#238787 by Ianflies
09 Nov 2005, 09:59
Arrived at the express wishes of my wife 5 hours early 'to make the most of the amenities' for the 1st time at T1. Found the premium check in desk OK and was directed to Club. Obviously we don't look like First travellers, but I did ask where this was and a quick apology found us on the right track.

1st in queue with a smooth, friendly and efficient check in. Names were used and we were wished a safe flight and holiday. Onto the lounge (bumping in to the Olympic Gold medal winner for rowing) and we found a seat just beofre being offered something from the champagne bar - now we were getting somewhere! Nice glass or 2 followed by some nice sandswiches (salmon, tuna, prawns, egg etc.) beautiful fresh warm scones with clotted cream, kettle crisps. Wife had a warm bolognese pasta and I also had a bowl of soup. Quality red wines were available and very tasty on the pallet and full in the mouth.

Time for a facial which was very good, shut off in a nice small room playing ambient relaxing music. Towles placed all around you, eyes closed, wind chime effect and we were away for a 15 minute going over. Slightly better IMO than the Virgin facial, with more tonics used, with an offer of water or tea after. Relaxing start to the holidays.

Tour of the duty free lead me to a free taster of the cognac. The very nice lady in the Club area duty free shop offered me a taster of the 150 pound bottle - very nice too. I settled for a couple of the 50 pounds (I am writing this in HK and there is no pound sign on the keyboard) bottles. Any way back to the lounge for the final 1/2 hour before a short walk to gate 52 I think.

A lady directing the traffic showed us to our line and we boarded in line with all pax. Same walkway as we boarded but instead of the usual turn left/right, I was met with a 'Ah, very good. If you turn left someone will meet you when you get there'. Now this is what I like! Indeed someone was there, name was used almost straight away and we were offered a glass of champagne right away. Caoats hung up as the cabin soon became full.

At departure time an announcement came over apologising, but they were still awaiting a crew member. I heard the CSD telling a fellow pax in fact it was the captain! Something to do with time differences and a mix up, but she was all very jolly about it. More refills were offered as a small cheer from the staff welcomed the embarrassed captain running upstairs. 15 minutes later, an hour after schedule we took off.

Might have been a bit quick off the mark but had to ask for an amenity kit and sleep suit. My wife had one given to her (sitting on the left side) but me on the poor right was not given one. One soon came over with a smile, while an eldery gentleman began to change next to my wife. The horror on her face as his trousers came down was comical, matching the smile on his face! It was going to be a fun flight! Soon most of us were changed and settling down to the menu choice. Starters were Butternut Squash soup, Potatoe and truffle fritata or some leaf salad. I had the potato and was very nice.

We had the lovely cutlery, salt/pepper cruet set, proper crockery and warm fresh rolls. For main course choices were fresh salmon, rack of lamb (wife had that - presented very well and tasted good, almost made me wish I liked it!) or some vegetable thingy. Not particularly liking any of that I asked if there was any steak available on the Club menu. He said it was normally allocated, not like the First menu but he would find out. And he did - excellent. I had a lovely prime fillet steak, hot, tender and tasty. Have to say, better than Virgin food by far. Potatoes and veg tasted crisp and fresh and a nice jus gravy. Fig pudding surprise didn't entice me (only 2 sweets - disappointing) so had a lovely cheese and biscuits. 3 choices of fine cheese went down well with a hot fresh coffee and a XO cognac (unusual). All in all, pleased with the food and service. The wine we wanted wasn't available - my wifes server said they had run out, my server strongly reccommended another wine from that I had chose, intimating I should have it. Oh well, it was still good quality.

Now to the seats. I had really wanted to say First was better than Virgin. In some respects it is, but in others it loses out, I have to say. Length is good and similar, with comfort and the full reclining option a plus (I wish Virgin UCS would recline a bit further for extra comfort) but as far as width and personal space goes, it does lose out. Admittedly if we sat at a window seat it appeared there would be more space, but in the middle 2, we were limited and trying to sleep and turning over was not as comfortable as UCS. Still, it was a very relaxing seat and made for a nice flight. I never can sleep on a plane and it was so warm (people still had duvets on, and I was sweating heaps!).

Service and attentiveness was second to none, with my name being used frequently and the CSD speaking to all PAX. Entertainment was OK, saw Charlie and Chocolate Factory (good movie, Johnny Depp playing it as a camp Michael Jackson) and some 'tense' thriller about a lady and young daughter living in a block of flats with some eery goings on. At the end she died and I never really understood why - oh well!

Breakfast was good too with a full English, not swimming in grease as you sometimes see. 2 sausages, scrambled egg, nice bacon, mushrooms and hashbrowns. Cereal and OJ and veggie option were available too and I had a coffee to wash it down. Impressed.

Full flight with one op-up to First (saw the PAX list in the galley, listing gold and silver members, next to the names were other colours, emerald and diamond or something like that - not sure what they meant - any ideas?).

First flew First 2 years ago to OZ and couldn't fault it. Felt the level of service had fallen very slightly with less appearances of the crew around, but could just be me being picky. First is a top class product that could do with a bit of updating to compete with UCS etc. Still ahead in service and food, but comfort Virgin just edges it. The overall BA experience was very good and I would do it again for sure - in fact in 2 weeks time I will be flying back home from LAX to LHR. Currently in the Intercontinental in HK (fabulous hotel - how do they keep remembering my name??!!) before flying to Sydney and NZ for a couple of weeks, but thought I would send a quick review over a cocktail in the Club Lounge. Very civilised!!

Soon landed only half hour late and were first off, through a long immigration queue that moved well, luggage already off as we whisked through customs to find our driver. On with the holiday - and so far so good (did Disney yesterday - review on these pages under Disney) and sight seeing - great country, anyway on with the holiday!

Bye for now.

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