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SNAPSHOT: British Airways 461 Madrid to Heathrow in FIRST/Club Europe

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Time for another snapshot. This time, we’ll be looking at a happy mixture of circumstances with British Airways 461 on a Club Europe service between Madrid and London Heathrow.

For those of you who are new to the blog:

  • Trip Reports – These are full deep-dive reports taking you into the experience and the small things… as well as the big things!
  • Snapshots – These are bite-sized reviews that show you the basic product in some nice gentle headlines (and normally, only images shot on the phone)

Check in

I had been keeping an eye on the online check-in for some days before the flight – and on one occasion noted that seat in rows 2-5 was available for selection.

I did not realise I had selected first class seats at that point.

My boarding pass was issued online to the phone. Unlike normal where I tried to get a paper boarding pass as well, the IB and BA system integration… doesn’t work.

Security

A fast track security lane (shared by airline crew) is available at the airport for Iberia Elites as well as Fast Track pass holders. Using this was a quick process and was handled with a smile.

a sign on a building

Lounge

Both the Schengen and Non-Schengen lounges were used in the visits. Both lounges were pretty comfortable, with relative ease of finding a seat and snacks. It is interesting to note that restocking in the Schengen lounge was a lot slower than the other one.

Schengen Lounge

a group of people in a room with red chairs a shelf with food items on it a counter with bowls of food food in a buffet line a shelf of soda bottles

Non-Schengen lounge

a group of bowls of food on a stove food on a counter in a restaurant food on a counter with plates of food a group of boxes of fruit and cups a box of doughnuts a white wall outlet with multiple outlets food on a tray with food on it

The plane

The plane being used for flight British Airways 46 is a Boeing 777-300ER, configured with an international four-class cabin – consisting of First, Club World, World Traveller Plus and World Traveller

an airplane on a runway

World Traveller Plus and World Traveller are sold as EuroTraveller, whilst Club world and First are sold as Club Europe

All 303 seats were sold on this flight.

The seat

I had assigned myself 2K – an aisle seat allegedly. It was of course – a BA FIRST seat.

British Airways 461

British Airways 461 British Airways 461 a passport on a table in a plane a seat with a tv on it a closet with a swinger in it a camera in a box

In-flight Entertainment

With the plane operating a European leg and not “dressed” for operating an international service, the IFE system was only used for the safety demonstration, UK border welcome video and Heathrow Arrivals and Transfers.

a screen on a plane

Wi-fi

Wi-fi was provisioned on this plane – and was available at above 10,000ft. This used a Gogo 2ku connectivity solution. Whilst the speed test results look less than great, in actual use it was very usable, and without “per megabyte” limitations.

A one-hour package was purchased for £4.99 for testing purposes.

a screenshot of a phone a screenshot of a phone

Food and Drink

Three choices were offered. I went for the Asian Chicken. Whilst a little salty – it is a marked improvement of some of the Club Europe meals I’ve had in the past.

Champagne remains Castelnau. The bubbly remains acidic as normal.

glasses on a table in a plane a tray of food on a table a hand holding a small round container with food in it a cup of coffee and a glass of water on a table

Arrivals

Arrival at Heathrow was on a westerly landing, parking at Terminal 5C – requiring a shuttle back to Terminal 5A.

a plane on the runway a group of people walking down a hallway with luggage

The views

a window of an airplane a window with a blue light a window with clouds in the sky  a window with a view of a city

The full review of British Airways 461 soon!

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