More than two decades ago, British Airways introduced Club World, revolutionising business class with its unique ying/yang lie-flat seats. Over the years, however, this innovation was eclipsed by more advanced offerings from Gulf and Southeast Asia carriers, making BA’s product seem outdated. A few years back, British Airways countered with the launch of a new business class seat on their A350-1000s, initiating the rollout of Club Suite seats across their 777, 787, and A350 fleet, though plans for the A380 remain unclear. Have these updates have successfully modernised British Airways’ business class to compete in today’s all-suite market? Join me on my São Paulo to London trip aboard the BA A350 Club Suites.
Flight Details
Flight No: BA246
From/To: São Paulo (GRU) to London (LHR)
Departure time: 16:35
Ticket Class: Business
Flight time: 10 hours 53 mins
Frequent Flyer Points: 13,000
Status Points: 140
Aircraft: G-XWBN
Aircraft type: Airbus A350-1000
Number of classes: 3
Number of seats in flying class: 56
Seat: 7A
Position: left hand side of the aircraft, 7 rows from the front
In this review:
Airport Experience
While there was no fast track security available to business class passengers at Guarulhos airport, the security area was quiet and I was able to pass through within 10 minutes. Mastercard black card holders can use a dedicated security lane, but this is only applicable to cards issued in Brazil.
From there, I went to the lounge, which is located on the first floor of the airside departure area. BA use the LATAM lounge at Guarulhos airport. I’ve used most of the lounges in T3 at GRU and find LATAM’s to be the best in terms of space, seating and the food & beverage options. Having missed lunch to travel through busy São Paulo traffic to the airport, I was grateful for some warm food and a top-up on water. There was also a large selection of wines and a full service bar on the far side of the lounge.
Boarding & Welcome
The aircraft was at very last gate at the furthest pier of Terminal 3 making it a light cardio workout – turn on your fitness tracker! Knowing the distance, I allotted a solid 10 minutes to navigate from the lounge to the gate.
Arriving at the gate, I was met with the expected hustle and bustle. The gate area was crowded with passengers, creating the familiar chaotic and tense atmosphere. The boarding process was in full swing, with Groups 1-3 being called forward in an attempt to impose order. As is the ritual, the premium economy folks, labeled as Group 3, were inching forward and jostling for position as if the plane might leave without them. The scene was a delicate dance of priority and patience until the business class passengers, myself included, were thankfully ushered down a separate jet bridge and onto the awaiting A350 aircraft. Turning right after boarding though door 1, my seat (7A) was located midway along the main business class cabin.
Settling into my seat, I was offered of a glass of champagne, orange juice. While I’m not a big Champagne drinker, it’s one of those business class traditions I enjoy (and would hate for airlines to remove), so I rarely turn down a tiny sip before takeoff. The crew also handed me a menu card for the main meal and breakfast service.
The flight deck’s briefing was more than just a routine announcement; it was delivered with a charisma that captured my attention. It’s remarkable how the tone and delivery of an otherwise regular briefing from the flight deck can influence the mood of a flight right from the start.
Seat
The Club Suite was fitted with a the sliding privacy door, which was locked open for take-off and landing, but afforded me excellent privacy throughout the rest of the flight. The seat, equipped with intuitive controls, allowed me to easily adjust it into a flat bed or find a comfortable reclining position somewhere in between. The seat came with a three-point seatbelt, featuring a shoulder strap necessary for take-off and landing, but it easily converted into a standard lap belt for the cruising part of the journey. Beneath the entertainment screen, I found a fixed footrest, which I could reach with the seat slightly reclined. The cleanliness of the suite overall was broadly good, though I noticed a slight oversight—a previous passenger’s amenity kit was left behind in the vanity cupboard.
The seat came equipped with an impressive array of storage options: a small vanity cupboard at head level and a menu/magazine holder positioned conveniently behind it. Below the left-hand table, I found two horizontal, lift-lid storage tubs, perfect for personal items. Additionally, a vertical holder was designed to keep safety cards, which also had enough space to accommodate a couple of water bottles. For larger items, the overhead bins above the seat offered ample bag storage, ensuring everything I needed was within easy reach and neatly organized throughout the flight.
The seat was very comfortable, as comfortable as BAs first class seat – which I’ve also enjoyed many long sleeps in. This was further improved by the White Company bedding, including a duvet and full-size pillow. In total, I achieved a good 6 hours of uninterrupted sleep.
2 USB charging points were available in the lift-lid storage, along with one universal mains socket.
What is the best seat on A350 Club Suites from São Paulo?
Mid-cabin in the main (forward) club cabin is the best place to sit. You’re far away from the noisy galley at the front and the toilets at the rear. The only downside is that mid-cabin seats are the last to be served, although there is only a difference of about 10 minutes.
The washroom doors bang when closed, so definitely avoid rows 10 and 11, which are in the immediate vicinity. Food is served from the galley in front of row 1, so avoid the first two rows of the cabin too.
A and K seats are beside the windows. If, like me, you enjoy gazing out of the window. Some seats have on the A350 Club Suites have better window configurations than others:
- Rows 3, 4, 7 and 17 all have one window only.
- Rows 2, 5, 6, 8 and 16 have one and a half windows
- Whilst rows 1, 9, 10 and 15 all have two windows
So, for me, the best seat in the cabin is 9A – 2 windows and far enough from the toilets not to be disturbed.
E and F seats are together in the middle of the cabin. These might be better if you’re travelling with a companion and actually want to see them during the flight.
See the seating plan on SeatGuru.
Onboard Experience
The club cabin on the A350 is very large – 56 seats in total. The seating configuration does feel quite dense and there is little in the way of free space to move around. Passing in the aisles is a squeeze and there’s hardly any space beside the washrooms because the crew have to use these areas for meal preparaton. I guess this is the compromise for having a good layout when sat in your seat.
Each passenger received a White Company-branded leather-effect pouch that contained the usual amenity kit items inside: socks, eye mask, lip balm, toothbrush and paste.
There was one washroom at the front and two between the main club cabin and the smaller one behind. They were stocked with White Company hand soap and moisturiser.
A350 Club Suites São Paulo
Food & Drink
I had a very good food and beverage experience aboard this BA A350 Club Suites trip from São Paulo.
A bottle of still water was left waiting beside the seat when I arrived. A drink and bag of nuts with raisins was served about an hour after departure, which felt a bit long to wait. I noticed that all beverages were all served in stylish glassware.
Dinner was served 90 minutes in. It was served on a tray directly from the galley – no trolley. I ordered the cauliflower soup to start and this was already on the tray when it was put down. It was creamy, hot but not super-heated and dressed with croutons. I was offered another drink, so I paired the soup with the Chilean unoaked Chardonnay. It was very tasty. The crew member quickly returned with a glass and bottle, and poured the wine at the seat.
Also on the tray was some bread and a sun-dried tomato and mozzarella salad on a bed of lettuce leaves. While the pieces of mozzarella and tomato were nice, there was no dressing so the lettuce was dry and bland.
I had the beef tenderloin for main, which was delivered about 25 minutes after clearing the soup. It was accompanied by green beans, carrots and a potato rosti. The beef was indeed tender, although the green beans were a little over done. The rosti was piping hot.
Again, I was offered another drink, so I paired it with the Chilean Syrah.
I chose the Dulce de Leche dessert, which was as sweet as it sounds and finished off with a generous pour of Baileys over ice.
I found the food service to be fairly efficient although the delay between starter and main was noticeably long. I think this was because of the number of meals the crew had to prepare. The crew were very attentive with the drinks service and water top-ups throughout. Overall, I thought the quality and presentation was very good – better than most transatlantic business class services.
Breakfast service started about 2 hours before landing at Heathrow. It came as two courses. First was an attractive fruit plate, with Bircher muesli, yoghurt and a croissant on the side. Next was a choice of either a full English breakfast or omelette. I chose the latter and was pleased with both the presentation and taste. The crew served tea and coffee throughout the breakfast service.
In-flight Entertainment
On this A350 Club Suites flight from São Paulo, each seat had a large (18.5″), fixed entertainment screen that permitted gate-to-gate entertainment, unlike the older Club World seat. No need to fold screens away before take-off and landing.
The system was loaded with on-demand movie and TV content for adults, as well an entire section of content for kids.
BA has an Android system on the A350, which I always find quite buggy and on this occasion it rebooted itself during a movie.
Noise-cancelling headphone were supplied, which I found did a great job of blocking out aircraft and cabin sounds.
Wi-Fi was reported to be available on the flight, although I’ve found it to typically be patchy and not great value for money. The Wi-Fi landing page also provided flight information and options to browse and purchase items.
Arrival
My bag took 90 minutes to be delivered to the carousel. This is a big disadvantage of arriving at T3 with its older baggage handling systems. Once again, priority tags mean nothing and business class bags appeared to the last to be unloaded.
While the flight arrived into Terminal 3 at Heathrow, business class passengers were able to use the American Airlines arrivals lounge. It’s fairly small, although has a large number of showers for a lounge of its size. It was perfect for freshening up and having a bite to eat.
BG1 Verdict
If we were to compare with Virgin’s A350 transatlantic business product, this A350 Club Suites flight from São Paulo wins hands-down. The seat is very comfortable, the storage is excellent and the added privacy of the sliding door makes this a great business class product. The food and drink service and presentation in Club Suites was more aligned with BA first class or business class on airlines like Qatar Airways. We think BA has a bright future with this product.
BG1 Tip
If you’re arriving into Heathrow T3, have breakfast in the American Airlines arrivals lounge if you don’t feel like breakfast on the flight or would prefer to sleep a couple more hours.
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