Review of British Airways flight Paris London in Economy

Airline British Airways
Flight BA315
Class Economy
Seat 10F
Aircraft Airbus A319
Flight time 01:20
Take-off 18 Feb 19, 15:05
Arrival at 18 Feb 19, 15:25
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
ISTFlyer
By SILVER 741
Published on 2nd April 2019

Report No: 2019-205E


After my first international flight from Istanbul Airport, it was time to return to DC. I have not touched my original DC-Paris booking and utilized it sequentially even though I have added Istanbul to this short trip. This report would be the first report of the third part of this serie. It would be a classic British Airways Euro Traveller report as I have reported similar flights many times in the past. However, in this report, I would include details about my first visit to the Cathay Pacific Lounge in Paris which is actually one of the best OW Business lounges in Europe.


Just a reminder that as I have already reported the first flight and a similar one to the second, I had used the chance to video report the first part of this serie for a test of YouTube flight-reports that I would start to post soon but things didn't go as well as I expected. It's really hard to capture good quality videos on a phone camera so I won't compile them as a video and present it to you, but I would share some parts of the flights as a video as well. Because that some photos were taken from the videos, they are not in their usual quality. However, these reports are complete Flight-Reports and I apologize for the bad photo qualities in some images and give the signal that I would start video-reporting soon as I have the chance to buy a motion camera. Once again, thanks for your understanding.


The routing for this serie would look like this
First Part



Second Part



Third Part


Routing


Pax for this flight

Club Europe: %95-100 [Club Europe until row 6]
Euro Traveller: %95-100 


ONLINE CHECK-IN


Even though, this was my connecting flight, I had to do a separate online check-in for the next two flights as there were operated by a different airline and in a different reservation.


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I had sticked to my pre-reserved emergency exit row seat for the first flight


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And, I was able to select seat 30A for free due to my British Airways Executive Club Silver status for the next flight. My pre-reserved seat was 32K.


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PARIS CHARLES DE GAULLE AIRPORT - CDG


After arriving to Terminal 1, it's time to head to Terminal 2A for my next flight. I should clear security in T1 gates 10-18 to access the green transfer shuttle which leads to Terminal 2 as a Non-Schengen path. 


At the security checkpoint over there, I had first tried to scan my mobile boarding pass to the AccesNo1 device but it didn't work, as there was nobody at the flight connections service desk; I had waited my turn at the regular line which was 10-15 minutes.


Something interesting had happened at the security checkpoint. At first there was two lanes open but after the number of passengers in the line have decreased, one of the lanes were closed and all passengers were directed to the other remaining open lane. One of the passengers ( an old women heading to Ireland ) insisted to use the closing lane as there were less people at that lane. She first put her belongings to the trays at the closing lane, then the security officers told once more that the lane is closed and she must head to the open lane. The lady hasn't listened. Just after I passed the metal detector. The lady jumped in front of the passenger behind me and put her belongings to the X-Ray device without excusing anyone. This time the security agents were trying to send her back to the end of the queue as she lost her turn. As I could talk French, I've heard the chief on duty being so angry and the other security officers were relaxed and enjoying the funny situation. There was a audience of 20-25 people watching that Irish lady but I didn't stay for the rest of the comedy and headed to the transfer bus.


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After another verification of my boarding pass, I was admitted to the waiting hall for the transfer bus.


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After a short wait of 9 minutes; the bus arrived and I had arrived to Terminal 2A within 7-8 minutes. The bus was not crowded and there were 2 passengers in total including myself. The other passenger was a lady that was also heading to Washington but after a standby not cleared onboard the direct United flight, she was struggling to catch the Air France flight which was going to depart within an hour. Luckily, that flight got delayed and she was able to make that flight.


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And I'm finally in Terminal 2A.


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And I'm going to head to the lounge to have lunch.


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Cathay Pacific LOUNGE - PARIS CHARLES DE GAULLE AIRPORT


As there are oneworld two lounges in Terminal 2A/C in Paris; I was first planning to do some lounge hopping between the Admirals Club and the CX Lounge but I have discovered that the Admirals Club closed after the last AA departure. However, the Cathay Pacific Lounge was one of the best outstation lounges that I have visited in Europe.


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The available press. There was a media room and a computer room as well which are not photographed.


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The salad bar


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Main courses


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Desserts, fruits and breads available


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Some cheese and some nuts


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And drinks that were available


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One of the best part of CX lounges that there are noodle bars where you could order a noodle of your choice and the chef prepares it for you. I was given a pager after my order and my order was ready within 3 minutes. Unlike like the CX lounges in LHR and SFO, the noodle bar is available for BA passengers in Paris.


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I had opted for the wonton noodles which were delicious.


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One of the other positive points about this lounge is that the lounge has a magnificent view of the apron.


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And, I was able to spot one of my friends from back home.


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As well as this Royal Jordanian A319.


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And our aircraft alongside with the El Al 772.


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During my visit at the lounge, I have realized that I wouldn't have time for a shower in Heathrow so I asked if I could used the showers. I was quickly given the key of one of the shower rooms and had a great shower. The shower rooms were spacious and was definitely better than those in the Galleries Lounge at Heathrow


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FIDS


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Before boarding would begun, an announcement at the lounge had been made that our flight would be shortly boarding, at that time I have left the lounge while passengers on the next BA flight was arriving to the lounge.


GATE AREA & BOARDING


Boarding had started on time with two gates being used. Gate A44 was used for priority passengers and gate A45 for others.


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Priorities were respected during boarding. As I hadn't seen an agent at check-in, after scanning my boarding pass the machine beeped and red light appeared. My passport was scanned and my visa to the USA was checked and then I was admitted onboard.


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As passengers requiring assistance was boarding at the same time, the ground staff asked us to wait at the jet bridge for a while. 5 minutes later, we were invited onboard G-EUPW.


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The door


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BA 315 PARIS CHARLES DE GAULLE AIRPORT TO London Heathrow AIRPORT


After being welcomed by the crew, I had headed to my seat 10F in the emergency exit row. As I mentioned in my previous reports, the emergency exit rows of BA shorthaul aircraft have a decent legroom and they have an ideal comfort for shorthaul flights.


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As I took my seat, I have noticed the construction going on at the apron and the Emirates A380 being push-backed.


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Just a highlight of the literature today onboard. Overhead monitors were not working as usual and there was no route map available today. The safety demo was made manually by the crew.

For those who want to browse the Marks&Spencer onboard menu, you could click on this line to view the menu of January-April 2019. 


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And we have pushed back on time as the Aeroflot 737-800 had arrived to Terminal 2C.
For all of the flight, I have taken a nap so I won't be able to share take-off photos and photos from the air.


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I had just woke up before our landing to Heathrow. We had landed 25 minutes before our scheduled arrival time.


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Some BA widebodies at Terminal 5C.


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British Airways 787


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British Airways 777 sisters


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And another British Airways 777


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Later on, we had parked to gate C53.


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The seatbelt signs were switched off shortly. Then, I have said goodbye to the crew and left the aircraft.


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London Heathrow AIRPORT - LHR


After deboarding our A319, the first visible aircraft was this BA 777-200 which was parked at gate C54.


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Free newspapers were available at the gate.


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As we had arrived to C gates, I have checked the FIDS for my next flight and I learned that it was going to depart from B gates.


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So, after a welcome from Tim Peake; I have headed to the walkway as I made my way to Terminal 5B.


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So, the journey would continue soon in the next report.
This report has came to an end. Thanks for reading and hope to see you in another report. 

See more

Verdict

British Airways

7.2/10
Cabin8.5
Cabin crew8.5
Entertainment/wifi3.5
Meal/catering8.5

Cathay Pacific Lounge

9.0/10
Comfort9.0
Meal/catering9.5
Entertainment/wifi8.5
Services9.0

Paris - CDG

8.0/10
Efficiency8.0
Access8.0
Services8.0
Cleanliness8.0

London - LHR

8.0/10
Efficiency8.0
Access8.0
Services8.0
Cleanliness8.0

Conclusion

As my experience had started with a disappointment of a need of voucher for the security lane, it turned to a humorous experience after watching the old lady and the security guards arguing even though I had to wait 15 minutes to clear security. The transfer between T1 and T2A/C was easy with the connection bus. The Cathay Pacific Lounge in T2A was one of the best outstation lounges that I've seen within Europe and I could tell that despite being an outstation lounge, the lounge is better than some airlines' flagship lounges. Everything was almost perfect and food was both suitable for European and Asian stereotypes. Also the staff was really polite to passengers and the shower facilities were really good. I could tell that I enjoyed my time in this lounge. Boarding was organized with priorities being respected and started on time; however, there was a short wait at the jetbridge as some passengers with disabilities were still being seated. The flight was a usual BA shorthaul flight which I sat on an exit row seat and which the IFE system ( overhead monitors ) is down. The flight was uneventful as well as our arrival to Heathrow which was on-time. The only upsetting part for some passengers was that we had parked to C53 which is one of the farthest gates to immigration, however, as my transfer flight was departing from Terminal 5B, it was a positive point for me that the transfer security at concourses are less crowded.

CDG
(+) Transfer system between terminals
(+) Priorities respected while boarding
(-) No priority security for passengers not stopping by a check-in counter
Cathay Pacific Lounge CDG
(+) Meal options ( Main courses & soup )
(+) Selections at the noodle bar
(+) Comfortable seating
(+) Nice apron views
(+) Spacious shower rooms and shower amenities
(+) Friendly staff
(-) Salad bar and desserts could be improved
BA315
(+) Exit row legroom
(+) On time departure and arrival
(-) IFE system ( overhead monitors ) not working
LHR
Nothing special to mention

Information on the route Paris (CDG) London (LHR)

Les contributeurs de Flight-Report ont posté 134 avis concernant 2 compagnies sur la ligne Paris (CDG) → London (LHR).


Useful

La compagnie qui obtient la meilleure moyenne est Air France avec 7.5/10.

La durée moyenne des vols est de 1 heures et 16 minutes.

  More information

2 Comments

If you liked this review or if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to post a comment below !
  • Comment 495932 by
    ThomasDutch SILVER 633 Comments
    I think this is the first time I have seen a person rating a transfer in CDG as a plus point. To me I personally try to avoid CDG at all costs if there isn't more than three hours in between both flights and despite the extra legroom, I find those seats not comfortable at all as everything in comfort is reduced. Thanks for sharing though!
    • Comment 495988 by
      ISTFlyer SILVER AUTHOR 399 Comments
      Hi ThomasDutch and thanks for your comment,

      - As far as I heard from some other people, yes, most of the people hates connecting in CDG; however, with a basic research before travel, the complicated transfer path seemed easy to figure out.
      - Similar to you, I don't also enjoy these Pinnacle seats when sitting in a row with regular legroom. However, they are better some seats that other competitors offer, and definitely I find them more comfortable than the older BA shorthaul seats.

      Once again thanks for stopping by and have a great day.

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