After an extensive hunt for reward seats to use our BA American Express 2-4-1 voucher, we found two seats in First Class from London to Vancouver on a Boeing 747. Finding reward seats can feel like a mysterious art, so we grabbed them. Even better, we’d be flying the 747, aka the Queen of the Skies, which meant one thing: sitting right at the front, in the nose of the aircraft.
Our previous flights in British Airways First had been mixed, and this London to Vancouver flight followed the same pattern. Flying 747 First with BA was enjoyable enough, but if this hadn’t been a reward booking, we’d think very carefully before paying the full fare. The service can be inconsistent, the cabin is outdated, and the in-flight entertainment badly needs an update.
Flight Details
Flight No: BA085
From/To: London (LHR) to Vancouver (YVR)
Departure time: 5:30 pm
Aircraft: B747-400
Ticket Class: First Class
Seat: 1A and 1K
Flight time: 8 hours
Oneworld Tier Points: 0
Avios: 147,500 and £647 in taxes each
In this review:
- Check-in & Fast Track
- Lounge
- Boarding
- Aircraft Configuration
- Amenity Kit & Washrooms
- Seat
- In-flight Entertainment
- Drinks Service
- Food Service
- Arrival
- BG1 Verdict
Check-in & Fast Track
The London to Vancouver flight, is one of the few destinations that take-off from Heathrow Terminal 3 instead of Terminal 5 for BA. As the BA flight doesn’t fly from the airline’s flagship terminal, it doesn’t have the grandiose First check-in wing you see at Terminal 5. Instead, there is a small check-in cubicle, shared with JAL, in a separate cubicle to the other classes.
When we arrived at the check-in counter only one desk was open and there was a queue, which moved quickly. She told us that Storm Ciara, which happened the day before, caused a lot of havoc but our flight was departing on time. We started chatting, and spoke to her about the impact of coronavirus and flying – she said she’s definitely noticed a drop in passenger numbers at the airport.
Knowing that we had multiple oneworld lounge options open to us at Terminal 3, we probed further and asked which one is best to go to. Her verdict “Cathay Pacific for food” and “British Airways for drinks”. Fair enough, but as avid travellers and obsessed with lounges, we were going to try ALL four First and Business Class lounge that were open to us.
The fast-track security lanes were very busy and when we peered at the normal security lanes, it was so long it was snaking out of the terminal. Given the crowds, it contradicts what our check-in attendant was saying about the reduce passenger numbers. Anyhow, security took a lot longer than I expected and wasn’t fast at all.
Lounge
No Concorde Room and no First check-in wing might sounds like a disaster but don’t despair! Travelling from T3 opens up a whole new world of possibilities, as you get the choice of four different Oneworld lounges to make up for it. The options opened to us are:
- British Airways Galleries Lounge (First and Business) – we think this is best for wine and alcohol
- Cathay Pacific Lounge (First and Business) – we think this is best for dining and food
- Qantas London Lounge – we think this is the best looking lounge and has a fantastic gin bar
- American Airlines Admirals Lounge – this is the quietest of all lounges, so if you’re looking to take conference calls, or a very quiet space to relax, we would recommend heading to the AA lounge
For a write up about the lounges please visit our blog where we travelled First Class to Cape Town.
Departure airlines lounges can be amazing spaces to enjoy with great food and wine to try! We love exploring these spaces, so we arrived the airport about 3 hours before our departure time to fully enjoy the benefits! If we were to chose just one lounge to spend our time in, we would recommend the Cathay Pacific First lounge, it’s quiet and has great views of the runway.
Boarding
We were still in the BA First Lounge when we saw the ‘Final Call’ sign for our flight to Vancouver. We quickly downed the English sparkling wine and made our way to the gate. When we arrived, boarding was already underway and they were starting to board passengers in Group 4 and 5 passengers. Whoops! But as we had Boarding Group 1 on our tickets, we joined the queue for passengers in Group 1 and 2. Boarding was very organised and after our documents were checked, we found ourselves at the entrance of the plane, albeit a small queue on the bridge.
We were greeted by cabin crew when we got to the plane, they checked our tickets and promptly welcomed us on board “Hello, Mr X, how are you? Let me show you to your seat”. After a few pleasantries we were guided to our seat at the front of the plane into seats in 1A and 1K.
We settled into our seats quickly, and before long our cabin crew came to introduce themselves and asked if we wanted a drink. Yes! Champagne please, and make it the Laurent Perrier Grande Sicle, as we didn’t have this in the terminal. In record speed, they brought us our welcome drink accompanied by warm nuts. Along with the drink, they also shared the food and drinks menu, pyjamas and amenity kit.
Aircraft Configuration
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Aircraft type: Airbus B747-400
Number of classes: 4
Number of seats in flying class: 14
Position: Front of the airplane
Amenity Kit & Washrooms
Washrooms
There were two washrooms near the galley for first class passengers. These were kitted our with the signature (very fragrant) Elemis White Lotus and Lime soap and moisturiser. It’s a shame that there were no windows in the toilets but the rose added a sense of luxury. However, the sink was very small and it’s a challenge to get both hands under the tap! There is no fanfare in the washrooms like the showers you get with Middle Eastern carriers, so there’s nothing special to write about. The cabin crew kept the washrooms clean and tidy.
Amenity Kit
In first class, the crew hand you a Temperley amenity kit with apparently £100 worth of Elemis cosmetics. You also get an eye mask, socks, ear plugs and a disposable toothbrush.
Seat
BA plans to retire the 38 Boeing 747s in its fleet by 2022, which is a real shame. Sitting at the pointy end of these gracious Queens of the Skies is still a rather lovely way to fly. However, with retirement looming, BA seems to have taken a fairly relaxed approach to cabin upkeep.
The seats are comfortable and spacious, but the cabin looked badly overdue a refresh. Let’s start with what works. The seat is roomy, supportive and moulds nicely around you, with enough adjustment to find a comfortable position. The movable armrest and footrest help, and the seat reclines fully into a very comfortable bed in the sky.
The cleanliness was disappointing
Now, the bad bit. The seats badly need a refresh and, frankly, the whole first class cabin could do with an update. They looked tired, but the cleaning made things worse: we found leftovers from previous passengers, including used tissues, a lollipop stick, bits from the amenity kit and food crumbs.
Having flown BA many times, we can safely say cleanliness is not its forte. We’ve seen this too often when boarding BA flights, and it was pretty unpleasant here. The ground cleaning team clearly hadn’t shown much care or attention.
We believe cabin crew should keep an eye out for rubbish, but it’s fundamentally not their job to clean seats once passengers have already sat down. The service on the flight was great, but the state of the seat was unacceptable, and we’ll be writing to BA to share our disappointment. In the age of coronavirus precautions, I was shocked to find used tissues in my seat. We raised our concerns with BA customer support on Twitter, and the response we received was far from satisfactory.
Access & Storage
If you’re in row 1, there are no overhead lockers for your bags. Instead, you get a large storage cupboard directly in front of you, plus a separate coat cupboard. Most seats also have a shoe storage compartment, although seats 1A and 1K miss out on that particular luxury.
There’s no front pocket or extra little cupboard built into the seat, unlike on some airlines. Naturally, we managed to leave a mobile phone behind without realising. Full credit to the cabin crew: they found it quickly and brought it to the luggage area. Golden ticket secured.
Sleeping
Sleeping in the nose of the Boeing 747 is one of those rare aviation treats that actually lives up to the hype. It’s properly quiet up there, with the engines so far behind us that we could barely hear them. Soon after dinner, the cabin crew offered to make up our seats as beds, adding comfortable bedding that turned the whole thing from ‘aircraft seat’ into ‘surprisingly convincing bedroom’.
Once our heads hit the pillows, we were out until an hour before landing, when clanking cutlery and the smell of coffee did the job better than any alarm. The smooth, turbulence-free flight certainly helped. Seats 1A and 1K also felt like a tiny private cabin, with no parade of passengers passing by and the crew only appearing when serving us. We suspect this is about as close as most of us get to private jet territory.
What is the best seat on BA 747 First class?
If you get the opportunity and travelling as a pair, book into Seats 1A and 1K, as really does feel like you’re on a private jet. Due to where the seats are located, no one will walk to your cabin unless they are there to see you. In addition, you both get window and ailse access, and yet you’re close enough to speak with each other. Unfortunately, seats 1A and 1K are saved for BA Club Gold members.
If you’re traveling on your own, any of the seats by the windows are great. We recommend to be closer to the front, away from the galley and washrooms.
In-flight Entertainment
Equipment
Well, it was very dated. The 80s called and want their entertainment system back. The built-in kit looked ancient, and the screen resolution was pretty grim. Not all of BA’s 747s had been refurbished – at least half the fleet – and this one really showed its age. In a world where high-definition TVs are everywhere, the system on this aircraft was poor.
The BA Highlife entertainment system in First on the Boeing 747 was poor, and the content somehow made it worse. BA handed out smart new Meridian headphones, but they couldn’t hide the age of the system. As it was a relatively short flight, we chose sleep over a film.
The top of the range Meridian noise cancelling headphones will pair nicely to a high quality IFE, unfortunately it isn’t the case here!
Content
Disappointing. None of the movies and film choices gripped our attention, with the added frustration of the old IFE system, we turned off and avoided watching anything. There was a handful of new releases and TV shows but compared to long lists that other airlines offer now, we were not impressed.
Drinks Service
BA has always been rather good at the wine list, in our opinion. The variety is usually strong and the pours are generous, sometimes hilariously so. On our flight, there were three sparkling wines, three whites, three reds, a long list of spirits, one port and one dessert wine.
We paired our wines with lunch, and the crew suggested a small taste test with the cheese course. The menu also explained which wine worked best with the cheese selection, which was actually useful rather than just menu fluff. Although we love a generous pour, BA may occasionally be taking the word ‘glass’ as a loose concept. It might also be the crew’s way of reducing return trips, freeing them up to focus on the food service.
Food Service
Since BA changed caterers earlier in 2020, the food in the first class cabin was one of the best meals we’ve had on a flight. Credit where it’s due: DO&CO is a luxury caterer, and we hope this level of finesse and food quality sticks around.
Main meal
We often judge an inflight menu by whether we’re spoilt for choice and can’t decide what to eat. On this flight, we wanted pretty much everything listed, which is both a compliment and a warning sign. Dinner was the main meal, so we greedily decided to try all five courses for lunch: canapés, starter, main, dessert and cheese. For the main, we chose the seared fillet of beef, which came with a choice of sides. It’s rarely easy to cook steak properly at 35,000 feet, so the fact it arrived pink was frankly impressive. The chocolate dessert was the standout, and easily one of the best things on the menu.
Although the service was slow, it was paced correctly and we didn’t feel rushed to finish our food, instead we were given the opportunity to savour our meal.
Second Meal Service
We had afternoon tea before landing as our second meal. The presentation looked properly smart, served on designer china with bite-sized cakes and sandwiches sitting neatly on the tiered plates. There’s something rather lovely about eating scones with jam while cruising at 35,000 feet.
Arrival
We arrived quickly and without fuss. BA used both doors on the 747 for disembarkation, so everyone got off the aircraft at a decent pace. The bags took a while to appear, but our priority tags did their job and ours came out among the first. Unfortunately, Vancouver Airport has no arrivals lounge for BA or Oneworld passengers.
BG1 Verdict
BA has clearly improved the food, and on this flight it was excellent. However, the first class cabin on the BA 747 badly needed a refresh, and the cleanliness was disappointing. Without the cabin crew, who seemed new and very keen to please, this could have felt very different. They were fresh-faced, well trained and did everything they needed to do, but they lacked the polish of BA’s older crew. Those more seasoned crew often build a proper rapport with passengers, whereas this team seemed nervous about putting a foot wrong. Still, whenever we spoke to them, they stopped for a chat and made sure we were well looked after.
Read: British Airways 747 Business Class Vancouver to London Review
BG1 Tip
Wine tasting! If you can’t decide which wine to have ask whether the cabin crew would do a mini wine tasting for you. Just make sure you ask them for tiny tiny amounts. When we tasted the wines on offer with our cheese course, the cabin crew were very generous with their portions. Suffice to say we indulged in the wine resulting us in going to bed shortly after.
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