The British Airways Club Suite has been redesigned, and the airline has extended an invitation to its business class passengers to join. In addition to a few additional aircraft undergoing refurbishment, the British Airways Club Suite product is presently available on their new Airbus 350-1000 series and Boeing 787-10 aircraft. These consist of the Boeing 777-200 and 777-300 ER models. Direct aisle access and a privacy door, features absent from the previous Club World Product, are now included in every Club Suite. Let’s put the new product to the test and see how it performs.

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This post is one chapter on a trip to the South of France and Cinque Terre, Italy. This trip was enhanced through Marriott Bonvoy Elite Status and Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan. For information on how this trip was booked, please see our introduction. For parts of the trip, please see this index.

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Review: British Airways Club World Suite Business Class, Airbus 350-1000, London Heathrow Terminal 3 – Vancouver International Airport

“With a contemporary seating configuration that provides direct aisle access, a completely flat bed, and a privacy door, British Airways Club Suites pulls business class into the twenty-first century.”

I’ve flown British Airways departing from London Heathrow on several occassions in both British Airways Business Class and British Airways First Class. After our British Airways Cliub Suites Business Class Vancouver – London Heathrow flight out, we were looking forward to our flight home.

About the British Airways Club Suites:

The British Airways Club Suites is British Airways’ newest business class offering, which offers a more spacious and functional business class seat when compared to their old higher density Club World Business Class offering. Instead of being packed into a seating arrangement with eight seats across the cabin, we’d enjoy a more comfortable four across configuration in a reverse herringbone business class seat. Each seat offers a fully flat bed, direct to aisle access and a privacy door.

The British Airways Club Suites are appearing on many British Airways’ newer aircraft. British Airways has them installed on all their Boeing 787-1000 series aircraft, all their Airbus 350-1000 series aircraft, and most of their Boeing 777-200 ER and Boeing 777-300 ER aircraft. If you are flying these aircraft, check your seat mant

Currently, there are no Club Suites installed on Boeing 787-800, Boeing 787-900 series or Airbus 380-8 series aircraft. British Airways is planning to retrofit these aircraft, although the time line remain to be seen when this will be fully completed.

Boarding British Airways Club Suites:

After arriving off British Airways Club Europe Nice – London Heathrow in Terminal Five. We connected over to London Heathrow Terminal Three and had a quick visit to the British Airways Galleries Lounge.

After a visit to the British Airways Galleries Lounge, the flight gate was posted on the boards at about 4:25 PM. Since the flight was set to depart at 5:25 PM, it was a long and brisk walk of almost twenty minutes out on London Heathrow’s Terminal Three walkways towards Gate 42. The British Airways Vancouver flight normally leaves from Gate 42 and has done so for several years.

British Airways
BA 85 – Business Class (D)
LHR – YVR (London Heathrow Terminal 3 – Vancouver International)
October 15, 2023
5:25 PM – 7:00 PM
Booked: Airbus 350-1000
Flown: Airbus 350-1000

When it came time to board, there were a lot of senior citizens ready to board ahead of group one. Most of them seemed very able to walk without additional assistance, although they fell into the “needed extra time to get on board” category.

We boarded with group two, and turned left on board the plane at door 2L. We found our British Airways Club Suite seats at door 2K on the right hand side of the aircraft.

On Board British Airways Club Suites:

With it’s British Airways Club Suites, British Airways has throughly modernized it’s business class services. It’s a marked step up from its previous high density Club World business class product on its Airbus 380-8 and Boeing 747-4 series aircraft. The old version featured Business Class seating as dense as eight persons across.

The British Airways Club Suites product offers a Collins Aerospace Business Class seat that you’ll find on other international carriers such as Air Canada, in their long range aircraft.

The British Airways Club Suites Business Class on the A350-1000 is located in the forward part of the aircraft in a 1 – 2 – 1 configuration. As described on my flight into London, the Club Suite cabin is split across two cabins. The first cabin is between rows 1 – 11, whereas the second mini cabin is located between rows 15 – 17. A galley separates the two cabins between rows normally that would normally be occupied by rows 12 – 14.

It is fair to say that the newer seat and configuration are substantially more comfortable and spacious than the older British Airways Club World version. The new suites offer a fully flat seat, with substantial storage and space to work around the suite itself, along with direct aisle access from every seat.

When choosing a seat, the centre seats offer less privacy than the aisle suites. The centre suites offer a partition divider that allows you to wall yourself off from the other centre facing traveler. Despite the ability to open the divider, it’s not an ideal configuration to have conversations with your seat mate.

Instead, with two of us traveling together, we again opted for seating on the outer window seats one behind another. While we didn’t get the opportunity to have discussions during the flight, we both appreciated having access to a window.

I located my assigned Club Suite in 2K. Each Club Suite offers a private door, which comes up to just above head hight when seated in the seat, or chest height if you are standing in the aisles.

It’s not as tall as the doors that you might find in a Qatar Airways Q Suite. However, it does offer an element of privacy if you chose to sleep.

The seat offered counter space which was handy for resting a laptop, passport or other items in flight or while you got settled. There was also a small compartment that allowed for in flight charging for cellphones and accessories. The Empower power port offered both plug in charging and USB A standard charging.

A wired remote also existed inside this space, that could be used to control the in flight entertainment system. The controller was high resolution, and could be controlled through buttons or touch screen. The Empower charging port was also located in this space featuring both plug in power charging and USB A Charging.

Immediately next to the primary charging space, there was a secondary smaller space that could be used to place a wallet or other smaller items. Both spaces offered a functionality to the seat, that was missing from the previous British Airways Club World product.

Rounding out the space of the Club Suite, there was a small cupboard that held a bottle of water. There was also an Elemis in flight amenity kit that was hidden away in the cupboard.

A pillow and blanket was waiting on the seat when we arrived. The sleep sets on British Airways are a little mediocre. They don’t quite meet the quality of what you might find on Qatar Airways Q Suites, which offer a lush product by comparison.

The British Airways Airbus 350-1000 has individual reading lights. British Airways did not install individual air nozzles in this particular aircraft. While this can make for a warmer journey, I didn’t miss them on this particular trip.

Pre – Departure Services:

A pre – departure beverage was offered. Today’s pre-departure beverage choice consisted of orange juice, water or champagne Heindsieck & Co Monopole, Silver Top Brut NV..I went with the champagne, which was unfortunately again served at room temperature.

MrsWT73 caught me enjoying settling into the seat in a rare moment of enjoying a little champagne.

While we were waiting for the remaining passengers to board, the captain came on to make an announcement that they were waiting for connecting passengers and additional baggage to be loaded. This turned into a 45 minute delay. We eventually got underway and into a departure cue to leave London Heathrow airport.

Departing London Heathrow:

Eventually, we got underway. I always appreciate plane spotting at London Heathrow international airport. With so many different carriers coming into London, I was able to spot American Airlines, Virgin Atlantic, Iran air, Qantas and Finnair all maneuvering on the apron.

There’s something special about seeing these different kinds of aircraft and only a few airports in the world where you can see so many.

We had a pleasant evening takeoff from London Heathrow international airport. The lights of London twinkled softly as we climb to altitude

Food and Beverage:

After the pre – flight announcement, the menus were presented while on the ground. The menus consisted of a long thin design, starting with the lunch / dinner option.

The main course options for our evening flight consisted of braised Welsh leg of lamb, grilled cod or mozzarella mezzaluna. The options were pretty British, which might be expected for a flight departing from the United Kingdom. At the very least, the options were interesting and not what I would typically expect on an aircraft

British Airways also offered a second service prior to landing at Vancouver International Airport. Typically, British Airways has been known for a lighter second service which I’ve never usually been impressed with. Today’s second service was no different, offering snacks and light bites just prior to getting off the plane.

British Airways also offered a dedicated wine list. The wine list focused on both old world and new world wines. Being a European carrier, I appreciate that they offered old world wine options from France. My travels lately have taken me on many carriesr that typically offer the most economical new world options as perhaps a cost cutting incentive.

There was always something interesting on the wine list. Most of the wine list was interesting as it featured bottles that we wouldn’t typically get in Canada.

British Airways also offered a light cocktail list featuring traditional British favorites. There were two kinds of gin carried on board; Gordon’s and Tanqueray in addition to Ciroc vodka. A few cocktails rounded out the menu.

Overall, aside from the light second service, the food looked pretty appealing with enough wines and spirits to keep you entertained.

The Amenity Kits: “The White Company”

While I waited for the flight to get underway, I explored the amenity kits. The British Airways amenty kits have substantially changed much over the years. The British Airways kits are still branded with The White Company.

The British Airways “The White Company” amenity kits offered Spa Resort Lip Balm, Moisturizer and Power Point, a sleep mask, a toothbrush and toothpaste and eye mask.

It’s not essential to have a robust amenity kit. I ended up squirreling this one away for safe keeping, but didn’t end up using it in the end.

The Entertainment System:

The British Airways Club Suite offers an entertainment system that is controlled through the hand controller or via the touch screen. The system offered a number of movies and had enough entertainment on it to keep a traveler entertained.

The system also featured a moving map, which allowed you to follow along on the journey. I watched it as we got underway.

The British Airways Airbus 350-1000 is equipped with BA .air in flight wifi. The wifi system is set on a pay per use format. While British Airways offers free wifi in First Class, the aircraft didn’t offer that cabin in its configuration. Instead, wifi was available for purchase for between 2.99 and 11.99 GBP.

Since I was headed off on holiday, I didn’t need to partake in the wifi.

The First Service: “Dinner”

The meal service started almost immediately after we had reached cruising altitude and were comfortably on our way from London. We were presented with a towel service; a nice way to start any inflight service.

I was offered a drink to start, and selected the Tanqueray Gin and Tonic in true British style. This was presented at about sixty five minutes into the flight with Socca Nut Mix in a sealed package. The mix consisted of a tasty combination of whole cashews, giant corn, almonds, chick peas coated with gram flour and parsley.

For the first starter, I enjoyed Mixed Greens, Cherry Tomatoes, Olives, Feta Cheese, Chimuchurri. This was paired with British Roast Beef, sun dried tomatoes, grilled corner, béarnaise sauce. This was paired with Yealands Land Made Pinot Noir 2021, Marlborough New Zealand. All of this was tasty and a great start to an in flight meal.

For the main course, I enjoyed the traditionally – british Braised Welsh Leg of Lamb, Potato au gratin, minted peas, green beans, thyme jus.

I finished the dinner service with a chocolate mouse. It was light but enjoyable for airline food.

British Airways Business Class bedding:

British Airways Business Class offers a bedding suite for its suites. The bedding is a top of a fully flat bed that offers plenty of room.

After the dinner service, I made up the British Airways sleep set. As I mentioned this is a pretty basic sleeps set, with a thin mattress pad and a light blanket. With a little melatonin, I slept lightly for about five hours.

The British Airways Club Suite offers a privacy door that allows you to close the door of your Club Suite. These are typically locked for take off and landing. Unfortunately, mine happened to be stuck in the open position and I wasn’t able to get it closed. I didn’t bother following up so I ended up just going to sleep with it open.

My sleep was better than the upright lounger in my recent Icelandair Saga Business class flight to Europe. However, within the British Airways Club Suite, my knees kept bumping into the side of the walls in a very thin foot cavity well. As a result, I didn’t get a terrific sleep due to comfort reasons.

The Second Service: “Breakfast”

At about ninety minutes to landing, I ended up waking up just south of Iceland. The cabin started to get a little louder with the sounds of breakfast being served.

Landing at Vancouver International Airport:

As we approached the Vancouver international Airport, we had a pilot it down and spend that we were expecting heavy headwinds for the next 20 minutes. As a result we had a very bumpy approach.

We arrived to gate D 64, which is the usual British Airways gate at Vancouver international Airport. It’s located almost all the way out on the international concourse, and it’s quite a walk to Canada Customs and Border Services Agency.

We arrived to the welcoming totem poles. With nexus expedited border clearance, we were through customs arrival process in no time.

Overall, the new British Airways product was a vastly improved business class for crossing the Atlantic. It was a pleasant flight made more memorable by the interesting food.

The Bottom Line: British Airways Club Suite Business Class

The British Airways Club Suite Business Class is a welcome addition to the British Airways fleet. The seating density makes for a much more comfortable flight and the Club Suite offers space that actually allows you to work.

The highlights of the flight was the interesting food menu and reasonable wine list. Why you’ll never get a world-class product with British Airways, the food is fairly good along with the wines that are a touch slightly above average.

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If you’ve flown British Airways Club Suite, did you find the product much better than their legacy Club World Business Class product ?

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