#62 out of 94 Airlines A minimum of 10 flight-reports within the past two years is required to appear in the rankings.
967 reviews
Report No: 2019-206E
Now, it's time to return back to DC after a short holiday. As usual I had preferred British Airways for this journey so this report won't be new for those who have read my reports before. However, you would have the chance to compare flights from the previous months to this one. So, I would like to welcome you to the last Flight-Report of this serie which would be a British Airways World Traveller report onboard the 787-9 from London to Washington Dulles. In addition, this report would also include a visit to the Galleries Club Lounge in Heathrow Terminal 5B.
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
Pax for this flight
First: No idea
Club World: No idea
World Traveller Plus: %90-95
World Traveller: %70-75
After arriving from my previous flight, I had checked the FIDS and learned that my next flight would depart from B gates.
As I also mentioned in the previous report, I have decided to use the walkway to Terminal 5B as I would also stretch my legs before a transatlantic flight.
After arriving to Terminal 5B and scanning my boarding pass; a red light appeared, my passport and visa were subject to verification one more time. After this issue has been solved the agent rescanned the boarding pass, she was surprised that the light was still red; then she realized that I was sitting in an emergency exit row and that was the only remaining reason that my boarding pass made the red light appear. After clearing security within 5 minutes, I have headed to the departure level and then to the Galleries Lounge.
As I hold an Executive Club Silver membership, I headed to the Galleries Lounge in Terminal 5B to spend the small amount of time until my flight. As there is another IAD flight, 1 hour before mine, I have requested if I could change my reservation for that flight for free but the answer was no, even though I had no checked baggage, as there was less than an hour for that flight to depart. However, the earlier flight, BA 231, got delayed for 40 minutes so I didn't lose anything and it wouldn't be worth giving up an emergency exit seat.
The offering at the lounge was the standart lunch offering at that time
Mini sandwiches, cakes
Breads, soups
Salad bar
Pork pies with piccalilli sauce
The drink section of the lounge
Today's wine selection
Coffee bar
After my short visit to all buffets of the lounge, I have found an empty corner and enjoyed the quietness for a while.
Our aircraft for today's flight ( G-ZBKA ) was visible from the lounge. It would be my second time on G-ZBKA. Luckily, I had reported my first flight on that specific aircraft here on Flight-Report which I flew on the same exact flight 3 months before this flight.
Before boarding had started, I had headed to gate B46 and took my place in the Group 2 queue.
The boarding area was well-organized and priorities were respected during boarding. Boarding had started 45 minutes before departure and I was one of the first ones to board with Group 2.
Another view of our aircraft from the gate
G-YMMP which was parked next door
As usual, complimentary newspapers were available at the gate
The door
After being welcomed by the crew, I have took my seat 30A, which is in the first row of the World Traveller cabin and in an emergency exit row. The seat is a usual BA longhaul Economy seat however, the tray table in the armrest reduces the seat width a little bit. However, the seats in BA longhaul aircraft is really comfortable and I had the opportunity to stretch my legs as the legroom in this row is excellent.
Like all British Airways 787 aircraft, this aircraft was equipped with the Thales IFE system. The IFE system is not the best within European carriers but it has enough content for a transatlantic flight.
The USB port and the remote was located at the armrest as I don't have any seat in front of me.
Route map and flight information before pushing back for a 7h55min flight.
Earphones were provided at each seat
The literature is the actually same as the previous 3 British Airways flights but the seat pocket only had 3 duty free catalogues with a different cover pages and safety cards. There was no High Life Magazine for all three of us seated in 30ABC.
Before takeoff, I have visited the lavatory which was just across my seat. It was clean at that time and it was kept clean throughout the flight.
And, we had pushed back on time
And the safety video had started to be screened.
BA 777-300ER
BA A319
Another BA A319
And another one
After seeing all these A319's waiting to depart, it was our turn to take off and we had started our journey
Beautiful sunlight after we have gained some altitude
Shortly after takeoff, pretzels were served with a choice of drink.
In addition, wines were distributed for the meal service.
The tray was the same tray as my BA 231 last month. Even though the main courses was the same. However, last time I had the opportunity to enjoy one of the Premium Economy dishes because they were out of pasta when they have came to my row; but this time both selections were available as I sat at the first row of World Traveller so I went for the pasta.
The main course was delicious and tasted really well. The reason that I don't prefer chicken dishes on Economy class flights are that the portion of those are really small and instead of meat, the plate is full of veggies.
While we were enjoying our meals, the cabin crew came for tea&coffee service where I opted for a cup of tea.
Route map just after the trays have been collected.
After sleeping for a few hours, I have wake up 2 hours before landing due to turbulence and about an hour later the snack service begun with a tuna mayonnaise sweetcorn wrap and a Cadbury chocolate alongside with a choice of drink. This service is also one of the repetitive dishes of British Airways.
And the route map one last time
A photo as we were descending
And another photo when we have touched down Washington Dulles International Airport
The first visible aircraft was this United 787
And the next one was this 757
Later on, we had parked to the British Airways gates in IAD, B42 and B44. After saying goodbye to the crew, I have left the aircraft and headed to the moon buggy station in a fast pace as I want to catch to first moon buggy to the immigration hall.
And the last view of our aircraft from the terminal.
I was lucky to catch the first moon buggy and find a spot near the exit door as I knew that immigration could be painful at IAD, especially for visitors. When I have entered the visitor lane, there were only 1 officer assigned for visitors which seems like a joke but it's true. 10 minutes later another officer was also accepting visitors, however, as there were 200-300 people in front of me which have arrived from previous flights it took a long time until my turn has came. Luckily, when there was no Global Entry passengers and US citizens, we were directed to those booths and after a 45 minute wait, I have cleared immigration and as I had no checked baggage, I have headed to the bus stop to take the bus 5A back to DC.
So this series of Flight-Report's has came to an end.
Thanks for reading this report and hope to see you in the next serie that I would shortly share.
This report has came to an end. Thanks for reading and hope to see you in another report.
After arriving to T5C and after a short walk to T5B, security was a breeze and I had a lot of time to enjoy the Galleries Club Lounge in Terminal 5B. Even though, the lounge has the same offerings within those lounges at T5A, this lounge is more quiet and there are more seating opportunities which make this lounge comfortable than those in the main building. However, BA hasn't changed their Business lounge dining for almost a year and frequent travelers can be bored of the same meals. Boarding was organized and started on time with priorities being respected. As I had the opportunity to be seated at an exit row seat, I felt so lucky that I both had a comfortable window seat and an enormous legroom with direct access to the aisle. The only negative point is that the seat width is a bit smaller than regular rows as the tray table and the IFE system is all set inside the armrest. The meals were delicious as always and according to my opinion, Gategourmet does not want to lose British Airways for longhaul flights so they do a perfect job catering British Airways. However, dishes are repetitive which could be bothering for regular passengers. Also the Thales IFE system is much more better than the Panasonic one and has more content. However, despite the IFE system on the IAD-LHR leg, the only language option was English for this aircraft. The toilets were situated just across my row and I was not bothered as there was enough space that the passengers waiting for the lavatory could wait, they were not reducing my legroom at all. The lavatories were kept clean throughout the flight and the cabin crew did their job perfectly as always. Even though we had arrived to Dulles Airport on time, even though I've caught the first moon-buggy to the immigration hall and even though I was the second passenger from our flight to enter the visitors lane I have waited 45 minutes to be served as at the first point only one officer was calling passengers from the visitors lane. After a tiresome immigration wait the journey has ended and I have headed back to DC with the bus 5A which was empty at that evening.
LHR
(+) Transfer security wait time at concourses
(+) Organized gate area
(+) Priorities respected while boarding
(-) Not enough facilities in Terminal 5B
Galleries Club T5B
(+) Wide amount of selections
(+) Comfortable seating and easy to find available sets of seating
(+) Drink selection ( Both soft drinks and adult drinks )
(-) Repetitive dishes at the lounge [ For almost a year ]
BA293
(+) Comfortable seats and exit row legroom
(+) IFE system had enough content for a short transatlantic flight
(+) Both of the meals were tasty and delicious
(+) Cabin crew
(+) Toilets were kept clean during the flight
(-) Magazines were missing at the seat pocket
(-) Repetitive dishes being offered
IAD
(-) Immigration wait time and being non-efficient
Les contributeurs de Flight-Report ont posté 11 avis concernant 2 compagnies sur la ligne London (LHR) → Washington (IAD).
La compagnie qui obtient la meilleure moyenne est British Airways avec 7.3/10.
La durée moyenne des vols est de 8 heures et 21 minutes.
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2 Comments
Satistying service on BA, the meals have definitely been improved compared to a year ago.
I wouldn't have expected the immigration to take so long at 8PM, noon seems much better strangely.
- Completely agree with that.
-As I remember, there were 5-6 flights that arrived at the same time so that's why it took so long. However, allocating only one agent to visitors while 200-300 pax is not the nicest welcome to a country. And yes, immigration wait times at noon or even until 14:00 are much more better at IAD.
Once again thanks for your comment and have a great weekend.
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