Flight Review: British Airways Business Class London to Chicago

As mentioned in my previous post, I was able to score a round trip flight to London in a flat bed for an incredibly cheap price – $452.20. Both flights (Chicago to London and London to Chicago) were pretty much the same except for departure times and seats: my outbound flight from Chicago was leaving at 8:35pm and I had one of the middle seats vs. a 4:00pm departure time and aisle seat for my inbound flight. I usually prefer window seats, but as it turns out British Airways charges extra for seat selection:

• Seats in our European shorthaul Club Europe cabin start from £20/€24/$30.
• On longer international flights, seats in our Club World cabin start from £55/€66/$83.

Say wot?!! I have to pay $166+ ($83 for the outbound and the same for the inbound flight) to select my seats when the entire flight cost me $452?!! No, thank you! So, for the flight to London I was assigned seat 13F (one of the middle seats) and for the flight to Chicago I got the aisle seat – 14D. I’d say the middle seats are perfect if you are traveling with someone and want to sit together; the aisle/window seats would be a better choice if you are a solo traveler and prefer not to sit next to a stranger.

LHR to ORD

I took the Piccadily line from my hotel to Heathrow airport and got there around two hours before the departure time – enough time for some snacks/beer at the BA Galleries Lounge. Around ten minutes before boarding time I headed to the gate; boarding was announced shortly after I got there. Once I boarded, I quickly found my seat, took some pictures and settled in.

Some things to keep in mind: the business class cabin has eight seats per row with some seats facing forward and some facing backwards. There’s a partition between the seats but it has to be lowered during the takeoff – that means you will facing another passenger and staring at him/her…….it gets a bit awkward after a while.

Shortly after I got to my seat, one of the flight attendants came by to offer water, juice or champagne prior to departure. Hmm, champagne please!

Menus and amenity kits were distributed a bit later.

The next twenty minutes or so were the usual stuff: welcome from the captain, flight info, boarding complete, takeoff. Once the seat-belt sign was turned off, the crew distributed hot towels and came to take meal orders. I selected beetroot carpaccio, salad and pasta.

Meal service started with packaged salted nuts and drinks. I asked for a glass of Spanish white wine, which I had tried on my inbound flight and really liked it. Just to give you an idea of how good the service was: on both, inbound and outbound flights, the flight attendant presented me a bottle, poured a sip to try and waited for my OK to proceed. Impressive!

Starters and salads were served about 15-20 minutes later, together with a bread basket with various kinds of bread to choose from. I was super hungry by then, so the contents of both plates disappeared pretty quickly – the salad was ok and the carpaccio was delicious.

My pasta arrived shortly after – not the best pasta I’ve had in my life, but it was perfectly edible. Also, there was a tiny box of chocolates (2 pieces to be exact) that was placed on a tray together with the starters and salads. So, I decided to skip dessert/coffee/tea and just have the chocolate with another glass of wine.

After the meal service I reclined my seat so I could get some sleep….but that didn’t work the way I planned – I guess my body’s internal clock was still on London time. I woke up about two hours later and just watched TV until it was time for the afternoon tea (second lunch?) – I opted for a sandwich combo accompanied with some pastries and coffee. Either I was hungry again or everything was delicious….

Time flew by pretty quickly after the second lunch – a bit more TV watching and soon enough Chicago’s skyscrapers were in the horizon… Landing was smooth, I skipped the lines and was through customs in a matter of minutes thanks to Global Entry and was on the Blue Line train on my way home within 12 minutes of getting off the plane.

Bottom Line

Service during the flight was excellent, food was decent and the seat was pretty comfy – I would gladly fly with them again for the same price since it’s much much nicer than flying coach. But if I was a paying (full price) customer, my biggest complain would be the business class cabin layout  – it’s very dense and a bit awkward; it’s obvious British Airways is trying to maximize every possible inch of space.