Review of British Airways flight London Los Angeles in Premium Eco

Airline British Airways
Flight BA283
Class Premium Eco
Seat 68F
Aircraft Airbus A380-800
Flight time 11:10
Take-off 03 Sep 15, 09:45
Arrival at 03 Sep 15, 12:55
BA   #65 out of 96 Airlines A minimum of 10 flight-reports within the past two years is required to appear in the rankings. 960 reviews
suzi1991
By 6096
Published on 3rd November 2015
After not having posted a trip report for over 4 years, I have decided to share my recent experience with British Airways so that others can have an idea of what the airline offers. Apologies for the small amount of photos on this trip.

We arrived at Heathrow Terminal 5 early on the Thursday morning and found the terminal to be relatively quiet. Having originally been booked in to fly World Traveller, we asked about potential upgrades at bag drop. We were directed to the customer service/upgrades desk and told that were 2 seats left in World Traveller Plus for £229 each - happy days for an 11 hour flight!

We then breezed through passport control and security and on to the departures area for a light breakfast.

Our flight was on time and boarding onto the upper deck was very efficient. After settling into our seats (aisle and middle of row 68), the crew came round with orange juice and sparkling wine - a great touch we thought. There are only 3 seats in row 68 (which is a plus) but a major downside is that the toilets are either side of the row… Now, this would not have been a huge problem had they kept the curtain closed, but as it was open during the whole flight we had full view of the toilets the whole time. This was not a problem when the door was closed but people kept leaving it open which is really not pleasant when you're trying to eat and having to lean across to shut it every 3 minutes!! So be warned about choosing to sit in row 68.

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2-3-2 layout on the upper deck of the A380 in WT+

That said, I was surprised at how comfortable and spacious World Traveller Plus actually was. The A380 sports BA's refit design which has thinner seats, thus allowing more space and comfort between the rows. The foot rest is a bonus, and after having endured 10 hours in a seat in World Traveller on an old 747 in 2010 which did not recline due to the very close proximity of the wall behind, I was so relieved to find that this time they had allowed more space between the wall and seat so we could fully recline.

photo image (2)
Plenty of legroom! Then again I am only 5 foot 5…

photo image (3)photo image (5)
As we were the last to be served in WT+, there was no beef left :-( instead, the crew gave us the starters and warm bread and asked if we would prefer to wait until Club World passengers had finished their meals and see if there were any leftovers. There ended up being 1 chicken and 1 beef left, and the kind gentleman in front of me that was also waiting for the beef told me to take it and he would go for the chicken. The food was fabulous. Beef was perfectly cooked and full of flavour. Also surprisingly filling given the size of the portion. Very impressed, British Airways.

After a couple more drinks, I settled into watching a movie and then getting a little shut eye time. BA provided nice little amenity kits with ear plugs and eye masks.

Now, I normally don't watch anything during a flight as I'm usually in a window seat with the in-flight map on my TV and the view out of the window to keep me entertained, but having sat in row 68 we couldn't see out of any of the windows which was a shame given that the flight was all during daylight hours.

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I had the virtual cockpit view on my screen as we came in to land, and because I myself fly aircraft (much smaller than an A380) and am an 'avgeek', I talked my partner through the landing, as we had no window view, whilst the aircraft made all the familiar noises and feelings. I was only off the we are landing… now by 1 second ;-)
I hope that one day BA will have the external cameras that Emirates and other airlines have for passenger viewing.

All in all a pleasant experience with British Airways, with the only thing that would have made it an excellent experience would be choosing not to sit by the toilets in future.

Look out for my other trip report on the return leg from LAX to LHR in BA's Club World.
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Verdict

British Airways

8.5/10
Cabin8.5
Cabin crew9.0
Entertainment/wifi8.0
Meal/catering8.5

London - LHR

8.5/10
Efficiency7.5
Access10.0
Services8.0
Cleanliness8.5

Los Angeles - LAX

6.1/10
Efficiency3.5
Access7.0
Services7.0
Cleanliness7.0

Conclusion

Information on the route London (LHR) Los Angeles (LAX)

Les contributeurs de Flight-Report ont posté 25 avis concernant 5 compagnies sur la ligne London (LHR) → Los Angeles (LAX).


Useful

La compagnie qui obtient la meilleure moyenne est Virgin Atlantic avec 8.2/10.

La durée moyenne des vols est de 11 heures et 12 minutes.

  More information

5 Comments

If you liked this review or if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to post a comment below !
  • Comment 150021 by
    KévinDC TEAM SILVER 6668 Comments
    Thanks for sharing this short but sweet report. I like seeing trip reports on BA's new World Traveller Plus as there aren't many out there and I'll be flying in the new WTP soon. £229 for an upgrade on an 11 hour flight it definitely a good deal. I've flown in BA's old WTP before and found it to be ok, but not as good as other Premium Economy classes I've tried on other carriers. The new seats look much better and I like that there are double armrests now. This is one of my main complaints about the old WTP, that the armrests don't offer enough separation from your neighbor. I like that BA offers pre-departure drinks in WTP, most other carriers don't do this in Premium Economy.

    It was really nice of the FA to offer you the leftover meals from Club World. Definitely went above and beyond.

    Now, I normally don't watch anything during a flight as I'm usually in a window seat with the in-flight map on my TV and the view out of the window to keep me entertained
    - Spoken like a true AvGeek :-)

  • Comment 150051 by
    eminere™ 271 Comments
    Someone will no doubt correct me if I'm wrong, but I do believe on BA the entree served in Y+ is from the same selection as J anyway.
    • Comment 328299 by
      KévinDC TEAM SILVER 6668 Comments
      I think you're right that the main dish is the same. I've flow in both Club World and World Traveller Plus. In CW the main is always kind of underwhelming, but in WTP it's nice. This plate we see here on the report must be new, however, as I've only seen the smaller rectangular dishes in CW and WTP. I wonder if this is new just for CW or if they have this type of plate in both classes.
  • Comment 150057 by
    KL651 TEAM 4534 Comments
    Welcome and thanks for this FR.

    What was the snack like? It seems on an 11h flight they should offer a second real meal and not a simple snack.
  • Comment 157120 by
    suzi1991 AUTHOR 1 Comments
    Hi everyone.
    Thanks for your comments! Apologies I haven't written my Club World report yet.
    KL651 - I agree, it should be a little more substantial, especially as immigration etc. at LAX takes so long you need something to keep you going until you reach the next food stop!
    Eminere & KevinDC - I'm not sure if the entree is always the same as in CW, but as they had run out of beef in WTP they gave us the leftover ones from CW, which I agree was nice of them rather than saying sorry but you'll just have to have the chicken!
    KevinDC - before I book my flights I always do a little research on the airlines and cabins on offer on the specific route, so I find these reports very useful when helping to make my decision. Writing them also satisfies my inner avgeek ;-)
    The new WTP cabin is nicer than the previous one - the seats are comfortable, there is a good amount of recline, and I like the foot rest. Saying that, the only reason I chose to fly with BA is because I had airmiles I wanted to use. Normally, I always fly the LHR-LAX route with Air New Zealand as I think that their Premium and Economy cabins are far better than BA. Yes, this does mean losing out on avios and tier points as an Exec Club member, but ANZ is worth it. I was lucky enough to have an entire 3 seat row in economy on ANZ all to myself (even though the rest of the aircraft was packed) coming back from LAX in Sept 2014, and their armrests lift up so I could lie down. BE WARNED - BA's armrests in their new cabins do not go up!!! So gone are the days when you would jump with excitement at a whole row to yourself :-(

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