British Airways A380 Premium Eco LHR-HKG-LHR

[findybear]

British Airways had a pretty nice and relatively cheap offer starting this year for the flight to HKG (and LAX), offering the first flights with an A380 (15th Oct to LAX and 15th Nov to HKG).

 

I decided to try out British Airways after 7 years of abstinence. But knowing that Economy is not the best buy, although 620euros was an announcement, I booked the premium economy seats both ways which made roughly 1200euros, which is still a good buy, as common prices for this class range about 1600-1800euros (to SE/FE Asia generally) and are close to prices of the business class flights from Finnair or Turkish Airlines.

 

Ok the date for the 1st flight moved, which is not nice, when I booked the 15th November, just because of experiencing the party. I was not allowed to reserve a seat, as this would cost me 70 euros each way (what a fuck). In the case of online check in I was also not able to pick up a seat as the system had an error. During the check in in Vienna the woman was also not able to pick up a seat for me. Well I saw a chance for an upgrade but it was far away from that. I got a seat in the last row (according the seatguru the worst one, as the recline is not that good due to the wall behind it). But the only advantage was that it was a window seat.

 

On the flight back I was among the first check in passengers (good 4 hours before the flight) and was again not able to pick up a seat. At that time I got really angry as it was not possible to choose seat even at check-in. This is and will be one main reason not to fly BA again. My seat was the middle seat of the middle row and again in the last row, what a fuck.

 

Actually I got lucky as nobody with a big size sat next to me. So I enjoyed sleeping on both ways. The food was nice and tasted good. On the way back I got even a small steak (although far beyond the restaurant quality anyway a good taste for "beef"). The service on board was very good. Preferably men were serving in the premium economy. One draw back was that the premium economy passengers were boarded on the end. Some overhead compartments were filled already with big cases from the behing seated economy passengers, which is normally a no-go. Surprisingly, I still find a space for my small backpack.

 

Conclusion: BA flights to BKK are in the morning, which is no-go for me for the future. Dur to some arguments stated before I am not willing to book BA again and pay that much for the flight. The flight itself was very nice, food was good and the seat comfortable.

 

Enjoy the pics.

 

This would be a plane I would like to fly, but I think it is not possible at the moment ;)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BR Filip

[bigbill340]

I have never had a trouble free flight with BA, I have flown both cattle and business and have not really enjoyed a trip with them. It will be a very long time until I am ever tempted to try them again!

 

 

 

Bill

[Lok Jit]

Try flying on this~~

 Hobbyists Fly An Enormous Jet-Powered RC Airbus A380 - Digg

[Colin back in Pattaya]

I've flown the Emirates A380 between BKK and Hongkong a few times in cattle class. Booking online I was always able to select the seats I wanted. There is plenty of legroom and the seats are 18" wide, compared to 17" for most economy class. The food was good by airline standards. The only problem is that the in flight entertainment has so much choice, you need to stay on board for a week to check it out. Also, the fares were much cheaper than the competition (THAI, Cathay etc) and comparable with Air Asia.

[KuhnKarl]

Sorry don't have anything to add about BA.... but please permit me to second the applause for Emirate A380 flight BKK to HKK.    Was one of the more enjoyable experiences in flying..  multi language cabin crew with diverse heritages made conversations interesting and easy.    Seats  A-, food B+, legroom B, in seat entertainment A, overhead storage C...   someday someone will come up with a better plan for carry on.    Maybe make everyone buy the same type container (luggage) and they get one slot for it or something. 

 

Sorry pet peeve of mine.. folks with luggage, hand bag, carry bag, coats, yada yada...  that then take entire overhead and more.   And take the one above my seat that the threw in on the way past.    

 

Ok, now that is out of my system... have a nice day.  

[smartbuy]

Emirates must have forgotten.

Just after 911 I flew with them and checked in my luggage, and it was obvious my hand luggage may be a bit much.

 

The girl at counter said let me check in your hand luggage, there is no extra, you will NOT be charged anything. Totally free.

 

So I said right, and another 14KGs went into hold.

 

Must have done this to others. Anyway most of us boarded without any hand luggage and the flight departed EARLY.

 

This is a good thing, other airlines should learn. After all, they will haul it one way or another.

 

In other news, why not try dummy booking with expedia.br. Again Emerates snagged a booking I did NOT intend making.