#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 my flight report about British Airways' longest flight in first class.
I took this flight to go back to Europe after my trip to Argentina, Uruguay and Chile. But why in first class? Because it cost less than half of business class on the same flight. Error fare? Business class was full and first class was empty? I don't know. It was also cheaper than business class from Santiago to Paris with Air France or to Amsterdam with KLM.
Santiago de Chile’s most important building is La Moneda, the presidential palace.
Many of Santiago's buildings are concrete constructions but there are also some nice historic buildings such as the main post office.
The day before my flight I went to Viña del Mar and Valparaíso on the Pacific Coast, about 120 kms from Santiago.
The Pacific Ocean at Viña del Mar:
A shark sign at one of the restaurants.
Valparaíso was historically South America's most important harbour on the Pacific Ocean. This very interesting city is known nowadays for its universities and also for its colorful houses and street art.
I took an Uber to the airport. I paid CLP 24,000 (USD 24) although CLP 30,000 (USD 30) is a more typical price.
Terminal 2 is for international flights. Santiago has many flights to other countries in the Americas. Ultra long-haul intercontinental flights to Europe include Air France to Paris, British Airways to London, Iberia to Barcelona and Madrid, KLM to Amsterdam and LATAM to Madrid and Paris. There are also direct flights to Oceania to Auckland and Melbourne with LATAM and to Sydney with Qantas. There are no direct flights to Asia or to Africa.
Self check-in was available but I didn’t see anybody using it.
There was a separate line for first class check-in. This was the only difference between the first class and the business class experience at the departure airport. I was checked in in a few minutes.
There was only one very long line for all passengers at immigration, and quite a few people seemed to have bureaucratic issues leaving the country. I didn't have any but I still spent over 20 minutes waiting in the queue.
Fast track at security control was available and I was through in a few minutes.
This plane is right next to security control.
British Airways doesn't have a lounge in Santiago. Its passengers can use the LATAM premium lounge.
The lounge is nice although it was quite crowded when I was there. There are no separate services for first class passengers.
The lounge has a good choice of food and drinks.
This kangaroo had a very long jump across the Pacific Ocean.
Boarding was supposed to start at 12.00.
It only started at 12.15 for disabled passengers and those with children. I boarded the plane at 12.30.
The plane was a B787-900, registration number G-ZBKD, built in 2015.
The first class cabin has two rows of seats in a 1+2+1 configuration with a total of 8 seats. All seats were taken.
Here’s seat 2K. It looks nice and it’s very comfortable.
My seat was in good but not perfect condition (there were a few scratches) and some of the storage areas were not perfectly clean. Mobile phone charging was available but very slow: my phone charged only 10% in about five hours.
There were pillows and a blanket waiting on the seat.
The seat controls are not very intuitive. You first have to select the function you want to use with the bottoms on the two sides then you can change the position of your seat or turn off/on the lights by turning the knob.
A cabin crew member came to my seat. He introduced himself (his name was Graham) and asked me if I wanted some champagne.
There's new champagne on board:
It was served with warm nuts.
Pyjamas and slippers were not available as they had not been loaded in London.
A hot towel was offered a short time later.
Here’s the amenity kit.
The headphones were broken but they were promptly replaced.
Push-back was at 13.02 for a scheduled departure time of 13.00.
The terminal seen right after push-back.
Aviasur is a major FBO (fixed-base operator) at Santiago Airport working with a great variety of aircrafts.
The view during taxi.
We took off from runway 17R at 13.30 only after a long taxi.
The view after our first turn.
We turned northbound after a few minutes. There were some nice views to the right toward the Andes.
Our position 15 minutes after take-off.
More beautiful views of the Andes another 10 minutes later.
Let’s have a look at the menu.
Here’s the lunch menu: canapés, starters, main courses and desserts.
Cheese selection.
Light bites are available any time during the flight.
I had some kir royal and canapés to start with. The kir royal was not on the menu but was available (and good). The canapés were quite good.
Cheers!
The table was nicely set for lunch.
Let’s have a look at the drink menu.
I had some 2016 Ramón Bilbao white wine with my starter. It was good.
Lemon and herb marinated prawns, grilled courgette, cherry tomatoes, mango coulis. The presentation of the dish was nice and it was served at the right temperature. I could feel the herbs but not the lemon. The prawns had a texture that suggested they were not as fresh as they should have been.
What I enjoy most about British Airway’s First Class is watching old aviation videos during my meal. The IFE was not working correctly when I started to watch: the sound stopped for a moment every second or so. I asked the cabin crew to reboot it. It worked correctly after it had been rebooted.
I had some 2014 Château Quinault l’Enclos St Émilion red wine. It was quite good.
Braised short rib of beef, sautéed carrot, courgette, rosemary sauce. It was very good although not really a first class meal.
We were near Arica in Northern Chile around this time.
I had some 2017 Peller Estates Canadian dessert wine after my main course. It was quite good.
I enjoyed watching some more old aviation videos.
I had Fresh Seasonal Fruit to finish my meal. It was OK although I would expect a more sophisticated fruit platter in first class.
The views were still beautiful.
I asked the cabin crew to make my bed.
I slept very well for almost two hours after lunch. The seat turned into a bed was comfortable for sleeping.
We were near the Amazon a short time after I had woken up.
There are 139 movies available in the in-flight entertainment. The screen is big enough. There's a remote control with a small screen which is not very reactive and not very easy to use.
We were over the Atlantic Ocean north of Guyana and Suriname when I finished my movie almost two hours later.
I watched a second movie then I went to sleep at about 21:30 Chilean time.
I woke up near the coast of England, about 45 minutes before arrival. It was only 2:20am Chilean time.
I said good morning to the cabin crew, I went to the bathroom and by the time I was back a very short time later my bed was changed back to a seat. This was nice first class service.
Although we only had a short time before arrival I was asked if I wanted breakfast. Here’s the breakfast menu:
I ordered some tea, fruit and pastries all of which were served very quickly.
I like how the tea was served.
Graham thanked "his" first class passengers for flying British Airways.
Minutes before landing:
We landed in London at 06.03 and were at the gate at 06.13 for a scheduled arrival time of 06.15.
There are no dedicated services for deplaning first class passengers; we passed through regular immigration, luggage delivery and customs with everybody else. However there's a British Airways arrival lounge for business and first class passengers. It’s located one floor up after customs.
Some of the lounge staff were friendly but some others just did their job.
Small areas separated by curtains are available if you wish to rest. They have chairs, not beds, so they’re not really suitable for sleeping.
Showers and cabanas with oversized bathtubs are available. This is very appreciable after an overnight flight.
There's a Concorde Breakfast room for arriving first class passengers only.
Here's the menu:
I had some tea and orange juice.
British smoked salmon served with scrambled egg & lemon. It was very good.
Thank you for reading my flight report. Please feel free to comment.
Although not everything was perfect on this flight I enjoyed the comfort of the seat, the nice views in Chile and the excellent on-board service.
British Airways doesn't offer any first class services at Santiago Airport (except a separate lane at check-in), only regular business class services. The airport is otherwise nice and modern.
The seat is nice. It's very comfortable for lounging and it's more comfortable for sleeping than a typical business class seat.
There were a few issues that were fixed such as the broken headphones or the screen that needed to be rebooted. Some other issued couldn't be fixed such as the lack of pyjamas and slippers that had not been loaded in London.
Catering was mostly good but not really first class; it was very similar to what you'd get in business class. The only notable difference was that canapés were offered. The wines were reasonably good but definitely not as good as what some other airlines offer in first class.
The bathtub and the à la carte breakfast at the arrival lounge are really appreciated after an overnight flight.
And finally, the most important: the cabin crew was friendly, professional, attentive and rated 10/10.
5 Comments
Either a Piper PA-11 or PA-18. all my youth. I've piloted such a plane during more 7 years as "sunday" pilot. It's a great plane, incredibly agile even in cross wind conditions. With 15 kt of nose wind, you can land it in less than 20/25 meters with the right approach airspeed.
Sorry but that's not acceptable for a First class flight. Customers are paying a lot for such a place and everthing must be crosscheck twice.
This is not a First class onboard cellar. Once more, for a First class, I'm expecting high class wines. Pouilly-Fuissé is served in AF or EK Business. Lanson is not a high rated Champagne and they don't propose any "Blanc de Blanc" as Champagne. I do not expect the famous Champagne Salon, but Laurent Perrier etc ... are on the list. Thiw wine list is also inconsitent. I don't see the logic of it.
About the catring itself, once more it's Business catering. First class must have markers such as caviar, truffles, foie gras etc ... where are they? Simple shrimps, overcooked meat, spinach served directly 'out of the cubic box', basic dessert ...
In the end, it's stregthening my position on BA : No F Flight.
I've probably been "badly educated" with my First flights experiences in EK, SQ, AF, even EY & LH but I'm expecting more than a good seat to sleep and an Business (+) catering. You're right with you remarks.
Many thanks for the tourist bonus, great to give a flavor of Santiago.
I've recently had slippers and pyjamas in Business on a similar length flight so the fact that they forgot to load then for First class is just a bad look. Luckily, it sounds like the cabin crew were wonderful, which helps to make up for some of the product's deficiencies, but BA really need to to better to differentiate First class from Business class, especially now since the Club Suites are basically as good as First.
Too bad they don't make any effort to have any First ground services for the longest flight in the system, but the LATAM lounge looks quite nice, and is definitely better than the tiny cramped third party lounge I had access to flying AA J from SCL last year.
Thanks for sharing!
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