Review: British Airways 777 | First Class | Newark to London 

If the BA agent had been truthful, you might have been able to reschedule your flight to a plane with the anticipated refit, and then you might have given BA a glowing review. It was especially a betrayal because this was to be a special treat for which you had scrimped and saved. If you had knowingly booked on a plane with the dated setup it wouldn't have been such a disappointment. That agent should be demoted to baggage handler.

* UPDATE - Jan 10, 2023: After more back and forth - unfortunately they wrote back and stated they will no longer correspond to my messages and emails. I am now taking the case to the CEDR (Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution) and also working with my credit card company to refund. Does not look like I'll be getting a refund on the cash I paid for the trip, even though they acknowledged and confessed their error and refunded me 90% of my points. Very disappointing and will definitely impact my decision to fly with them again in the future. * UPDATE - Dec 22, 2022: After some back/forth, BA has informed me that they can no longer correspond to my claim. I did get 88% of my points back, but they are not able to refund any of the cash I paid for the booking (even though they admitted they misled me into taking their inferior product). Unfortunately I can't trust BA after this experience, and will have a very hard time booking with them again in the future. Very unfortunate situation and as someone who runs a business myself, just a very horrible way to treat customers. * UPDATE - Dec 13, 2022: After several posts on BA's RU-vid, Facebook and Twitter pages (thank you to the viewers who recommended that path!), I finally received a response from customer relations! They gave me 88% of the points I used back, which was a good start - but they are refusing to give me a cash refund because I travelled on the flight. I countered by saying I would not have taken the flight had they told me it would be in their inferior/older first class product, but since they lied to me I didn't have the opportunity to ask for the refund when they called to change my flight. Stay tuned! * UPDATE - Dec 9, 2022: Posted my complaint now on BA's Facebook, Twitter, and RU-vid pages. Also tried calling but waited too long on hold. I have not been able to reach anyone yet. I'll do another round of calls and social media posts next week to see if I'm lucky and can get a response from #BritishAirways. * UPDATE - Dec 3, 2022: Filed the complaint on Nov 19th, but not a single word from #BritishAirways.

Very good video, subbing for more. Appreciate your honesty and I agree with you on it not being right at all to be bumped and lied to!

Great review! Subbed!

Was waiting for this. I was the guy behind you in 1K. Good video!

I know you used points and they changed your departure airport and a slight downgrade on the seat, But I will say many flyers critique the airline regarding the food and other little things way to much. To me this was a great flight overall. BA communicated with you, same departure date just different airport, clean air craft, good and service, on time and the most important they got you there SAFE, With so many flights each airline run into each day I feel BA did a great job here. Just my feedback here. I just flew BA 2 weeks ago and they did a great job even with some of the delays we encountered. Thanks for your review,

I think your review extremely fair. I definitely would follow up and request an upgrade to new first class next time. Switching your flight wasn’t great but these things happen however the agent did not tell the truth. Hope you can get that first class from BA.

Sorry man. Btw, I just booked a BA First class from LHR to LAX but looks like its the old cabin. Its got 14 first class seats. Tbh, door is not a big issue for me, apart from that, are there any other big differences? Also does BA ever change equipment from the old cabin to new cabin :P

Ufff that’s tough my friend. Anything not the UA terminal at EWR is awful lol. Very unfortunate but I may even argue that BA’s Club Suites are better than their new F product. Glad the FA’s made up for the issues you had. Love the reports. I do need to at some point review BA F for my channel so hope for be able to do it leaving LHR if at all possible to get the most out of the experience.

I guarantee you, BA's response was "you got the most recent F seat, it just didn't have doors, and we don't guarantee any specific seat, we don't even guarantee you a seat - as you found out!". No idea why BA couldn't have bumped you to an earlier or later JFK flight. They have 5 flights a day to and from JFK.

This was a kind of a average experience - terrible hard product and promises, but great crew and decent food. Would you fly this again? Just curios how much did you pay?

Bumped? In First?? Wow! Was this due to late online check in? Let’s hope they get back to you soon with a gesture of goodwill, it’s in their interest as much as it is in yours. Your videos are fun and informative🙏🏻 Fly safe 🥂

Thank you so much for your honest review . BA nowadays is NOT GOOD.

That’s standard BA first class only a few 777-300ER have the new first with the doors ….you flew on a refurbished 777 200 but it’s the same seat, Cabin Reduced from 14 to 8 pax and the seat has been refreshed

sounds like a club world review, not a first class review. Totally agree with your opinion. While this can come off as snotty to the average viewer, it makes more sense when you realize these things retail for about 16k usd or more (without miles) which, for flights that usually are in the 6-8 hr. range, is kinda setting the bar high! so with that in mind, I do agree with you opinion, and its quite scummy for BA to bump you to EWR. Hope your hotel was at least remotely close to the area, so you wouldn't have to deal with traffic.

That’s a pain in the ass. Do you have an Oris big crown pointer date watch on in this video?

When flying long haul with BA always go for a350’s! business class on there is awesome!

United has been criticized for being slow with Polaris retrofits. How is BA not getting this kind of criticism for being slow with their 777 and 787 retrofits?

Point flyers are having increased risk of being bumped out on any airline, also BA 777 flying to EWR are the oldest in the fleet. Please put date of the flight, seat # and airplane tail # to description of the video next time

Not great buddy, such a shame. What I did notice was how close you were to the person in the next aisle, not a lot of privacy given that this was first class.

Did they at least offer you your points and money back?

Any response from BA yet?

the tray table doesn't move... until 4.23 when you clearly see the tray table move. Lie number 3?

The F product you flew would have been the same as the one you were originally going to fly, the only difference is the door. The seat, the TV, etc, would have been the same.

I can't say I'm surprised to hear these criticisms, BA have gone downhill so much over the last 10-15 years. As a Brit it pains me to say it but I'll never use them again unless I have absolutely no other option.

I have flown BA first LHR-ATL on the 777-200ER & the 787-9. Both were okay, but underwhelming. I only flew first to avoid the lousy older business class on both planes. Nobody lied to me, but each experience was under whelming. In comparison, business class on Cathay Pacific on several flights to & from HKG were great and ATL-DOH-SIN on Qatar was superb. In fact, American DFW-LHR in business was still better than BA first! Considering BA's huge "fuel surcharges" on award tickets. I won't make that mistake again.

At 2:35 you say the table doesn't slide - yet at 4:22 you can clearly see the attendant doing just that!

A few years back I upgraded to First class on B.A. it was this old product and I thought like you, the F.A.’s were great, food very good but not exceptional and certainly not worth the extra I usually paid in Business on my regular long haul. I understand their new product is much improved. Being bumped on to another flight is not what you expect when paying a premium. I’m currently using Air France Business and so far couldn’t be more pleased and they even give me a better price! Bye bye B.A. at least for now.

That sucks, I hope they give u something back but won't hold my breath that they will. Please post if they do and what u said to them, Good Luck

Absolutely you should not be entitled to any further refund, you already received 90% of your mileage back. You also received the full First Class product and service, albeit not the newer version but it is still First Class nonetheless. You were not downgraded on the flight. I think the 90% refund on your mileage is more than fair, to request a refund on the cash element is outrageous and greedy. CEDR will see the argument of both sides and your chances of getting your cash refund is next to zero. Good luck with that. British Airways will simply not give you a free ride across the pond in First Class.

Wow, that's brutal! I too have been very uninspired with BA. If you used Avios points I'm sure that you were shocked at the fees. One of the highest, if not the highest, in the industry. Disappointed to say the least. Don't expect anything more than a form letter about your complaint.

You were fortunate. First class Santiago Chile to Heathrow Seat wouldn't even recline at all automatically so entire 14 hour flight sitting in one position. The entire side console/lights didn't work The cabin stewards tried their best to help Most horrendous flight. My husband and I were traumatised by whole experience and the many more problems with the seating/flight. A very expensive once in a lifetime experience!!!!!! Even basic economy manages a recline seat you can operate

I’m afraid BA just doesn’t care about Customer Service. Never fly long haul with BA. Cabin crew are always excellent and unfortunately for them, being customer facing they have to put up with all the complaints stemming from Management cost cutting exercises that have gone on for years.

Someone rounded it up saying is Ba first the worlds best Bussines class

Entitled to any UK261 claim?

British airways dropped the ball a long time ago Jermaine and sadly they never picked it up and learnt. I have heard of and seen many people criticising BA, including myself, for a wide variety of reasons. Your video was very good and honest. Let's hope BA will see this and call you up, but I don't think so. You are not alone in your disappointment. EDIT: I also think that the way they hold the front seats in first class for platinum members is a joke. IF the cabin is busy, and these two seats are free, you cannot book them. Just a stupid idea that is old and out of date.

Well there is now a solution to poor Business / First Class from the legacy airlines on the NY-LON route - go JetBlue Mint ... you don't get a lounge pre-flight, but everything else is awesome, including the food and the FAs.

What a joke...still it looked fair but no match to your expectation...did you get anything from BA in return to make up for the lies from their CS?

You were in First Class, nuff said

My goodness- absolutely diabolical for the price. Not even a flower in the loo? What happened to the caviar? Not in a million years would I pay the money to fly BA first. So many better hard and soft products out there for the price. Not even going to mention the lying!

Man that makes me mad they way they did you. I’d be extremely pissed too. This seriously makes me question weather or not to fly with them.

TBH - I fly BA First quite regularly ( upgrading with points ), and I would rate it as a good Business Class Product when compared to other carriers First products ( saying that the Concorde Lounges are superb! ) Unfortunately BA as a company really don't give a shit about issues passengers may have, so long as they have your money.

Great review. I just flew LHR-EWR which was a 789 (New F), but got switched also to "old" F on a 772. It was perfectly fine and the food/wine service was pretty good. Slept 4 hours! FYI, I flew out of the JFK CCR right before they closed and I would argue EWR Galleries Lounge *does* seem more modern. I can see why they said that; though it doesn't take away from your grief. I do think BA F is a step up from business class (particularly in bedding/PJ's) but can see other people's point of view too. Happy Travels.

At least you got some slippers

I have flown BA for many years and my experience of their First Class I would rate as top notch. Never had any complaints but I suppose some people you cannot please all the time. For me BA every time!!!!

A very honest review. I am ashamed to say it but BA are terrible,not much better than a budget airline. The days when BA were top in the airline industry have long gone. Every BA review I watch, no one is happy with the BA product. I hope you do get compensation. Happy flying.

Seems to be a lot of complaining in this video I guess one with class would respond very differently rather than complaining and criticising the honesty of BA. Not sure if you are aware of the ongoing disruptions to the airline industry due to the Chinese pandemic. Clearly not based on your comments. Lame yet sad also.

Maybe no one lied, they just made mistakes with the information. The tray DOES slide to allow easy exit, so was that a lie from you? No, you made a mistake. Just saying.

The old ba IFE is some of the worst I have ever seen. The new one is a lot better

I would be pissed if I was bumped in First class!!

Your first class suite looks pale in front of SA's business class product. Even after using Emirates / Etihad / Lufthansa / Qatar / JAL, I will go for SA any day.

hot towels are for your hands, not for your face lol

I'd be so mad 😈😈😈😈

Go with Emirates

Never had a bad experience with BA tbh.

What's an "FA"?? We're not all anacronym Gen Zs. Speak English, dude.

If you want to get really angry…..try flying American.

thats very good business, crappy first class

So, after paying next to nothing for this ticket since you used points, you then proceeded to deliberately explain to the flight crew, in great detail, the sheer horror of your travel experience up to this point. Then, when the crew clearly went the extra mile with you and treated you like a prince, you still moaned. I'm sorry, but you seem to have an extreme sense of self-entitlement. There are millions on this planet who will never get the chance to fly anywhere even remotely close to first class.

Sorry to hear that your flight was spoiled. Reaity is, BA are not the airline they once were and they will only get worse. Almost every other airline are vastly superior in every way. BA F is just mediocre J by any other airlines standards. I have a 2 for 1 voucher otherwise I wouldn't touch BA, F or J again. Normally I would never advise this, on principle, but forget any compensation. BA will lie and cheat and make you miserable. Forget BA. Delete their app. Run away and never look near them again. P.s. glad your FAs were good, but it is now a total lottery.

This is Business Class disguised as First Class. Even the food is mediocre for First Class. They should not have switched you to this old bucket. BA should not have done this, utterly disgraceful!

I flew 4 hours with BA from cairo to heathrow and I found that is was the worst flight ever, no food given, sorry a bottle of water and a bag of crisps were handed out, or able to buy on the plane ,only able to buy online b4 take off, the seat were rigid no recline at all ,no in flight entertainment nothing. I felt that BA are a arrogant and an snobby airline. I flew to cairo on easy jet and I got a much better service, YES you have to pay for food but it was only uk pub prices