Review of British Airways flight from New York to London in Business

introduction

Hello and welcome to the 2nd review in this new series of Flight-Reports. Like every summer, we were headed from San Diego back to Europe for a few months. We'd planned a few days' stop in New York on the way as my 5-year-old son really wanted to visit the Statue of Liberty. Funny enough, I'd never actually seen the Statue of Liberty up close despite having been to NYC many times over the years, so it was cool to finally do it!

After a quick but fun two days in NYC, it was time to continue on our journey back to Europe. Once again, we would be flying British Airways Club Suites across the pond. 

Routing

check-in & soho lounge

Being that we were staying in Chelsea only a few blocks from Penn Station, it was easy to take the LIRR (Long Island Railroad) to Jamaica Station to switch to the JFK AirTrain. The whole trip only takes about a half-hour total from Midtown. 

Jamaica Station is really close to JFK, but you have to pay $8.50 for a separate ticket on the JFK AirTrain for just a few stops.

Though we ultimately needed to get to Terminal 8 for our flight, we first made a stop a Terminal 4 to pick up our larger bags that we had checked at the luggage storage facility there to avoid lugging too much baggage to/from our hotel in the city. 

There's some conflicting information online about different baggage storage facilities at JFK in multiple terminals—in reality, as of summer 2024, there is only one facility at JFK, which is located in Terminal 4. 

After picking up our bags, back on the AirTrain we went to continue on to Terminal 8. 

One of the nice benefits of holding oneworld Emerald status when flying out of JFK T8 is access to the Premium Check-in facility, formerly known as Flagship First check-in prior to British Airways moving to T8 with American. 

Premium check-in is reserved for long-haul First class passengers and oneworld Emeralds. There are Business class check-in counters located in the main part of the terminal for Business class passengers and oneworld Sapphires. 

The facility is really top notch and does indeed feel very premium. We were greeted as soon as we entered and asked if we were flying British Airways or American. On replying BA, we were directed to a very friendly British Airways agent. All luggage is handled by staff; you never have to lift a finger. Heck, you don't even have to stand as there is comfortable seating at every check-in position. Always a nice experience. 

The Premium Check-in is conveniently located as the TSA Pre-Check queue is right there as you exit the facility. 

Once airside, the locations of the joint British Airways/American premium lounges are clearly indicated. The Greenwich Lounge (Formerly the Flagship Lounge) is located to the left–the Greenwich Lounge can be accessed by oneworld Business class flyers and Sapphire status holders. 

The more exclusive Chelsea and Soho Lounges are located to the right as you come down from the security checkpoint. These two jointly-operated lounges were opened in late 2022 when British Airways relocated from Terminal 7.

The Chelsea Lounge is the most exclusive, reserved for American Airlines and British Airways long-haul First class passengers and invitation-only American Airlines Concierge Key and British Airways Gold Guest List status holders. The Chelsea Lounge is essentially the equivalent of the former Concorde Room at BA's old Terminal 7. 

The Soho Lounge is reserved for First class passengers on all other oneworld airlines and top-tier Emerald frequent-flyer status holders. 

As oneworld Emeralds flying in Business class, we had access to the Soho Lounge. I would love to try the Chelsea Lounge in the future, but it has no windows and I'm not a fan of windowless lounges, so I'm happy with the Soho Lounge for now!

The Soho Lounge is quite large and light-filled with chic, comfortable decor. The cream and brown tones are elegant and inviting. 

There's tons of seating and many different lounging areas. 

There are some cozy booths for those who seek a bit more privacy and even 3 "phone booths" with soundproof glass doors to take calls or have zoom meetings without bothering anyone. 

Nice tarmac views for the aviation geeks. 

The main central part of the lounge feels like an upscale restaurant with comfortable seating. One of the things I really like about this lounge, aside from the nice tarmac views, is that there are ample AC power outlets and USB ports (both A and C) near each seat.

There's a nice selection of fresh food and hot dishes at the self-serve buffet. There's also made-to-order food that is served at the table–there are QR codes with menus at each table. 

Just a small appetiser of charcuteries and garlic prawns from the buffet to start. 

There are some decent made-to-order options through the online menu.

Main dishes are a mix of American and British fare…appropriate for a Joint AA-BA lounge, along with some international dishes. 

There are also sides and appetisers. 

And of course desserts. 

We ordered the sticky Chinese porkbelly and the pomegranate-glazed lamb and beef kofta, which were both tasty. 

None of the desserts on the menu appealed to me, so I just got a few things from the buffet, which went well with another glass of champagne. 

We still had some time before boarding so I took advantage of the time to freshen up with a shower. It had been a very hot day in NYC. The shower facilities are nice, though it would have been nice to have the ability to sign up for the showers online through the QR code like the BA lounges in London. 

The lounge looks even nicer in the evening light. 

When it was about time to head to the gate, I double checked the monitors in the lounge for the gate since the BA app only works about half the time. 

Between AA and BA, there were still quite a few London flights still departing. Several had already departed earlier. 

boarding

It wasn't terribly long walk to the gate as it was in the same concourse.

Boarding began a few minutes late, no big deal.

We were able to pre-board thanks to BA's generous family boarding policy for those travelling with children up to 5-years-old. 

Our aircraft, G-STBF, had recently been retrofitted with the new Club Suites cabin in December 2023 and looked great!

BA Club Suites are a highly customised version of the Collins Super Diamond seat model with privacy doors. The cabin is laid out in a spacious 1-2-1 reverse-herringbone configuration, allowing for direct aisle-access for all passengers. Seats are typically 21-22" wide when upright and about 26" wide in bed mode—when extended fully flat, they convert into 79-80" long beds (about 2 metres). 

The Business class section on the refreshed 777-300ER fleet is huge! With 76 Club Suites, there are as many Business class seats as a much-larger Emirates A380! As you can see the Club cabin takes up a large portion of the real estate on this premium-heavy configuration.

I'm generally not a fan of very large Business class cabins so I was glad that there were enough seats left in the mini-cabin behind First class at the time of booking. Obviously, this cabin is very popular as it was mostly full already almost a year ahead of the flight! This is one of the other nice perks of Emerald status, free seat assignments—this leaves more options as many passengers without status elect to wait until check-in to avoid paying the seat fees. It's unfortunate that BA charge for seat assignments in Business class on tickets that already cost thousands of dollars, but it works out in our favour sometimes. 

The mini-cabin on the 777-300ER is a lot like the one on the A350-1000, which I fly much more frequently on my regular San Diego - London route. The 777 Club cabin is noticeably wider thanks to the wider fuselage. The aisles are wider and the seats do also feel a tad bit larger than those on the A350-1000 and 787-10 that I've tried, which are already very spacious. 

Oh look, I'm missing a window…oh well, that'll teach me to check ahead of time! It's no big deal since I could actually still see fine out of the other two windows, and I always prefer the last row of a cabin for better privacy. 

Ple-placed at each seat upon boarding were a full-sized pillow and bedding, which includes a small mattress pad, a food & beverage menu, noise-cancelling headphones, the amenity kit, and a bottle of water.

BA have had the same White Company leather amenity kits for years—I probably have a good 50 at home haha. This was the first time I'd seen it white though, I believe, normally they're black. 

Legroom is very good, of course. At 5'10" (1m78) I can barely reach the ottoman with my legs when sitting upright, so there's definitely plenty of space. 

The side table pops open to reveal a small storage area (perfect for phones), the in-flight entertainment remote control, a 110v universal power outlet, and 2 USB-A ports. 

BA cabin crews are usually great, in my experience, but they were particularly cheerful and chatty this evening, which is always pleasant and puts everyone in a great mood. The chief purser even came by to say hello and "welcome back onboard" and thanked me for my loyalty as a BA Gold…Wow, this was actually a first for me on BA despite flying them so often! I'd never gotten, nor expected, a special greeting while my oneworld Emerald status was through American AAdvantage. It seems that switching to BA's Executive Club programme has made a difference now being Emerald directly with BA when flying BA, as it's now happened on 5 more BA flights since. 

The purser even took my dinner order ahead of everyone else in the cabin and confirmed my son's child meal. Really fantastic service! 

Pre-departure drinks were served as boarding was wrapping up.  

Speaking of dinner and drinks, let's have a look at this evening's menu. 

Sorry if it's difficult to see. The blue mood lighting, while very pleasant, isn't great for photography. 

Beverages

For dinner there were 2 choices of appetisers and 3 choices for the main course. For breakfast there were two options of mains. As usual on these short transatlantic flights, I elected not to be woken up for breakfast to maximise sleep. 

BA usually have a decent wine list. 

Here's a look at the contents of the amenity kit. Pretty standard. 

the flight

Boarding was completed early despite a full flight. The flight deck announced we'd have to wait a few minutes before we could push back as we were expecting a short flight time and early arrival into London. 

Taxi times were shaping up to be typically long that evening, so it would eat up some of that head start. 

We still ended up pushing back from the gate a few minutes ahead of schedule. 

The safety video played as we began our long taxi. 

The expected flight time was only 5 hours 52 minutes … ugh, that's too short! I much prefer taking our long night flight to London from San Diego for a full night's sleep!

A half-hour after leaving the gate, still taxiing…

Almost an hour after leaving the gate, we finally took off. Our arrival time went from getting in to Heathrow almost an hour ahead of schedule to about 20 minutes early. We'll see if we don't have to do too many holding circles in the sky prior to landing to eat up the rest of that early arrival!

Off we go for our short transatlantic crossing

Checking out the Highlife Entertainment, as always there's tons of content including new release Hollywood films, international cinema, TV series, documentaries, music, audio books, games, and children's programming. 

As an aviation geek, one of my favourite features of modern IFE systems like this is the ability to watch content on the main screen while having the airshow on the remote controller screen.

The Wi-Fi became available once the aircraft was above 10,000 feet.

The Wi-Fi is only free for First class passengers. 

Members of the BA Executive Club programme do have access to free messaging. 

Otherwise messaging plans cost 2.99 GBP for 1 hour of 4.99 for the full flight

Full streaming-capable internet access costs 4.99 for 1 hour, 11.99 for 4 hours, or 14.99 for the full flight. 

As this is such a short flight, I went for the 4-hour plan

Speeds were fine by plane Wi-Fi standards. Not amazing, but sufficient to do most things online, including uploading photos/video to social media, just slowly. 

Here's a look at the longest of the 3 Club cabins with a whopping 11 rows. There's yet another 5 row Club cabin behind this one. 

My son's child meal was served prior to the main service, which I always appreciate as I can assist him if needed. As usual, I asked only for the main with sides/dessert since including the appetiser is just too much food for a 5-year-old. 

Appetisers for the rest of the cabin arrived a short time later.

Olive oil marinated king prawns
Celeriac slaw, sautéed kale, chive oil

Delicious and well-presented. 

For the main, I stayed with the seafood theme. Admittedly, I didn't find any of the three options to be particularly exciting. I say this all the time, but there's a lack of more-interesting proteins on BA long-haul—it's almost always the usual safe choices of beef, chicken, or fish. I would love to see lamb more often, especially since it's such a common protein in British cuisine. That being said, BA always do fish well and I've never been disappointed.

Pan seared cod
Saffron fennel mousseline, sautéed kale,
Lemon beurre blanc

Once again, delicious with nice flavours and perfectly cooked. 

To finish, I had the cheese board with a Port. 

With such a short flight time, by the time the meal was over, there were only 4 hours left in the flight. 

Time for bed! …at least for a few hours. 

I always sleep well in Club Suites and didn't wake up until seats had to be put back upright for landing. So I got about 3.5 hours of sleep, which is about as much as you can really hope for on these short transatlantic flights from the East Coast…unless you skip the meal of course. 

As usual, we did go into a holding pattern, but it was only for a few minutes. 

It only added 4 minutes to our arrival time. 

Cabin ready for landing. 

Interestingly, we made a somewhat rare approach from the west, so no good views over London on landing this time! I suppose it's not terribly rare as it's happened to me a few times recently, but it's definitely not as common as landing from the east, which normally gives amazing views of the city centre for those sitting on the right side of the aircraft—hence, why I often pick seats on the right when flying into LHR. 

We landed ahead of schedule and blocked in at the gate 19 minutes early. 

As we arrived at one of the satellite concourses, we took the underground train to the main Terminal 5 Building to head to the lounge to wait for our next flight.

Thanks for reading and don't hesitate to ask any questions in the comments section below!