We return to France every two years to see family and friends. This is an opportunity to fly and do a flight report.
Our plans for these two weeks in France were not yet completely fixed. We looked for a ticket to Toulouse with British Airways in order to be able to finally travel on a Boeing 787, the Dreamliner. The British company allows you to upgrade a ticket from one class to another with your Avios miles. So I looked at the Premium Economy fares. But the tickets to Toulouse were a bit high: about 1800$. We evaluate the surrounding cities with Google Flights and Paris has a respectable price at $1300.
Then I was able to check on ExpertFlyer that the flight from Montreal to London had business class seats available for upgrade. One call to British Airways and for 25,000 Avios points plus $120 we have our business class ticket.
We take the 747 shuttle to the airport. That day she will be 40 minutes late, fortunately I am a follower of the Dalai Lama technique, so we are not in a hurry. When we arrive at the airport we understand why, a very very long queue!
Direction the counters to deposit our luggage. Courteous welcome and fast service.
On the way we see for the first time the company of our next trip to the most popular destination of 2016:
Quick passage of the security and we also make a little spotting in this beautiful evening of June.
British Airways doesn’t have a lounge and it’s a shame because the National Bank lounge is very busy at this time.
Our plane at its arrival, its registration is G-ZBJC, it dates from 2014.
It’s time to board, priorities are respected.
I discover the famous cabin of the Dreamliner with its seats in reverse. The Business cabin is very dense.
A glass of champagne is served while waiting for the boarding to be completed. The pilot announces us a flight time of 6 hours. I take note of the seat.
Besides the fact of being in the opposite direction we have a sensation of “cabin” with the neighboring seat and its wall. I picture some strange moments if you travel alone, the separation having to be kept open during take-off and landing.
The cover is quite basic, nothing extravagant. The helmet I didn’t use and the cover.
The storage is very large.
I discover the menu.
And it’s time to take off, towards the West with a nice turn towards the South to go towards the Atlantic.
I take a glass of champagne for the aperitif. The starter is a goat cheese and pear salad. Correct. The dish, beef, accompanied by a Rioja.
I didn’t finish the dessert because I was quite full. Our flight attendant is also the flight director, very friendly. He laughs and tells us that the dessert is an old fashioned item that is nowhere to be found except in this bad version on BA.
Visit of the toilets, nothing exceptional. A little decaf and then sleep for 3 hours.
The 787-8 window with its smart glass is very beautiful.
The breakfast is served 1 hour before the landing, there also I took only a slice of bread and fruits because the meal was only three hours before, I was not hungry yet and we shall have time to eat in the lounge during our correspondence.
And we arrive at Heathrow with a few minutes of advance. We see many more companies than in Montreal 🙂
The border crossing is very fast. We go to the terminal 5A to reach the lounge of British Airways. Having a ticket in economy the access is possible but the agent has to activate it manually after a discussion with an experienced colleague.
The show is of course very big with a lot of people on this Saturday but we have no problem to find a place. We take advantage of it to take a breakfast. We had reserved a place for the shower. This is one of the advantages of having access to a lounge: being able to wash up after an overnight flight and before another day of travel.
We also take advantage of the bar, it is soon time for the aperitif! We will leave just after having tasted the lunch buffet with a salad and a very good soup.
We then board our flight to Orly.
The British Airways business class is not the most luxurious. But with this device the comfort is undeniable. British Airways and London are disliked because taxes can be high, but upgrading with points is one of the sweetspots of the Executive Club program.
Savings are here:
