Review: British Airways B747 Business Class, London-New York

British Airways B747 business class LHR to JFK

After my wonderful flight in British Airways B789 from Cairo to London, it's time to fly to New York in business class but this time on their B747. This is the first route where the DO&CO catering was launched so I knew that the dining experience would be great. Of course, the crew were also very friendly and I really enjoyed this flight.


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Flight: BA115
Departure time in London (LHR): 14:30 Terminal 5
Arrival time in New York (JFK): 17:25
Aircraft: Boeing 747-400
Seat: 20J to 19A
Duration: 7h 55m
Date of flight: April 3, 2018
*This is a revenue ticket, Business Class flight #155

Video from my YouTube Channel 📺

Transit in Heathrow

We landed in Heathrow Terminal 5 Concourse B and I headed directly to the Galleries Lounge in the same concourse. I would have wanted to use the Galleries First in Concourse A but it was a bit of a walk and my flight was departing from Concourse B anyway so I decided to stay. I left the lounge around 1:40pm for the 2:30pm departure.

Aircraft, Boeing 747

British Airways Boeing 747

Boarding, Gate B35

Boarding had already started when I arrived at the gate around 1:47pm, starting with those who need assistance. About 6 minutes later, boarding of premium passengers and those with elite status followed.

Cabin, Business Class

British Airways Boeing 747 business class cabin main deck

British Airways Boeing 747 business class cabin main deck

There is also a smaller business class cabin on the upper deck. It was interesting to know that in front of the business class cabin in the main deck was the World traveller Plus cabin and located in the nose of the plane is the first class cabin.

Seat, from 20J to 19A

The business class seat on this B747 is pretty much like the seat on the B787 I flew earlier, with the exception of the entertainment controller and personal screen which are "old". My seat 20J is an aisle seat although I would later transfer to a window seat. On the upper deck are 20 business class seats.

British Airways B747 safety card

High Life magazine, duty free catalogue, Club World seat guide

Footstool

Seat controls

Headphone jack and entertainment controller

Headphones and entertainment controller

Personal screen

From the movie selection, I watched Downsizing.

Moments after settling in, the flight attendants offered a bottle of mineral water and the amenity kit which contained the same stuff as on my previous flight. The White Company pillow and bedding was already waiting at my seat, as well as the headphones.

Then, it was time for some pre-departure beverage 😍

Newspapers were also offered but I declined.

Since I really wanted to have a window seat, I asked the flight attendant if I could transfer to one and luckily, seat 19A was available so I transferred there immediately.

My new seat, 19A

Reading lamp

Around 2:25pm, the menu card and wine list were offered, informing us as well that they'd be serving snacks before landing in New York.

Inflight Safety Video

We began our pushback around 2:39pm and 3 minutes later, the inflight safety video was played on the screen. While taxiing, we saw lots of airplanes including those of ...

British Airways,

... an Emirates A380

... Air New Zealand

Is that the British Airways Concorde 😍

We had a smooth take off around 3pm and moments later, we were airborne.

Dining

Menu card and wine list

Champagne cocktails

DO&CO 👍

White wines

Lunch

Lunch

The Bar

Afternoon Tea

To start the meal service, hot towels were offered. Immigration forms were also handed out around 3:30pm, followed by the crew taking the food and drinks order. I settled for apple juice and of course, the lamb which I had pre-booked on the British Airways website.

Pre-ordered meal on the British Airways website

My apple juice was served with some mixed nuts.

Then, drinks order were taken for the second time and I asked for cranberry juice.

Bread, cranberry juice and water

Unlike Turkish Airlines, British Airways seem to like to display as many DO&CO logos while dining 😉 Unfortunately, the olive oil was "sleeping".

Then it was time to serve the appetizer together with some wines. I chose the Medley of Smoked Salmon and Prawn which was very good 😋

The Medley of Smoked Salmon and Prawn was phenomenal 😋

For my main course, I had the Beef Cheeks and rack of Spring Lamb which was fantastic.

And if you haven't noticed yet, they can't have sharp knives onboard as per UK law, and which I learned about for the first time a few years ago when I flew in Japan Airlines first class from Heathrow.

Next was the dessert and cheese which was served from a trolley.

I ended up having the Baked Brioche with Apricot Confiture which was very good.

And to end the meal, I had a cup of green tea which was served with a small plate for the used teabag. I think this is the first time I've seen it in business class so kudos British Airways for such service 👍

Lavatory

British Airways B747 business class lavatory with hand wash and hand balm from White Company.

British Airways B747 business class lavatory

Club Kitchen

Food and drinks offering from the Club Kitchen in the galley area

Time to Sleep

Turn down service by yours truly 😉

Airshow

Airshow en route to New York

Afternoon Snacks

Around 4:08pm about an hour before landing in New York, snacks were served. There was a choice between salad and sandwich and I chose the former. For my drinks, I had apple juice.

Afternoon Snacks

Around 4:23pm, the first officer came on the PA to inform us that we would be landing in 40 minutes and that the seat belt sign would be turned on in about 20 minutes.

Landing in New York JFK Airport

We landed in JFK Airport around 5:03pm and reached our gate  which was gate 4 fourteen minutes later.

CONCLUSION

There were a lot of things I loved about this flight. The crew were actually very friendly and made sure we had an enjoyable flight. The lamb I pre-ordered was excellent as well as the salmon appetizer, and the Club Kitchen offering was nice. The bedding and pillow were also a big plus. Unfortunately, there's no wifi on this flight and the seats, just like on my previous flight are not the most comfortable as it's on the small side. The personal screen and entertainment controller needed an upgrade too. Overall, I still had an enjoyable flight as the crew were really nice and the dining experience was lovely 😍