This round trip by British Airways starting on the 30th November was the second time I have flown with the airline since Covid. British Airways, the UK’s flagship carrier has a vast network of flights spanning most major cities in the world. As we know I have chronicled my first foreign trip since Covid which was also by British Airways but at that time I flew short haul to Greece. This time my journey which was also with my parents was long haul; it was firstly an outbound 10 hour flight to Las Vegas in the state of Nevada in the United States and a return inbound flight of the same time duration from Los Angeles in the state of California in the United States. The fact that the flight was long haul gave me an opportunity not only to examine the meals on the flights but also assess the comfort on the flight from a long haul perspective.
Check In And Outbound Flight
The airport check in for this round trip by British Airways was uneventful with no changes since my first Covid . The airport this time was however London Heathrow as is still the case for most long haul flights. As with London’s Gatwick, there was no need to give printed tickets and only passports were needed to receive printed boarding passes, as would be expected from a similar UK airport. As with London Gatwick, I had access to the Biritish Airways lounge at London Heathrow but this time it was for lunch not breakfast. Lunch consisted of a selection of salads as well as an assortment of dishes ranging from traditional Turkey pies and fishcakes to oriental style fried rice. The plate size was similar to the lounge at London Gatwick when I went to Greece back in June so no increase in size there even though the size is a bit restricted. Clearly people at British Airways are still on diets after 5 months!
The outbound flight itself for the round trip by British Airways was delayed by 2 hours but British Airways provided a £10 for voucher for each person to purchase any extra food and drink. This showed that the company was considerate even though there was a delay and offered appropriate assistance. When the flight took off the journey was comfortable. We were however in premium economy class which meant that our leg room was more and the seats were slightly less packed together. In terms of the meal, they offered a mixture of traditional British dishes as well as Asian style dishes in a similar way to the British Airways lounge at London Heathrow. I had a Chicken Tika Masala which is as many know a British Asian dish. This reflects the range of cuisine offered by British Airways. A cooked breakfast was also offered before landing.
The Return Flight
The return flight to complete the round trip by British Airways was from Los Angeles to London Heathrow. We stayed in Las Vegas for 5 days before taking an American Airlines flight to Los Angeles which I will be commenting on in my next article. In Los Angeles we embarked on a cruise to Hawaii before returning back to Los Angeles, spending some time there with relations before returning back to London on the 23rd December. The British Airways lounge in the Los Angeles International Airport was similar to the lounge at London Heathrow with a range of dishes. There were also a better range of hot dishes on offer with traditional such as roast chicken and chips, two choices of Italian pasta as well as oriental style fried rice with oriental style chicken curry. The plates were slightly bigger than the plates at London Heathrow. The trip back was also comfortable however there was a delay of about and hour on the return journey.
On the whole the British Airways lounges and flights were well served with food from a range on culinary styles ranging from Asian to traditional British which is reflective of the types of cuisine that are now an integral part of British culture. The plates in my opinion were still a bit too small and the flights were delayed. However, for the 2 hour delay on the initial flight compensation was given. This shows that British Airways were responsible for giving appropriate help when needed at a time of extended flight delay. The lounges also in terms of food selection was better than the previous trip. So on the whole the round trip by British Airways was good and therefore this is a positive story for British Airways.
