On recent travels we’ve experienced early morning flights requiring expensive overnight stays, lengthy connections in Istanbul with Turkish Airlines, and lost luggage with TAP. A British Airways direct flight to Accra, leaving at a civilised 1.30pm, sounded perfect and allowed us to use our 60+ Oyster card for free travel to Heathrow.
Even when travelling Club World, BA charge up to £70 to select seats more than 24 hours in advance, so we waited until online check-in opened, and found we’d been allocated decent seats: the configuration was one-two-one, and we were in the middle of the cabin in 5E and 5F.
Check-in had a single queue for all flights and although it moved relatively quickly, it still took 15 minutes. However, as security was quiet, we were soon ensconced in the extremely busy BA lounge with glasses of prosecco. Breakfast was initially offered, but at 11.15am switched to lunch, and we enjoyed light, but tasty nibbles. As the gate was reached by shuttle train, we were advised to allow 15 to 20 minutes, and arrived as boarding commenced.
Club World was only half full, and we were served a pre-take-off glass of champagne whilst checking out the menu. Following a G&T aperitif, I chose a golden beetroot and goat’s cheese salad followed by handmade mascarpone mezzaluna pasta, whilst my husband opted for gin cured Hampshire trout and a fillet of British beef, served with a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. We both finished with cheese and reserve ruby port whilst watching Barbie, a film we’d missed at the cinema. The flat beds were comfortable, with a White Company blanket, whilst the amenity bag was stocked with the usual products. Although a snack was served before landing, we were still full, but enjoyed a drink and crisps from the from a help-yourself snack bar. Although we’d taken off 15 minutes late, the time was made up, and we arrived 30 minutes early at 7.30pm: with no time difference between the UK and Ghana, it was the pleasurable, straightforward experience we hoped for.
The 10.50pm return flight was not so convenient and we picked the lighter dishes from the menu before watching Oppenheimer, another film we’d missed. We then bedded down for the remaining few hours opting not to be woken for breakfast. After a flight time of only six hours, we arrived 40 minutes early which was somewhat overshadowed by waiting 90 minutes for our priority marked bags to appear last after all the other luggage. A complaint to BA elicited the standard platitude that ‘we are working on a new process where priority bags will go into dedicated containers in the hold, meaning they can be taken off the aircraft first . . . ‘
