Business Class BA Advice and Experiences PLEASE!

[1andrea]

OMG we've gone and took the plunge and booked business class flights.

We always try and find the cheapest deal and we have a tight budget but we noticed some cheap business class tickets (Club World) flying from Dublin to Heathrow to Miami with BA and we thought it was too good an experience to miss.

Now I would love to hear your experiences because i'm so excited!

Also does anyone have any experience of the business class lounge and when you can use it?

We've booked through BA and our first leg is an Are Lingus economy flight to Heathrow. As the first flight is economy can we still use the business class lounge in Dublin?

Thank you xx

 

[1nfrequent]

Now I would love to hear your experiences because i'm so excited!

Also does anyone have any experience of the business class lounge and when you can use it?

We've booked through BA and our first leg is an Are Lingus economy flight to Heathrow. As the first flight is economy can we still use the business class lounge in Dublin?

Ah, 1andrea - once you go business class, you can never turn right again ...

I fly BA business quite regularly for leisure and it's a decent product. If you're flying from LHR then you'll get a better seat and IFE system than on the flights out of LGW. On boarding you'll be offered a choice of drinks (OJ, champagne or water) and not that I want to influence you, but it's always champagne o'clock somewhere in the world. I'd have a fiddle with the controls when you board - they're pretty intuitive and the pictures tell you how to make it go flat, recline etc. There's a kitchen for snacks inbetween meals - be warned that it does tend to get raided but I've always found biscuits and chocolate to eat there.

Flying into Miami means that you'll be able to pre-select your food a month in advance. I haven't used this but I'm told it's pretty easy. My only piece of advice is not to go for the beef unless you like it very well done.

The BA flights to MIA leave from Terminal 3 so you will probably need to transfer from Terminal 2 but that should be straightforward. At LHR, you'll be entitled to use the Elemis spa. They've got a good range of treatments but it does get booked up very quickly. How long have you got as a connection time at LHR? If you're getting in early and have 3 or 4 hours plus, you should get be able to get an appointment but it all depends on if you're flying at peak holiday time or not. If you do get to use the spa, I'd recommend a facial as you usually get free product samples afterwards.

I think BA are currently sharing their lounge at T3 with Emirates so it can get busy but when I was there in June there was no problem in getting somewhere to sit. The lounge does buffet food - breakfast is usually bacon rolls, porridge, pastries and vegetarian breakfast rolls (usually mushroom if memory serves). The lunch and dinner options can vary and have a bit of a school dinner feel - chilli con carne, soup, pasta - that kind of thing. Some people absolutely hate the food but I've never had a problem with finding something decent to eat (although don't overdo it because you'll be eating on the plane too).

The bad news is that so far as I know, Aer Lingus don't give you access to their lounge at Dublin unless you're a BA gold or silver card holder. It's worth asking in case that's changed now that BA is buying them out, but it was definitely the case last March.

Not sure from your post if you're flying from Miami to Orlando. If so, are you doing it on American Airlines because if you are, then if you aren't already a member of the BA Executive Club, it's worth getting a membership card because you'll get enough airmiles from the trip (including the Aer Lingus flights) to get a return to Europe. You might also get enough tier points to hit bronze.

Hope that's all useful and that you have a fabulous trip!

1F

 

[1andrea]

Ah, 1andrea - once you go business class, you can never turn right again ...

I fly BA business quite regularly for leisure and it's a decent product. If you're flying from LHR then you'll get a better seat and IFE system than on the flights out of LGW. On boarding you'll be offered a choice of drinks (OJ, champagne or water) and not that I want to influence you, but it's always champagne o'clock somewhere in the world. I'd have a fiddle with the controls when you board - they're pretty intuitive and the pictures tell you how to make it go flat, recline etc. There's a kitchen for snacks inbetween meals - be warned that it does tend to get raided but I've always found biscuits and chocolate to eat there.

Flying into Miami means that you'll be able to pre-select your food a month in advance. I haven't used this but I'm told it's pretty easy. My only piece of advice is not to go for the beef unless you like it very well done.

The BA flights to MIA leave from Terminal 3 so you will probably need to transfer from Terminal 2 but that should be straightforward. At LHR, you'll be entitled to use the Elemis spa. They've got a good range of treatments but it does get booked up very quickly. How long have you got as a connection time at LHR? If you're getting in early and have 3 or 4 hours plus, you should get be able to get an appointment but it all depends on if you're flying at peak holiday time or not. If you do get to use the spa, I'd recommend a facial as you usually get free product samples afterwards.

I think BA are currently sharing their lounge at T3 with Emirates so it can get busy but when I was there in June there was no problem in getting somewhere to sit. The lounge does buffet food - breakfast is usually bacon rolls, porridge, pastries and vegetarian breakfast rolls (usually mushroom if memory serves). The lunch and dinner options can vary and have a bit of a school dinner feel - chilli con carne, soup, pasta - that kind of thing. Some people absolutely hate the food but I've never had a problem with finding something decent to eat (although don't overdo it because you'll be eating on the plane too).

The bad news is that so far as I know, Aer Lingus don't give you access to their lounge at Dublin unless you're a BA gold or silver card holder. It's worth asking in case that's changed now that BA is buying them out, but it was definitely the case last March.

Not sure from your post if you're flying from Miami to Orlando. If so, are you doing it on American Airlines because if you are, then if you aren't already a member of the BA Executive Club, it's worth getting a membership card because you'll get enough airmiles from the trip (including the Aer Lingus flights) to get a return to Europe. You might also get enough tier points to hit bronze.

Hope that's all useful and that you have a fabulous trip!

1F

Thank you so much for taking the time to write such an informative post for me :0)

We land in LHR at 12.40 and fly to Miami at 2.15pm so I expect we will hopefully have an hour in the business class lounge. I doubt we will have long enough for spa treatments :0( but enough time for food!!

We are driving from Miami to Orlando and we fancy a little road trip.

I don't have a flying club account with BA but when I booked I added in my American Airlines flying club info. Would I have been better to open a BA account? I'm not too hot on Airmiles etc.

I'm definitely looking forward to the club kitchen and I bet I will be first there raiding the snacks! I'm glad we can book our meals online as I'm a fussy eater and so is my daughter so that will help but it will be my first time on a plane without taking my own food as I hate economy food!

We don't fly til August so I need to stop being so excited. It's nearly a year away!!

Thank you again xx

 

[1nfrequent]

I don't have a flying club account with BA but when I booked I added in my American Airlines flying club info. Would I have been better to open a BA account? I'm not too hot on Airmiles etc.

It really depends on where you're based and who you fly with more often. If you're based in the UK and fly BA a lot, then it's easier to get status with BA, which means that you get a few more perks (bronze allows you to pick seats for free 7 days before your flight and you get priority boarding). It's ultimately up to you, if AA works for you then stick at it. (I only mentioned it because a lot of people don't seem to know about airmiles and so miss out on the opportunity to pick up some benefits).

Sounds like you've got an amazing trip planned!

1F

 

[ABZDisneyFan]

One thing that you should watch out for is BA will not automatically allocate you seats together, this is a long running contentious issue & does cause issues for people.
We flew to Miami from LHR in Club in 2012 & paid extra to guarantee seats together, have a look at your booking on the BA website, details of the charges to reserve seats will be on there, if my memory serves me right it's about £40 per person per seat per flight, more if you can grab seats upstairs on the 747 if that plane is still being used on the Miami route.
Looking at how long you have between flights in Heathrow, you will be lucky to make it into the lounge, assuming you land on time or early by the time you factor in the plane getting to the gate, you getting off the plane, walking to the transfer area & then transferring to T3 it will be tight, if you have any kind of delay getting to Heathrow then it's going to be even tighter.
Not trying to freak you out just giving you a heads up, my advice would be to concentrate on getting from T2 to T3 & then make a judgement call on whether or not getting to the lounge is a viable option.
You'll be able to use the fast track boarding lane when you board the aircraft, don't be shy about this, it should be well signed.
The CW seats are in a ying & yang format i.e. side by side but you face the person next to you unless you opt for the two center seats in the middle which face backwards.
The lounge in Miami is okay but nothing special, the food offering is very, very basic & not a patch on the Heathrow lounges, it's nice enough to relax in for a couple of hours before your flight but don't go in with high expectations.
If you've not flown business class before then your in for a treat & will not want to fly down the back of the bus again.
We've used Aer Lingus for our last few trips to the States, their business class is very good & in some ways superior to BA's, if you get the business class bug from these flights Aer Lingus are generally way cheaper than BA & when you factor in the immigration & pre clearance in Dublin, it's a great way to fly to the states.
If you have any more questions, please feel free to ask.

 

[OldKeyWelsh]

Club World is a wonderful way to travel, but then I am probably biased as I work for BA. You will be able to check in online 24 hrs before your flight and you can then see your allocated seats and change them if you want to. I would recommend the upper deck if available- its nice and quiet up there with only 24 seats, the only downside is you will have to go downstairs to the Club Kitchen. BA have started to upgrade most of their 747s so by next August there is a good chance that your aircraft will have the latest Panasonic in flight entertainment system on board.

 

[saintrob]

I agree with the others - once you've travelled in Club World, you won't want to turn right anymore. It's a great way to travel across the pond. I've also used Aer Lingus business class and that's also a great product.

 

[tinkerpea]

Can I ask ( you can always pm me if you preferred) what price you managed to get it for,
We're looking at doing that route well the Heathrow to miami part, and seeing if its within our budget if we got a good deal, we've always wanted to do it just once.
Thanks

 

[1andrea]

Ive only just noticed my thread has more replies, sorry for not noticing sooner!

 

[1andrea]

One thing that you should watch out for is BA will not automatically allocate you seats together, this is a long running contentious issue & does cause issues for people.
We flew to Miami from LHR in Club in 2012 & paid extra to guarantee seats together, have a look at your booking on the BA website, details of the charges to reserve seats will be on there, if my memory serves me right it's about £40 per person per seat per flight, more if you can grab seats upstairs on the 747 if that plane is still being used on the Miami route.
Looking at how long you have between flights in Heathrow, you will be lucky to make it into the lounge, assuming you land on time or early by the time you factor in the plane getting to the gate, you getting off the plane, walking to the transfer area & then transferring to T3 it will be tight, if you have any kind of delay getting to Heathrow then it's going to be even tighter.
Not trying to freak you out just giving you a heads up, my advice would be to concentrate on getting from T2 to T3 & then make a judgement call on whether or not getting to the lounge is a viable option.
You'll be able to use the fast track boarding lane when you board the aircraft, don't be shy about this, it should be well signed.
The CW seats are in a ying & yang format i.e. side by side but you face the person next to you unless you opt for the two center seats in the middle which face backwards.
The lounge in Miami is okay but nothing special, the food offering is very, very basic & not a patch on the Heathrow lounges, it's nice enough to relax in for a couple of hours before your flight but don't go in with high expectations.
If you've not flown business class before then your in for a treat & will not want to fly down the back of the bus again.
We've used Aer Lingus for our last few trips to the States, their business class is very good & in some ways superior to BA's, if you get the business class bug from these flights Aer Lingus are generally way cheaper than BA & when you factor in the immigration & pre clearance in Dublin, it's a great way to fly to the states.
If you have any more questions, please feel free to ask.

I think we are going to just wait until online check in opens and book our seats then, hopefully we will still be able to sit together :0)

Im hoping that we will manage to sneak in the lounge but if we cant it's a bit rubbish but as long as we make the flight!!

We will make the Miami lounge but as it doesnt sound like it's that good we wont have high expectations!

It is our first time in business class, i would have liked to fly Aer Lingus but BA was a lot cheaper. Id love the pre clearance.

Thank you for posting xx

 

[1andrea]

Club World is a wonderful way to travel, but then I am probably biased as I work for BA. You will be able to check in online 24 hrs before your flight and you can then see your allocated seats and change them if you want to. I would recommend the upper deck if available- its nice and quiet up there with only 24 seats, the only downside is you will have to go downstairs to the Club Kitchen. BA have started to upgrade most of their 747s so by next August there is a good chance that your aircraft will have the latest Panasonic in flight entertainment system on board.

We are so looking forward to it. My frend works for BA too and she told me how good it is!

I dont mind walking down to the club kitchen and if I am lucky enough to get the upstairs seats I will be pleased :0)

 

[1andrea]

I agree with the others - once you've travelled in Club World, you won't want to turn right anymore. It's a great way to travel across the pond. I've also used Aer Lingus business class and that's also a great product.

Thats what im afraid of!!

 

[1andrea]

Can I ask ( you can always pm me if you preferred) what price you managed to get it for,
We're looking at doing that route well the Heathrow to miami part, and seeing if its within our budget if we got a good deal, we've always wanted to do it just once.
Thanks

Flying Heathrow to Miami was around treble the price of flying Dublin to Heathrow to Miami, not fully sure why but its something to do with the departure airport prices and Dublin being cheaper.

We paid just under £900 each xx

 

[tinkerpea]

Flying Heathrow to Miami was around treble the price of flying Dublin to Heathrow to Miami, not fully sure why but its something to do with the departure airport prices and Dublin being cheaper.

We paid just under £900 each xx

Oh my God really.
Wow! That's amazing, if I seen that price I don't think I'd be able to pass it up lol.
At least I know they do have those prices from time to time lol