The following is a full review of my 7 hour British Airways 777-300ER economy experience from Dubai to London (Heathrow).
Warning: It’s a very dated long-haul economy class product. The in-flight entertainment is mediocre. The food is terrible.
Think at least twice before smashing that “buy now” button. It’s not the worst long haul economy product in the world, but there are far better options.
Flight Number:
BA106
Route:
Dubai, UAE (DXB) – London, England (LHR)
Aircraft:
Boeing 777-336ER
Registration:
G-STBG
Flight Duration
7 hours 12 minutes
Seat:
43H (Club Traveler / Economy)
Arrival and checking in
The scheduled departure time for this flight was 1:30 frickin’ AM. I had a lot of work to do however, so I showed up at the DXB about 1 PM to give me enough time to do what I needed to do before the flight.
Welcome to Terminal 1 (entrance door 4) at the Dubai International Airport! Because this is a family friendly airline review (and I don’t want to kick things off by being too crass), I’m going to refrain from telling you that it’s hot as absolute f**k out here.
Check in for this flight wasn’t even open at this point (obviously). It didn’t matter since I had already checked in online.
Terminal 1 at DXB is absolutely massive. Reaching the Oneworld / British Airways gates (D1-D32) required hopping on a train. At least it was air-conditioned, right?
It was only after I arrived at the D gates that I learned that my flight to London had been delayed by 2 1/2 hours. So instead of departing at 1:30 AM, we were now scheduled to go at 4 AM. Ouch.
That’s what I get for showing up to the airport 12 hours early I guess. I’m such an idiot.It’s safe to say that all of these shop and restaurant owners here in Concourse D were sick of seeing my sulky a** by about 10 PM. I must’ve went into each one at least three times over the course of the afternoon and evening.Finally! At around 2 AM they announced the gate for this flight. D6 it is. I certainly wasn’t gonna argue about it.
Economy class boarding process
It’s a long wait to board when you’re holding a British Airways economy class ticket. They started the boarding process at approximately 3:30 AM. By the time they called for economy, it was 3:45. Sunrise wasn’t far behind…
There she is. That’s the British Airways 777-300ER that will be taking me up to London tonight this morning.It was like a funeral procession here at gate D6 as they got the boarding process underway. I’m kinda surprised they didn’t ask us to carry any caskets.The moment I had waited 14 hours for. Spoiler alert: British Airways 777-300ER forward boarding doors aren’t that exciting. Especially at 4 AM.Walking through the Club World cabin on my way back to economy didn’t phase me at all. The amount of bullsh*t I had to endure over the past 15 hours was nothing compared to being teased with comfortable looking business class seats.
British Airways 777-300ER economy (Club Traveler) cabin and seats
The nice thing about the economy cabin on the British Airways 777-300ER is that it’s a relatively spacious 3-3-3 layout. Legroom isn’t all that great though. Especially compared to most Asian and Middle Eastern airlines.
British Airways 777-300ER economy. Looks like a party all up in here, doesn’t it?Truth be told, these are pretty nice looking long-haul international economy seats. I was expecting worse. Legroom is decent. But you know what? I would’ve accepted anything at this ungodly hour.The seat backs look pretty good too. Not only are there video screens at every seat, those of you with T-Rex arms will be happy to know that there are full function remote controls for the entertainment system. USB ports too! I wonder what the penalties for attempting to plug your headphones into it? Prison camp? Guillotine? I wasn’t about to find out.The feeling of confusion and self doubt as you realize that you might actually like this more than you thought you would. I told you: I was expecting the worst!The condensation dripping from the ceiling was a little annoying though. I could’ve done without those big drops of water hitting my bald head once every 60 seconds or so.
Economy class amenities
Although you won’t get a proper amenity kit, there will be a blanket, pillow, and earbuds waiting for you on your seat. Most likely a bottle of water as well (but I didn’t get one on this flight).
Blankets and pillows are also included. I cannot even put into words how heavenly this felt after literally waiting half a day for this flight.Complementary earbuds are included. It comes wrapped in a pouch encouraging you to make a donation to a charity. Not a bad way to get rid of unused local currency I guess.
Safety card
I know. Safety card information usually goes in one eye and out the other on these late night departures. But when the flight plan involves flying over Iran, safety always comes first!
Safety first! Then again…I was so tired at this point that I was pretty sure that I would be able to sleep through a 550mph crash straight into the side of a mountain somewhere.
The departure from DXB
Pushing off the gate at 4:12 AM (when you were supposed to do it at 1:30 AM) isn’t fun. I actually slept through most of the departure process, but going back and looking at the data, I see that we taxied for 26 minutes.
Ready to rock ‘n’ roll! As much as one possibly can at 4 AM after staying up all night waiting on a delayed flight I mean. I’ve never been more relieved to leave Dubai in all my life. It’s a cool city and all, but screw these “1 AM delayed until 4 AM” departures.The mood as we were climbing out of Dubai: DEAD. AF.
In-flight entertainment
So yeah. I stand by what I said about the in-flight entertainment system being mediocre. The economy class video screens are small, low resolution, and not very bright.
“Hello, what would you like to do?” I’m glad you asked – but I’m not seeing any options here on the main menu involving writing strongly worded letters to British Airways HQ.
I didn’t find the catalog of content to be all that interesting. Perhaps I would’ve enjoyed it more if I was British? I don’t know.
The selection of movies and TV shows was decent. The selection of BRITISH movies and TV shows was excellent. I will say that I quite like how they categorized everything. It made finding something to watch very easy (assuming that I wasn’t planning on sleeping all the way to London).
The first meal service
The cabin crew came down the aisle serving the first meal approximately 15 minutes after takeoff. Calling it a “meal” is generous – it was more of a light snack really, but I didn’t mind. All I wanted to do was sleep.
A chicken shawarma wrap, a Kit Kat bar, and a little container of creamer. WTF am I supposed to do with the creamer?Eating it by the spoonful wasn’t that bad actually.
Cabin and seat comfort
As tired as I was, I didn’t sleep all that well. The seats were plenty soft, but the legroom is terrible. Stretching out is impossible, and it’s not very comfortable.
“This blanket pretty comfortable…but would it kill them to turn off those damn overhead lights?”That’s more like it! In other news, check out that abysmal seat recline. It ain’t good. The seats do go back, but not very far. It’s also worth noting that the cabin crew didn’t do a very good job of enforcing a dark cabin. There were open window shades (letting in morning death rays) all over the place.It’s not often that you’ll see a 3-3-3 layout in 777-300ER economy. I like this. I just wish that I was in a better mood to fully appreciate it.
Economy class lavatory
There are lavatories located just ahead and behind the economy class cabin. The ones all the way at the back are huge!
Now that’s a long lavatory! I’m not used to having to walk towards the toilet in airplane bathrooms.Looks like there’s room enough for about three people in here. Just sayin’.
Pre-landing meal service
They served a proper meal about an hour and a half prior to landing. It was a lot of food actually. I wasn’t able to finish everything on my tray – which is something that doesn’t happen often.
The British flag the tinfoil is a nice touch. But where’s the creamer? I went with the English breakfast. A United Arab Emirates option was not on the menu unfortunately.
The quality of the food was British mediocre.
Arrival in London
They weren’t able to make up any time in the air, so we were just as late on the descent into London as we were departing out of Dubai.
The pilots seem lost. I guess I can’t blame them considering that they’re probably close to maxing out on their hours at this point. I’m delirious too! I think it’s safe to say that we’re ALL feeling a bit delirious back here. It’s OK though because we’ll be landing in Dubai soon.
We touched down at LHR at 8:50 AM. The taxi to the gate took just 6 minutes – which is got to be some sort of a record for Heathrow I think. At least for me anyway.
Welcome to Dubai! I mean London! And that’s all I gotta say about that. Other than the fact of this probably would’ve been a lot more fun (and comfortable) had it occurred during daylight hours.
The verdict? I’m of the opinion that British Airways 777-300ER economy is not something you should go out of your way for. If it’s your only option, fine. It’ll be good enough.
Seeking it out over everything else would be as foolish a screen door on a submarine. You deserve better.
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