With one BA upgrade voucher and one companion voucher about to expire, plus my free AA Emerald status also running out, it felt like the right time to plan a trip. After a bit of thinking, I settled on the Dominican Republic: a new country to tick off, and more importantly, somewhere warm. London’s winter this year has been anything but sunny!
Most BA Caribbean flights depart from Gatwick, which means no First Wing at LHR T5 this time. But I’d never visited the Gatwick First Lounge anyway, so that’s something new. From London Bridge it’s a quick train ride to Gatwick Airport, and you arrive directly at the South Terminal. As BA’s secondary base outside Heathrow, there’s a dedicated check‑in area for premium passengers.
There’s also a fast-track security lane available. Gatwick now uses full-bag scanning as well, so there’s no need to remove liquids or laptops. After security, it’s just a short walk to the British Airways lounge. The overall process is indeed much quicker and smoother than at Heathrow—though of course it still can’t compete with London City Airport.
As a proud oneworld Emerald, I turned left and entered the First lounge area.
The lounge mainly features an open layout and isn’t particularly large, which is understandable, since Gatwick doesn’t handle nearly as many flights. Still, it’s well equipped, with a variety of seating styles to suit different needs.
There’s also a small semi-private room.
The dining area is set in a separate section inside the lounge, ideal if you want to sit down for a proper meal.
After the pandemic, BA’s Club lounges scrapped their à la carte dining and reverted to a buffet model, and frankly the food seems to have gotten progressively worse. The First lounge, however, still offers a hybrid of buffet and à la carte service. During the lunch period, the buffet included items such as Vietnamese curry, spring rolls, and shepherd’s pie.
The à la carte menu looked like this:
Perfectly acceptable, I suppose. By the way, champagne in the First lounge is self-serve and unlimited, whereas in the business-class (Galleries Club) lounge you have to ask staff for it.
Gatwick’s third-party lounges are actually quite decent too. In the South Terminal, I’d recommend My Lounge, and in the North Terminal, Plaza Premium. If you have an unaltered Priority Pass, you can lso redeem it at restaurants like Pizza Express and BrewDog.
Anyway, back to the main story – it was time to board. For the outbound flight, I used a Barclaycard upgrade voucher to book Premium Economy, which BA calls World Traveller Plus, for 33,000 Avios + £200 per person. Later I noticed business-class award seats had opened up, but when I saw they were the classic Club World seats, I decided to save the money. The flight was about nine hours, but since it was a daytime flight, Premium Economy seemed perfectly tolerable.
The last time I flew BA Premium Economy was more than ten years ago, and I remember it being quite shabby – an old product. So this was almost like reviewing a “new” experience. Like most wide-body aircraft, their Boeing 772 Premium Economy is arranged in a 2-4-2 configuration, noticeably roomier than Economy’s 3-4-3 layout. Incidentally, BA’s Club World seats are also 2-4-2!
Unsurprisingly, the two-seat pairs by the windows are the most sought-after. When I booked about a month in advance, most seats were already taken and I just managed to grab the last pair of double seats.
Both the seat width and pitch are clearly improved compared with Economy (World Traveller), though the lumbar area feels oddly unsupported, which can be uncomfortable. A cushion is provided to help with that.
The tray table pulls out from the armrest rather than being attached to the seat in front, which is nice because it isn’t affected when the person ahead reclines. A power socket is located between the seats below.
Of course, Premium Economy doesn’t recline fully flat. The maximum recline angle is roughly 120 degrees. There are also footrests and leg supports, but honestly they’re more of a nuisance if you’re tall.
And once again, the eternal question arises: should people recline their seats on a plane? What do you think? If you’ve already paid for Premium Economy, it’s hard not to recline. The two passengers in front of me almost got into an argument – apparently the person ahead kept shifting their seat back and forth.
Passengers are given over-ear headphones and a basic amenity kit.
The entertainment system is probably the biggest upgrade compared with Economy: the screen is about the size of a regular tablet, making it much easier on the eyes.
However, this particular aircraft might not have been updated in a while. The movie selection was painfully limited, with almost no new releases.
As for the catering: after boarding, the crew served sparkling wine, juice, and a hot towel, the same treatment as in business class.
And the main course in the meal service is identical to the one in business class (but fewer options):
Both the beef and the chicken tasted quite good.
Snacks were available for self-service during the flight.
About an hour and a half before landing, a second light meal was served: either a pork sausage roll or a cheese and onion pie.
So that concludes the review. What do you think of BA’s World Traveller Plus?
Personally, I find Premium Economy a somewhat awkward product. No matter how “premium” it tries to be, it’s still fundamentally Economy class, and the comfort improvement is limited. In fact, when Economy cabins are lightly loaded, they can sometimes be better – you can raise the armrests and turn an entire row into a makeshift bed, almost rivalling business class.
For me, the most suitable scenario for Premium Economy is probably daytime flights of five to nine hours, when you don’t really need to sleep but would like a bit more comfort than Economy.
Recent Comments