EtwUK

Welcome to the first post on our new blog, on our new site! We hope you like it here as much as we do! There’s lots to come in the future, so keep your eyes peeled! Now onto the main event!

Why Cincinnati?!

It might not be a typical holiday destination for most Brits, but there was good reason for selecting this trip! One half of the ETWUK team is moving to Dayton, Ohio, for the next few months, and as such, needed a way out there! Dayton itself is quite poorly connected, with Cincinnati being the nearest major airport, and thus the route was laid in. This trip wasn’t even originally meant to be in business, as Stu had booked seat 26K in economy. However, with lots of spare Avios kicking around, and a great last minute deal offered by BA (The upgrade being £400), it was too good of an opportunity to miss, and 26K became 3K!

Naturally the upgrade comes with a heap of benefits, with fast track security/boarding, a full 3-course menu, complimentary drinks, and a lie-flat bed being the main draws. You also gain access to the Club World Lounges at Heathrow, in this case, the ones in Terminal 5. We’ll explore everything in greater depth below.

The Experience: Heathrow

Nearly all the flights we take at ETWUK (and there really haven’t been many!) have been short haul, European bound trips, with London Gatwick being the largest airport that we’ve used so far. That all changed when I used Terminal 5 at Heathrow for this flight! Opened in 2008, it’s a busy old terminal, and things move at a hectic pace inside the building. Flying with either Club Europe, or Club World grants you access to Fast Track security, which has its own designated area at the far left end of the terminal as you arrive. Security itself is the usual level of worrying about nothing, and I was through in just under 5 minutes. As with all airports, you’re immediately greeted by seemingly endless duty-free shops selling you all manner of tat and things you don’t need. If you bypass these though, and head down the length of the terminal, you’ll arrive at the comparative solitude of the South Lounges

There are the North Lounges, but the little ‘capacity level’ icons that BA have were showing the North to be 100% full, so I didn’t even attempt to go inside! The South Lounge was showing at about 75% full, but it still took a wander round to find a spare seat. Speaking of, these seats were super comfortable and plush, and definitely help you relax before the flight. Having been subject to a rather unpleasant bus ride down to Heathrow, I was both hungry and tired, so the best way to alleviate those symptoms was by checking out the complementary buffet! I helped myself to a little plate of fresh pesto pasta, a few veggies, and an enormous fishcake! Everything was cooked to perfection, and made for a nice little pick-me-up lunch. I followed up with a little slice of cake, and some champagne from the self service bar.

The lounge is well managed, with plenty of staff running around to clear tables, re-fill food and drink stands and ensure the smooth rotation of passengers. For my first experience of a lounge, I did come away quite impressed, but I’m not sure I would get an upgraded seat solely to access it. I did enjoy the views directly down onto the runway though, a real win for plane-spotters!

With a hearty lunch complete, it was simply a case of waiting around for my gate to be called, and soon enough, I was off to get the shuttle train that runs underneath Heathrow. Whilst this does a great job of moving you quickly from one place to another, I felt like the wait for it was excessively long, and as such the queue rapidly built up and it was a fight to get onboard! Having been spat out a few minutes later at the C Gate terminal block, it was a quick trip up the escalators to C45, and straight onboard the aircraft! This part of the day ran so smoothly, I didn’t even have a chance to stop a get a photo of my ride for the day!

Turn Left

For the first time in my life I was directed left once on board, and upon stepping through the dividing curtain (another first), my seat for the day was immediately in sight. Seat 3K is position at the rear right-hand corner of this business cabin, offering close access to the facilities and galley. No sooner than I had plopped myself into the chair, then a super friendly member of the cabin crew came over to offer a refreshment of either orange juice, or champagne. Wanting to make full use of my time onboard, something a little bubbly seemed the logical, and easy choice! Less than a minute later I was reclining nicely, sipping bubbles, and enjoying the warm sun through the windows. Certainly could get used to this! And I certainly had the time, as our original departure time of 16:35 was pushed back until 17:35. The pilot said this was down to the sheer volume of traffic at Heathrow on that particular day, and with the amount of landings I was watching through the window, I fully believed her!

Off we go!

With the short delay over with, we taxied our way onto 09R, and with a roar of the engines, up we went into the sky! With a sharp right turn, we were soon looking back down at Heathrow, resplendent in the warm early summer sun, and that was us heading off to Cincinnati! Barely had we left London behind before the cabin crew started making preparations for the first snack service, by taking our drinks orders. I went with a ‘Citrus Burst’ mocktail (I didn’t need any more fizz for the time being!), which was rich and tart, and whilst we waited for these do be served, hot towels were provided for quick refresher. Not long after, and whilst we were still comfortably over Ireland, the main dinner service was laid on, with the menu offering a good range of options. I’d opted for the seafood starter, which was a beautifully presented trio of smoked salmon, hot smoked trout, and a poached prawn. Being used to surviving off biscuits back in economy, (the rare exception being a delicious complimentary sandwich whilst flying with Luxair a few years ago), I wasn’t expecting a great deal in terms of quality, but I was totally blown away here. The smoked salmon was rich and delicate, the trout paired perfectly with the fresh roll (and butter) that was served alongside, and the prawn was meaty and of a good size. The salad was just a salad to my heathen tastebuds! Mains were soon served, and I was presented with a steaming plate of Welsh spring lamb, celeriac gratin, and mushy peas drizzled with a rosemary jus. The lamb cutlet was a little on the tough side and difficult to eat, but the braised shoulder was perfectly tender and my favourite aspect of the dish. The rosemary just was honestly just lost on this dish, I couldn’t taste it anywhere. Dessert was what I was most looking forwards to, but alas this is where the experience dipped a little bit! The warm ‘Chocolate, walnut, and orange cake’, was barely warm, and hardly tasted of any of the descriptors! Such a sad note to end what was otherwise a fantastic meal on! Personally, I think the seafood starter clinched top spot on this occasion: I loved how fresh everything tasted, and the hot smoked trout was exquisite.

With dinner out of the way, nearly all the other passengers settled themselves in for a bit of sleep. With the already comfy seats having the ability to lie completely flat, and complimentary bedding in the form of a pillow, blanket, and mattress topper, sleep is not difficult to find should you wish for it! Sleep always makes me feel dreadful on flights however, so I decided to have a little rootle around, to see what luxuries my upgrade provided. The seat itself is of a good size, with plenty of room to move around in, an abundance of windows (3 to myself!!), an amenities kit, and the aforementioned bedding. The infotainment is the same found throughout the rest of the aircraft, but pops out of the partition between yourself and the aisle seat. Which leads me neatly on to one of the oddities of this older layout. 3K is a window seat, and thus, faces backwards and the aisle seat faces forwards, with a divider between you. However, this divider has a collapsible translucent window in it, which remains lowered for the duration of boarding, taxiing, and take-off. So if you enjoy a strangers eyes boring into you whilst you try and record the take-off, then 3K is the seat for you! This was fixed with the updated Club World Suite, and if you ask me, not a moment too soon! Such a weird experience! It might be quite good if you’re travelling as either a couple or a small group, but on your own, it just doesn’t work! Back to the infotainment, and wow, this thing was clunky. It took an age for anything to load up, and really showed its age. That said, the breadth of entertainment offered was very good, with games, films (including latest releases), TV, radio, and an interactive map of the route. I left it on the map for the duration of the flight, as I’d brought my Kindle along, and was getting thoroughly stuck into a new book series! Ultimately, this is how most of the journey passed, as crossing the Atlantic isn’t the most exciting affair, but the entire stretch was done in great comfort.

With land finally underneath us, I was rather hopeful of some great views, but alas, everything was covered in cloud! A quick snack service was provided at this point, and I took the opportunity to grab a small pack of shortbread, which I felt was a perfect little victory treat having absolutely smashed the high score on the onboard trivia quiz! No sooner than I’d snaffled them down, we were hit with quite a rough bit of turbulence which kept things exciting. It lasted long enough for the flight deck to flash up the seatbelt sign again, and no hot beverages could be served, which was quite a shame as I’d ordered a peppermint tea to wash my shortbread down with! When it finally settled down a good 5 minutes later, a light meal service was provided, so I had a quick scan of the menu again to put my order in. Nothing really took my fancy, so I asked to simply have the side item of a bakery muffin, with my tea (which was lovely and refreshing). And this was the quiet highlight of my trip, as the super generous flight attendant decided it was unfair for me to just have a single muffin, and they popped another one on the plate for me! Two warm, gooey, chocolatey muffins, and a peppermint tea, was enough to convince me that the upgrade was worth it!

I’d like to say that we had fantastic views over Canada and north Ohio, but other than a very brief glimpse of Lake Erie, everything was entirely shrouded in cloud and mystery! However, it seems like the gods of aviation were saving the views up, because as we broke through the cloud layer on our descent into Cincinnati, we were presented with some of the best landscapes I’ve ever had on a flight. The Great Miami River lazily snaking its way through the landscape, underneath great beams of golden sunlight, and the lush green of the trees and fields underneath. Just, wow! I could happily have circled in that landscape forever, but these things are out of your hands as a passenger, and we rapidly began lining up for our final approach.

Final Thoughts

After some 8 hours in the air I was excited to get on the ground and start this new chapter of adventuring, but sad to be waving goodbye to seat 3K. Yes, it was tatty around the edges of the carpet, and yes the vents were clogged with dust, and yes the infotainment was clunky, and the whole cabin layout is really weird, but I’d really grown to love my little spot. The seat, despite its age, is immensely comfortable and the ability to lie flat definitely helps you stretch your legs out so you never become stiff and sore, or even enables you to catch some sleep should you wish. The menu choices were great, the food itself (other than my let down of a dessert) was fresh and tasty, and the cabin crew were absolutely amazing. Even the process of getting on board was ruthlessly efficient. No sooner than I’d stumbled off the transit tube, than I was boarding! I didn’t even have a chance to take a photo of our aircraft!

The Big Question

So…is it worth it? There are undoubtedly better packages for a Business Class experience, and I don’t think that’s contestable. Even BA itself has a new and upgraded suite (below) which looks vastly superior, and does away with the weird forward/backward set up. This older setup that I experienced definitely shows its age now, and it’s highly likely that BA will be retrofitting it at some point soon. If I was booking this outright, I’d give it a miss. You’re buying into an inferior setup, and its not worth the initial outlay. If however, you’re taking a last minute upgrade, then this is where the seat starts to become more attractive. The added perks at Heathrow, such as the fast track security and lounge access are nice to have, but they’re not essential. But for the increased comfort, service, and importantly the increased space that you get, then yes, this seat becomes worth it!