Experiences with flights BA16 and BA15

[DeltaBega]

Has anyone this year flown Sydney to London return business class on BA 16 and BA 15? If so, how satisfied or dissatisfied were you and could you rate the seats, service and practicality of the flights? (I'm a senior flyer, Oneworld Sapphire.)

 

[Mikeact1]

Has anyone this year flown Sydney to London return business class on BA 16 and BA 15? If so, how satisfied or dissatisfied were you and could you rate the seats, service and practicality of the flights? (I'm a senior flyer, Oneworld Sapphire.)

What Class? Front or Back ?

 

[DeltaBega]

What Class? Front or Back ?

Business class.

 

[Duncansaffron]

Yes I have done that route a few times between Singapore and Sydney. The route from London has a layover in Singapore. They use older 787s normally. In Club it’s the old love seat config. The seats are ok but the equipment is old. Service in Club is fine but nothing to rave about. In Premium Eco the seats are good. Try getting the bulkhead so that you can stretch your legs or prop them on your hand luggage if needed. In Eco, the seats are very tired. The service is average at best with very little attention to cleaning the lavatories regularly over such a long haul flight

 

[kelvedon]

BA uses the 777 between (I think) October and March switching to the 787 for the rest of the year.
The 777 has the new club suite 1-2-1 with sliding doors, the 797/900 used in our winter is the old ying Yang club arrangement

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Here’s a review from last year on pointhacks: Review: British Airways Club Suites (SIN-SYD) - Point Hacks

reverse herringbone seat are great. I also don't mind the old configuration, as a sapphire if you choose a bulkhead there's direct aisle access. The ying Yang seats are very comfortable.

I like the food and service in BA.

 

[markis10]

If I could rank all the airlines flying SIN SYD I would put BA a long way last, poor service and when things go wrong they walk away. I have not flown Ba for ten years and even then that’s too recent. Take online reviews with a grain of salt at most blog sites.

 

[anat0l]

Here’s a review from last year on pointhacks: Review: British Airways Club Suites (SIN-SYD) - Point Hacks

reverse herringbone seat are great. I also don't mind the old configuration, as a sapphire if you choose a bulkhead there's direct aisle access. The ying Yang seats are very comfortable.

I like the food and service in BA.

I flew BA15 SIN-SYD about three months prior to this review. Had to laugh that the menu is exactly the same, except for a couple of items: the scallop entree dish was instead a chicken salad plate for me (which was tasteless) and the beef filet was instead braised beef shortribs (probably a safer option than the filet). Will say that the couscous, cranberry and radish salad was weird.

I got the new Club seats as shown in the review. Couldn't work out how to work the door but had I done so I'm sure it would be fine; all said, though, doors aren't a must for me. But the seat itself is fine - pretty much like every other reverse herringbone seat.

The crew were fine on my flight and rather courteous, though I was a bit annoyed that I asked to be woken for breakfast and no one woke me up; when I was awake near the end of breakfast, crew just walked past without even bothering to offer me anything, so I had no breakfast. My fault in the end, but not a big loss, as I had a domestic connection.

The thing about any flights from Singapore to Australia is that they are not long, so depending on your preferences and timing, you may want to make it all about just sleeping rather than getting the full flight experience, so to speak. Hence, even if you got the older Club World ying-yang seats (not likely), if you sleep through pretty much the entire flight, you haven't really lost out by much, as long as you get a seat that doesn't require someone to step over you.

I always find BA food is fine - won't light the world on fire, but not terrible, as the menu in the review shows exactly, provided of course that the caterers didn't bomb out on the preparations. One thing to keep in mind that Club passengers have access to the BA Arrivals Lounge in LHR if you are coming off BA16, which means you can forgo breakfast on board for a bit more kip (as long as you have time to spare after clearing customs).

Do you have other options, or are considering other options?

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Sometimes to, as they say, a change is as good as a holiday.

I really enjoyed flights last year on Lufthansa, Swiss and BA partly necause they *weren’t* Singapore, Cathay, Thai, EK etc. It was something different!

 

[drron]

Last year we flew BA 16 in J. One was the 777, the other the 787. Both had the new J suites Which I think are better than their old F seats which we flew back in to SYD as it is overnight from SIN.
Only ever had 1 bad FA and a couple of really good FAs. Food is exactly as @anat0l describes. Good comfort food.

 

[DeltaBega]

Yes I have done that route a few times between Singapore and Sydney. The route from London has a layover in Singapore. They use older 787s normally. In Club it’s the old love seat config. The seats are ok but the equipment is old. Service in Club is fine but nothing to rave about. In Premium Eco the seats are good. Try getting the bulkhead so that you can stretch your legs or prop them on your hand luggage if needed. In Eco, the seats are very tired. The service is average at best with very little attention to cleaning the lavatories regularly over such a long haul flight

Thank you so much for that. Doesn't seem that exciting. I've heard similar comments and yours confirms my thoughts. Thank you for your insight. It was helpful.

 

[DeltaBega]

If I could rank all the airlines flying SIN SYD I would put BA a long way last, poor service and when things go wrong they walk away. I have not flown Ba for ten years and even then that’s too recent. Take online reviews with a grain of salt at most blog sites.

That's why I haven't flown with them for so long. I thought they may have improved. Thanks for your input.

 

[Pvcmenace]

Flew BA15 on 10th March. New seats on the 777 were comfortable enough, crew and food were nice enough. Only problem being with over 70 seats in the cabin dinner service dragged on for nearly 90 minutes from beginning till end. So if the water you ordered with your meal did not get delivered not much chance of a timely arrival any time during service. As each meal was brought out individually….. Then 3 and a bit hours later rinse and repeat with breakfast. With all the traffic in the aisles good luck getting any solid sleep.

 

[DeltaBega]

Flew BA15 on 10th March. New seats on the 777 were comfortable enough, crew and food were nice enough. Only problem being with over 70 seats in the cabin dinner service dragged on for nearly 90 minutes from beginning till end. So if the water you ordered with your meal did not get delivered not much chance of a timely arrival any time during service. As each meal was brought out individually….. Then 3 and a bit hours later rinse and repeat with breakfast. With all the traffic in the aisles good luck getting any solid sleep.

Thanks - it's good information. I bought a couple of Qatar seats instead.

 

[mt4789]

I do think the flight times are poor (as per Qantas). In my opinion Qatar, Emirates and Singapore have much better times, arriving in both directions in the afternoon.

Love the service and the food. Club Suites all year round and a good price might tip the balance and lure me back for a ride.

 

[DeltaBega]

I do think the flight times are poor (as per Qantas). In my opinion Qatar, Emirates and Singapore have much better times, arriving in both directions in the afternoon.

Love the service and the food. Club Suites all year round and a good price might tip the balance and lure me back for a ride.

Thanks. I ended up booking with Qatar. Flights in Doha connect well and flights in both directions arrive at sociable times.