Review: British Airways First Class SFO - LHR
Review: Iberia Airlines Business Class LHR - MAD
Recap: Sights in Spain
Review: American Airlines Business Class MAD - DFW
​

Iberia Airlines (IB) #3167
London (LHR) - Madrid (MAD)
Tuesday, December 29th, 2015
6:30 PM - 9:55 PM, Duration: 2 hours, 25 minutes
Airbus 330-300 Business Class, Seat 3G


After spending a couple of hours waiting in the British Airways Concorde Room, it was time to board our flight to Madrid. I had never flown Iberia before, so I was looking forward to experiencing a new airline. As I mentioned, we had booked British Airways First from SFO to LHR plus Iberia Business from LHR to MAD for 62,500 AAdvantage miles and $490 each. It was a rough deal with the fuel surcharges, but I guess this is what you get for booking a last-minute trip to Spain over the holidays.

We boarded quickly and found that the business class cabin was largely empty. It was probably 40% full by the time we took off, which is not something I'm used to seeing these days. The A330 which Iberia flies on this route has a pretty great configuration for such a short flight. Business class is 1-2-1 with alternating seat configurations for each row. The rows were also slightly staggered. Aisle seats would either have a table on the outside of the seat (making them very private) or on the window side of the seat, while the two seats in the middle either had tables on the aisle side of the seats and nothing in the middle or tables in the middle of the seats and nothing on the outside. This made middle seats with no tables in the middle great for couples traveling together (as they were very private), but maybe not so great if you were seated next to a stranger. 

In addition to the nice staggered seating arrangements, the seats were fully lie-flat, which is always amazing on long-haul flights, but seemed kind of silly for a two hour and 20 minute flight (although I wasn't complaining). Each seat had a fairly substantial cubby hole for your feet, which was not too far away - always a plus since my legs are so short! This was great for me, but passengers with longer legs might find these a bit small or hard to fit in. 

During meal service, the table came down from the back of the seat in front of you and the seat controls and entertainment remote could be found next to the table (either on the aisle side or window/middle side of the seat).

As we were settling in to our seats, the flight attendants came around and passed out some fairly nice over-ear headphones to use for the flight. They were Iberia branded and weren't quite Bose headphones, but they were light years better than what we received on British Airways. 

Review: British Airways First Class SFO - LHR
Review: Iberia Airlines Business Class LHR - MAD
Recap: Sights in Spain
Review: American Airlines Business Class MAD - DFW


Introduction

About three weeks before Christmas, we decided that we wanted to take a trip during the week between Christmas and New Years. Things at work are usually slow and it's fairly easy to take time off, so we decided to go for it. Because we waited until the very last minute, we blew A TON of miles on the trip. We had been keeping our eye on award availability for several weeks before we actually booked anything, but not much was available and nothing was opening up as we got closer to our dates, especially not any Saver awards. We were pretty much open to flying to any destination in Europe and Spain ended up being one of our only options to use American miles and fly Business or First.

The flight out was fairly easy to book and although it wasn't quite as much of a gouge mileage-wise as the return, it was on British Airways, which is famous for outrageous fuel surcharges. We ended up booking the following: 

In hindsight, this was an insane amount of money and miles to spend at the last minute on a whim, but once I got the idea of going to Europe over the holidays in my head, I really couldn't get it out.

The Flight

British Airways (BA) #286
London (LHR) - Madrid (MAD)
Monday, December 28th, 2015
8:20 PM - 2:45 PM (+1), Duration: 10 hrs, 25 mins
Boeing 747-400 First Class, Seat 2K

We boarded our flight directly from the British Airways Terraces lounge at SFO about an hour before the flight was due to take off. The first thing you'll notice upon boarding is the excellent lighting scheme throughout the cabin, which makes everything a very cool shade of blue. The First class cabin is on the upper deck of the 747 in the nose, so the seats are configured in a v-shape with a sort of 1-2-1 pattern across the cabin. The nice thing about this somewhat odd layout is that seats 1A, 1K, 2A, 2K all have no space between them for another row of seats, so they're a bit more private. 

While I mentioned that rows 1 and 2 are more private, the seats overall are not very private, which I didn't like. On the edge of your seat, all you'll have is the arm rest, which only goes up so high, so you're wide open to the rest of the passengers while you're sleeping. British Airways seems to enjoy this sort of exposure, since the outer Club World seats are like this also.

Other than the privacy issue, the seats were fine and were comfortable enough for the ride although the seat controls were absolutely not intuitive and the foot rest was so far away, I wasn't able to actually use it for the flight. I did like the small touches like the lamp next to the seat and the windows with actual shades inside them - they definitely gave the cabin a bit of style. There was a small "closet" of sorts, which you could hang a very thin coat in or maybe your clothing once you changed into pajamas. The seat controls and entertainment remote were located to the left of the seat and the television was one that pops out from the wall. This is my least favorite design since you have to stow it for takeoff and landing, which means you can't watch anything for a fairly large chunk of time.

This turned out not to be much of an issue, however, because the in-flight entertainment system had an abysmal selection. First receives the same selection as Club World and we had just flown that about a month before, so there was little entertainment to choose from. Even American offers quite a substantial selection, which is easily 2x what BA offers. 

Back in March 2015, I wrote about how to book partner award flights on Etihad Airways.  We originally booked First Apartments both to Abu Dhabi from London and from Abu Dhabi back to London over the Thanksgiving 2015 holiday, but unfortunately, the airplane for our flight from London was switched from an A380 (which has First Apartments) to an A340 (which has Etihad's standard First Class). The airplane switch was somewhat devastating, but at least we will still experience the Apartments on our way home. We planned a whirlwind luxury long weekend in Dubai around these flights and I'll be covering all the details in upcoming posts. 

Review: British Airways Club World SFO - LHR
Review: LHR Etihad Airways First & Business Class Lounge
Review: Etihad Airways First Class LHR - AUH
Review: Park Hyatt Dubai
​Review: Afternoon Tea at At.mosphere Burj Khalifa
​Review: Burj al Arab Part I: One Bedroom Suite
Review: Burj al Arab Part II: Grounds and Amenities
Review: AUH Etihad Airways Premium Lounge 
Review: Etihad Airways First Apartments AUH - LHR


The Flight

Etihad Airways (EY) #11
Abu Dhabi (AUH) - London (LHR)
Sunday, November 29th, 2015
2:35 AM - 6:35 AM, Duration: 8 hrs
Airbus A380-800 First Class Apartment, Seat 4K

After leaving the lounge we headed straight to the gate area since we were eager to be first on board the airplane. The gate was separated into two areas due to an additional security screening that was required prior to boarding. No one had been allowed through the screening yet, but we were able to be the first ones through after showing our First class boarding passes. The Etihad staff checked our carry on bags and asked us to turn on all electronic devices so they could be sure they worked as intended. We made it through and waited for about 25 minutes until it was time to board.

Finally, it was time to see what all the hype was about as they began boarding. I bounded down the jetway and was first on board and I really could not have been more excited. The First Apartments and The Residence are situated on the upper deck of the A380 in the nose of the aircraft, so when we boarded, we did so through the galley between Business and First and turned left. The first thing you'll notice is how gorgeous the cabin is. The single aisle makes a huge impression as does the lighting and thoughtful design features. ​

The Apartments themselves are truly incredible. They were so spacious and tastefully decorated and I loved nearly every single detail. The apartments alternate between passengers facing forward or backward, and some have seats closest to the aisle while others have seats closest to the window. Apartment 4K was ideal for me since it had a window seat, which is more private than sitting next to the aisle when the doors are open, and the seat was facing forward, which is just more traditional.

The Apartments each have a small closet near the aisle, a full vanity with a refrigerator below, then the main seat all along one side, while the other side of the apartment has a full length bench seat, which converts into your bed, with storage space below the seat and a very large television directly in front of the seat. The television can also swing out so you can watch easily while laying in bed. The Apartments also have a divider between each set of seats, so if you are traveling with another person, you can have a bit of a shared space and sleep next to each other. 

Seat controls are thoughtfully laid out throughout the Apartment in all areas you might need them. There is a remote control for the TV both next to the seat and next to the bed, so you can control it from either position. There are also full seat controls on either a panel of buttons or on a touch screen next to the seat, and lighting and divider controls next to the bed. The area next to the seat has two USB ports, an HDMI port, and a magnetic headphone connector. While I appreciated the thought of the headphone connector being magnetic, I didn't like it in practice because my headphones kept disconnecting when I was watching a movie in bed later in the flight (#apartmentproblems).

We were greeted at the entrance desk by an agent, who offered to give us a tour of the lounge once she saw that we were flying in first class. She explained the services and facilities available, and apologized that there was no first class lounge and that the lounge may get crowded. As a consolation, she explained that they had cordoned off a section for first class passengers, and dropped us off there.

The first class area didn't look any different from the rest of the lounge, but it was behind a rope, so I guess that made it special. One disadvantage is that there weren't many power outlets in this section - we were lucky to snag one of the few sets of seats that had a nearby plug. A waiter came by to ask whether we wanted anything to drink, and I ordered a sparkling water.