Let me begin by saying, I loved my experience in BA First. Loved it!
I bash BA for their ridiculous cost to use Avios points on BA flights. I paid $2200 for two roundtrips in BA First from Houston to Italy this time, whereas when I started a few years ago these same two tickets were only about $1300. It’s costly, yes. But how else am I going to experience BA First…because I’m certainly not dishing out $10K for these flights. And using the BA Companion Certificate to save 100,000+ miles by bringing my wife does make the sting feel slightly better. But $2200 is $2200, and well, in this case BA First class was a first class experience all-the-way, and totally worth every penny.
We’ve flown BA Business on the 747 (upper & lower decks) as well as the 777. But I must admit flying BA First Class is an entirely ‘nother level of posh-ness. Other blogs comment on the “sexiness” of BA First, and they’re all right. Something about the lighting, service, design…it’s not anything pin-pointed that makes BA First totally standout. But outside of having suites like on Emirates or Singapore First, BA does a great job with their 777 First product.
With only a few seats for the FA’s to accomodate your every request, the level of service is unmatched compared with biz. And unlike my previous BA Business Class experiences, my drink was never empty. The FA’s on both segments to/from Houston were super attentive the entire flight…even when they finished service and were resting. All of them seemed to care passionately about my experience onboard. Something I never felt in business class. I cannot say enough about the First crew service. They are steps above what we’ve been experiencing in biz class the past few years.
Our night flight to Europe, I decided to put us in two window seats to experience the difference. We flew home in the middle seats, and I must say the window seats feel MUCH more spacious, and definitely more room to spread your stuff out. Here is my window seat from IAH-LHR, which was extremely spacious. Giving me enough room to stretch my legs lying down with room to spare!
BA Pajamas & amenities…very comfy 🙂
BA pre-flight beverage…vodka & Sprite
The rest of the BA First roomy experience.
Click for PDF of menu:
BA196 IAH-LHR menus – Jun13
The BA First food experience:
I’m not a whiskey drinker at all. Meaning never. But my friends tell me this Johnnie Walker Blue is $300/bottle, so why not…along with my personal reading lamp 🙂
The BA First sleep experience…Upon request the FA happily made my bed for the evening with a duvet, pillow and blanket…ahhh, first class!
One suggestion…don’t recommend choosing the first row of middle seats, as they have too much light during a night flight…
Overall, this was a great experience. I’ll be happy to burn the rest of my BA miles and BA Companion Certificates flying BA First anytime! Just need to save more money
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