Flight: London Heathrow (LHR) to Philadelphia (PHL)

Airline: British Airways

Flight Number: BA067

Plane: Boeing 777-300ER

Aircraft: G-STBI

Cabin: Club World

Seat: 11B

This Flight

This is my review of another positioning flight from Heathrow to Philadelphia.

As I understand it BA operate only one daily flight from LHR to PHL, the BA067 – which leaves at 13:40 and lands in PHL at 16:35, and is operated on the Boeing 777-300ER.

American Airlines (who code share with BA) operate two daily flights – a 10:05 and 13:00, which get into PHL at 13:00 and 15:55 respectively.

On this trip, AA’s 13:00 literally lined up before us on the runaway for take off – although I forgot to see how for ahead/behind it was when we landed!

Checking In

As usual, the First Wing checking in experience was pretty good, I waited about 2 minutes for a desk to become free and everything was then quickly dealt with.

Having checked via the First Wing, I was quickly through Security and on my way into the lounge.

The Lounge

Because I had checked via the First Wing, I spent some time in the First Lounge.

After a while, my gate came up at B-Gates, so I decided to go to the (usually very quiet) lounge in 5B.

Both lounge experiences were pretty good, although I always advise checking if your gate will be 5B or 5C before going to the B-Gates lounge – for the reasons I explain in my review!

The Plane

This was BA’s Boeing 777-300ER, with registration G-STBI.

The aircraft itself is relatively new, having been delivered in 2014 to BA.

The configuration of the aircraft is 14 x First Class, 56 x Club World, 44 x Premium Economy and 185 Economy – making a total of 299 seats.

Unfortunately, this plane was fitted with ‘old Club World’, although BA are endevouring to retrofit their 777’s to Club Suites.

The Seat

As usual, I have reviewed the Club World seat separately here, there are a few big differences between the aisle and the window however!

The main one is space! There is nowhere to put anything! Working is very hard – especially when your meal comes along. Nowhere to put a laptop, paperwork, chargers, etc.

Another issue is privacy. This is partly an issue generally, but also an issue during boarding when everyone is walking past you to the back of the plane – it’s very easy for people to hit you with their excessive hand luggage or swipe things off your table during the boarding process.

Being honest, this product looks like something out of the 1990’s and really should have no place in the market anymore.

Food and Drink

Unlike American Airlines, BA do not have a pre-ordering service for food on the plane – so it’s always a surprise to see what’s on the menu.

This is the first I’d flown long-haul with BA since their full 3-course menu came back in October 2022. I’d been deliberately avoiding flying with them, as I found the single-tray service to be well below par.

Drinks

Before take off the usual water, orange juice or champagne was offered. That’s if someone doesn’t swipe it off your table with their massive suitcase!

Once airborne, there was a drinks service offered. I usually like a beer, but I am getting really fed up BA’s offering, which is extremely limited. Heineken, Brewdog or Heineken 0% isn’t really much of a choice…….and the Brewdog ran out pretty quickly in! I really also get annoyed with the nasty teeth-breaker nut served in a packet – not very premium!

As always seem to happen on BA, by about 3 hours before landing, there was no Coke Zero either!

One thing that BA do redeem themselves on is the wine, which was a decent selection – and quite nice.

BA have recently introduced the English Digby Fine English Brut, a sparkling white. I tried half a glass, and swiftly replaced it with a red wine!

Lunch

As I mentioned above, BA don’t allow pre-ordering of food in Club World, so it’s always slightly rolling the dice.

Starters offered on this flight were;

• British roast beef
• Smoky aubergine and chickpeas
• Pea soup

This was a pretty easy decision for me – I went for the beef, which was actually very good. The beef came with a small bowl of salad and a bread roll. Really, the salad bowl is what they should be pouring the nuts into (see above complaint)!

Main courses on offer were;

• Braised Welsh leg of lamb
• Grilled Cod
• Mozzarella mezzaluna

Once I’d finished Googling what a mezzaluna was, I decided to order it. To be fair it was very good and I enjoyed it.

For desert there were a few options on the list;

• Cheese
• Banana chocolate mousse
• Fresh seasonal fruit
• Apricot souffle

For me this was another no brainer, and I went for the cheese. Thankfully, BA’s ‘old’ way of doing cheese was back, and much appreciated!

Afternoon Tea

The ‘snack’ for this flight was BA’s afternoon tea. I am not a huge fan of it, so I had a few scones and some macaroons……..with full-fat Coke, as the Coke Zero had ran out.

Amenities Kit

OK…….I am going to rant.

These Amenities Kits have not changed in 5 years (probably more). They look cheap, are cheap, have poor quality bags, unimaginative contents – and are not very premium.

The good news is I can copy and paste my other Amenity Kit reviews straight in, from 3 years ago!

The contents is:

• Eye Mask
• Socks
• Un-branded Pen
• Tooth Brush & Toothpaste
• Earplugs
• Hand Cream
• Lavender Spray

Wifi

On the face of it, the Wifi was reasonably priced.

£4.99 for 1 hour (less reasonable)

£11.99 for 4 hours

£14.99 for full flight (pretty good)

The issue I had was that it wouldn’t actually accept my payment (of any kind) on my phone or laptop, and I ended up going round in circles trying to get it to work. So, unfortunately, whilst I would have liked to have paid for the Wifi and used it – I couldn’t, and gave up!

Entertainment

BA’s entertainment as a whole needs a big review. They used to pride themselves on a big unveiling each month. Right now……it’s not changed since 2019.

There are a few new films and things – but the music, TV, etc has not changed for years. It’s predicable and boring.

Additionally, the TV screens in Club World are not exactly great (again something out of the 1990’s) – and have to be ‘flipped in’ for takeoff and landing.

Cabin Crew

I am still never quite sure how BA plan their Cabin Crew in Club World.

It seems they find the most surly and indifferent people to hand out the Champagne and shove a menu in your face during boarding – then find other slightly more friendly people to take the orders pre-takeoff. Then from somewhere all the friendly people come out of the woodwork during the actual flight. At least that’s how it feels.

So……when all the friendly Cabin Crew arrived it was actually a nice flight with a nice crew. But my first impressions were not that great.

That aside, the drinks service was a bit slow. Refills were offered from time to time, but most of the Cabin Crew and gone into hiding. Lunch/Afternoon Tea service was fairly rapid – and due to the limitations on space I was given a ‘five minute warning’ to clear my table ready for the tray.

There was no thank you for my loyalty to BA, for being a Gold Member.

Landing in Philly

Who won out of us and the American Airlines plane I don’t know – but landing in Philly was super easy, as always.

I headed to the Global Entry Lane, and had my luggage in about 10 minutes………and it was off to the hotel!

Conclusion

Having been avoiding BA because of the restrictive menu, I was glad to see a proper 3-course menu was back. To be fair the food was pretty good.

However, this hasn’t been the only reason I’ve been avoiding flying British Airways;

• The 1990’s Business Class seats are just not good enough, when flying other airlines you can get better.
• The beer selection (for me) is just not varied enough.
• The entertainment isn’t good enough, or varied – especially when flying regularly.
• The Amenities Kits are cheap and dull.

Whilst the Cabin Crew were nice and friendly (eventually), they were no better than any American Airlines Cabin Crew I’ve had – where I’ve not had the gripes I’ve described above.

So, would I fly to PHL again with BA? Only if it was in BA’s Club Suites, and probably if I couldn’t get an AA flight.

Would I fly anywhere long-haul with BA? Only if it was BA’s Club Suites, and I’d be checking carefully on American, Cathay, Qatar Airways, JAL and Qantas to see what the alternatives are!

Sorry, British Airways, but I think you’ve lost it. In fact, after my experience flying back from Austin – I am certain of that!