Planning & Booking
British Airways First Class 747-400 Denver to London
British Airways Concorde Room LHR
British Airways First Class 747-400 London to Dubai
JW Marriott Marquis Dubai
Al Maha Desert Resort & Spa Dubai
Park Hyatt Dubai
Hyatt Capital Gate Abu Dhabi
Etihad Airways First Class Lounge & Spa Abu Dhabi
Etihad Airways First Class 777-200LR Abu Dhabi to Los Angeles
British Airways BA 107
London (LHR) to Dubai
November 21, 2016
Aircraft: 747-400
Seats: 1A/1K
After a shower and breakfast in the Concorde Room, we headed over to the gate where boarding had already commenced. We headed down the extremely long jetway and met the smiling crew as we stepped onboard the aircraft. I knew immediately that this was going to be a great flight. The crew happily showed us to row 1 and offered up the storage closet for our carryon bags so that we would have more room at our seats. Lead cabin crew member Jenny introduced herself and insisted that she bring over the Champagne to kick our holiday off right. The crew also offered Arabic Coffee prior to pushback.
Pajamas, amenity kits, and slippers were distributed prior to takeoff which I thought was a nice tough for a 6 hour dayflight.
We chatted a bit as we settled in to our seats. This was a VERY senior crew. There are nearly 16,000 BA flight attendants. Jenny was ranked around 600. There was another member of the crew that was actually form the same training class as Jenny - yet this was the first time they had flown together in 30+ years of flying. How cool. The cabin crew member working the upper deck was ranking in the top 50. So we 3 of the top 600 of BA's finest working this sector.
We settled in and watched the rain come down at Heathrow. Emily and I clinked glasses and talked about reminisced about our last visit to Al Maha...we couldn't wait to get back.
We pushed back roughly on time and joined the lengthy queue during Heathrow's afternoon rush. Soon, we were up in the air over the UK with the tough decision on what to eat and when.
While BA offers several flights to Dubai from Heathrow, I would recommend this flight (the day flight) if coming from the US. The timing worked out just perfectly from both a connection standpoint and an enjoyment standpoint. Here is the menu for those interested.
I was pretty full from breakfast so decided to wait a couple hours and enjoy afternoon tea which is something I've always wanted to do on BA.
I was not disappointed. Jenny put on a beautiful show complete with finger sandwiches, pastries, tea, and of course, more Champagne.
It seemed like the route was carefully plotted as we avoided Syrian and Iraqi airspace as we flew over Iran before landing in the UAE. It's crazy to think that Iran is safer airspace than Syria or Iraq.
This was our first non overnight in BA first class and we both found the seat to be very comfortable for lounging around.
The entertainment system was fine but I mostly stayed tuned to the moving map and watched a few Ray Donovan episodes on my laptop.
Soon, we were 30 minutes out for landing at DXB. Jennyoffered forced another round of LPGS which we both happily accepted. We changed back into our street clothes for a smooth landing in Dubai!
Final Thoughts:
This was among the best flights I've ever had from a service perspective. Perhaps I had low expectations coming off of a "just fine" flight from Denver but the crew was really spectacular. It's amazing how much the crew matters especially in international first class. The seat, food, and drink will generally be good but it's the crew that makes it an amazing experience and this was a great example of that. While Emirates, Qatar, or Etihad would certainly add more bling to this sector, we both enjoyed the experienced and would happily fly BA again from Denver to London to get to Dubai.
London (LHR) to Dubai
November 21, 2016
Aircraft: 747-400
Seats: 1A/1K
After a shower and breakfast in the Concorde Room, we headed over to the gate where boarding had already commenced. We headed down the extremely long jetway and met the smiling crew as we stepped onboard the aircraft. I knew immediately that this was going to be a great flight. The crew happily showed us to row 1 and offered up the storage closet for our carryon bags so that we would have more room at our seats. Lead cabin crew member Jenny introduced herself and insisted that she bring over the Champagne to kick our holiday off right. The crew also offered Arabic Coffee prior to pushback.
Pajamas, amenity kits, and slippers were distributed prior to takeoff which I thought was a nice tough for a 6 hour dayflight.
We chatted a bit as we settled in to our seats. This was a VERY senior crew. There are nearly 16,000 BA flight attendants. Jenny was ranked around 600. There was another member of the crew that was actually form the same training class as Jenny - yet this was the first time they had flown together in 30+ years of flying. How cool. The cabin crew member working the upper deck was ranking in the top 50. So we 3 of the top 600 of BA's finest working this sector.
We settled in and watched the rain come down at Heathrow. Emily and I clinked glasses and talked about reminisced about our last visit to Al Maha...we couldn't wait to get back.
We pushed back roughly on time and joined the lengthy queue during Heathrow's afternoon rush. Soon, we were up in the air over the UK with the tough decision on what to eat and when.
While BA offers several flights to Dubai from Heathrow, I would recommend this flight (the day flight) if coming from the US. The timing worked out just perfectly from both a connection standpoint and an enjoyment standpoint. Here is the menu for those interested.
I was pretty full from breakfast so decided to wait a couple hours and enjoy afternoon tea which is something I've always wanted to do on BA.
I was not disappointed. Jenny put on a beautiful show complete with finger sandwiches, pastries, tea, and of course, more Champagne.
It seemed like the route was carefully plotted as we avoided Syrian and Iraqi airspace as we flew over Iran before landing in the UAE. It's crazy to think that Iran is safer airspace than Syria or Iraq.
This was our first non overnight in BA first class and we both found the seat to be very comfortable for lounging around.
The entertainment system was fine but I mostly stayed tuned to the moving map and watched a few Ray Donovan episodes on my laptop.
Soon, we were 30 minutes out for landing at DXB. Jenny
Final Thoughts:
This was among the best flights I've ever had from a service perspective. Perhaps I had low expectations coming off of a "just fine" flight from Denver but the crew was really spectacular. It's amazing how much the crew matters especially in international first class. The seat, food, and drink will generally be good but it's the crew that makes it an amazing experience and this was a great example of that. While Emirates, Qatar, or Etihad would certainly add more bling to this sector, we both enjoyed the experienced and would happily fly BA again from Denver to London to get to Dubai.
No comments:
Post a Comment