You know how sometimes you just know you’re going to have a good flight? Well, I got exactly that vibe the instant I was greeted at the aircraft door by Sarah-Jane on my first British Airways Club Europe flight since late 2019.
After spending time in the forgettable business class lounge in Toulouse, I arrived at the Passport control line. This was 11:05 and my departure was 11:40 – ample time, but no. There was a huge queue! Eventually a lady came through yelling, “British Airways – London!” and those of us still waiting were pulled out of the queue and taken to the front.
VeriFLY at the Gate
British Airways and others use an app called VeriFLY these days to facilitate check-in. You upload your vaccination certificate and the completed entry form for your destination and once done, it talks to the BA app so it will issue your boarding pass.
When I arrived at the gate, I scanned my phone boarding pass and the lady kept speaking in French. Eventually she cottoned on and told me in English to show my VeriFLY app as well. Once done, it was down the jetbridge and onto the plane.
BA375 – Toulouse to London Heathrow (TLS-LHR)
25 October 2021
Airbus A319 – G-EUPZ
Seat: Club Europe 1A
Departure: 11:40 Arrival: 12:30
Sarah-Jane welcomed me on board and we chatted for a little bit, with me saying how pleased I was to be back on board. She was holding a basket full of wipes and so on for passengers to take if they wished and I took one. From there I stowed my carry-on and sat down, preparing for flight and wiping down the centre table and tray.
Very Posh Children
After the safety demonstration, given manually, we were trundling along to the runway. A child’s voice suddenly piped up, “Daddy, there’s a Beluga taking-off over there!”
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- Plenty of room for me in row one.
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- This aircraft had Wi-Fi but I didn’t use it.
I grinned at the posh British accent and the fact that there was a future airline geek on board. Soon enough, we arrived at the take-off point and headed into the sky.
Toilet Time
Since I had been waiting in a Passport control line for ages, I visited the toilet once the seat belt sign was turned off. As usual, I found things to be fine.
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- Black, very nice!
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- The BA branded sanitiser wipes are new.
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- Cracked.
A new addition were the sanitiser wipes, which were on the floor when I arrived. Take-off does that to unrestrained items! I set it back where it should be, went about my business and quickly arrived back at my seat.
Lunch Time
Drinks were offered first and I asked for a Champagne. Proactively I was given two, which is actually what I was going to order, so that was a nice surprise. Next, there were lunch choices of coronation chicken or roast pumpkin. I chose the latter.
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- Two Champagne’s for me today.
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- Lunch as it was delivered.
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- A close up of the pumpkin and rice.
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- All the elements once more.
Happily the bread, though packaged, had been heated, which was good. The roast pumpkin with salad was really nice as was the apple crumble dessert. All in all a perfectly fine meal.
Fabulous Service
Later on in the flight, I noticed Sarah-Jane give the children little log book type things. This was followed by what looked like key rings in the shape of a plane. The little boy’s face lit up with wonder when he set his eyes on it and he correctly identified it as a jumbo.
Of course, the rest of us were given fabulous service as well. Drinks top ups and refills, prompt clearing away of the dishes, and all with a very engaging bit of banter, smiles all round and nothing was too much trouble.
Once we landed, we had to wait a bit for the jetty to be attached, so Sarah-Jane arranged for the kids to visit the flight deck and speak to the pilots, which certainly made their day. Really awesome all round!
Overall Thoughts
It was fun to see such fabulous service being offered to the passengers on this flight. I enjoyed it and I certainly vicariously enjoyed the fuss those children got. I’d say they’ll be BA and airline fans forever after that treatment.
With decent food on board, Champagne and decent cabin comfort, it was like coming home again. It had been a long time between innings, but I’m back, BA are still here and things are good.
What is the most fabulous service you’ve ever been given on a flight? Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.
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Are you sure you were on BA?
Haha! Yes, I’m sure. I always have decent service on BA, they have wonderful cabin crew generally.
It is wonderful when all of the pieces come together for a memorable flight. I used to be regular flyer on the US Airways, (later American A non stop from Philadelphia to Lisbon. If i was in their Envoy Class I often had the same PHL based FA Yvonne. She loved the Lisbon route. She was knowledgeable about wine. She said most of the passengers only wanted diet soda or beer. She liked that I appreciated her wine offerings. After a few flights with her we got to be flight friends. She surprised me at the end of one flight… Read more »
That’s really lovely that you had such a good experience with that flight attendant. They can make or break a flight and the best people really sparkle. Makes sense that you’d get to know each other a bit considering it was a regular route for you both. Thanks for that story, I enjoyed the read!