My Flight: British Airways Club World A380 from London to Los Angeles

The First Check-In area at Heathrow’s T5, the home of British Airways. Also Mr. O getting busy with our luggage, business class check-in area and a view of the terminal.As a BA Gold Executive Club cardholder, one of my perks, despite which class I fly, is that I am able to check in using the ‘First’ area, which is separate from the business class check-in desks. At LHR T5, this means the area at the very end of the terminal (last door when you get to the departures concourse). The business class area actually had a queue, but the first class area only had 2 people before us.Check-in was quick and efficient – we had 8 suitcases between 3 passengers (so were no way near our generous allowance which would be 3 bags per passenger and an extra one for being a gold member), which were tagged and sent on our way. The agent was very nice – he also double checked our ESTAs for the USA, which were in order, of course. We were also given our US Customs form.

All business class passengers get to fast track security, which we did. We used the South Terminal checkpoint, which is the closest one to the First/Business Class check-in areas, and we had 3 people ahead of us, which was a nice bonus. The terminal was heaving and was quite busy, but I like the new system they have at T5 where 3-4 people can use the belts at one time, making it much quicker. No problems here. Please note that in the UK, there is still a liquid restriction, laptops etc still have to come out, but if you are not wearing heels, you can keep your shoes on, which I find very civilised).

99% of my flights start at this very place – this is my home lounge at the British Airways T5 Terminal. The Taittinger helps, of course.Before we got to the lounge – we could use either Galleries lounge for business class passengers (North or South or at the B Gates), or in our case, the First lounge – we indulged in some shopping before we made our way there.At the lounge, the first thing we did was to order breakfast – there is a buffet, but you can also get some made-to-order items, like the egg and bacon sandwich, which I am a very big fan of.Whilst we waited for our order, we used the Foreign Exchange desk to get some dollars (which is located in the lounge and means you don’t have to queue), and we tried to get an Elemis spa treatment. On this occasion, we weren’t successful – and as we were leaving from C gates, we didn’t even have the option of having a treatment at the B-gates lounge. Business class passengers cannot pre-book treatments, and I find it almost impossible to get a treatment at LHR as there always seems to be more rooms than therapists.I also tried to stock up on magazines – newspapers are never a problem – but despite there being hundreds of different titles, mostly were ‘lounge’ and rather obscure magazines. No Hello, Tatler or Vanity Fair this time – despite it being 7am. To avoid going to WHSmith (and the whole boarding pass debacle), I had packed a few kilos of magazines and books in my luggage and just hoped there would be magazines on the plane.Breakfast was excellent and we couldn’t resist a glass of 2006 Milesime Taittinger, which I adore and is the champagne currently being served at the lounge. I noticed there was also a gin bar/display (first time!!), but as it was so early in the morning, I did not try.I quite like this lounge, but find it is getting busier and busier. Food is good, service has improved lately but I still find the bathroom facilities need an update. With this being BA’s First Lounge at its home airport, there is no excuse. (Please note that First passengers can use the Concorde Room).

We made our way to C-gates (T5 operates from a main terminal – A gates, but has 2 satellite terminals (B & C) which are accessible via a quick train). It took us 10 minutes to get there and a short walk to the gate. I used BA’s app which sends me push notifications and told us when to start making our way to the gate and when we got there, our flight was boarding.– Boarding

Were excellent and very personable. One of the reasons I fly BA over and over again is because I love how they are ‘allowed’ to be themselves and talk to passengers, show a bit of personality and that can make or break the flight. The purser came round to us during the flight to introduce himself – this is becoming standard on BA flights, now that they have iPads and can identify Gold and Silver members and it is a nice touch. We were also addressed by name during the flight, which again makes a difference.

We had possibly one of the worst arrival experiences into LAX, where we queued for 1h15 minutes to get through immigration. There was no business class fast-track option offered (to anyone), and we were unlucky as we merged with 2 other flights landing at the same time. On the plus side, the luggage was ready for us when we finally got to it.Final thoughtsI really enjoyed our flight (as expected), and managed to sleep for 6 hours, quite comfortably. The A380 is so much quieter than other planes – and that adds to the experience too. The crew was excellent, which makes for a much better flight and I shall indeed try to book myself on other A380 services.Until the next flight…xoMrs. OPS. You can also read other flight reviews – BA Club World (Business Class) between LHR and JFK, World Traveller Plus (Premium Economy) on the new A380, and for the BA001 all business class service from London City to JFK. See also other airlines including Qatar Airways (Dreamliner), Jet Airways (Premiere) and JetBlue (Mint).Disclaimer: I had booked my flight with Avios 6 months before this trip, but in the meantime, BA’s Avios Team got in touch with me and hired me to share my Avios experience live on my social media channels, as an ambassador for the #DoMorewithAvios campaign. My ticket for this journey, which cost 50,000 Avios and £250 tax was refunded. I was not required to do a flight review. Opinions are, as always, my own.