Review of British Airways flight from London to Miami in Business

We live in Iceland and went to Costa Rica for a holiday in November 2024. Flights from Iceland to outside of Europe are usually cheaper if booked separately, i.e. if we book first a flight to Oslo, Paris or Madrid, or sometimes to Toronto when going to Latin America, and then we book another flight from there, but this time there was a very reasonably priced deal in business class in one booking with BA/AA on the following itinerary:

Keflavik to London Heathrow, British Airways
London Heathrow to Miami, British Airways
Miami to San Jose, American Airlines

British Airways' flight to Miami leaves from Terminal 5.

There's a separate area for business class check-in on the left end of the building but we had already been checked in the day before in Keflavík. 

Almost all flights from Terminal 5 are British Airways flights, except a few Iberia flights.

Fast track security was available. It took about 10 minutes. 

British Airways has several lounges at T5. Our flight left from Gates C. The nearest lounge is at Gates B. We took the transit train. 

British Airways business class lounge at Heathrow Terminal 5 at gates B.

Despite the large number of flights leaving around this time the lounge was not crowded with plenty of available seating. 

There are in-lounge showers.

There’s a Kids Zone.

The view from the lounge.

Simple but adequate British breakfast was available. 

Union Coffee.

The self-service bar.

There was a promotion for the Whispering Angel wine.

We left the lounge on time as we had to go from Gates B to Gates C. It’s not as easy as it sounds: you can take the train that runs quite infrequently or you can walk through a long tunnel in about 10 minutes.

Boarding was by groups; the groups were however called quickly one after the another so boarding quickly became chaotic.

Our plane, registration number G-XLEG, was built 10 years ago.

British Airways’ A380s have, on the main deck, 14 First Class seats in a 1-2-1 configuration, 44 Club World (business class) seats in a 2-4-2 configuration and 199 World Traveller (economy class) seats in a 3-4-3 configuration. The upper deck, where we were sitting, has 53 Club World seats in a 2-3-2 configuration, 55 World Traveller Plus (premium economy) seats in a 2-3-2 configuration and 104 World Traveller seats in 2-4-2 configuration. This makes a total of 469 seats.

I had seat 56K, a window seat.

Seats K are rear facing and don't have direct aisle access but have the advantage to offer several storage areas between the seat and the window. They also offer considerably more privacy.

The seats and the storage areas were not perfectly clean.

A pillow, a blanket, a small bottle of water and an amenity kit were waiting at the seat.

The headphones were also at the seat. They were reasonably good.

The 12.1 inch fold-out screen. 

The menu from the previous flight was also at my seat. Looking at the meals on the menu that flight was most likely from South Africa.

Champagne, orange juice and water were offered as a welcome drink. I had some champagne.

The view from my window seat before push-back.

An expected flight time of 9 hours and 5 minutes was announced. The overall announcement from the captain was unusually long (in a good way) and included the number of cabin crew on board (22), safety recommendations and weather forecast.

Push-back was at 09.54 for a scheduled departure time of 09.50. We had a long and slow taxi and we took off at 10.21.

The view during take-off.

The screen is quite small and the system is generally outdated and slow. The current times at origin and at destination were not working-

The flight map on the screen.

Let’s have a look at the menu. British Airways offers a "Great British Brunch". The introduction about Indian food is a bit odd as there was not much Indian food offered on this flight. And am I the only one to feel that offering brunch is cost cutting and a proper lunch would be more appropriate in business class for a 9-hour long-haul flight that leaves at 10am?

The drink menu.

“The Great British Brunch”

“British Original Afternoon Tea”

The wine list.

Meal orders were taken 15 minutes after take-off. Brunch was served another 30 minutes later.

Lich Fyne smoked salmon. It was quite good.

A fruit salad was served at the same time.

The three options for main course were chicken breast, omelette or pancake on a long-haul flight in business class at lunchtime. Really? 

Cornish chicken breast. It was OK.

Vanila panna cotta. 

Snacks were offered some time after brunch.

The fold-out screen was loose.

A total of 140 movies were available. I watched a movie about Bob Marley.

Wi-fi was available free of charge for Executive Club members (screenshot taken at the beginning of the flight).

I watched a movie after which I went to sleep. The seat can be transformed into a flat bed and is quite comfortable. I slept well for about one hour and a half. 

The second meal service came 90 minutes before landing. It was called a "British Original Afternoon Tea" and included a choice between two sets of three mini sandwiches, two small sweets, some clotted cream, scones and jam.

An announcement was made 45 minutes before landing with detailed and useful information about US immigration procedures and how to proceed to connecting flights to various destinations.

A view of Miami airport.

Nice view of Miami.

We landed in Miami at 14.28 and were at the gate at 14.32 for a scheduled arrival time of 14.45.

Some views during taxi:

We had to take a train to the main terminal. Waiting time for immigration was only 10 minutes plus two minutes to have our passports checked; we were completely outside by 14.57, only two minutes after scheduled arrival time.