Trip report: British Airways First Class A380
British Airways First Class is not just any First Class, today it is First Class in the superb A380 with large, wide, First Class seats.
I left from London Heathrow, the home of British Airways. However, there was no standing in queues, just a long walk down the pier of Terminal 5, to the decidedly exclusive right hand wing, where a much more personalised experience awaits, and you are quietly ushered through security. In fact Heathrow didn't seem very busy at all the day I flew, which I found surprising.
I was in through security in a flash, thanks to the new The First Wing, at the far southern end of the terminal, which leads directly into the Galleries First lounge via a private security aisle. With fast-track for First, and few people using it mid-afternoon, I could go straight through to the Concorde Room, which is just for ticketed First passengers, unlike the First lounge, which is just for Gold Executive Club members.
British Airways Concorde Room
I have reviewed the exclusive British Airways Concorde Room lounge many times before.
There are only two ways you can enter a British Airways Concorde Room - have a first class British Airways ticket, or be a British Airways Gold Guest List member. And that's it.
The Concorde Lounge has had a revamp since it was built over a decade ago, and I'm pleased to say it generally remains an oasis of calm amid the busy terminal. When flying First another passenger is hassle indeed, and the only real problem comes with the celebrities in the Concorde Lounge, who always are a bit uneasy when someone whips a camera out - and then even more disappointed when they take a photo of their food rather than them.
However, I wasn't here for the food, or the seats, never mind how good they are - I was here for the fantastic wine list, with an added side serving of cocktails. After many decades of flying almost weekly around the globe in premium cabins I thought I'd try a challenge: to sample every cocktail and wine in the menu in either the lounge and onboard the A380. Purely to ensure they were of premium quality you understand.
Thankfully the Concorde Room is adequately stocked, and I kicked off with a superb Cosmopolitan.
Then straight onto the wine, with the Craggy Range Sauvignon Blanc, from Hawke's Bay, down on the south island. Grown on the lower terrace of the vineyard this wine shows a unique level of texture and complexity. The cooler climate of Martinborough ensures the wine is aromatic while the rocky soils gives intensity of the fruit.
There was plenty to look at in the lounge, including the famous Gordon's Tree bell. This was used in British Airways Sudan Gordons Tree terminal and was rung this for every flying boat arrival and departure. It also rang this at the moment BEA and BOAC were united to form British Airways. On the terrace there's even a Concorde nose cone.
Alas, the famous First Class cabanas are no longer available, but there is a new "Forty Winks" nap lounge in what used to be the boardroom. However, the removal of the Business Centre means there is no longer a printer in the lounge, and power sockets are few and far between.
Next up, sparkling wine. There are three served in the lounge, and I was determined to try the English variant, the Hattingley Valley Sparkling Wine, from near Alresford in Hampshire.
The BA Blanc De Noirs is light Gold in colour with a subtle green hue. As for the nose, it has hints of summer pudding in Winchester, and freshly spring flowers.
For Champagne, British Airways serve Laurent-Perrier Grand Siecle as it's Champagne in the lounge, which is the same bubbles BA serve onboard in first class, and it is a very good champagne, quite acceptable and indeed a quaffable bubbles. So long as someone else is paying for it.
The tasting notes with said it would please serious drinkers with it's delicate balance and honeyed, hazelnut flavours and offers a perfect balance between strength and delicacy.
My favourite part of the lounge is the terrace, which looks out over the terminal and is open within the terminal, and here you can look down on everyone else queuing to board, which is fun. The famous lounge "horses", with a lamp on their head, also set the tone nicely. It was also totally deserted too, which was a bonus.
Dining in the Concorde Lounge is always a bit of a mixed bag. It's got some stick for its rather pedestrian food, but I've found it fine. However, the booths are a little too Little Chef for me, and the staff are decidedly hit and miss.
But a big change - you can now dine on the balcony, although there are only four tables and in more normal flying times it is quite hard to snag one, however it's worth it for the excellent views of the terminal, and the general public below.
Today was very quiet, and there was only one other person - a minor TV personality - dining on the balcony today.
After two flights already today, it was time to tuck into lunch. Knowing I would be eating on board, I went for the BA Burger, a firm favourite of mine each time I visit the lounge. You don't get it in the Gold First lounge downstairs, and it comes with a gherkin on a stick, and chunky chips
Today I was pleased to see BA had the Waldorf on the menu too, so on the side I went for a Waldorf Salad - the walnuts in were some of finest I've tasted in a salad.
Down below there is... well, everyone else, while up here there a corner of the Terminal 5 that is forever England.
I carried on working my way through the wine list.
Next up was the dessert wine with Giesen turning Late Harvest Sauvignon Blanc into a delightfully sweet wine.
After a few glasses of that, and I was fortified to carry on my voyage. I'd just arrived off two connecting flights into Heathrow from a very minor airport, starting off with an obscure positioning flight, which reduced the fare for First Class down by about two thirds, compared to travelling from London. Either way, I was already getting a little bit tired, and wanted to get to my bigger wider first class seat.
BA was going through yet another spate of cancellations today, but I was pleased that the staff came up to me, and apologised that it was all down to Covid, but had high hopes that my flight would be leaving. Alas, they warned, it would depart from the C gates. The one without a lounge, but with a long train ride.
With that it was time to bid a fond farewell to the Concorde room. At least for this week, I knew I'd be back there again within a fortnight.
BA First Class boarding
It is a huge Trek to the C gates, which of course are at a remote location and only accessible by train, or walking through the deep level tunnel, and then back up again.
Once at the C gates the aircraft looked as if it was ready for boarding. Alas, staffing issues meant they couldn't determine exactly when.
British Airways, alas, does not have a lounge at London Heathrow C gates. It used to offer free flowing Moet for passengers in First at the Starbucks, but alas that unique non lounge feature has been enhanced out of existence, thanks in part to quite a few passengers who used and abused their boarding cards and bought coffee machines with them.
Soon it was clear it was all going pear-shaped, with long delays at the gate.
If I'd known there would be a huge delay I'd have walked back through the deep level tunnel to the B lounge, but the staff said the wait would be only a few more minutes, and then called through everyone who had four 'S'es on their boarding card to come through. And there was another delay of half an hour while they had all their luggage searched in the small holding area by the gate. Trust me, you don't want SSSS on your boarding card - or you'll find out you've gone on holiday by mistake.
Finally, I then joined 'Fast Track' boarding, however Fast Track was pretty much half the A380, since it includes all First and Business class passengers as well as Silver and Gold Executive Club members.
When we boarded, What surprised me was the most incredible bun fight by some passengers to get on board. If I'd known about the delay I'd have waited in the lounge, but many in the cheap seats back in Business seemed desperate to get on board.
I proceeded to board via what must be the world's longest jet bridge. The A380 gates have a very long wiggly bridge, right out to the tarmac. I was literally first down the A380, but a couple behind me overtook me on jetway they were clearly desperate to get into their Club World seat.
Thankfully, there was one airbridge dedicated to those in rows 1 to 4.
British Airways First Class A380 seats and cabin
The First cabin of the A380 always seems quite empty on British Airways, with only 4 seats on the side, compared to five on airlines like Qantas, and with an absence of 'bling' unlike Emirates, which always makes it seem cleaner, and quietly sophisticated. There are four First 'suites' by the windows and three pairs there in the middle of the cabin.
The seat itself is great. There were a total of 14 first class seats. There were four seats on each side along the windows, and then three pairs of seats in the centre section. The cabin feels spacious and I like how it takes up the entire space between doors one and two, so it feels like it has a good bit of privacy.
British Airways' first class seats are essentially just glorified reverse herringbone seats.
At each seat was an ottoman, which could double as a buddy seat, should you want to dine with someone face-to-face if you really want to.
If you're traveling alone then you'll of course want to select one of the single seats, which face the windows. While the seats aren't cutting edge, British Airways has done a good job with mood lighting and ambiance.
Beside the seat is a little cubby compartment, with the remote, and charging ports for your laptop and USB ports.
The glossy tray table folded out from the right side of the seat. It's massive when fully extended, though you can also just fold it over in half.
This flight to Washington was pretty empty, with just three other passengers in first, and that made the cabin seem huge. Compared to BA's new business class, the space around the seat has been significantly increased, providing a storage cubby hole right next to you. There is a large wardrobe at the side of the seat which can take a standard size roller case.
The seat controls are really easy to use, as they're just to the right of the seat. There's a knob you can use to recline your seat or put it back up, which I quite like. When the lighting around it is green then you're in takeoff and landing mode. You can also control the lighting from this panel, and turn on and off the overhead and wall lamp.
While these seats don't have great privacy, I would note that at least the seats are staggered a bit, so you're never seated directly next to someone across the aisle.
The First Class cabin on the A380 is always a pleasure to enter, although I've noticed some sharply marked differences of opinion between passengers. You certainly don't get the type of reverential service some Gulf airlines offer, but I always prefer the BA crew, who if you get a good crew always make it seem like a special experience, but one you can relate to.
The crew were pouring champers in the galley, and rushed over to offer me a glass.
Then I was offered pyjamas and an amenity kit, plus menus headphones, blankets and pillow.
What was lovely was the care and attention in selection everything to be British, and in many cased English. Not for nothing is BA in the Home Counties often called FlyEngland, and it showcases the many ways English cuisine and tech leads the world.
British Airways Business Class A380 seats and cabin
I wanted to see what the cabins were like up and behind me.
BA has three Business Class cabins, or what is colloquially known as Club World.
Its upstairs downstairs, two Club cabins upstairs, with 4 rows and a larger one downstairs, with six rows, in a 2 4 2 layout, and half the seats facing backwards.
Downstairs, right behind Business is economy class, or World Traveller.
A standard 3-4-3 layout, 31 inches of pitch, and with flip out video screens in the front row.
British Airways First Class amenity kit
The is an excellent amenity kit. It is in a green bag marked First, and comes with basic toothbrush, razor, socks, eyeshades, and a very fluffy pair of socks.
There are some lovely tubes of Elmis toiletries, including moisturiser, shaving gel, lip balm, a comb, a packet of tissues - but first class tissues - and that most useful of things of a long haul flight: a miniature tube of deodoriser.
There is also an eyeshade, again marked First.
There is one other goodie in the bag which you just can't get anywhere else. It is British Airways' famous, silver, First Class pen. This opulent symbol of wealth is one of the best things BA can give you on the plane, and for years to come quietly signals to those that know that you've been up front. Its free to those who can afford it, very expensive to those who can't.
Pyjamas and slippers - or what is now called Loungeware no less - are also on offer, and very good they were too.
British Airways First Class inflight entertainment - IFE
There is a seatback TV screen, with the television folded out from the centre section, and had to be stored for takeoff and landing, meaning you can't watch anything during those phases of flight.
I went through British Airways inflight entertainment system, and it is as good as ever, with a pleasing number of new releases and British films, some of which I hadn't come across before.
It is however just a little bit old school, with a 15 inch TV screen, and it is notably a bit slower than many of the newer systems.
It is also not overly touch sensitive, but it does work, if you press the screen hard enough, and fifteen years ago would have been very much cutting edge.
Nowadays however, it is like going back a decade, as indeed are some of the films. There is an excellent archive in there.
There are excellent noise reducing headphones for cutting out the sound of the whining noises.
Of course they, like pretty much everything else on board, are British. Made by the leader in the high-end audio industry, Meridian Audio, who developed them in Cambridgeshire.
I tried out the inflight wifi, and I was pleased to see that not only do BA offer full, uncapped, and unlimited free wifi for First Class passengers. Furthermore it is really fast, some of the fastest I've had on a plane.
British Airways First Class inflight meals
British Airways provide superb food in First Class. You can sample your inflight meals whenever you like, with true dine on demand.
The weighty menus in First Class list the main meal service, and then a 'lighter meal' option, but you can take both meals if you like, in any order.
On the main menu today were:
Canapes
Beetroot in Pistachio yoghurt, hummus pepper, olives & cheese
Entre
- Burrata With figs and truffle honey (Italian cow milk cheese)
- Poached prawns in basil and lemon olive oil
- Carrot salad with kale and cauliflower
Main course
- Roast lamb with leek sauce, with carrots, beans and broccolini
- Tikka Masala with British chicken and pea pulao
- Baby baked cauliflower
All with potato au gratin, kale, coriander and carrots
Dessert
Cheeseboard with Oxford Blue, Driftwood goats, College white brie, Godminster cheddar
Chocolate and sea salt caramel tower
First Class light meal
- Prosciutto with ricotta & grilled courgettes
- British roasted chicken with potato mousseline, truffle, rosemary jus
- Mango lime and yuzu citrus creme fraiche
Noticeably, the choices have been pared down somewhat, are there isn't the amazing eight course degustation meal I enjoyed on the way back from Hong Kong in BA First Class, but it's still a pretty good selection.
Within a few minutes of the flight taking off, the BA crew came around with the canapes.
I was a little disconcerted to find that British Airways had prepared a beetroot. But not just any beetroot. Oh no, this is a BA First beetroot. It was nowhere near as bad as I expected it to be, being a roasted baby Beetroot in lemon yoghurt with Pistachio having subtle purple flavours.
There was also a hummus filled pepper, and a bowl of marinated olives with cheddar cheese, which were surprisingly good.
For starters, I was surprised there was no soup on the menu. Even back in Business I could hear the slurp of the soup bowl, but no, First did not get Soup It was prawns, carrot salad, or Burrata.
Burrata is like mozzarella, but with a delicate taste, and a more elastic texture. Burrata is on the whole softer and more flavourful, and BA serve it on a bed of figs with truffle honey, adding to the taste.
The Burrata is really just Italian cow milk cheese made from mozzarella and cream. It looks a bit odd, but the outer casing is solid cheese, while the inside contains stracciatella and cream, giving it an unusual, soft texture.
Now, Buratta Cheese is a great source of protein and calcium but it's rammed with calories too, so to save my cholesterol I had half of the curd, and moved back onto the wine.
Next up, mains, and there were a couple of British Classics on the menu. One option was British Tikka Masala. Or a rack of British lamb with chateau potatoes au gratin, leek sauce, potatoes, runner beans, broccolini and baby carrots.
It goes perfectly with the kale, coriander in a side bowl. And there was a very good leek too pulped into a creamy sauce.
To clean my palate I moved onto the port and cheese. After all, it was still a bit cold in the cabin, so I needed a warm up.
The Cheeseboard comes with:
- Oxford Blue, a fully fat Stilton type blue cheese.
- Driftwood goats cheese, with a light lemony flavour.
- College white brie had a nice layer of truffle butter in the middle.
- Godminster cheddar, which was quite simply lush.
The Godminster comes from Bruton, where they have a great shop in the centre of West Country catering. It may seem odd to describe a cheese as lush, but it was as round as lush as the most lush thing since the port.
It is perfectly pared with the Warre's Colheita Port 2009, from the Douro Valley in Portugal.
The dessert is the chocolate and sea salt caramel tower, which was very filling.
After all the wine, I needed a little nap. To convert the seat into a bed, you just rotate the knob beside your seat, and the seat turns into a fully flat bed, over two meters long - that's over six feet. The light around the knob is green when you're upright, and blue when you lie down.
British Airways also has blinds that can automatically be lowered by the push of a button, which is a nice touch. However, the cabin was intensely cold. I had to wrap myself in a blanket just to survive.
After waking, with only an hour or so left of the flight I opted to try the second meal service, using the light bites meal service.
In First Class this is typically a lighter option you can have on takeoff, But if you're still hungry later in the flight you can have it as a second dinner.
I kicked off with starters of the Prosciutto ham with ricotta & grilled courgettes. To go with it, there were lovely bread rolls, proper butter, and olive oil.
In First Class, BA even place on the table proper salt and pepper grinders.
The crew said there was just time for a full main course, if I was quick.
I went for a cliched bit of Old Blighty, the British roasted chicken, with potato mousseline - which is basically mash - plus truffle and rosemary jus, all with an asparagus on top.
It was really very very good indeed, and I can see why many passengers in First choose this lighter meal as their main course.
Only a few more minutes until we land as we were pretty much on finals, but I had to try the dessert. No time for cheese, so I went straight into the Mango lime and citrus creme fraiche. Which was filling enough to keep me full not only for this life, but probably the next as well.
As an aside, Studio William's Olive range is the official cutlery of British Airways First Class, and very good it was too. It's made in the Cotswolds. All the meals are served on elegant bone china crockery designed by tableware designer William Edwards.
British Airways First Class inflight wine & cocktails
Naturally British Airways has a great bar service for First Class too.
Sparkling Wines
- Laurent-Perrier Grand Siecle
- Hattingley Valley Sparkling Wine
- Lansons Extra Age Rose Brut
White Wines
- White Burgundy Vincent Girardin
- Weingut Malat Crazy Creatures Veltliner
- Vavasour Sauvignon Blanc - From Marlborough, New Zealand
- Chateau Larrivet Haut-Brion Pessac Leognan Bordeaux France
- La Follette Los Primeros Pinot Noir California
British Airways First Class inflight wineRed Wines
Dessert Wines
Warre's Colheita Port 2009, Douro Valley, Portugal
Dessert wine - Royal Tokaji, Blue label, Hungary
British Airways First Class inflight cocktails Copyright lux-travellerCocktails
Gin Zing Cocktail - Citrus and sparkling water over ice
Classic Bloody Mary cocktail - Vodka and tomato juice
Classic Mule cocktail - Vodka, ginger ale, orange juice, and ice
Beachbound cocktail - Vodka, cranberry, lemonade
To complement British catering at it's best, I hunted for the fine English wine. BA recommend the English Hattingley Valley from Hampshire to go with the canapes. It is a superb drop, and deserves to be more widely recognised.
British Airways will do a full wine tasting if you ask pouring a glass of every bottle on board so you can taste which one is best. They will bring you the bottles too, and pour all three whites, or three reds, in front of you.
First up I tried the Crazy Creatures Veltliner, a White Burgundy Weingut Malat, which is a white wine from Austria.
The grapes are grown in a small village called Palt: a traditional, family owned wine estate since 1722. It's spicy, and herbal but also has a fruity aroma with a crisp, fresh acidity.
I compared and contrasted it with the Vavasour Sauvignon Blanc From Marlborough in New Zealand.
With delicate grapefruit flavours, it is a meticulously made wine with grapes selected for intensity and concentration. The bouquet shows passionfruit and white peach. It's more a Business Class wine, but this was the most complex and unbelievable bottle I've had. It was genuinely good, and a credit to the airline.
The reds were a little bit more pedestrian on this flight, but the Chateau Larrivet Haut-Brion from Bordeaux France is absolutely top notch. The terroir at Chateau Larrivet is unique with a light gravelly soil, and ideally it need to be decanted for a couple of hours before quaffing, to soften and open its perfume. The dry savoury style went perfectly with the lamb.
I had to move on speedily to keep up with the crew who delved ever deeper into their wine cellar for me, and also poured me a glass of the Los Primeros, which is a standard Pinot Noir from California, however it has an appealing dark colour that immediately implies depth, with an aroma of stewed orange rind, and Portobello mushrooms.
Dessert wine in the Royal Tokaji, Blue label, from Hungary. Light and sweet, it is also wonderfully sugarry, so much so you can almost feel the treacle flavours. It was very good indeed.
BA Red snapper cocktail Copyright lux-travellerCocktails are also fantastic.
I started off with a Red snapper cocktail - this has Gin, tomato juice, and that most English of sauces, Lea and Perrin.
To compare the Snapper, I put it up against a Classic Bloody Mary cocktail just with Vodka and tomato juice. I was delighted to confirm that both were of excellent quality, but the crew apologised for not having any cut glass tumblers, and had to borrow a glass from back in Business. However, later in the flight they found the drawer with the right cut glass glasses for First Class.
To wake up I went for the Gin Zing Cocktail, which was really lovely and refreshing - it has citrus and sparkling water over ice. Plus gin, of course.
BA Gin Zing Cocktail Copyright lux-travellerThe crew don't mind - indeed they quite enjoy it - if you create your own cocktails, so I changed the classic BA Mule cocktail and added orange juice to the Vodka, ginger ale, and ice.
BA Mule cocktail Copyright lux-travellerMy final cocktail before we land was a Beachbound cocktail, with Vodka, cranberry juice and lemonade.
Beachbound cocktail Copyright lux-travellerBy now though it was getting lovely and dusky as we approached Washington. It was wonderfully clear, and made it possible to see the river and city. We landed five minutes ahead of schedule.
At Washington Dulles International Airport I found a delightfully quaint mode of transport still in use. It is pretty much one of the last airports in the world to use people movers, or what it calls mobile lounges.
Alas the growth in passenger numbers made it impractical to use mobile lounges for most flights, and indeed you have to try hard to be at one of the very few gates where it is still used: that's just how old school it is. However, a few of the older of the D gates still use this wonderful 1960s concept, of a complete gate, on wheel.
British Airways First Class A380 review
Is British Airways worth the cost? Well, maybe not if you pay full fare, as First Class isn't exactly cheap, but I managed to get the fare on an error fare when BA accidentally dropped the price of First down to Premium Economy prices if you few from a small regional airport to rather random places in the US. Leeds to Nashville anyone? I know most of these were cancelled, but oddly mine remained, maybe because I booked it weeks before the mistake was publicised, and maybe because I chose a rather obscure route.
British Airways A380 at Washington Copyright lux-travellerThis trip formed part of a roundabout route to Australia for me, and was the third flight of the day, having already passed through Southampton and Glasgow airports.
British Airways A380 at Washington Copyright lux-travellerSo, would I recommend travelling in First Class? Why yes, of course. British Airways really surpassed itself this time with superb food. The free ultra fast wifi is great.
There are good films on board. And to start off the journey, the Concorde room really is superb.
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Lux-traveller paid its own way for this Trip report: British Airways First Class A380, and travelled incognito.Trip report: British Airways First Class A380 Lux-traveller.com rating:7 out of10 
Seats: 8 - Great, well designed and very comfortable Food: 9 - Amazingly good, nice menu selection Service: 9 - Exceptionally attentive IFE: 10 - Excellent high speed free Wifi
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