After 5 days in London, it was time for me to go back home to Seattle. But I had to make a stop in Phoenix for a layover in the desert. This time however, I decided to go full on British and fly British Airways for the first time since I was 5 years old. Back then, I flew on a 747 from Chicago-London-Mumbai and back, which also had me in the cockpit of the 747 on the leg from London to Chicago. This time the voyage home isn’t on a 747-400 or the Starship Enterprise (for all the Trekkies out there) but a Boeing 777-200ER in the Oneworld livery. Overall, I found this flight in World Traveler (economy class) to be satisfying and I would fly British again.
Terminal
But before this flight began, I had to fly out of Terminal 5 at London Heathrow and words don’t do this terminal justice. It literally feels like a railroad station in the golden age of railroads with how grand it was! Everyone was so helpful when it came to checking in and turning in your bags and everyone went out of their way to make sure you were taken care of.
Before going through security, I decided to do some planespotting at a coffee shop and I was able to catch an Etihad A380 taking off to Abu Dhabi. As for security itself, it was very straightforward, and it only took me 15 min to go through. After that, I explored Terminal 5A and it was just insane. As I was looking for something to eat, I was craving some Fish N’Chips so I decided to try Gordon Ramsay’s Plane Food. Not only the Fish N’Chips were amazing, so was the view of the tarmac seeing the countless number of planes taking off and landing. Then I needed to get Rennie which was the British equivalent of Tums, which I highly recommend using if you are traveling long-haul from London to make sure you don’t have any stomach issues en route. So once that was out of the way, I had to take an underground train to Terminal 5C to explore and lo and behold, that was where my flight was going to leave from.
There were so many widebodies at this terminal from the Boeing 787 to the Airbus A380 and everything in between. To see this many widebodies in a terminal is just insane and I’m so blessed that I was able to experience this. It felt like the Titanic when Jack set his eyes on the ship for the first time or Jurassic Park when Dr. Grant first saw the Brachiosaurus. I was just blown away. However as much as I wanted to stay in Terminal 5C, at around 2:21, it was time for me to board.
Flight
I was able to settle into my seat 38A, which was near the back, but it had a great view of the wing. However while the pitch for the seat was good, the legroom wasn’t as good as Main Cabin Extra. Even so, my legs never felt cramped. In addition, the seat had a USB port to charge your device as well as IFE. The seat even has a coat hook. How neat is that? In addition to a headphone plug, you can use Bluetooth with the IFE as well. While the IFE was intuitive like American, it did however crash from time-to-time. But it was time to take-off and boy the planespotting here never ends even while taxiing. I was able to see an Emirates A380 amongst other aircraft.
Once we took off, I decided to look at choices for movies that were offered for this 10 hour flight. Thankfully, British Airways had a series about some adventurer in a fedora portrayed by a famous pilot named Harrison Ford. You may have heard of him and the character he played. So I was able to marathon the Indiana Jones trilogy and then once I was on Temple of Doom, the meal service started and no it wasn’t snake surprise or eyeball soup, but a pasta dish with braised lentils (aka vegetarian chili). The food was kind of dry but they also had cheddar cheese which I was able to put into the chili and it tasted better. The highlight of the first meal service however was the couscous which was mixed with Greek yogurt, which was flavorful. This was finished with a lemon torte, which was punchy. So much better than chilled monkey brains for dessert!
After finishing Last Crusade, I decided to explore the plane and check out what economy (World Traveler) and premium economy (World Traveler Plus) looked like on British. Economy was in a 3-4-3 layout and Premium Economy was in a 2-4-2 layout and Club World was in a 1-2-1 layout with suite doors. So after my walk, they even offered ice cream and it was delicious. Then I decided to take a nap and I was able to sleep well on the seat.
A couple of hours before we landed, the second meal service began and I had to suffer for you guys and decided to have the chicken tarragon, which was very tasty but this time around the couscous was sour. The dessert, however, was the main highlight. The chocolate brownie pot was succulent delight and went down a real treat while watching a documentary about the Concorde. However just like with all good things, this flight had to come to an end and the landing into Phoenix was rough and fast (due in part to the Arizona heat). But overall, I felt like I was satisfied with what BA offered and it’s now time for the final verdict.
Verdict
This flight on British Airways was everything that I wanted and even more. Just like with my other trip reports, I will review this on my admittedly subjective matrix known as the Jamscore which considers the terminal, seat, IFE, food and service.
Terminal
Terminal 5 at London Heathrow is the BEST terminal I’ve ever been in. So many places to eat or shop and a lot of great places to planespot. The highlight of the terminal was either Plane Food or Terminal 5C with all of the widebodies. (5/5)
Seat
The seat was very comfortable and had amazing pitch even thought the legroom wasn’t as good as main cabin extra but I was able to nap just fine. (5/5)
Entertainment
The IFE was easy to use and unlike American, you can adjust the screen when the passenger in front of you reclines their seat. Plus the variety of choices from classic movies to documentaries about the history of British Airways will keep you busy. However my system occasionally crashed so it wasn’t as smooth as I would have liked. (4/5)
Food
The food was good. While the desserts, the first couscous, ice cream and the chicken tarragon were highlights, the second couscous and the braised lentil pasta left more to be desired. (3/5)
Service
The service was amazing. When the flight attendant couldn’t get me an orange fizz for the second drink service initially, she was still able to go out of her way to get me a drink. However the first drink service happened way before the first meal service and I would have liked it if the first drink service was given to us during the first meal service (4/5).
That gives British Airways’ World Traveler product a solid 21 out of 25. But what do you guys think? Have you flown on World Traveler for British Airways? Be sure to leave a comment below and keep looking to the sky!
You make a 10-hour flight in economy sound like fun! More power to you!!!