#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
Welcome to the fifth and final review in this transatlantic series of flights.
Like every year, we flew back to Europe for the Holidays. After several weeks visiting with family and friends it was time to head back home to Southern California. As usual, we flew back through London to catch the nonstop BA flight to San Diego.
Reviews in this series:
Arriving off the underground train from T5B, we headed right through the Fast track transit lanes and upstairs to transit security—as always, we made sure to get in the queue for the security lane all the way on the right as that lane has newer machines that allow electronics and liquids to stay inside cabin baggage, which saves a ton of time.
From there we headed to the BA First Lounge where the familiar ever-present horse lamps were there to greet us at the entrance. Access to the First lounge is reserved for those with oneworld Emerald status and First class passengers on oneworld carriers other than BA—BA First class passengers have access to the exclusive Concorde Room across the hall.
There are several staffed bars in the lounge, as well as self-serve champagne bars.
There is a terrace area with nice tarmac views. This was my favourite place to sit prior to having a kid, but now we tend to stay closer to the children's playroom.
There's a self-serve bar in this area as well, with soft drinks, wines, and champagne.
Checking out other parts of the lounge, it was obvious again that the seating had been de-densified–there were more chairs here along with some sofas on a previous visit two months earlier.
As usual, we went to the dining room in the back so we could sit near the children's playroom.
The tables in the dining area have QR codes on them, but it is no longer possible to order food through the online menu, as had been the case for the last several years
This feels like cost-cutting and cheapens the experience of the First lounge. There were generally a few better cooked-to-order options to order through the online menu then there were at the buffets. So now there's essentially no difference between the food offering in the First and Club lounges.
Only some drinks are available to order from the menu, which is pointless if you're able-bodied, as the same drinks are available from self-service bars. The only interesting feature anymore is the option to book in a time slot for a shower.
Hot food options at the buffet were mostly limited to English breakfast items at this time of day.
We left the lounge about 15 minutes before boarding time to allow enough time to catch the underground train out to the B satellite gates.
With several flights leaving from this end of the B Concourse, it was pretty crowded by the gate.
Luckily, we were waived over by BA gate agents to pre-board and were able to bypass the crowd. We already had Group 1 priority boarding, but BA agents at Heathrow are usually very good at having families with small children pre-board—we never have to ask. BA allow priority boarding for families with children up to 5 years old, which is much more generous than most other airlines who limit this to babies up to 2 years old.
As a result, we were able to go right on to the aircraft, among the first passengers to board.
Interestingly, we boarded from door 1L—normally A350s, and indeed most widebodies at Heathrow, are boarded though door 2L, unless there are two jet-bridges attached.
So it was different to see only one jet-bridge attached to the forward-most door. We made our way through the very long main Club World cabin to the mini-cabin where our seats were located.
My 4-year-old son knew exactly where he was going as we always select seats in the last row in the mini-cabin of Club on the A350-1000.
The mini-cabin only has 3 rows and is generally quieter with a lot less foot traffic due to the cabin divider just behind and no lavatories on this side of the boarding doors.
Club Suites are laid out in a spacious 1-2-1 configuration, giving all passengers direct access to the aisles.
Placed at each seat are a large pillow and bedding, including a mattress pad, and noise-cancelling headphones.
An amenity kit and a bottle of water can be found in a small storage space off to the side.
Just below are the touchscreen seat controls.
Inside the side console are the entertainment remote controller, the headphone jack, a 110v AC power outlet, and 2 USB-A ports. No USB-C ports on the A350-1000 yet, as the cabin was designed just before USB-C was popularised.
Cabin crew came through with pre-departure drinks shortly after settling in with the usual choice of water, juice, or champagne.
Another A350-1000 was parked at the next gate.
Let's have a look at the menu while boarding continues.
For Lunch there were 3 choices of appetisers, which is nice, but only 3 choices for mains: Beef, fish, or a vegetarian option. Once again, I find the options a bit underwhelming and not particularly creative. In my experience, BA catering is usually quite good with quality ingredients, as one would expect from highly reputed Do&Co catering; however, the dishes lack originality, and because I fly Club World so often, I feel like I see the same or similar options over and over again. As I've said many times before, I'd love to see more interesting proteins like lamb, duck, prawns, or crab from time to time.
Boarding wrapped up on time and doors were closed shortly after.
The aircraft was pushed back from the gate right on time.
The safety video played as we taxied to the departure runway.
Taxi time was about 20 minutes as there was a bit of a queue for departure.
We took off at 1:23PM. We an estimated 10:16 flight time to SAN, we were due to arrive over a half hour early.
The Wi-Fi was available once the aircraft reached 10,000ft in altitude.
Wi-Fi is free only in First class, and for a fee in all other cabins. Messaging-only plans start at £2.99, while full internet browse & stream plans are available for £11.99 for 4-hours or £19.99 for the full flight.
On these longer flights, I usually find the full flight plan to be a better value. However, note that coverage can be spotty closer to the north pole. I usually experience about an hour or so of poor connection when overflying Greenland and the Canadian Arctic on this route. Otherwise the speed is quite decent and I usually have no trouble uploading photos and videos to social media or streaming videos.
Legroom is very spacious, as you'd expect. The Club Suites, a customised version of Collins Aerospace's popular Super Diamond model, are very well designed with lots of storage areas, and just generally making optimal use of space. There's convenient shoe storage below the ottoman.
Seats lay fully flat to make a 79" (2m) long bed. The padding is already comfortable, but BA go the extra step by providing mattress pads—my kid fell asleep before I could get that on the bed for him.
We began our Atlantic crossing over Wales.
BA's Highlife Entertainment offers a ton of content in multiple languages, including films, series, documentaries, music, audio books, games, and children's programming.
The interface is modern and intuitive and the system includes a touchscreen controller, on which content can be selected to play on the main screen.
As an AvGeek, I always love the option to have the map on the little screen as I watch a movie on the main screen.
Shortly after levelling off at cruising altitude, cabin crew were in the aisles for the apéritif service. As I fly Iberia about as much as British Airways on transatlantic flights, I find IB's pre-meal service to be a bit better as they have a choice of several tapas. On the other hand, BA's wine selection is generally better.
The champagne on offer in Business was Heidsieck & Co. Monopole, Silver Top Brut NV
For the appetiser, I had selected the trout, which was tasty and visually well-presented.
Gin cured Hampshire ChalkStream trout
Citrus pepper cream
For the main course, I wasn't particularly inspired by any of the three options. Beef is always a gamble in the air, as it's often overcooked due to the re-heating. Sometimes you get lucky, but I generally avoid beef options…well, this time I guess I was feeling lucky and went for the beef option. Took a big L on that one…again, it looked like it would be good, but was tasteless, chewy, and very tough. It was basically like eating a hot shoe.
Fillet of British beef
Bone marrow crust, artichoke gratin, grilled broccolini
flamed corn and chimichurri
In retrospect, I should have gone for the North Atlantic cod—fish options are always a safe bet, in my experience. Oh well, you win some, you lose some!
At least the cheese plates are always reliably good. When flying BA, I enjoy trying new British cheeses with which I was unfamiliar. There was one French cheese, but the other two were British.
Selection of artisan cheeses served with savoury crackers, apricots, plum chutney
Camembert
Coastal Cheddar
Shropshire Blue
I watched movies and napped for most of the rest of the flight. There wasn't much to see out the window as it was cloudy for much of the flight.
The clouds broke as we were over the Rocky Mountains.
Beautiful snowy mountain vistas over Utah.
The pre-arrival meal was served a bit over an hour before landing. I wasn't terribly hungry so I asked to skip the appetiser. I continued with the British theme, and went for the fish pie.
Traditional British fish pie
Pollock, smoked mackerel, marinated garden peas
It was very good and very filling, much better than the hockey puck beef dish from the first meal.
The further south we went, the scenery changed from snowy mountains and pine forests to deserts.
Deserts that still had snowy peaks here and there.
We even flew just to the west of the Grand Canyon, which was also snowy on this mid-winter day. Breathtakingly beautiful—photos can't do justice to the grandeur of the Grand Canyon.
We began our descent over the Salton sea. From this altitude, it looks like a beautiful shimmering blue inland sea in the middle of the California desert. In reality, it's incredibly polluted from all the agricultural runoff. I only visited once thinking it would be beautiful—it was not. And don't even think about swimming there—strictly forbidden. I do not recommend a visit.
Best seen from a distance.
Looks like we'll be getting in well ahead of schedule.
It gets greener again as we approach the coast.
Passing the Otay Lakes just to the north, we fly right over my neighbourhood nestled between the lakes and San Miguel mountain.
I could see my house!
It's always beautiful to land in San Diego around the golden hour.
Heading up the coast past the Naval shipyards.
Coronado Bridge
Landing in San Diego, it's always nice to have a seat on the left for the very close-up views of downtown.
We landed well ahead of schedule.
Taxi time is always short at SAN with only one runway.
We arrived at the gate almost a half-hour early.
Passing by the other daily A350 to SAN on the way to baggage claim.
As usual, immigration was quick with Global Entry and bags were delivered within minutes; however, passengers arriving from international flights in San Diego must stand in line to have all luggage scanned by customs prior to exiting. This usually goes quickly, but it's something I don't think I've ever had to do in any other US airport.
Another very nice flight with BA on my usual route. Cabin crew were lovely as always and the Club Suites are very comfortable and spacious. The only slightly disappointing part was the bad main dish of the first meal, but that's my fault for choosing beef, knowing that it's always a gamble.
Les contributeurs de Flight-Report ont posté 4 avis concernant 1 compagnies sur la ligne London (LHR) → San Diego (SAN).
La compagnie qui obtient la meilleure moyenne est British Airways avec 7.3/10.
La durée moyenne des vols est de 11 heures et 7 minutes.
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9 Comments
Have to say for a First Class lounge… this isn’t great.I remember when I visited the business lounge mid 2020 and had food delivered to my seat through QR code, and that was through covid!!! I mean there was only 2 options but still…
Good gosh that is a packed terminal!
Ahahha you have taught him well?, must feel like a second home at this point?. He looks very comfortable in his seat!
Huh, the amount of information I have recently acquired on FR is astounding. I wonder why this only happens at San Diego. Do you think it has to do with the border being so close or is there another reason?
Thanks for another great flight report of the club suites Kevin! It never fails to amaze me just how large that Front Cabin is, the mini cabin seems to be a better option if I ever get on a BA A350. As you mention the crew were lovely, I was just wondering if you have ever experienced one of the Mixed cabin crew before? Most of the BA flights I have had have been perfect but there was this one in J I had where the crew just didn’t seem like BA. This was a while ago and not sure if it’s changed since but just thought I’d ask.
Yeah it's a shame...I guess the only difference now with the Galleries Club lounge is actual champagne in the First lounge, but even that's gone down in quality.
Haha yes, he's very comfortable and very familiar with these cabins, and with long-haul Business class seats in general. And always super well-behaved, because he's so used to flying---I hate when people say kids don't belong in J/F....misbehaved kids sure, but my kid is a bloody pro at this and a better (read less-whiney and less entitled) traveller than most adults!
Reminds me of the one time we flew long-haul in Economy (JAL) He was shocked that we had to walk back so far on the plane and was genuinely surprised that there was a cabin with "little seats"....of course, they weren't little by Economy standards, being the widest Y seats out there on the world's only 787s in 2-4-2 config, haha...it's just funny how blissfully unaware of how spoilt he is.
Haha it does sound good...and I even expect it to be overcooked (by my French standards) since that's how the Brits like their beef...but this was pretty awful.
While I can't say for sure, I think you're right....it probably has to do with drug trafficking and the such.
I have in the past and usually they've been perfectly lovely...sometimes a little less confident due to less years on the job, but always really eager to do a good job. On the whole there wasn't much difference.
There's no Mixed Fleet vs Worldwide Fleet vs Euro Fleet anymore. They've all been merged into one work group since 2020, so there's not really any way to know who's ex-Mixed fleet vs Worldwide anymore, though I guess there's a good chance the younger ones are ex-Mixed fleet, but even then they could've been hired after the groups merged.
Honestly, back in the day before they all were merged together I couldn't really tell the difference. BA cabin crews have been consistently good in my pretty extensive experience...bad cabin crews have been such a rarity, unlike my experiences with US carriers (mostly AA) where it's totally hit or miss.
Honestly, I agree it's also rarely the kids fault if they are misbehaved, it's usually the adults fault. I would be more than happy if you and your kid were on my flight?. Definitely seems more respectful than half of some J passengers I come across lol
ahahha this is funny to read. Made me crack up. Those JAL seat I wish were the standard in Y.
I didn't realize this, makes sense though. I think how you put it is more eager to do the job, but a little less confident was accurate, as that was sort of my experience. Was just some aspects of a premium cabin that went overlooked. Going to have read about the transition back to no mixed fleet. Thanks for more new information!
Gosh forbid a smile was to be found on American Airlines half the time?
Thanks Kevin for your response! Have a great day!
Thanks for the tip about the new scanning machines , it is a shame that you have to take all of your sh*ts out like it is 2001 in LHR.
Lounge has great views and is quite wellbdesigned with luckilly a lot of champagne self indulging points ahah.
Just wait for a few years and he'll bring you a glass of bubbles as you sit there XD.
Stunning views on the a350.
Cabin looks so nice with these seats, super intimate.
Shame that there is little variety on the food offered.
Shame also for the beef but as you said it is often a risk.
Shame again that you can't choose cheese and dessert but I guess that's the french guy in me speaking ahah.
I think it is a bit cheap not to offet the messaging pass, especially if they charge you £2.99 for it, I suppose it would only cost them a quid then.
Stunning views just aftet breakfast
It is nuts yeah...I ask every time I'm through and it seems they have been stuck with just the few machines on the end for over a year...hopefully that's changed since (I'll find out in 2 months), but I'm not confident, haha
Haha yeah, I think us Frenchies are the only ones that have a separate course for cheese.
Totally agree! It's weird how Iberia and BA are both IAG carriers, but both have such different standards. IB give free messaging to Business class passengers, but BA do not.
Thanks for your comments!
Looks a lot more open, compared to how crowded the Galleries are it is one of the few pros of the First side since everything else looks Business. Bags of crisps by the drinks screams US lounge.
Ouch, that is one unappetizing looking plate, definitely not what I would associate with Do&Co. The starter on the other hand looked immaculate. Maybe your subliminal led you to this typo since that beef probably tasted like a burnt cord. They should probably just introduce a 4th entree option to increase meal diversity (2 protein, 1 seafood, 1 vegetarian) and then just reduce the starter options to balance out the catering load.
Not on UA in my experience ;)
You won’t need to worry about mosquitos^^ A third eye is a small price to pay.
It's pretty crazy how BA went from arguably the worst hard product on TATL to one of the best in just a few years.
Yeah they keep changing the seating layout and density every few months. I don't really get it. I guess they know when they expect more crowds. A few months before it was packed with seating and looked like a zoo at busy times. I guess it helps that all oneworld airlines have moved back to T3...except for Iberia, which moved to T5 during the pandemic, went back to T3 at the end of 2022, and are now back at T5 again Haha...they just can't make up their minds. I miss the T3 lounges though---so bored with T5 (fully aware I sound like a spoilt brat haha).
Haha I think you're right! Fixed...thanks for pointing that out!
That sounds perfect. I'd be OK with just 2 options of appetisers--heck a lot of airlines don't give any choice of appetisers. But yes, definitely need a 4th option to get away from the usual boring chicken, beef, or vegetarian
Well I mean it's UA...3 years after the pandemic they still can't properly course out meals so yeah... haha
Between the awful smell, the foaming pink chemical water, and the tent cities it's far from the paradise that it looks to be from the air.
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