Just Back From ...
Flat Out in BA Club World
By Lee Franks
I've just had the delightful experience of flying back from London with British Airways in Club World. Trust me, as a 6 footer I really appreciated the fact I could fully extend myself. Even though I didn't necessarily sleep I managed to have a delightful 'snooze' in the foetal position for several hours which makes the 23 hours that you're travelling so much more pleasant!
The layout of the Club World cabin is quite unique with seats diagonally opposite each other. If you're travelling with a companion you get to face each other. If you're travelling solo you can pull down a fan-like 'privacy screen' and screen yourself off from the person you're sitting next to (how very British!). The seat pocket in front of you is so far away that you need to unbuckle yourself to reach anything ... but this merely illustrates the fact that the leg room is phenomenal. There's a pull down ottoman style seat on the back of the seat in front which makes a very nice little foot stool or somewhere you can 'receive visitors' should you wish to socialise with a travelling companion.
The seat itself is a real winner! The seat pitch (that is the distance from the back of the seat cushion you're sitting on to the back of the seat in front) is a whopping 73 inches. The width of the seat cushion is a very comfortable 20 inches. OK, I'm a skinny-malinky, so seat width has never been a major problem for me but even so, I appreciated the extra room to wedge my book / headphones / water bottle / handbag on the seat next to me. And you have more room to spread your elbows without hitting anything. The BEST part is the seat reclines to 180 degrees, fully flat, 6 foot long bed - fabulous! Nice plump pillow and cotton lined blankie, plus some rather plush softy-softy eye shades and ear plugs in my lovely Molton Brown wash bag*, and I was ready for a restful few hours kip.
Service was charming and attentive for the times when you need crew around ie: pre-take-off and during the meal service, but then there was very little movement through the cabin during sleep time which was great. Nothing worse than having some one quickstep down the aisle every five minutes! Food and drinks service was of a good standard too. Pre take off we were offered champagne, water or orange juice. After take off a drinks service was very quickly followed by the hot meal service with 3 / 4 choices for starter, main course and desert. we were then given a bottle of water - a very nice touch as you can guzzle a decent amount to re hydrate after over-indulgence in good quality wines with dinner! Tea/coffee served in mugs was appreciated - I hate ridiculous little cups.
Club World entertainment offers 18 channels of video/TV and 12 audio channels. No video-on-demand yet though which is a bit disappointing. However, there's a good selection of games too which means you can 'eat-up-time' with endless games of patience or solitaire! There's also in-seat laptop power and a personal phone should you wish to work (if you're really that 'sad' or 'important') *The Molton Brown wash-bag / amenity kit is good quality and well equipped. Decent pair of socks, softy eye shades and ear plugs, plus toothbrush, decent size tube of toothpaste, minty mouthwash and some very nice moisturiser.
All I can say is - I've been thoroughly spoiled and any future long haul travel will just HAVE to be Club World! Now, just how to finance my new lifestyle ...
