TRIP REPORT: Exploring Passenger Innovation in a rush – BA974 London Heathrow to Hamburg Airport (Club Europe)

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Oh boy.

Eventually, the queue started to move and I made it aboard the aircraft.

British Airways BA974 London Heathrow to Hamburg Airport
Airbus A321neo
Seat 10D, Club Europe
464 miles flown, 0 Tier Points and Avios earned (redemption flight)

I was welcomed aboard by the crew and made my way down the business class cabin. With 10 rows of business class seats that’s a big chunk of the seating aboard an A321neo gone – given they operate in a 220-seat configuration, with 60 seats (40 earning revenue) already gone.

This aircraft uses the older Collins Aerospace Pinicale seating (which in itself was replaced by the Meridian seats, which are on the verge of being replaced by the Apex seat). As such, these seats do not feature one thing that was introduced in the new aircraft that British Airways is taking delivery of…

… that’s right. A cocktail table.

It’s a small thing, but it’s one of the big omissions for the premium traveller to access on a short-haul flight, making use of the middle seat, rather than leaving it empty. So much so, with the Meridian seat, the tray table is making a comeback.

I guess the accountants got sick of that moan item.

As for the seat itself, it features power at the seat, 30″ seat pitch on an 18″ pan – nothing that we haven’t seen before.

I chucked my bag in the overhead bin and sat down quickly so as not to block the aisle. From there, it was a matter of watching the world go by as the A321neo filled up for the trip to Hamburg. At least there were no overhead bin space issues, so all bags had a home.

I even found a home for the curtains that were behind me.  They were arranged to be on the spare seat.

With the aircraft filled up, eventually, the doors went to close and it was allowed to taxi out.

During this point, the safety demonstration was presented. Like all BA short-haul flights, this was presented manually, as the airline has decommissioned any screens in the single-aisle aircraft (and skipped ordering them for their new aircraft).

I’m 50/50 on this – I do like the video presentation (especially if you’ve got a long taxi from T5 to a west-bound Winsdor departure) but I can see how it’s a pain to get done for a short departure when departing towards the city.

Of course, from what I could tell, we would be going for a Windsor Departure.

What do I mean by that? Window hogging was the order of the day on all sides. I can’t say I blame people – I would do exactly the same. It’s just annoying that there’s one window seat per row.

With a roar – and without the hydraulics yapping), the A321neo to the air.

Overhead control panel

Thankfully, British Airways had provided some IFE/C on the aircraft – with this A321neo fitted with inflight connectivity (which uses Viasat’s European Aviation Network – EAN).

This meant I could test a few things. British Airways has been promising the rollout of free messaging on flights. Let’s see how it stacks up.  I connected to the BA .Air hotspot.

From here, I could sign in with my BA Executive Club Account to access the tiers, with Messaging, Browse and Streaming tiers offered.

From here it was simply a matter of entering my credentials, and I was allowed to access the messaging services.

Like most free messaging tiers which airlines offer, this is for text-based messaging only. This includes WhatsApp, iMessage, Facebook Messenger and Teams Chat.

What you can’t do with this messaging tier is add images, gifs or videos to your messages (as these are all blocked). If you want to use these more data-intensive services, you’ll need to pay up for a browse package at least.

As I’ve noted in the past, text-based messaging is comparatively cheap to implement for an airline and gives passengers a communication method, as well as a free gateway to additional services that the airline offers.

I skipped paying out for extended browsing data – I was happy to be disconnected for an hour.

Whilst I had been playing with the Wi-Fi system, the crew had started its offering of food and beverages for the Club Europe cabin.

Whilst I might have been at the back of the cabin, the crew were working at speed and reached me, a good 15 minutes before the top of decent.

Whilst there was a choice of afternoon tea (be it a vegetable or non-vegetable sandwich), the choice of scones had long since gone – so there were only fruit scones available.

And yes, I’m not a fan of fruit in my scones. At least I could pick some of the fruit away. This was served with Tipree Strawberry Jam and Clotted cream.

Now, on this blog, we love to be sympathetic and not cause controversy. So, how do I like my scones? Do I like them Cornish Style (Jam on the bottom, clotted cream on top), or Devonshire Style (clotted cream on the bottom, jam on top)?

Neither.

I just like clotted cream on mine. There. Have at it in the comments section.

As for the sandwiches they were small and finger styles.

Salmon house, cheese and pick and coronation chicken. Pro tip: dine in the lounge beforehand. 

This was concluded with a Victoria Sponge cake. This wasn’t too dense, so pretty nice.

In terms of a drinks service, I went for the basic option I normally go for when flying these days – a Gin and Tonic (with tanqueray gin with Fever Tree Slimline tonic water) and a glass of water.

With the state of BA’s Bubbles in the air in the past, this has fast turned into a “safe” option whilst in the air

With the captain announcing decent, the crew began to clean up the trays and ready the aircraft for landing. Thankfully with the snack offered, it doesn’t take too long for the the crew to clean up.

For those in the back of the plane, there was a drink and snack issued, with onboard sales via the HighLife Cafe.

With the aircraft closing in on Hamburg, the cabin was tidied up. I was able to also glance to the right of me, where someone had lent back to watch the approach into Hamburg.

With a bump, the A321neo landed at Hamburg Airport, completing its mission. From there it taxied around the tarmac, and finally arriving at the B Gates.

As the chimes went off, the mass sound of people unclicking of seatbelts. I wasted no time, grabbing my rucksack from the overhead bin, and readying myself for a quick exit.

As the queue cleared, I slung the backpack over my back and made my way to the exit.

Thanking the crew, I headed into Germany.

Overall

A rather average Club Europe service, with a passable afternoon tea. The crew were stars, as they were able to work the cabin fast, but in a friendly manner.

It’s a shame the original seat I had didn’t stick, as that would have provided a lot more IFE for me.

Next:

Into Hamburg and the Ibis Budget St. Pauli.

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