One of the aircraft British Airways operate between London Heathrow and Boston is the Boeing 777. This is usually a -200 variant, of which there are quite a few in the fleet. I was supposed to be flying on one of these on a flight scheduled an hour earlier than the one I review below, but weather had closed Washington National Airport so my connecting flight arrived an hour or so after that aircraft had left.
On arrival I was told to run to Terminal E, which meant getting the bus from the AA terminal, going to check-in, finding no-one there... then a woman saying "she's just left - just go through security!" which surprisingly worked with the boarding passes of the flight that had already departed. Got to the boarding gate for the flight which was already well into being boarded and the agent rebooked me immediately. Of course, I was a sweaty mess, tired, stressed and my bag didn't make the connection - but I was on and I was going home.
Much to my surprise it was a Boeing 777-300ER, which is usually used on really long flights such as those to Sydney and Singapore.
BA214 – Boston to London Heathrow (BOS-LHR)
31 May 2018
Boeing 777-300ER – G-STBG
Seat: World Traveller 38D
Departure: 22:50 Arrival: 10:20+1
The gate agent had realised I'd bussed and run, so she showed some sympathy and assigned me a block of three seats to myself. Since this was flight four of five in a row, I really appreciated this. Seats are arranged in three groups of three and I was assigned an aisle seat in the middle group. Small flat pillows are on each seat along with a blanket. Some dried vomit or food from a previous flight featured on the carpet in the aisle which was a little unpleasant.
Entertainment screens are touch screen though they do also have a controller. A USB charging port is provided for every passenger which is a great addition and is becoming more prevalent on aircraft around the world thanks to our addiction to devices.
Pillows are laid on each seat and they are small, flat and not a lot of use. These have been the same for more than ten years and are a staple in World Traveller. Computer boxes for the inflight entertainment eat up a little leg room, but not much. My dream of putting the three armrests up and stretching out were dashed when an Indian girl from the row behind me decided to move forward to the other aisle seat. Drats!
Once in the air, the cabin crew come through with a drinks service. I ordered a Bloody Mary and a sparkling water and it duly arrived with pretzels and one mini Smirnoff. When boarding I had spoken briefly to a crew member to tell her about my delays and what not. She was at the other end of the trolley and secretly gave me a second Smirnoff mini without her colleague seeing. BA often give you two, so it was nice to see she cottoned on to the fact I only received one.
After the drinks service is complete, the crew come back and offer you dinner. The choice this evening was a chicken curry or a pasta dish so I went with the curry. This comes with a side salad, separate vinaigrette, dessert, a bread roll, cheese and crackers. While the curry looks a little bleak in the pictures it turned out to be quite tasty. The vinaigrette added the required pep to the salad and as a lover of sweet things, the millionaires shortbread went down a treat.
Stress eating is a thing and I was still in the mood for more taste, so I asked for and received the pasta option once done with the curry. It looks very tired as it had been sitting for a while and it didn’t taste all that good either. Sometimes it’s best not to ask for more!
Boston to London is not a long flight by any means, clocking in at around 7 hours. After relaxing with a movie and trying to nap, the lights came back up and breakfast was served. Breakfast was godawful. First, the pretzel was cold and bread goes really dense when it’s been chilled. Secondly, the pretzel was sickly sweet which I really didn’t like. Finally, it’s just a bit meagre and cheap all round. I actually didn’t finish it. After this we landed into London.
World Traveller on the Boeing 777 is pretty decent. Passengers enjoy a large entertainment screen filled with new releases and classic choices from yesteryear. Being able to charge a phone throughout the flight makes me happy too, so the USB sockets are appreciated. Dinner is substantial enough and the Indian curry was tasty, as was the rest of the meal. I feel the plastic cutlery lets the side down though as it looks flimsy and cheap for a full service international carrier.
The less said about the pretzel, the better. British Airways would do well to heat bread for economy class passengers instead of doling out plastic wrapped refrigerated sickly sweet crap like that for breakfast. What do you think of World Traveller on British Airways? Have you flown it before? I’d love to hear your thoughts. Thanks for reading - to see all the pictures, remember to click here - and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.
