#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
Hello and welcome to the next instalment in another series of transatlantic flights from San Diego. As a oneworld loyalist living part of the year in the US and part of the year in Europe, we shuttle back and forth across the Atlantic several times a year on both British Airways and Iberia.
Love it or hate it, we transit through Heathrow Terminal 5 many times per year, so much so that my 4 year-old son knows exactly how to get to the lounge from security and knows his way around the Galleries First Lounge better than many seasoned adult flyers.
Having arrived at Terminal 5 Concourse B, we took the underground train one stop to the main Terminal 5 building (T5A).
For a nice change, transit security was actually very fast! This is due to new machines being installed in some lanes, which allow passengers to keep all electronics and liquids inside of their bags. The end result was that the queue moved quickly and it was about as effortless as going through the TSA pre-check lanes in the US.
Please note that, at that time (Summer 2023), there were only two of these new machines installed at the far right end of the transit security checkpoint when facing airside. I was through LHR T5 again in October 2023 and this was still the case. I'll be through again next week so we'll see if there's been any progress since.
T5 was well packed with summer crowds already.
We made our way to the BA Galleries South lounges as usual.
Thanks to our oneworld Emerald status, we have access to the Galleries First Lounge.
There's a fully staffed bar on one side of the lounge.
The Galleries First Lounge used to be relatively quiet–or at least quieter than the Business class Galleries Club Lounge–but over the past year it's gotten more and more crowded.
We used to enjoy sitting in this separate "terrace" part of the lounge as it was much quieter with sofas, which were perfect for families. However, sometime in 2023, the sofas were mostly replaced by more chairs leading to a much denser seating configuration. This section is now just as crowded as the rest of the lounge.
There is a self-serve champagne bar in this section, which is nice.
For those who really need some quiet and rest, there is a quiet zone in the far back of the lounge, after the customer service desks, where one can find this zen space with sleeping pods.
This area is generally quieter as it's a bit more isolated from the rest of the main lounge.
As for us, we generally hang out in the children's playroom as there are plenty of activities here to keep our son occupied during a layover. I always appreciate play spaces in lounges as it's great for children to get out excess energy between flights without bothering other passengers.
While in the lounge I noticed that the BA app was showing different seats from those on our boarding passes. Originally seated in the last row of Business class, the seat map showed they had removed our row and split us up in 2 different rows. Flying with a 4 year-old, this was obviously not acceptable so I went to the customer service desk inside the lounge to inquire. The agent was very understanding and contacted the gate–she advised that the gate agents would work on getting us seated back with our 4 year-old as it was their own policy to have children seated next to at least one parent.
The gate for our flight to Madrid was inside the same terminal, so no need to take the train.
I was surprised to see that our gate was on the basement level.
And I knew what that meant…bus boarding! I don't usually mind bus boarding when not in a rush like today–it only makes me nervous when it happens on a short connection. That was not the case today, and we'd have time to enjoy the great tarmac views–it's definitely fun to get that perspective if you're an aviation geek!
The only problem is that these bus gates are so small and crowded. There was very little room to move around so I didn't even try heading up to the desk to ask about the last minute seat assignment changes. I figured I'd ask on boarding since we were in Group 1.
Once boarding began, we were able to squeeze our way to the front. Our old boarding passes beeped and we were handed new seat assignments, which were now back together again in row 3. Great! I didn't have to ask about it–the gate had handled it; just as the agent in the lounge had said.
Our bus drove right past one of the gigantic Qantas A380s on the way to our aircraft's remote stand.
As it would turn out, our little A319 was parked right next to this beauty.
Now that's a nice view!
Our BA A319 looked tiny in comparison, but I do always enjoy the view when ground boarding.
A quick look back at the Superjumbo at the top of the stairs.
The cabin on this aircraft was a blast from the BMI-past! Our flight was being operated by one of the ex-British Midlands (BMI) A319s that never received the new standard interiors. The cabin of 20 year old G-DBCA is at least a decade old and really looked it. I assume that BA decided not to refresh the cabins on this handful of older ex-BMI frames as they intend on retiring them soon.
The legroom is tight on this small subfleet–tighter than on A319/20/21 with the standard BA cabins. The seat pitch is the same at 30 inches, but feels tighter due to the thicker design of these older seats. It really felt cramped as if the seatback of the seat in front was right in my face.
Also, the few ex-BMI A319s with older cabins don't have any USB or AC power, unlike standard cabins. Just kind of bad luck to get one of these–luckily, the flight to MAD is short, at just about 2h gate-to-gate.
Boarding wrapped up pretty quickly once the last bus arrived, though we were running a bit behind schedule due to the remote stand location.
From the right side there was a nice parade of wide-bodies taxiing past.
Taxi time was short and we were off shortly after pushing out from the remote stand.
About 20 minutes into the flights, cabin crew began the dinner service with drinks and took meal orders from front to back. There were printed menu cards with 3 options, but it looks like I forgot to take a photo.
I selected the braised lamb and sweet potato mash option. I love lamb and appreciate when I see it on menus–a nice change from the usual "Chicken or beef".
The lamb itself was delicious and very tender, but the sweet mashed potatoes were way too sweet and overpower even the strong taste of lamb.
My son's child meal consisted of meatballs in brown gravy, mashed potatoes, and vegetables. Nothing terribly fancy, but perfect for a kid. As usual, the portion is too big for smaller children.
Cabin crew were friendly and proactive, making several drink runs during the flight. They also handed out a water bottle after the meal service.
Before we knew it we were already making out descent into Madrid Barajas.
As the UK is outside of the EU/Schengen Area, London flights generally park at the Terminal 4S Satellite gates.
It's a bit less convenient than intra-Schengen flights, which all park at the main T4 terminal. Arriving at T4S requires taking a train to the main terminal.
Because of the distance from T4S it's always a bit of a wait for baggage to be delivered. Luckily, there are several playgrounds in the baggage area, which helps pass the time for the little ones. I love Madrid Terminal 4 for many reasons, and its family-friendly design is definitely one of them.
The flight didn't start out great with the involuntary seat assignment change and old cabin, but the seat situation was handled quickly and painlessly. These old BMI cabins are not comfortable. The seats are thick without the benefit of being comfortably padded--they are harder than stone after over a decade of multiple passengers daily crushing the padding beneath--these need to go away soon. There was Wi-Fi for a fee, but it's hardly worth it on these short flights. It would be nice to see British Airways roll out streaming entertainment to personal devices on the short-haul fleet as this would help to differentiate their product from the LCCs. The meal was quite good, and thumbs up for the lamb! I find that, on average, BA and IB have better catering than most other European carriers on short flights, who generally serve cold plates on flights under two hours.
The Galleries First Lounge is fine, but has gotten more and more crowded over the past year and no longer feels as exclusive as it once did. We used to always love sitting on the "terrace" side of the lounge, which was always quieter, but in recent months, more dense seating has been added to that area, making it just as crowded as the rest of the lounge. It's still a bit nicer than the Galleries Club Lounge, with better champagne and wines, table service, and better food options.
Les contributeurs de Flight-Report ont posté 36 avis concernant 2 compagnies sur la ligne London (LHR) → Madrid (MAD).
La compagnie qui obtient la meilleure moyenne est British Airways avec 7.3/10.
La durée moyenne des vols est de 2 heures et 19 minutes.
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5 Comments
I booked a return flight from Paris to Seattle in First class, and my 13-hour journey turned into a 56-hour nightmare.
I don't even blame the successive delays and changes of destination, but I find it unacceptable and unprofessional that almost 4 months after filing my claim, no answer has been sent for a compensation under the European regulation, in total violation of the time limits imposed by the legislation in force.
I filed the claim #25533710 at the end of August and customer service doesn't even bother to reply regarding the compensation despite my various requests. I therefore strongly advise against using this company, because if you have any problems, you won't get any service at all.
- Interesting that the white-shirted gentleman did not seem to make it into the sleep pod before passing out. Are there any sleep pods in the business section of the lounge?
It's still not great, but if you can get one of the good security lanes with the new machines, it makes a big difference. T4 to T5 is annoying because of the bus, but if you can catch one right away, it's not much longer than transiting between T5C and T5A...either way you go through the same transit security area.
HAH! It does look like that, lol. But I think there may have been some stretching or Yoga happening there.
Not really as far as I remember, but it's been years since I've been in the Business lounge. From what I remember there's like a TV/theatre type room with the lights mostly off on the side that faces the inside of the terminal, which some sofas and maybe lounge chairs, but this may have changed since I notice that they change the furniture and layout almost every time I'm in the First Lounge. If you're not super familiar, the Galleries Club Lounge is on the upper level, one floor up from the Concorde Room and Galleries First Lounges on the South end of the terminal. There a Club on the North end too, but I remember it being almost exactly the same as the South lounge...though may be a little less crowded.
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