To wrap up our trip, we flew British Airways’ new Club Suites on the B777-300 from London Heathrow to Houston-Intercontinental. For a long time, British Airways was known for their terrible 2-4-2 business class layout with the old “coffin” Club World seats. In 2019 the airline unveiled a new Club Suite and I was looking forward to checking it out.
Currently, the Club Suite can be found on All Airbus A350 and Boeing 787-10 aircraft. In addition, all of the London Heathrow based Boeing 777-200’s feature Club Suites while the Gatwick based planes do not. The majority of the 777-300’s have been retrofitted but there are a few stragglers flying around that have yet to be updated. I was worried we would end up with a swap to the old seats, as that happened to some friends of ours a few weeks earlier, but thankfully that wasn’t the case.
Finally, no 787-8’s or 787-9’s feature Club Suites, though retrofits are expected to begin later this year. The Airbus A380 also doesn’t include Club Suites and there is currently no timeline for when these planes will be updated. This is unfortunate as the A380 operates many long-haul hub to hub routes including DFW-LHR and LHR-MIA.
Booking
Award availability to and from Europe has been in extremely high demand this summer as people return to the skies. I shopped around for a while before I found Business Class tickets on British Airways from Rome to Houston via London on British Airways. I booked our tickets for 57.5k American AAdvantage miles each plus a whopping $500 in taxes and fees. Those fuel surcharges when transiting London are steep but it was still a better deal than paying cash for our tickets.
Pre-Flight
We arrived at London’s Heathrow airport just before 7:30a and were dropped off by our Uber at Terminal 5. Since today’s flight was a continuation of our FCO-LHR-IAH itinerary, our bags had been checked through to Houston and our boarding passes were issued in Rome. Since we didn’t need to stop by the check-in desks, we headed straight for security.
Thanks to our Business Class tickets, we were able to use the Fast Track security lane and with only a few people in line, we made it to the front quickly.
Those of you that have traveled through Heathrow know that the security can be sticklers when it comes to the clear plastic bag rule at the checkpoint. My bag was immediately flagged going through the belt so I knew something was left in there but what happened next had me laughing at the stupidity of it all. The agent pulled my bag aside and immediately identified the culprit, a small bottle of hand sanitizer shoved in one of the pockets. He took it out, showed it to me, told me about the bag rule, and then dropped the bottle in a plastic bag which he handed to me. Since I was already through security, I took it, thanked him, removed the hand sanitizer from the bag, placed it back in my backpack, and threw the bag away at the checkpoint. Hopefully these occurrences occur less and less as the country moves towards new security rules in 2024.
Lounge
After clearing security we headed off to the lounge. British Airways operates 3 business class lounges in Heathrow’s Terminal 5, the Galleries North and South Lounges in T5A as well as a satellite lounge in T5B. We headed to the Galleries North lounge as it was adjacent to the security checkpoint. You can read the full lounge review here.
Boarding
Our gate was posted about 30 minutes before scheduled boarding time and we left the lounge 10 minutes before boarding was scheduled to begin. We were departing from T5B which meant a shuttle ride over to the B Gates. T5A was absolutely packed but we found that T5B was much calmer and more relaxing. Next time we transit through Heathrow we’ll likely head to the satellite lounge here.
At the gate, we saw our waiting Boeing 777-300 that would be shuttling us over to Houston this morning.
Our boarding time came and went as a crowd started to build at the gate. There were agents at the desk working so I was hopeful any delay would be minimal. Boarding started 15 minutes late with First Class being invited to board followed by Club World. After a quick scan of our boarding passes we headed off down the stairs to the jet bridge. Part of the delay was due to the fact that the escalator was out of order so passengers either had to carry bags down the stairs or wait on the elevator
British Airways
BA 195
FCO-LHR (London Heathrow – Houston-Intercontinental)
Seat: 21F (Business)
B777-300 (G-STBG)
Scheduled: 9:35a-1:55p
Actual: 9:43a-1:32p
We boarded through door 2L and made a right into the rear business class cabin. British Airways has a whopping 18 rows of Business Class on their Heathrow based 777-300s and we headed all the way back to rows 20 and 21. At first glance I was impressed with the overall design of the cabin. It felt modern and luxurious without the bling you find on some other airlines.
Seat
When I went to assign us seats for free, thanks to my American Airlines status, British Airways kept trying to charge me on the website even though I had my AAdvantage number on the reservation. Finally, I called AA and got us adjoining seats in the center of the aircraft in row 15. Unfortunately those seats didn’t stick as I had to re-select seats at check-in. While we weren’t able to sit together, I was able to get us close to one another as 20K and 21K were both open at check in.
Waiting at our seats upon boarding was a pillow and a set of headphones sealed in a plastic bag. The headphones were ok, but not great quality. The flight attendant working our section of the cabin also came around with beverages as we were getting settled, offering a choice of water, juice, or champagne.
To the right of the seat were three storage containers. One of which held the amenity kit and a bottle of water. There was also a large mirror on the inside of the door.
The amenity kit was ‘The White Company’ branded and held socks, an eye mask, earplugs, pen, lotion, dental kit, and relaxation mist.
The two smaller cubbies to the right of the seat were shallow but could hold a passport, wallet, phone, etc. It was also where the IFE controller, power, and headphone jack was located.
Below the storage compartments were the controls for the seat. There were three pre-set positions and many other options to customize the seat to your liking.
On the wall next to the storage locker was a small light that could be activated with a push. Since this was a daytime flight I didn’t use it but I do appreciate it when flying overnight as the small light is less disruptive to other passengers than the overhead lights.
On the left side of the seat was the slider for the door which, when deployed, provided a great deal of privacy. It is worth noting that the door is locked in the open position during taxi, take-off, and landing.
At the front of the seat was a large IFE screen that was crisp and responsive to the touch. You could also utilize the IFE remote to navigate which was great when the seat is reclined even slightly.
There was also a wide variety of movies and TV shows which kept me occupied throughout the flight.
Stowed underneath the IFE screen was the trat table, which could be released by a latch and adjusted as needed. The table also could fold over to be larger or smaller.
Finally, underneath the IFE screen was the ottoman and a canvas bag which held bedding from The White Company. Since it was a daytime flight I ended up storing this in the overhead bin and didn’t touch it for the duration of the flight.
Menu
While boarding was wrapping up, I took the time to peruse the menu. Service for today’s flight would consist of a lunch shortly after departure followed by an afternoon tea service prior to landing. The full menu can be seen below.
Departure
Boarding was completed 8 minutes after our scheduled departure time and as we began our pushback the captain came over the radio to inform us of our flying time and provided a weather update. He also stated that, even with the delay they expected smooth flying and anticipated an early arrival into Houston. As we started our taxi, the safety video was played.
Heathrow is one of the most crowded airports in the world so it wasn’t a surprise that we had quite a long taxi during the morning transatlantic departure bank. Thankfully, there are a number of unique airlines serving the airport so I passed the time looking out the window at the many widebodies heading to various corners of the globe.
Thirty minutes after pushing off of the gate, it was our turn and we started our takeoff roll before lumbering out of London Heathrow into the gray morning sky.
Lunch
Once we reached our cruising altitude, the flight attendants immediately started with the lunch service. Though, thanks to the size of the cabin, and some inexperience from the crew, the service flow was drawn out and choppy.
First was a hot towel that was offered 15 minutes after take-off.
Beverage orders were then taken and I went with a glass of champagne which was served on a small tray along with some Socca nut mix 30 minutes later.
Lunch orders were then taken, I chose the smoked tomato and coriander soup with mozzarella cream for my starter. This was served on a tray 30 minutes after the beverage service along with a white tablecloth. It was accompanied by some bread, butter, and a small salad. The mozzarella cream also looked like an astronaut which I enjoyed, though I doubt that was intentional. The soup was a tad on the salty side but overall quite good.
One hour and forty minutes after the hot towels were distributed, the mains were served. I had the braised beef cheeks which were cooked perfectly. It was one of the best meals I’ve had on an airplane in a long time and absolutely blew our not so great dining experience on Air France out of the water.
Finally, two hours after departure, the cheese course was served. The cheese course consisted of Camembert, Coastal Cheddar and Shropshire Blue cheeses and was served with apricots and a plum chutney.
In Flight
Once the meal was completed, I headed to the restroom to change into some more comfortable clothes and relax for a bit. The restroom was on the smaller size, especially for a premium cabin on a widebody, but it was kept relatively clean throughout the flight. Toiletries from The White Company were also available.
Back at my seat, I shut the door to my suite and fired up a couple of movies to pass the time, starting with The King of Staten Island. The movie was ok, but not great and I alternated between watching it and looking out the window.
After the movie I was feeling slightly peckish so I headed to the galley where a selection of snacks and beverages had been set up. There were chips, candy, soda, wine, and beer set up for self service.
I grabbed some chips and a glass of bubbly and headed back to my seat. Most folks seemed to be fast asleep by this part of the flight, including Mrs. ATX Jetsetter.
At this point we were near Pittsburgh and had roughly two and a half hours left in the flight, so I fired up another movie on the IFE. We hit some slight chop over West Virginia and the seatbelt sign came on momentarily.
Afternoon Tea
An hour and twenty minutes before arrival, the cabin crew began the afternoon tea service. There were two different sandwich selections available and I selected the pastrami with mustard crème fraiche, prawn on mini brioche, and Emmental and brie on rye. This was served on a single tray along with a sponge cake and a scone.
The food was good though I wished it was more substantial given the fact it was past dinner London time.
Arrival
As we approached Houston from the East, we had to dodge a few afternoon thunderstorms that popped up near the airport. While we had a few bumps, it provided a nice view on approach.
Once on the ground, we had a 10 minute taxi over to Terminal D where we disembarked through door 1L. With such a large business class cabin, it took another 5-10 minutes for us to deplane and head for customs and immigration.
Mrs. ATX Jetsetter has Global Entry while I still don’t (It’s been on my to-do list for years) so she beat me through and was waiting at baggage claim with our luggage. From there we headed out into the terminal and over to the United desk to check in for our final flight home to Austin.
Summary
I went into this flight cautiously optimistic and was absolutely blown away. It had been a few years since I had last flown with British Airways and my prior experiences were less than stellar. The new Club Suite is fantastic and provides a wonderful amount of privacy. The food was delicious and the crew was extremely friendly, even if the service flow was slow. With British Airways flying the A350 with Club Suites nonstop between Austin and London, I may not be able to convince Mrs. ATX Jetsetter to fly anything else.
In this Trip Report
