British Airways’ (BA) long haul business class is a tale of two halves, because it has two products in the market at the moment. Traditionally, its business class product has been referred to as Club World, but is currently being upgraded and rebranded to Club Suites. Initially BA had planned to finish the upgrade by 2025 but due to COVID this is more likely to be 2030 now. It means some planes have the old and some have the new.
In my opinion the old product is one of the worst products in the market, and the new product is one of the best so it’s really pot luck as to what you get. More planes have Club World than the new Club Suites so statistically speaking you’re more likely to get the worse experience.
I’ve reviewed both below so you can see the difference. I have flown multiple routes in BA business class, but this review uses photos from London Heathrow to/from San Jose, Costa Rica and London Heathrow to/from Hong Kong.
Overall Rating
- Club World – 5/10
- Club Suites – 8/10
At the Airport
Whichever option you’ve got, your airport experience will be the same. All BA flights route via London and BA has hubs in both Gatwick and Heathrow airports. I always fly out of Heathrow, and flying business means you get access to the Club World lounge. The lounges are always pretty busy but the food and drink available for free is really great quality. They normally have a choice of hot meals, an extensive salad bar and alcoholic and non alcoholic drinks. They also have biscuit jars so that’s me sorted. Also on offer are showers and toilet facilities which are clean and well appointed.
Returning to London from other airports, BA has lounges in Geneva, Milan Linate, Rome Fiumicino (Europe), Boston, Chicago O’Hare, Newark, New York JFK, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle, Washington Dulles (USA), Cape Town, Johannesburg (Africa), Dubai and Singapore (Asia).
BA is also part of the One World Alliance, alongside Alaska Airlines, Fiji Airways, Malaysia Airlines, Royal Jordanian, American Airlines, Finnair, Oman Air, Royal Air Maroc, Iberia, Qantas, Cathay Pacific, Japan Airlines, Qatar Airways and SriLankan. This means if there’s no BA lounge in the country you’re departing from, you will be able to use these lounges instead.
On the way home from Hong Kong for example, I was able to use the Cathay Pacific business class lounge which was very similar with what it offered to the BA lounges.
BA lounge score: 7/10
Cabin & Seat
This is where the two business class options are miles apart. Let’s start with Club World, the older product. There are 7 seats in a row in Club World – set up 2, 3, 2 – with the seats alternating backwards and forwards facing. It’s the weirdest layout ever because if you’re by the window you literally have to climb over the person in the aisle on the row behind you to get out, and if you’re in the aisle you have the other person’s food passed over you all flight. I hate it when that person is asleep and you’re trying to step over them, very awkward.
The Club World seats are also old and worn, they’re quite short. I’m 5’6 and can only just lie fully down so my 6’3 husband has no chance. The TV screens are also poor as they are just pull out ones, not touch screen and quite glitchy. The footrest is also stand alone and you have to pull it down.
The Club Suites on the other hand are wonderful. The layout is much better with only 4 seats in a row, simply 1-2-1, meaning loads more space, privacy and no awkward climbing as all open directly on to an aisle. All suites are forward facing. The suites are also contained with privacy screens (rather than just a plastic roll up screen as per the old product). The TV is built in so is much more seamless, and is all touch screen. There are lots of compartments for storage and the bed is longer. I honestly felt like I was in true luxury.
All products are The White Company. You are provided with a blanket and sheet for the seat, plus a toiletry bag including an eye mask, flannel, toothbrush & toothpaste, moisturiser, hand cream and lip balm.
You can tell what you’re going to get when you pick your seat based on the plane layout – just hope you see that lovely 1-2-1 layout.
Club World Cabin Score: 3/10
Club Suites Cabin Score: 9/10
Food & Drink
I don’t love any airplane food really, but BA’s is decent. On arrival, it’s a drink (orange juice or champagne) and a snack. There’s then a menu offering one or two meals depending on flight time.
Three main course dishes usually include beef, lamb, fish or poultry, and pasta. Dessert features a sweet option or a fine fruit and cheese plate. Classic afternoon tea is available on select long-haul flights, and destination-inspired dishes will reflect the flavours of the regions, such as herb-grilled mahi-mahi fish on Caribbean routes, and noodles on my Hong Kong route.
But what I love about BA business is its Club Kitchen concept which provides sweet and savoury snack options which guests can just go and get themselves. A refrigerator features cans of drink, sandwiches, fresh fruit, and sometimes even ice cream in a separate freezer section that passengers can help themselves to midflight, and those biscuit jars are back – the dream!
Food & Drink Score: 6/10
Service
Flight attendants are formal yet friendly. It is the typical British-reserved service delivery you might find in a hotel or restaurant in England. I definitely noticed flight attendants switching their style depending on who they were talking to. Where a passenger was chatty, they were chatty back, and where they weren’t, they just got on with serving. I prefer not to chat so they didn’t really talk to me which was totally fine.
A new uniform has also been introduced, which I really liked. And a new inflight safety video has also been recorded which I thought was a massive upgrade on the previous version.
Talking of videos, the entertainment selection on flights is amazing. There are new releases of films, loads of TV boxsets and lots of games. I love a good mid air game of Boggle – ha!
Service Score: 7/10
Price
Whichever business class option you get on your flight, prices are the same. Whenever I fly business, I am usually using my Avios points, which I collect during the year. I collect Avios pretty easily – via spend on Amex credit cards, on short haul BA flights, the weekly shop and as much other shopping as possible via the BA shopping portal, all hotel bookings via Booking.com, plus my husband’s work travel adds a chunk. Every year we earn an average of 400,000 Avios from the above.
Here are the points cost vs outright £ value of the two BA business class flights I’ve flown in the last 12 months and reviewed above.
- London Heathrow return to Costa Rica – I got an amazing deal here and paid £300 plus 75,000 Avios per person. Cash price would have been £3,700 per person. I’ve never seen such a good deal before or since this.
- London Heathrow return to Hong Kong – I paid £450 plus 140,000 Avios for myself. Cash price would have been £3,300.
It’s worth noting you can also book partner airline flights using Avios, my favourite of which is Qatar Airways. This is more expensive and always needs a change in Doha. I’ll be reviewing QA soon.
- London Heathrow to Male, Maldives – I paid £650 plus 212,000 Avios per person back in 2019. Cash equivalent would have been £6,800 per person.
- London Heathrow return to Phuket (upcoming this year) – I paid £500 plus 192,500 Avios per person. Cash equivalent is currently £4,330 per person.
As you can see BA is a cheaper business class option, both in cash value and points. I’ve seen other people talk about crazy Avios deals getting business/first class flights for 25,000 points but I’ve never seen such a deal!
Price score: 8/10
What do you think? Would you like to fly BA Business Class? If you’re interested, you can also compare it to my review of Qatar Airways Business Class Review. Stay safe and happy travelling!
Barney Travel Technologies
Leave a comment