REVIEW: British Airways – Club Europe (Business Class) – Oslo to London Heathrow (A320)

British Airways (BA)

Flight: BA 761
Class: Club Europe (Business)
From: Oslo (OSL)
To: London (LHR)
Duration: 2hr25
Aircraft: Airbus A320
Seat: 1A
Status during flight: OneWorld Sapphire
Booking type: £350 for OSL-LHR-NYC Round trip in business
Date: October 2015

British Airways Club Europe (A320)
OSL-LHR

As with the majority of European carriers, BA’s business class is nothing more than economy class with the middle seat blocked. The only row with extra legroom is row 1 (or very rarely the exit row, when BA is able to sell almost 1/3 of the plane as ‘business class’)

Row 1 is limited to OneWorld Emeralds until 3 days before departure. However, in my experience you’ll usually be able to find a seat or two in row 1 as a non-status passenger if you check just as the row is unblocked.

I was greeted at the door by the friendly crew, who immediately offered to hang my jacket and also offered me a paper. There are no PDBs on BA short haul though, the crew do offer hot towels before take off but these are unpleasantly thin rags compared to the offering on most other airlines.

Seat 1A on BA Club Europe – Short Haul business class. The blocked middle seat has quite a nice looking table in the middle seat, with both a slick surface and a padded leather surface (just out of sight)

I went with the hot breakfast option which consisted of bacon, sausage, scrambled eggs and a side of potatoes and mushrooms. The food arrived in its heating foil, which was then placed inside a porcelain container, not exactly premium presentation. It was edible but not what I would describe as delicious. The stringy fat on the bacon was particularly tough to deal with, within the confines of the foil container. A synthetic orange juice and a potted parfait were also included on the tray but I didn’t open either of these.

BA doesn’t have proper coffee outside of its First Class cabins, so I opted instead for a cup of tea, which was kept topped up on a regular basis. I also had a small bottle of champagne (Heidseick Monopole) which was not great. The champagne has now been replaced by Castelnau, which is a little more drinkable.

Morning views on the journey to LHR. No matter what’s going on inside the plane, looking out of the window is always one of the highlights of flying 😀

Taxiing to our gate in LHR behind a BA whalejet

Conclusion

Overall this was a perfectly pleasant flight. The crew seemed to be in good spirits and were proactive in offering refills as well as in clearing the tray tables.

Sitting in row 1 makes BA Club Europe seem like much more of a premium experience than being stuck in a regular row. It is nice to be right at your seat as soon as you board, with extra legroom in addition to the attentive service and the hot food and premium beverage options.

However, I would still far rather find myself in the back row of a non-European carrier’s business class, where the seat is actually larger and more comfortable. There is a definite sense that when flying in intra-European business class, I’m being asked to tell the Emperor how lovely his clothes are. If we all play along we can pretend this is ok. Honestly though it isn’t. If you are flying long haul and end up in a short haul Business Class cabin, that’s fine. However, if you are looking to splash out in order to try Business Class one time, short haul will leave you deeply underwhelmed.

Viking One – The £350 return business class trip to New York