BA 184 EWR-LHR (WT+)
Arrived at EWR after our first flight was cancelled (see other thread) to an extrememly long line that took about an hour to get through. I wasn't surprised to see a joint WT/WT+ checkin thanks to the folks here at V-F, but I was nevertheless annoyed at the fact. The CSA was very helpful in making sure all of our family were still in WT+ (we thought because of the cancellation we might have been bumped) and I was very happy to see that both my mum and myself had bulkhead seats (although later I found out that bulkheads in WT+ actually seem to reduce my legroom...odd). I browsed around the terminal for a couple minutes and tried to take a picture of the shiny VS clubhouse doors, but was afraid of the security. Security was probably the saddest thing in the universe. Here we arrive at the metal dectectors to about a dozen security agents having a rather engaging conversation, caring less about security until my belt set the alarm off. They were barely looking at the baggage contents through the X-ray. What a joke.
We only had a short wait until boarding was called, but of course since WT+ passengers are called last, we had to wait a bit longer. Our aircraft was G-BNWU. We took the most absurd route to the runway, but avoided the long line, allowing us a nice quick take off. However we were delayed at the gate by another BA flight (Decker's I believe) and had to wait until they had docked before we could taxi. I had never been on a 767 before so I was a bit surprised at a weird noise after take off, don't know if anyone else has experienced this.
Drink service and the disabling of the seat belt sign was almost immediately after take off, which was good since my mum and I were getting wet with condensation for some odd reason and were desperate for a blanket. I'm afraid I can't quite remember the food service for this flight, but I don't recall hating it.
The flight was surprisingly quick, and we set down at LHR without much delay, however we had to park at a remote, outside stand, and since it happened to be raining we weren't the happiest of campers. By the time my dad and I had gotten through security my mum had already gotten our bags and we were off to Europcar.
BA 185 LHR-EWR (WT+)
We left my aunt's house near Northampton at 4:30 (AM!) to catch this flight and ended up arriving so early that there were only about 10 groups on the line and even fewer waiting at the gate. Everything went smoothly, except for the fact that BA only allows 1 carry on this leg but yet 2 on the other, causing a little switching of the luggage. Security was pretty fast, and almost as sad as that at EWR. We had almost 2 hours to spare at the gate so I bought some candy and hung out at Starbucks. Right when we were boarding, the fire alarm went off so they tried to hurry people onto the flight (since everyone was being told to evacuate). We still had to wait for 10 people who went with everybody else so that caused a little delay.
'Ladies and gentlemen, we seem to be missing 10 of our passengers because of a fire alarm evacuation. Currently we are trying to decide whether it will be easier to find their bags and remove them, or find the passengers.'
They decided the latter. Same service as the inbound flight, except without the droplets of condensation. The food wasn't as enjoyable unfortunately. Although since the flight was practically empty I had my choice of seats with which to enjoy my candy [:D]. This flight was a lot longer than usual because of head winds (?), it took about 8 hours for us to arrive at EWR, but we didn't have to wait to get landing clearance. Immigration was quick, however because we arrived at LHR so early our bags were the last ones off [n].
Summary
All in all these flights were extremely enjoyable, so much that my dad said we will never fly economy again (we'll see how long that statement lasts). I do have some remarks to say about BA's service in comparison to VS's that I experienced last year. (Note: this may not be a equal comparison because of the difference in class).
The BA cabin crew seemed to act much more professional compared with VS's. Remember, I am only comparing two flights, but on my VS one last year they were constantly joking around on the intercom and not assisting passengers enough. I also noticed that we got many more drink services on this flight.
The toilet and the plane were much cleaner on BA than on VS, despite the fact that the A346 is much newer than the 767. As I said, this may be due to the fact that we were travelling in WT+, where the toilet is not used as often. However the general smell of the plane cannot be isolated to class.
Obviously the seat was much more comfortable on this flight, I can't make a just comparison with this until I've tried PE.
As I said, I was very pleased with this flight, whether or not this affects my choice of airline in the future is yet to be seen, but most of the time my family picks according to the various prices.
