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Earlier this year we flew British Airways' Club Suite Business Class on a 777-300ER to London LHR. This business class suite product is a huge improvement over the original Club World with its sardine-can packed business class seating, so we were curious to see how it stacked up against the many other Business Class products we've flown to and from Europe. We'll have a full review and video later, but here are our first impressions:
British Airways Club Suite Cabin and Seat, 777-300ER
There are 76 Club Suites in a 1-2-1 reverse herringbone configuration. Keep in mind that, unless you book an expensive refundable fare, you'll have to pay to secure a seat assignment in advance; your alternative is to choose from what's left at 24 hours prior to check-in, when seat assignments are free. We paid in advance so as to be able to select seats in the mini cabin of rows 5-7, which is right after First Class and in front of the galley. The much larger main Club World cabin spans 17 rows, from from 8 to row 24.
When we boarded, each Club Suite already had a pillow and a case containing a very thin partial mattress pad and duvet, both by the White Company. There was also an amenity kit, Crystal Springs bottled water, menu, and headset.
The seat itself is 21 inches wide, which is quite standard for business class; similar to Cathay Pacific Business Class, about half an inch wider than SWISS Business Class and Brussels Airlines Business Class, but not as wide as Iberia Business Class, let alone Singapore Business Class, which has extra wide seats.
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The only storage for take-off and landing is the small space beneath the ottoman in the footwell, so expect to have to stow anything except a purse or small backpack in the overhead lockers.
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The power outlets and audio jack are in a cubby, which is where the headphones were. On the one hand, it's a good idea to have a compartment to charge your phone where it won't fall off the armrest or counter top. But on the whole I found this awkward, because I wanted to be able to put things on top of this counter space, yet had to move them often to open the compartment to access my phone and the power outlet.
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The Club Suite's closing door should have been a nice privacy feature, but I found mine very hard to slide open and closed. It took so much force that it banged open, there was no gentle sliding open and closed as has been the case with Qatar Qsuites or JetBlue Mint. It's door height, which is only 44 inches, is low enough that it won't provide any real privacy when seated, but it does provide some appreciable privacy when sleeping or resting.
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British Airways Club World Dining
To be fair, we didn't have a full dinner on board since we wanted to maximize our time sleeping, or at least resting. We did ask if it was possible to have one of the dinner main courses for breakfast, but were told it wasn't possible: all meals are heated at the same time, and anything not used is discarded, not kept chilled. So be forewarned: there's no dining on demand, the way you can in Qatar Qsuites Business Class.
I did have some fresh fruit and dessert. The fresh fruit plate was tiny, and since it mainly consisted of cantaloupe and honeydew melon, neither of which I like, I made do with a a small piece of pineapple and a single blueberry. There was also a completely unripe piece of strawberry that I left untouched.
Although I hadn't asked for it, the tray also included a small quinoa salad, which was quite plain but seemed fairly nutritious, at least in the context of airline food. The asparagus garnish was a nice touch.
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The apricot raisin bread pudding was moist and tasty: the best thing I ate on the flight.
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Breakfast before landing was a mixed bag. The orange juice tasted like boxed orange juice; I've had much better orange juice in Air New Zealand Premium Economy. The croissant wasn't appetizing at all, and there was no bread basket offered the way there has been in SWISS Business Class and Austrian Airlines Business Class.
The fresh fruit was prettily arranged, however, and the strawberries were actually ripe, unlike with the dessert fruit plate. The passion fruit muesli was very tasty, and I wished there was more of it.
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The herb cream cheese omelette was also tasty, served with asparagus (which was good) and dry, tasteless tater tots (which were not).
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I was still hungry, but didn't want to deprive someone else of breakfast, so I asked instead if there was a leftover cheese plate from dinner. The cheeses were good, although I thought it was odd to not have any British cheese, say a Stilton instead of the French Fourme d'Ambert, and a British cheddar instead of a Vermont one.
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British Airways Club Suite Flat Bed
The bed reclines to a fully flat position, although my experience it was a bit slanted with the head higher than the foot of the bed. The bed is 79 inches long (200 cm.), so should accommodate most passengers, apart from the tallest.
I found it difficult to get comfortable on the bed, which wasn't as padded or as soft as I wanted, especially in the lower back area. The small and thin mattress pad is pretty useless (to be fair, other European airline options aren't much better when it comes to providing mattress pads), so I'd suggest bringing a Thermarest or similar if you want a more comfortable experience.
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