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, 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 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 
​

Etihad flies out of London Heathrow Terminal 4. We arrived at Heathrow about 5.5 hours prior to our flight to Abu Dhabi after flying in on British Airways from San Francisco, so we had a bit of time to kill before being able to check in for our Etihad flight. Luckily, Etihad allows check in 4 hours prior to the flight, so we didn't have to wait an extremely long time. Check in was fairly quick, since we were first in line and off we were to the lounge. Once we cleared security, we headed towards gate A10, which the Etihad First and Business Class lounge is located across from. 

Background

In my previous guest post, I reviewed my Lufthansa First Class flight to Europe for Christmas. For the return journey, I found first class award availability with British Airways, and I decided to book it using AAdvantage miles. It cost a fairly reasonable 62,500 miles for the one-way flight, but the fees and taxes of $382 were a bit steep.


Check In

British Airways has a separate first class check-in area at Heathrow Terminal 5, so I headed there and was surprised to find a long line of about 15 people. Fortunately there were quite a few check-in desks open, so I only had to wait about 5 minutes to get my boarding pass. I then proceeded to Fast Track security and was airside a few minutes later.

Lounge

The last time I was at Heathrow Terminal 5, Jen and I tried the Galleries First Lounge, but this time I had access to the Concorde Room, which is only available to first class passengers flying British Airways. Since first class passengers and oneworld Emerald members from other airlines aren’t permitted, the Concorde Room is considered the more exclusive of the two lounges.

The lounge is located immediately to the right after exiting security. I first showed my boarding pass to the lady guarding the door, then once inside I needed to show my boarding pass again. Maybe it’s a British thing, but I didn’t find any of the staff members to be particularly welcoming. In fact, they seemed quite annoyed that I had decided to stop by.

The lounge has both an indoor sitting area and a terrace overlooking the terminal, and seating consists of various kinds of chairs and couches. In the indoor section, there is a full-service bar, but the staff also walk around and take drink orders. There is no buffet, but there is a restaurant area where food can be ordered.

Since I hadn't had breakfast yet, I headed to the dining area and was promptly seated. There were a few British-themed breakfast items on the menu. I opted for the traditional English breakfast, along with an orange juice and a cappuccino. The one thing I couldn’t help but notice was how miserable the wait staff seemed. They all looked incredibly sad and interacted with me as little as possible. Maybe it’s from dealing with overly-entitled passengers all day.

A few minutes after ordering, my breakfast arrived. Sadly, I wasn’t incredibly impressed by the food. It wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t very good. Let’s just say the best part of my meal was the baked beans, which probably came from a tin. The cappuccino tasted mostly like warm water; I couldn’t tell that it contained any coffee or milk.

Weekend Write-Up: London, Part I
Weekend Write-Up: London, Part II
Review: InterContinental London Westminster
Review: LHR BA Galleries First Lounge

Our flight home from London was via British Airways, but unfortunately, we were flying coach. Luckily, Chris' American Airlines Executive Platinum status translates to Oneworld Emerald, which allows him and a guest (that's me!) to use British Airways First Class, Business Class or frequent flyer lounges. We had a late afternoon flight, so once we arrived at Heathrow and made it through Fast Track security, we headed to the British Airways Galleries First Lounge in the South concourse of Terminal 5. 

Upon arrival at the lounge, you will see the First lounge on your left and the Club lounge on your right. The Galleries First lounge is absolutely massive. There were no less than two dedicated champagne bars (serve yourself, of course), one other bar area, a full service dining area, a buffet dining area, a large business center, multiple seating areas, and even a terrace. It was around 3PM on a Monday when we arrived and the place was surprisingly quite packed, but there was plenty of seating throughout the lounge.

Weekend Write-Up: London, Part I
Weekend Write-Up: London, Part II
Review: InterContinental London Westminster
Review: LHR BA Galleries First Lounge

During our whirlwind weekend in London earlier this month, we stayed at the InterContinental London Westminster. Making our stay somewhat comical was the fact that on the day we checked out, the hotel was re-branded from InterContinental to Conrad Hilton. It is now actually the Conrad London St. James.

One of the best parts about my surprise trip to London earlier this month was the absolutely wonderful hotel that we stayed at while we were there. Chris booked two nights at the InterContiental London Westminster (now the Conrad London St. James) and the hotel was absolutely amazing. Not only was the hotel gorgeous, but the location was absolutely perfect. It was a 5 minute walk to Westminster Abbey, the Thames, Big Ben, and the London Eye, a 10 minute walk to Buckingham Palace, and it was directly across the street from the St. James tube station, which runs both the Central and District lines. It really could not have been any better in terms of location and since we were in London for such a short time (less than two full days), it made a huge difference for us being able to get where we needed to go!

We arrived at the hotel at around 5PM and noticed that the signage outside had been taken down in preparation for the change-over. We arrived on August 30 and the switch was set to happen on September 1 - the day we were checking out.

We made it into the lobby and were able to check in. Unfortunately, we got a room on the second floor, which meant there was no view to speak of, but that was no matter, because we really were not planning on spending much time in the room anyways. 

The entire hotel was decked out in gorgeous wood walls and accents and I really loved it. Our room also had a heavy dosage of wood and was a bit small (although that's what you expect in London), but was definitely beautifully appointed. Our room had a small hallway when you walked in that led to the bathroom and the bedroom. We had a king room with a desk and a very nice bar area with a Nespresso machine and a glass to suit your every need. The television was cleverly mounted behind a very unique glass panel and the sound was also piped into the bathroom in case you wanted to listen to Top Gear while you're in the shower.