly emails about how this airline is going to be a premium airline this will never happen. It’s a badly managed airline and the staff are rude.
its funny no one else has mentioned or noticed that on the champagne menu page it lists the haltingly valley but describes the Lanson…and on the description for Lanson it lists Gusebourne…a fizz that isn’t even mentioned on the list! LOL
Can someone please let BA know? Terribly embarrassing.
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