Premium economy travel can be an affordable compromise between the luxury of a flat bed on board and the ever-tighter squeeze of economy class travel. So, how does British Airways‘ World Traveler Plus measure up? Especially for a traveler with vision impairment?
My wife and I booked a bucket list trip for our birthdays this year, including a 7-night cruise around the western Mediterranean and a few extra nights in Naples.
As a blind guy, I’m always a little hesitant to try a new airline, mostly because I really don’t know what to expect from them when it comes to accessibility and anything extra I might need as part of my trip. While I’ve flown British Airways once before, it was for a short hop from Heathrow to Dublin six years ago. Knowing the long-haul experience would be different left me a bit apprehensive, but the extras we’d get with them thanks to my wife’s Platinum status with American Airlines and the fact we’d only have one connection instead of two made BA the best choice for this trip.
I didn’t book our flights through British Airways directly, but was able to manage all aspects of our booking through their mobile app. The app had some minor accessibility issues, but nothing that blocked me from being able to do what I needed to from my phone. I did notice that their app leaned pretty heavily on web views, where you are sent to their website from within the app, to complete most tasks. I personally don’t mind this, but I know many blind techies that find this annoying. Through the app I had no problem selecting our seats, entering all the travel info BA needed for my wife and I, and checking in when the time came.
On our departure day my wife and I were able to walk right up to the British Airways counter at the Austin airport to check our bags and do our document check. Two free checked bags were included with our fare since we flew in their World Traveler Plus premium economy cabin.
After clearing security, we headed over to American’s Admirals Club. I’ve spent a lot of time in the Austin Admirals Club and personally don’t get the criticism of the club I’ve seen from many folks. Still, I am looking forward to experiencing the new club American will be opening as part of the west terminal expansion. That is scheduled to open next year.
Shortly before the scheduled boarding time we left the Admirals Club and walked to the other end of the terminal to find the Boeing 777-200 that would be taking us to London. While we could have waited in the club longer, I prefer to preboard flights to avoid the lines and standing around that come with the boarding process and to give myself a little extra time to get settled in to my seat. I noticed and appreciated the classical music that was playing while our very full flight was boarding.
I thought the safety video British Airways is currently using was pretty clever, though I did notice in the safety video and manual safety briefings on our short-haul flights that they would say things like “buckle your seat belt like this” or “put on your life vest like this” instead of describing the actions like I’ve seen on U.S. carriers. As an accessibility specialist, I’d much rather have them describe the actions while they’re being shown visually to not just describe what’s happening for people who can’t see it, but to reinforce the instructions.
Once we were in the air, service began, and I ordered the Cajun chicken with potatoes. Dinner was served on one tray along with a beet salad, cheese and crackers, and a tart for dessert. The entire meal was good, though nothing about the chicken came close to presenting Cajun flavors.
British Airways’ in-flight entertainment system doesn’t have text-to-speech functionality which allows blind people to operate the system independently like United and a few other airlines do, but my wife said they had a wide range of content available with audio description, a separate audio track where a narrator describes what’s happening on screen during pauses in dialogue. I passed on this since I had a few audiobooks downloaded on my phone and tried to settle in to get some sleep. The pillow and blanket provided were fine but sleep just wasn’t happening for me that night.
A little bit before landing, breakfast was served in the form of a bagel with egg and cheese. The whole thing was really bland, but I didn’t have high expectations for a pre-arrival snack.
Despite pushing back late in Austin, we landed at Heathrow on time. We were a little confused about how to connect at Heathrow since it was our first time, but the staff there were very helpful. We took the train to the A gates in terminal 5, cleared security in no time, and made our way to BA’s business class lounge, which we had access to with my wife’s status, to wait for our onward flight to Naples. While the lounge was pretty crowded and it took us a little while to find seats, it was a comfortable place to wait out the majority of our six hour layover.
Once our gate was announced, we made our way over to board the a320 NEO for our flight to Naples. We pre-boarded and took our seats just behind the business class cabin.
This BA A320neo had both power outlets and USB ports at our seats, so we plugged in our phones and settled in for the three-hour flight to Naples. I did think it was pretty neat that the pilot made an announcement that it was a rare day of clear skies over the Alps in case people wanted to take a look out the windows.
We arrived at a hardstand in Naples and, walking off the plane, were directed by the flight attendants to exit to the right where a lift vehicle for passengers with disabilities was waiting to drive us to the terminal. The special assistance staff at the Naples airport helped us clear customs, claim our bags, then helped us get a cab to our hotel. As tired as we both were, the extra help was very much appreciated.
After our cruise and extra time in Naples, it was time to head back home on a similar itinerary. Our return flight from Heathrow to Austin was on the later second daily flight that started the day after we left on our trip, which helped us avoid an early start to our long trek home.
When we arrived at the Naples airport, we were able to check our bags quickly and made our way over to security. We had a little confusion with the boarding pass self-scan gates at the checkpoint, but the staff there helped us out with it.
After clearing security, we made our way to the shared business class lounge and grabbed a couple drinks and snacks to pass the time. When our gate was announced, we made our way through passport control and to our gate to catch a bus out to the hard stand. The gate agents initially wanted us to wait for a lift vehicle to the plane like when we arrived in Naples, but we assured them I was fine to climb the stairs into the A320 waiting to take us back to London.
The A320ceo taking us back was showing its age a little, though the seats were comfortable. Outside of the USB power for my seat not working, the three-hour flight back to London was fine. I was kind of amused by the flight attendant who found out we were from Austin who told us he loved working Austin flights so he could try all the great food options we have. He specifically mentioned The Salt Lick, a barbecue place that has a location within the Austin airport.
We arrived in London early, so we wound up parking at a hard stand and were bussed over to the terminal. We cleared security quickly, even with the slight detour when we were directed to take an elevator instead of using the escalators. I noticed multiple times at Heathrow that staff there would try to redirect us to elevators when they’d see me with my white cane, even though I’m perfectly capable of managing an escalator safely by using my white cane to feel for the start and end of the moving steps.
Once we cleared security we made our way to the business class lounge. When we checked in, the agent told us our flight to Austin would be leaving from the B gates and that there was a lounge over there we could wait at instead. We headed over to that lounge where I had a South African stew with rice that was really good.
Just before boarding, we made our way to the gate and pre-boarded the 787-8 that would be taking us to Austin. While I’m told the seat pitch between the 777-200 and 787-8 in premium economy is the same, the Dreamliner felt like it had significantly more leg room than the 777-200.
Our flight pushed back on time, and I ordered the lamb and mint pie for our meal when it was time for service. I thought the pie was tasty, though I was somewhat disappointed that the crust was soggy. After dinner, I cued up a few movies I had downloaded on my phone and listened to those to pass the time.
And I was fortunate to have those movies available. While the outbound flight offered inflight internet, albeit for pay, the 787-8 did not have the system installed. I did not bother to try on the shorter flights between Naples and London.
We arrived in Austin about a half hour early, pulled into our gate, and made our way to customs. Our luggage took a long time to come out on the carousel, but we were able to clear customs within 5 minutes of our last bag coming out, even without Global Entry, and were at the arrivals curb waiting on our ride home 45 minutes after pulling into our gate.
All in all, our trip across the pond on British Airways was a great experience. The friendly and accommodating crews, great flights, and the convenience of a single connection from our home airport in Austin made the whole experience worthwhile and one I wouldn’t hesitate to do again.
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