A tale about the mediocre British Airways flight in Club

As someone who is generally fairly easily pleased, it is not often that I find something mediocre. Imagine my surprise when I found everything about a British Airways flight in Club Europe to be just that.

I was heading from Dublin to London Heathrow to check out the English version of Mamma Mia! The Party. Since I enjoy a treat when flying, I upgraded my ticket to business class.

BA835 – Dublin to London Heathrow (DUB-LHR)
10 November 2019
Airbus A320neo – G-TTNF
Seat: Business Class 2F
Departure: 12:55 Arrival: 14:25

I’m not entirely sure why BA don’t use the aerobridges in Dublin. I mean, I quite like the stairs, but it’s not too great if the weather is wet. Happily boarding was both on time and the weather not rainy.

Mediocre On Board

Unfortunately, the new Airbus A320neo planes at BA are not that great. For one, the middle seat table for Club Europe is no longer there, which makes for a very economy class like experience.

Hot towels are provided to whoever wants one and then there is the manual safety demonstration. This is not a bad thing, as the video version is very long. Soon enough, it was into the air for us!

A Mediocre Lunch

I almost couldn’t believe my eyes when I was served a Tandoori chicken salad. For a moment, I thought I had gone back in 2016! I mean, it looked pretty good, but chicken salad is literally one of the worst dishes to be served as the chilling process means it is often served too cold.

Hopeful that this wasn’t the case, I tucked in and unfortunately found that yes, the chilling had made it cold and dry to eat. Even the salad and other bits couldn’t mask that. Sigh. Happily, the caprese salad and dessert were winners as usual.

Mediocre Champagne

I love having Champagne on British Airways, but even this was mediocre. I’ve been flying Club Europe since 2005 or 2006 and been through a couple of different brands such as Pommery and Castelnau. They are now serving Nicolas Feuillatte.

For some reason, the taste of this does not agree with me. Every time I sip it, I find myself grimacing, which is no good. On subsequent flights, I found I could just skip the bubbles altogether, and regular readers will know, I never skip the Champagne.

That Missing Tray Again

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – the whole Club Europe experience is downgraded on the Airbus A320neo and Airbus A321neo fleet. It is not as convenient to put my phone in the seat back pocket, when I am used to having it next to me.

Naturally one can use the pull down tray table for the unoccupied middle seat, but where’s the fun in that? I may as well book an economy class seat, hope the middle seat is free and pretend I’m in business class.

Overall Thoughts

Trust me when I say it is not familiarity with the product that makes me find it mediocre. I took about five more flights after this one, most of which were much better. Some flights even had a Club Europe table!

This flight made me think, “Why bother?” with paying extra. Shitty Champagne is probably my biggest issue, with the chilled chicken a close second. You have to get the food and drink right if you’re going to offer a hard product similar to economy class.

What do you think of the current Club Europe on board service at British Airways? Mediocre or pretty good? Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.

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