I arrived with the transfer bus from Terminal 2 (see my flight report about my FlyDubai flight from Kuwait) and I went to the British Airways desk to get my boarding pass.
"I'm booked in World Traveller Plus. Can you check if it's possible to buy an upgrade to Club World?" "But you're already in business class "
OK, cool - it's very easy to make me happy :)
DXB Terminal 1 is very nice. Most airlines except Emirates, Qantas (both are T3) and the budget airlines (T2) use Terminal 1, so there are quite a lot of flights
I went upstairs to the British Airways lounge.
The lounge is not very big and gets full as time to board approaches but it's actually quite nice.
Soft drinks, beer, a small choice of red and white wines and an also small choice of stronger alcohols are available.
A selection of cold and hot food is also available.
The lounge is certainly not as grandiose as Emirates' lounge in Dubai but it is perfectly adequate.
Boarding was from gate D9, not more than five minutes walk from the lounge. Boarding passes and passports were controlled, and while some passengers were sent to additional security check, I was sent directly to the priority boarding area. Boarding started a few minutes after I arrived, first with disabled people and families with young children followed by First and Club World passengers.
I was very happy to board… a B747. No doubt this is the most beautiful aircraft that still flies regularly but more and more airlines phase them out, and it's certain that the opportunity to fly on the Queen of the Skies is getting rare.
I had seat 21D, a front facing aisle seat. Legroom is really huge. For single passengers this is a good seat.
Legroom is of course huge.
This was the view from my seat
Pillow, blanket, water and noise-cancelling headphones were waiting on the seat.
"We run out of Club World washbags so I will give you a First Class wash bag, is it OK?"
Champagne or water were offered and menu cards were distributed. The menu card is long to explain about the quality of the service but the actual food offer is very limited on this flight: as departure is in the middle of the night (02.35) I could only choose from three different snacks (see the last photo): a sort of mezze, a soup and cheese.
I was also asked to fill out a form about breakfast: do I want to be waken up? If yes, what I would like for breakfast?
But it was not meal time yet. Push-back exactly on time at 02.25. Take-off was at 02.40. I love the sound of a 747 at take-off!
Wi-Fi was available with one hour for free and full flight at 14.99£. And yes, it was actually working after a lengthy registration.
Drinks and meals were served about 45 minutes after take-off. I had the mezze which was quite good. While I understand that most people don't want to eat too much at about 3am there can always be passengers who do - coming for instance from different time zones - so it would be maybe better to offer something more substantial as an option for the few who would like to eat a full meal.
Two pieces of small chocolate were also offered with the meal.
Flight information before I went to sleep
I slept pretty well from about Kuwait to Frankfurt - five hours or so. BA has flat beds that are long enough but not very large. These are of course no hotel beds but I was satisfied with sleeping so long and actually quite well. The panel to set the bed is quite retro style which I didn’t dislike
Flight information when I woke up
Breakfast was served immediately after. The omelette, mushroom and other ingredients of the British breakfast were OK but the piece of beef that was served with was so hard I was afraid I would break the table when I was trying to cut it. The croissant was hard and inedible. The muffin was OK. I couldn't try the butter and the jam that were also served as no bread was offered with. As on many but not all overnight flights breakfast was the weakest part.
We landed at Heathrow Terminal 5 at exactly 6am. It took me a total of reasonable 25 minutes to disembark, get from the satellite to the main building and to clear security for my connecting flight back to Keflavik, Iceland.
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Verdict
British Airways
8.0/10
Cabin8.0
Cabin crew8.0
Entertainment/wifi8.0
Meal/catering8.0
British Airways Lounge
7.8/10
Comfort8.0
Meal/catering7.0
Entertainment/wifi8.0
Services8.0
Dubai - DXB
9.8/10
Efficiency10.0
Access10.0
Services9.0
Cleanliness10.0
London - LHR
10.0/10
Efficiency10.0
Access10.0
Services10.0
Cleanliness10.0
Conclusion
I was already happy to fly a B747 and I was of course very happy to get in upgrade to World Club (business class). The flight experience was overall very good with the cabin crew as friendly as almost always at British Airways, the nice cabin, the huge legroom and the flat bed that allowed me to sleep five hours quite well. The weakest point was catering but it was still more or less OK, and once again, I booked a cheap World Traveller Plus (premium economy) ticket and got a free upgrade for my return leg.
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4 Comments
Thanks a lot for this detailed FR.
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