Review of British Airways flight London Stockholm in Economy

Airline British Airways
Flight BA 782
Class Economy
Seat 10D
Aircraft Airbus A320
Flight time 02:30
Take-off 18 Nov 16, 16:30
Arrival at 18 Nov 16, 20:00
BA   #65 out of 95 Airlines A minimum of 10 flight-reports within the past two years is required to appear in the rankings. 960 reviews
jetsetpanda
By 1008
Published on 6th January 2017
Hi and welcome to the continuation of my connecting segment to ARN. Here is my schedule so far:

SFO-LHR on BA Y - click here.
LHR-ARN on BA Y - you are here.
ARN-PRG on SK Y - click here.
PRG-CDG on OK Y - click here.
CDG-HND on JL F - click here.
HND-PEK on JL J - click here.
PEK-SFO on UA Y - click here.


The early arrival into LHR gave me some extra time to connect and allowed me to find the Galleries First lounge at a more leisurely pace. However, I never thought that trying to locate the lounge was a challenge. After security I saw the Concorde Room entrance and inquired the outside receptionist. She told me to walk all the way to the opposite side of the terminal, take the stairs down, then walk to the opposite side once again and take a set of stairs up. I have never been given a more convoluted set of directions for a lounge.

After quite a lot of walking and feeling like a mouse running inside a labyrinth, I was rewarded with the arrival into the BA Galleries First lounge - that exclusive oasis for the "other" Oneworld Emerald members who were not special enough to qualify for entrance in the Concorde Room. :P

photo ba first gallery  lhr 3 - copyphoto ba first gallery  lhr 4 - copy


Once you take the escalators to the entrance, there is a common hallway that is shared with the Elemis Spa and the Galleries Club lounge. There is a nice exhibition of BA memorabilia.

photo ba first gallery  lhr 5 - copy


I show my boarding pass along with my AA EXP card and was welcomed into the lounge.




Each WC had its own sink which was a nice surprise.

photo ba first gallery  lhr 8 - copyphoto ba first gallery  lhr 6 - copyphoto ba first gallery  lhr 7 - copy


I then decided to take a shower and was advised to exit the lounge and inquire at the Elemis Spa. That was a bit of a hassle since i had to show my boarding pass again in order to regain entry back to the lounge. I would have thought that for a F lounge there would be a set of dedicated showers instead of being shared with the J lounge . I was given a pager by the Elemis attendant and within 15 min. my shower suite was ready.

The shower is the same as the one that I have used at the Galleries Club at T5B on a previous visit. They are more functional than luxurious with Elemis toiletries.




I went back to the Galleries First lounge and upon checking the departure monitor found out that my ARN flight was moved to one of the satellite terminals instead of the main T5 terminal at the last minute. That cut my stay short and I barely had time to enjoy a glass of champagne before leaving in a hurry. Aargh! I originally wanted to grab something to eat but I had to settle for a wrap or bacon sandwich aboard (that is what i thought).

photo ba first gallery  lhr 19 - copyphoto ba first gallery  lhr 20 - copyphoto ba first gallery  lhr 21 - copy


On my way to the train for the satellite terminal.

photo ba 782 lhr-arn 2 - copy


A quick plane shot while walking to the gate.

photo ba 782 lhr-arn 3 - copy


When i arrived at the gate the flight had started to board already. I settled into my aisle seat and thankfully the middle seat remained empty. The pitch was tight.

photo ba 782 lhr-arn 5 - copy


My row.

photo ba 782 lhr-arn 4 - copy


It took some time to taxi and once we were airborne the service commenced. To my surprise there was no wrap or bacon sandwich distributed, just a basket with shortbread cookies, nuts or crisps. For some reason I always thought that ARN flights had a snack besides packaged goods.


Is this it?

photo ba 782 lhr-arn 6 - copy


The flight was uneventful and when we arrived in ARN, I went to McDonalds and had 2 sandwiches before taking the shuttle to my hotel.


ARN airport. Heading to Skycity.

photo dsc05457 - copyphoto dsc05458 - copy
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Verdict

British Airways

5.6/10
Cabin7.5
Cabin crew7.0
Entertainment/wifi5.0
Meal/catering3.0

British Airways Galleries First - 5A

8.0/10
Comfort9.0
Meal/catering8.0
Entertainment/wifi7.0
Services8.0

London - LHR

8.4/10
Efficiency7.5
Access8.0
Services9.0
Cleanliness9.0

Stockholm - ARN

9.3/10
Efficiency9.0
Access9.0
Services9.0
Cleanliness10.0

Conclusion

I wish that I had more time to enjoy the BA Galleries First lounge. The last minute gate change to a satellite terminal did not help and cut my stay short. LHR T5 is a huge terminal and sometimes connecting there can be time consuming. Fortunately my experience this time was smoother.

The flight was uneventful but I was surprised that there was not any substantial snacks offered, just packaged goods. I know that in 2017 the catering on this particular flight will switch to a B.O.B. scheme with M&S items. It seems that BA is behaving more like a LCC these days instead of a legacy carrier.

Information on the route London (LHR) Stockholm (ARN)

Les contributeurs de Flight-Report ont posté 6 avis concernant 2 compagnies sur la ligne London (LHR) → Stockholm (ARN).


Useful

La compagnie qui obtient la meilleure moyenne est British Airways avec 7.3/10.

La durée moyenne des vols est de 2 heures et 29 minutes.

  More information

9 Comments

If you liked this review or if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to post a comment below !
  • Comment 380536 by
    Scott05 570 Comments
    Thank you for this FR!
    I thought that you'd be getting the new BoB product on board, apparently they are waiting to introduce it.
    The snack you got is typically what you'd usually get on BA domestic flights. Light but comparable to some other European legacies unfortunately...
    • Comment 380603 by
      jetsetpanda AUTHOR 2283 Comments
      Hi Scott.

      The way that I understand it, ARN is considered a Band 3 route (flight time 115-179 min.) and I was supposed to get some kind of snack like filled flatbread or similar. I was surprised that all I got was a choice of packaged items and that was disappointing. It seemed that BA decided to just phase out the old catering guidelines completely in anticipation of the new B.O.B.

      Thank you for your comments.
  • Comment 381358 by
    Rl 777 802 Comments
    Thank you for sharing this FR with us!

    Nice pictures from the lounge.

    The cost-cutting is strong with BA..... I did the same route in July 2016 and they offered a bacon roll with a muffin or a salad.

    Thanks for sharing!

    Have a good one, see you.
  • Comment 384759 by
    NGO85 SILVER 1963 Comments
    Thanks for sharing this FR Adan!

    “I have never been given a more convoluted set of directions for a lounge.”
    - The Galleries North is much easier to access, hence the larger crowds there. There are less mice to make it to the end of the Galleries South maze^^ The BA Lounges are pretty lackluster so it’s not like you missed much during your shot stay.

    “To my surprise there was no wrap or bacon sandwich distributed, just a basket with shortbread cookies, nuts or crisps.”
    - And less than 2 months later, these are gone as well^^ The BA in-flight catering has gone from good to decent to poor with the matter of 6 months. It was a very rapid decision to go LCC and follow SK (the pioneer).

    "I went to McDonalds and had 2 sandwiches" <== That sounds healthy :P
    • Comment 385021 by
      jetsetpanda AUTHOR 2283 Comments
      Hi Michael.

      "The BA Lounges are pretty lackluster so it’s not like you missed much during your shot stay."
      - That seems to be the consensus.

      "The BA in-flight catering has gone from good to decent to poor with the matter of 6 months. "
      - Talk about a steep decline.

      "That sounds healthy :P"
      - I had a vegetarian and fish sandwiches. Both were fried. :P

      Thanks for your comments.

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