British Airways MIA to LHR (BA208) [B777-200] in Club Suite

Flight: Miami to London Heathrow 

Airline: British Airways

Flight Number: BA208

Plane: Boeing 777-200ER

Plane Reg: G-YMMO

Cabin: Club Suite/Club World

Seat: 2A

This Flight

This is one of two flights from Miami to London Heathrow, currently operated by British Airways.

There is a 18:35 and a 21:35. Today, the 18:35 was operated by the A380 and the 21:35 operated by a Boeing 777-200ER.

I chose the later 21:35 which lands at 11:00 in London. This by far beats landing in London at 08:00!

The flight is operated with the new Club Suite aircraft, as BA slowly refurbish their fleet away from ‘old Club World’.

This flight departed from E-Gates, E24 to be specific – but E Gates are linked to Terminal D and D-Gates, which is American Airlines’ terminal at Miami.

This flight was extremely quick due to tail winds, at some 7:36. A good reason why I am not a fan of flying from the East Coast – no time to sleep!

Checking In

I was very early for this flight, getting to the airport at around 4:30pm!

The BA Check In was at Terminal D, next to the American Airlines check in desks. Despite being early enough to have got the 18:35 – I was swiftly checked in to the 21:35 flight.

In some ways, this was slightly high risk, as sometimes airlines who are non-resident can close their desks; I found this in San Jose, where I had to wait for the desks to re-open. This time, the gamble worked – but whether the desks would have stayed open once check in for the 18:35 had closed, I don’t know!

One thing that was impressive about this experience was that they remembered to put my TSA Pre-Check on the ticket! Often this is one of the things that I have to ask for and/or gets forgotten!

I then headed to Security – I was advised to go to D30 Security because that is where the Flagship Lounge was located.

One small thing about this airport which could be improved; is that the person who checked my ticket at D30 was quick to tell me to keep walking to E-Gates – rather than acknowledge that I could enter at D30 for lounge access. A minor thing, but it means walking back once going through E Gates – it’s a bit of a walk back to D30!

The Lounge

In theory, BA’s usual lounge is the Premium Lounge, which is located at Terminal E. However this was closed, and therefore passengers were invited to use American Airlines’ Flagship Lounge.

Anyone traveling Business Class on British Airways (or who has status) can use any of the Admirals Clubs or Flagship Lounges too.

There is also a Centurion Lounge located at Gate D15.

My preference is the Flagship Lounge, which you can find my review of here.    

The Plane

This was BA’s Boeing 777-200ER, G-YMMO, which is a big workhorse for BA.

Sadly, I didn’t manage to get a picture of the plane because it was dark.  

The configuration is now 32 x Club Suite, 48 x World Traveler Plus and 252 x World Traveler – there is no First!

Boarding

Unfortunately, boarding for the 21:35 flight was very delayed.

It was apparent that very large volumes of passengers had not completed their Passenger Locator Forms, as required by the UK Government for entry.

There also seemed to be very large numbers of document checks required for passengers.

Quite why this happened I don’t know, was when checking in, the BA agent checked my VeriFly App – but I can only presume this may have been due to connections, where paperwork wasn’t checked quite so properly!

Eventually boarding happened at 21:30, which meant we didn’t push back until around 22:45. Despite this, the Cabin Crew told me they had still left people behind who didn’t have the correct paperwork in order.

The Seat

This is BA’s Club Suite, which I have covered in my flights to Dubai and Male. Nothing had changed!

There is however one thing I did discover; that in the depths of the Entertainment menu there are detailed instructions of the Club Suite! So I did actually find something new on the entertainment system!

Amenities Kit

As on the way out to Miami, I was provided with the ‘standard’ BA Washbag which hasn’t changed for years!

The contents is:

• Eye Mask
• Socks
• Un-branded Pen
• Tooth Brush & Toothpaste
• Earplugs
• Hand Cream
• Lavender Spray

Food and Drink

As I will detail below, the Cabin Crew on this flight were very good.

Drinks

Drinks were offered pre-takeoff with choices of either water or champagne. No refills offered – but the Cabin Crew were clearly keen to get moving as were already an hour late!

I was asked what I wanted to drink, and I asked for a Brewdog Jetstream, as usual. To my surprise, I was told that the flight had ran out (I was in seat 2A, and this was 15 minutes after takeoff), so I took a Heineken! Unfortunately, this was warm – really not a great start.  

To be this short of drinks so early into the flight, in my view, is wholly unacceptable. To be serving warm beer in Business Class (or any class!) isn’t ideal either!

Dinner

Dinner for this flight was one-tray service, with a choice of;

• Short rib of beef (with potatoes, pearl onions, French beans, etc)
• Seared fillet of salmon (with gremolata butter, tagliatelle, broccolini and carrots)
• Paneer korma (with masala rice and naan bread

To start was sweet potato flan, which was actually quite nice!

For desert, a ‘cheese board’ and raspberry cheesecake.

I fancied something different, so I ordered the paneer korma, however I was extremely disappointed to find a single piece of paneer in it! Very poor indeed!

Then I slept!

Breakfast

Breakfast was served around 60 minutes before landing. Choices were egg, ham and vegetable breakfast wrap – or leek and parmesan bistro pastry. These were accompanied with a granola bar and Greek yoghurt.  

I don’t really do breakfast, so I asked for the bistro pastry with a Coke Zero.

I was told that the flight had ran out of Coke Zero, and could I accept Diet. I agreed. I was then told that the flight had ran out of Diet – and all that was left was ‘full fat’ Coke. 

Whatever I was actually served, I don’t think was anything that was actually on the menu! It looked more like a croissant with cheese and chorizo in it.

As you can perhaps tell from my tone – I was far from impressed with the catering on this flight!   

Entertainment

As I’ve said on my trip on the way over to Miami, the entertainment doesn’t appear to have changed since November 2021 (four months ago). Though I did discover one new thing – the seat instructions!

The screen is a very good size, it’s easy to use, the flight map is really good!

However – with just a 7:36 overnight flight, I was keen to sleep!

Wifi

I didn’t use the Wifi on the flight as I decided to sleep.

Cabin Crew

The Cabin on this flight were absolutely excellent!

There is no doubt about the fact that they were clearly very experienced, and were well aware of the short flight and did all they could to maximise sleep for all the passengers!

To say this Cabin Crew were ‘on it’ would be an understatement!

No sooner was the plane airborne and they were charging down the aisles unlocking and closing the Club Suite doors.

They made sure to take both Drinks and Dinner orders at once (it’s my usual rant that this rarely happens!).

Dinner was served like a pro team – you could tell there was some great teamwork going on!

I was addressed as Mr Scrivener throughout – it was apparent the guy serving me had memorised my name! I was even given the “welcome back, thanks for being a Gold Member” speech!

Breakfast was also served super quickly, and very quickly before we landed.

So, hats off to the Cabin Crew for this trip! I’ve been on plenty of short flights over the Atlantic where everything has taken ages and my sleep hugely inhibited – but they were clearly very conscious of maximizing sleep on this flight!

Landing in Heathrow

Once we had landed in Heathrow, we seemed to wait next to the gate for around 10 minutes because the ‘guidance lights’ had not been switched on.

Once these were switched on, we parked up and were quickly disembarked.

Unfortunately, as I’ve complained of numerous times – despite having ‘priority luggage’, my luggage came out pretty much last! I waited about 40 minutes for my luggage! This is starting to get very annoying!

Conclusion

Whilst the Cabin Crew were absolutely excellent, there are several elements I am getting fed up with.

I am getting fed up with the one-tray service, I am getting fed up with the poor quality of food, I am getting fed up with the continuous running out of basic drinks.

I am equally getting fed up with the lack of refreshing of the content on the Entertainment system.

I am also getting fed up with having to wait for ever and a day to get my luggage.

So, I am voting with my feet (well my Boarding Pass!) – I’m going to be flying Qatar and American for my next few trips, until BA sort themselves out! It’s sad, and I wish BA would sort themselves out, but 8 flights later – enough is enough!

Score

93 out of 108, which is 86% – and surprisingly high!

The Lounge, Seat and Cabin Crew. I’ve substantially marked down the food and entertainment!