(This is a guest post from our reader @口恩口亨, documenting his recent journey on BA169 to Shanghai.)

The story itself isn’t complicated, but it’s very hard to replicate. A seemingly ordinary award ticket, thanks to a last-minute aircraft swap close to departure, unexpectedly turned what was supposed to be a straightforward “business class flight” into an experience in BA First.

This isn’t a conventional first-class review. It’s more like a record of an experience that was pushed forward by sheer luck. Everything below is told in the author’s own first-person voice.

If I hadn’t gone back later to review this trip, I probably wouldn’t have realised that it was actually the result of a chain of coincidences stacking up one after another.

This flight was originally just a Christmas holiday trip back home to visit family. I booked a round-trip ticket from London using Avios. I wasn’t deliberately chasing a specific aircraft type, nor did I have any extra expectations about the cabin. Right up until I actually boarded the plane, it never crossed my mind that I’d have anything to do with BA’s first class.

1. The Background: An “As Long As It Works” Award Ticket

In recent years, my trips back home have usually been in December. Because of the way BA releases award seats, I have to grab tickets every January. Last year, however, PKX was cancelled, and one of the two HKG flights was cut as well. That left only BA169 (PVG) and BA31 (HKG) as options. During the Christmas peak, these tickets are extremely hard to secure.

Unfortunately, I didn’t manage to get anything in January. On top of that, because of my travel plans in the first half of the year, my 2-for-1 voucher had already been used elsewhere. As a result, this year’s trip home was left hanging in uncertainty for quite a while.

Fast forward to this summer. Over the past six months, BA has been continuously adjusting its booking system, and award availability has been all over the place, leaving very few seats across many routes. On July 22, I suddenly received multiple alerts for BA award availability over the next year. I immediately sensed that the system was probably bugging out.

At the time, I was in a car returning from Amboseli to Nairobi, Kenya’s capital. In a rush, I managed to book an open-jaw itinerary: BA169 outbound and BA32 inbound. In hindsight, it seems that award inventory across almost all routes had glitched and a large number of award seats were released at once.

My mindset at the time was simple:

If I could get a ticket during the holiday period, that alone was a success. Everything else was just a bonus.

For a long time afterward, I felt nothing but lucky to have secured this trip home.

2. The Original Plan: A Perfectly “Normal” 777-200ER

According to the original schedule, starting from the NW25 season, BA169 was to be operated by a 777-200ER, replacing the 787-9 that had flown the route for many years. Over the past two years, BA’s 772 fleet has gradually completed cabin refurbishments, with all aircraft upgraded to Club Suite. This also marked the end of the route’s long-standing four-class configuration, switching instead to a three-class layout.

At least on paper, it seemed like a perfectly reasonable adjustment.

I had already selected seats 1A and 2A. Based on my observations, the flight registrations had consistently shown aircraft from the G-YMM? series, with no unusual signs at all.

3. Five Days Before Departure: Unease Triggered by an Aircraft Change Alert

The real change came five days before departure.

That day, I received an aircraft change notification from the travel app 航旅纵横, showing the operating aircraft as G-STBI. At first glance, this registration looked unfamiliar and didn’t match any of the 772s I had been tracking.

Out of habit, I immediately logged into BA’s website to double-check, only to discover that the aircraft type had quietly changed to a 777-300ER (77W).

All of BA’s 77Ws currently feature the upgraded four-class configuration.

In that moment, it felt like suddenly realizing that something was “a bit off.”

The system had already automatically reassigned our seats to 7A and 8A. But on the seat map, the spacing in the first and second rows was clearly much larger – and those seats were still open for selection. I barely hesitated before switching back to the front row, 1A and 2A.

(Editor’s note: the old First seats and the new business class seats look very similar, and if you’re not paying attention, it’s genuinely hard to tell. I’ve run into this myself before.)

Later, I also asked a BA friend to help check from the backend. This was indeed a last-minute aircraft swap. The system still listed the service class as Club World, which meant I would be sitting in a First Class seat, but receiving business class catering, drinks, and service procedures.

(Editor’s note: this situation isn’t uncommon with British Airways and has been anecdotally referred to as FLUB.)

4. Departure Day: The Pre-Holiday First Wing

On the day of departure, London and Heathrow were fully in Christmas mode.

Entering the terminal via the First Wing in Zone A with Emerald status, the check-in and security queues weren’t any shorter than in Zone B, stretching all the way to the entrance. The lounge had already switched to festive decorations. The lighting and setup were very seasonal, but not overdone.

After breakfast, I found a small table to sit at. On the table was a QR code for ordering food and drinks. Orders were placed through a webpage, and the lounge screens continuously scrolled order numbers.

The gate was A10b, a remote stand requiring a bus transfer. The chaotic boarding process, completely ignoring group order, isn’t worth elaborating on.

5. The First Cabin: Space Is the Biggest Difference

Once onboard and stepping into the cabin, the first impression was immediate and unmistakable: the sense of space was on a completely different level.

This First cabin on the refurbished 77W, introduced starting in 2020, still has plenty of presence even today. The huge screen, wider seat, more generous storage space, and double privacy doors together put it clearly one tier above Club Suite in terms of hardware.

The seat controls are relatively traditional: you first select a function, then fine-tune it with a dial. Multiple lighting zones can also be controlled.

That said, the issues were obvious too. This aircraft had received its new seats only in June 2024, yet during climb, the storage compartments and side tables were already noticeably loose.

The onboard amenities were, as usual, the Club World version from The White Company.

As for Wi-Fi, I initially held out some hope. BA offers free Wi-Fi in First, and promotional banner for this service was visible during take-off and landing. However, once at cruising altitude, it became clear that because this flight was only operating with Club World service, the free First Wi-Fi had been hidden. Only free RCS messaging for members was available.

For roughly the first third of the flight, the connection was excellent, enough for streaming live video without any issues. In the latter half, though, the network quality deteriorated noticeably.

That said, according to BA’s latest announcements, Starlink will be gradually installed across the fleet starting next year, with free Wi-Fi provided.

Turndown service by the cabin crew, and the double doors fully closed.

6. Dining: Incomplete, but with Highlights

The route that day was London to Shanghai. Since service standards followed business class, the menu leaned heavily toward Chinese dishes, with quite a few Western elements mixed in. Personally, I didn’t find it particularly appealing.

However, the burrata was unexpectedly excellent, one of the few items from the entire meal that really stuck in my memory.

The total flight time was about 12 hours. Because this wasn’t full First service, there were no extra snacks offered in the front cabin. If you got hungry mid-flight, the only option was to head to the self-service snack area in the middle of the Club Suite cabin.

Sandwiches, salads, snacks and drinks were all available, although they were not something you’d call enjoyable.

7. Conclusion: A Stack of Unrepeatable Luck

Looking back, this trip feels more like the outcome of a series of coincidences piling up.

If you judge the seat alone, this First seat can still be considered “one of the best business class seats currently available”.

But when service, catering, and overall product completeness are factored in together, if I were paying cash, I personally wouldn’t prioritise BA’s First Class.

This experience felt more like an Easter egg in the world of frequent travellers: rare, unpredictable, but absolutely worth documenting.