Flight reviews

Flight Review: British Airways Economy Class Boeing 777-300 (LHR-BGI)

Published

7 months ago

08/02/2023

I arrived at London Heathrow in my Uber at around 8:10. I headed to the Club World check-in section, as I was traveling with my family, who have Executive Club silver membership, which permits you to use the Club World check-in at all airports with British Airways flights. I was traveling in a large group of 7 onboard BAW255. The airport itself is modern and impressive, with high ceilings, large information boards, and is generally an impressive structure.

After a few minutes waiting, we headed to print out our boarding passes at the self-service machines, before heading to Check-in Area G, where there were several self-service bag drops. I find these machines at Heathrow to almost never work, and today was no different. We would scan the boarding passes, and an error notice would come up, telling us that “there is a problem checking in your bag” and to contact a BA staff member. There was a member of the staff team there, but only one, and with almost none of the machines working properly, she had an extremely stressful task. Eventually, she gave up attempting to get the machine to work, and manually checked in our bags. I suggest British Airways either fix their machines or ditch the system, as it simply doesn’t work for them at the moment. The Norwegian Air Shuttle machines at Oslo Airport work perfectly, and it’s infuriating that none of them ever work at Terminal 5.

Airside

We headed on through into South Security, which was incredibly busy. Fortunately, the Security staff held up none of our group, and we carried on through into the departure lounge. Terminal 5 is very well equipped, with many fantastic designer shops like Gucci, Prada, and Paul Smith, and cafes and restaurants for takeaway, such as Pret A Manger, Starbucks and Itsu. After a short while in the main airport area, we headed to the B Gates. The transit was busy but ended up being a quick and easy journey to a much quieter area of the airport.

Boarding and initial thoughts

B42, however was a very busy gate. After a short moment of confusion from some passengers over whether or not we were accidentally boarding a flight for San Francisco, California, we boarded our aircraft, G-STBE, a Boeing 777-300. The aircraft appeared rather old on the outside, and the recently renovated interior is rather uninspiring. We walked through the rather dated Club World cabin and newer-looking World Traveller Plus cabins and arrived in the World Traveller section.

The cabin is organized in a 3-3-3 configuration, meaning that, fortunately, the seats are relatively wide, and the cabin is not too cramped. The seats are dull, a sort of greyish blue, nowhere near as striking as Virgin Atlantic’s cabin, but that is not much of a concern of mine. I traveled over to my seat, 46K. The way the cabin is organized is slightly confusing, as the seats directly next to row 46HJK are in row 47. This is rather confusing at first boarding and can cause some inital problems, but these are solved quickly. I took my seat, where a pillow, blanket, and flimsy earphones were waiting for me.

Take-off and the start of the flight

The aircraft took off quickly, especially for a Heathrow departure, and I was pleasantly surprised as we headed over Berkshire and towards North America. The first free drinks service came around shortly after take-off, where I ordered an orange juice, and passengers were provided with a complimentary packet of Sour Cream and Chive pretzels, as always on long-haul British Airways flights. This flight was an incredibly turbulent one. I finished my meal, pre-bought at Heathrow before the inflight meal service came around. During the meal service, a sudden wave of turbulence began, which resulted in the engagement of the seat belt signs and the cabin crew definitely feeling the bumps.

Inflight

After the meal service, which, to be frank, didn’t look very appealing. The flight was uneventful, and very little took place. The vast Atlantic below didn’t provide much scenery, and even that was difficult to see, with a thick cloud layer obstructing our views. Unfortunately, my flight experience was slightly tainted by a young child in the row behind me, who was incredibly unhappy with something and proceeded to squeal at a very high pitch for most of the flight.

What do I think?

So, my opinion on the Boeing 777-300 of British Airways. The aircraft has been working long-haul routes from London Heathrow for a few years now, not quite as long as the Boeing 777-200 but considerably longer than the Boeing 787s and Airbus A350s that have recently joined the Speedbird family. I, unfortunately, have not had the opportunity to fly on either of these new aircraft yet, as the COVID-19 pandemic canceled a planned trip to Chile, which would have involved a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner. Therefore, I will have to compare the Boeing 777-300 to the aircraft I have seen online.

The BA A350 is regularly praised, and the 787, despite not having much acclaim, still appears to be viewed in a positive light. Whilst the 777 is not in any way a bad aircraft to fly on, it appears that the newer aircraft are simply better. The 777 is, firstly, an incredibly loud aircraft. I flew this aircraft once before, in April of 2022, from London to Malé and back, and thought something similiar. Especially for passengers in the window seat area, not only is there an incredibly Loud engine noise that penetrates the cabin, the windows themselves rattle constantly. Additionally, the entertainment system. It is incredibly outdated now, and I’m extremely glad that the A350s have a much more updated version.

When you switch on your personal IFE system, you are provided with a clunky remote control or a very slow-to-react touchscreen system. The content is not bad, with new releases such as Bullet Train, Diego Maradona, Lightyear, and the brand new Minions movie being just some of the movies available on High Life. However, the system itself is what lets it down, with it being slow to load, and the inflight map being slow to the touch and occasionally difficult to use. I would hope that, eventually, British Airways will begin to withdraw the Boeing 777-300s from these leisure routes. Whilst it’s understandable that the other aircraft in their fleet are required for the illustrious route network the airline operates, the Boeing 787 would do a much better job, and on routes like this with stiff competition from Virgin Atlantic on their Boeing 787, would make them a much more appetizing option for customers traveling between the UK and the Caribbean.

I strongly believe in judging an airline by its economy product, as that is what most customers experience. However, my short walk through the Club World cabin while embarking the aircraft pointed out one or two issues. Firstly, the configuration is a problem. The arrangement of Club World is in a 2-2-2 layout, with the window seats not having direct aisle access, which causes a problem for them and their neighbor. Secondly, despite the larger screen provided in Club World, there appear to be similiar problems with the infotainment, as it is almost identical. Fortunately, the Airbus A350-1000s fixes both of these problems. On the A35K’s, British Airways have arranged the new Club Suite seats in a 1-2-1 layout, allowing every passenger direct aisle access. Furthermore, the aforementioned newer IFE screens will undoubtedly apply to the Club Suite section.

Approach and Landing

With around 1hr and 20mins to go before our landing in Barbados, the crew came around with a pre-landing snack and drink. The option was a pastry, similiar to a sausage roll, but with either a vegetable filling or a chicken and sweet pepper filling. I chose this option, but it simply wasn’t a particularly nice meal. Throughout the flight, there was an option of a drink at any time, water, juices, hot drinks, and more, but the main drink moments were at the very start of the flight, during the main meal, and at the very end. Slowly, we began to edge closer and closer to the Caribbean and our final destination of Bridgetown. As we touched down in a surprisingly smooth landing, we deboarded and met a very friendly welcome of traditional Barbadian music, before we entered the dim, highly organized, and technologically advanced immigration area. All in all, though, an unremarkable yet not unpleasant flight.

I would probably advise people to opt for the Virgin Atlantic flight, as, whilst this is not unpleasant, Virgin Atlantic appears to receive much more positive reviews. Overall, I rate this flight as 6/10 stars!

Related Topics:Boeing 777 British Airways flight review

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Flight reviews

Flight Review: Avianca Long-Haul Boeing 787-8 from Bogota El Dorado to London Heathrow

Published

2 weeks ago

18/08/2023

Sam Jakobi

Having previously flown Avianca in Short-Haul on their Airbus A320 on a domestic flight to Bogota, whilst it was slightly overpriced for the product, My expectations for their long-haul product were not too low. A lack of in-flight entertainment on the previous flight, despite the fact that the aircraft had been used for flights of up to 5 and a half hours, had made me wonder whether the same would apply to the Dreamliner. In this review, I take you through the on-ground experience, seat, entertainment, and food options for Avianca’s Intercontinental Long-Haul product.

On the Ground

Like my previous flight, check-in was easy, with the main difference being that passport details had to be entered because it was an international flight. Seat selection was not free, and I was unfortunate enough not to be assigned the emergency exit row again. It seemed the luck from the previous two flights had worn off. The major difficulty I had with Avianca on the ground was their poor planning regarding aircraft Boarding. A lack of coordination between the ground crew and aircraft-crew had led to passengers stuck standing for nearly half an hour on the jet bridge, something which could have been made better by letting us stay at the gate where seats and charging points were available.

The seat

Once we had finally boarded the aircraft, it was time to take a look at the seat. Perhaps the major annoyance was the fact that the sides of the headrest didn’t fold inwards but instead folded down. I felt this was a cheeky tactic to make you want to pay more for business class or premium economy. Legroom was fairly limited, however, the seat did come with a footrest, although it seemed primarily designed for shorter people. The seats did recline, although there seemed to be no adjustment to the IFE panel or tray table for when the passenger in front of you reclined, something which was difficult for an overnight flight when most passengers wanted to recline for sleeping purposes.

Food and Entertainment

The gift of a screaming baby a few rows ahead of me had led to a lack of sleep, and so the IFE system was the best option for reducing irritation. The selection was rather limited, with no categories of films, and so movies were all in a long list. TV shows were also available. However no selection of music, something which often appears on other airlines like Virgin Atlantic or Qatar Airways. Food was rather mediocre, with a midnight meal consisting of pasta with Ham and Cheese and breakfast an omelet.

Overall, with Avianca, it’s probably worth it if you fly on their Business Class product, which seemed cheaper than most when I looked at prices. However, if Economy is your game, then I suggest paying less to go through Lufthansa’s Frankfurt hub, as they run a flight to Bogota using their recently reintroduced Airbus A340s.

Flight reviews

Average Avianca: Avianca Airlines A320-200 review from San Andres Island to Bogota

Published

2 weeks ago

17/08/2023

Sam Jakobi

The National Airline of Colombia, Avianca, has long been servicing the Americas since 1919, making it the second oldest airline, just a few months younger than KLM, to remain in service. Although there have been problems along the way, as well as having to help repair Colombia’s somewhat previously broken tourism industry, Avianca still manages to maintain a short-haul fleet product that can be compared to the likes of most other traditional airlines. Join me as I walk through the On Ground experience, Seat, Food, and entertainment.

On the ground

Check-in was extremely easy, as well as the fact that this was a domestic flight and so passport details weren’t required. However, the one thing that I would pick up was that seat selection was not free, costing roughly 120,000 Colombian Pesos ($29 USD) depending on the seat. However, I was lucky enough to be randomly allocated the emergency exit row, technically giving me a free upgrade to the airline’s “Plus” seat. Boarding passes were automatically sent to me, and so all I had to do was go through security and get on the flight.

The Seat

Given the fact that I had been given the upgrade, the seat was really nice. However, this seat felt like what you could normally get as the basic economy seat on an airline like British Airways, and so if I’d sat in the basic seat on Avianca, I would have felt like I was paying for a traditional airline and yet was receiving something you might find on EasyJet. It came with Folding Headrests, something I wished I would have received on my Long-Haul flight to Heathrow that I flew a day later. Because this was the emergency exit row, there was plenty of legroom to stretch out in, but this also meant that nothing was allowed to be stowed on the floor, and everything had to be in the overhead lockers instead.

Food and Entertainment

Food was purchase-only, whereas I would expect at least a light snack to be provided on my flight if I am flying with a legacy carrier, especially due to the fact that some low-cost airlines like JetBlue are offering free snacks nowadays. Despite the fact that some of Avianca’s Airbus A320s are flying flights with routes up to 6 hours in length, there was no seatback entertainment on the flight. Although, it is useful in pointing out that my seat came with charging ports and a phone holder for me to watch my own downloaded entertainment. Avianca also has a feature that allows you to watch some of their films on your own phone, known as “Avianca on Air.”

Avianca Plus seats also come with a place to hold your phone for streaming (Image credit: Avianca)

Overall, I’m not entirely sure that this is a flight that stands out to me, unlike that I had experienced earlier on my trip with JetBlue. Whilst the seat was good and comfortable, I don’t particularly feel that it was worth the extra money to be paid for it, as well as the fact that If I weren’t upgraded, I would be missing lots of the features which came with it. I would recommend Avianca for its short-haul flights. However, If you are on a route within South America which could be up to 5 and a half hours on an A320, I would probably recommend going on LATAM for a chance of a larger plane.

Flight reviews

Flight Review: SAS A320neo London Heathrow to Stockholm Arlanda

Published

3 weeks ago

16/08/2023

Tantawat H

On July 19th, I flew on Scandinavian Airlines System for the first time. My expectations had been set quite low, having flown with only European budget airlines since the start of this year. As expected, my expectations were completely exceeded when I flew with SAS, a brilliant first experience to say the least.

Introduction

Route	London Heathrow Terminal 2- Stockholm Arlanda Terminal 5
Flight Number	SK1530
Seat Number	20A
Flight Time	2 hours 25 minutes 06:40- 10:05
Baggage Allowance	20KG Loaded Bag+ 7kg Cabin Bag
Price	£908 (return)- NB: This flight was the first part of a connecting flight to Bangkok
Honest Rating	4/5

Basic flight info (N.B Prices for this flight review will be in GBP and EUR)

Airport Experience

Due to Scandinavian Airlines being part of Star Alliance, it departs from Heathrow Terminal 2 (as of August 2023). In order to save time, I checked in online via the SAS app which was simple to use and displayed helpful notifications updating the status of your checked baggage. So I made my way over to the rather long bag drop line in the departures hall of T2 and after a good half hour, dropped my bags off and headed over to security. As my travel partner holds a Thai Airways ROP Gold Card, I was able to reap the rewards and use Terminal 2’s fast-lane security. From taking a quick look at the regular security lane, there wasn’t a big difference at all in terms of waiting times. This could’ve been due to my early flight time of 6:40 AM.

Heathrow Terminal 2’s airside is spacious and well equipped with duty-free stores, restaurants and airline lounges. I didn’t get to use any of the lounges as I was slightly pushed for time, so I headed straight over to my gate, B47. The B gates are quite a long walk away from security, so spare at least 15 minutes.

Boarding

I arrived at the gate right on time, as I took a seat in the waiting area, boarding was called. Starting with SAS Plus passengers, EuroBonus Gold and Diamond members and any Star Alliance Gold Card members. Then, different boarding groups were called. SAS made the boarding very efficient, with the cabin crew calling “boarding complete” just 20 minutes after it had started.

My first impressions of the cabin were that it had a nice, relaxing colour scheme. The bulkheads had been given a light birch wood pattern that went well with the grey seats. The cabin crew welcomed passengers and showed them to their seats upon boarding and were very friendly. Unfortunately, the cabin wasn’t the cleanest, some discarded tissues were found in my seat pocket.

Seat Review

Now, for the seat review. This was one of the best things about SAS, their seats on the A320neo were surprisingly comfortable. Even though they look as if they lack padding and have thin cushioning, this is just an illusion. The seats were very comfortable, had great legroom and knee-room, were quite wide and had good recline as well.

In the seat pocket was an inflight menu, WiFi info card and a safety card. No airsickness bag or magazine was present. Fortunately, there was in-seat power via a USB outlet and the tray table could slide in and out, both of these were very helpful. Overall, a great seat for a short 2-hour flight.

Take-Off

We pushed back a few minutes ahead of schedule and as the cabin crew carried out the safety demonstration the A320neo taxiied towards the runway. The cabin lights were then dimmed as we reached the runway where the airbus accelerated down the runway and lifted into the skies of London. The take-off felt extremely powerful, so powerful that a few children started screaming.

Inflight Service

10 short minutes after taking off from London Heathrow, the cabin crew started the inflight service. At first, I wasn’t going to bother ordering anything, but I took a look at the menu which said that water, tea and coffee are always free & complimentary on SAS flights so I asked for a cup of hot tea. There isn’t much more I can say about tea is there?

Cabin Cleanliness & Loo Review

Although the cabin was brightly lit and had a great choice of design, it wasn’t the cleanest but also not the worst I’ve seen. As mentioned earlier, there were used tissues in my seat pocket and there were specks of grime on my tray table before I scrubbed it off with a wet wipe. SAS’s A320neo is equipped with 3 lavatories, 1 in the front, and 2 in the rear. The toilets were clean and well stocked, in addition to this, they had foot-level mood lighting which was an extra bonus. Apart from the charcoal black toilet, it was pretty standard for an aircraft of this type.

Tip: When flying on SAS’s A320neo, avoid sitting in the last row; row 31. Not only is this row near the toilet, but there is no window and the recline function is also absent.

Descent & Landing

With 20 minutes to go, the captain announced our descent into Stockholm, the capital of Sweden. The cabin crew went around and collected any remaining rubbish and in a few minutes, we were a few thousand feet above Stockholm. From this particular approach path, I found there to be many turns before landing which caused much excitement among younger travellers. After a rather bumpy landing at Arlanda Airport, we taxiied to Terminal 5, where the A320neo parked right next to my next ride. A Thai Airways A350-900 that would take me to Bangkok! We disembarked the aircraft and entered the terminal. Now, for a confusing transfer experience and 3 hours of waiting!

Conclusion

Overall, SAS provided a great flight from London Heathrow to Stockholm Arlanda. The online check-in was simple, the boarding was efficient and the cabin had a nice design. In addition to this, the comfort of the seat and the high standard of service provided by the cabin crew also made the flight more enjoyable. Although my seat pocket wasn’t clean, the rest of the cabin and lavatories were. I would definitely fly with SAS again.