So we’re back from Sydney after many gruelling flights, the last of which saw us in the air for about 28 hours. We flew there and back STR-LHR-SIN-SYD-SIN-LHR-STR.

Needless to say, it was important that we were as comfortable as possible.

I’d flown long-haul with BA once before but that was alone, and it’s nice to travel in a pair. You don’t chat to other people as much but you also don’t have to go all ninja to protect your stuff whenever you need to go to the bathroom. You just say, ‘Hey, partner, can you watch my stuff?’ if at all.

STR-LHR and back, we were in a small aircraft, all leather seats, quite old, but comfortable. The flight is only about 1.5 hours or so, making it nothing compared to the other two flights. We got a snack both times, and on the way back it was a pastrami croissant with American style mustard mayonnaise and cheese.

For the flight LHR-SIN-SYD we had a brand new aircraft, the 777-300ER. It was a bit of a freaky situation when the pilot announced that they were having some technical difficulties due to the fact that it was the very first time flying this particular aircraft. But, they solved all of that. Cool.

The journey was comfortable and it felt pretty darn good to sit in a brand new aircraft, all squeaky clean and shiny. The entertainment system was new and although this is not a new idea, it was good to be able to charge my phone via USB. I hadn’t uploaded any movies/shows onto my phone but the shows available were great. On the way to Sydney we watched 2 Guns and The Heat and thankfully got some sleep in too.

On the way back we didn’t have the ‘new’ aircraft anymore, but it was still quite a comfortable journey. Both times we had two seats in the middle section where there were only ever three seats, meaning there was no jumping over other passengers or constantly having to stand up for them. The joys of travelling in pairs!

The Food / The Service

I managed to finally get some pics on the return journey. The food was not bad with BA and the service was also good. Still not my favourite airline due to the lack of hot towels, but not a bad one either. They were generous with their drinks and food and were always happy to help.

Flying back, we had penne with grilled vegetables and cheese (or chicken with noodles), penne with minced meat (they love their penne!), an english breakfast (or omelette with cheese) and a bread roll sandwich.

The ‘Bonuses’

There weren’t too many of these, and one steward even said that they don’t serve ‘snacks’ in our carriage. The little baggie on each seat contained headphones, a toothbrush and toothpaste. Socks and sleeping masks were available on request. Nothing special here.

Summary

British Airways was always good for short-haul trips, but after my experience with them long-haul, I’d say that they do a darn good job with that too. The staff on each of the 6 flights were lovely and helpful, the food was decent even if it wasn’t anything spectacular and the entertainment system was great despite the audio on two of my flights being faulty. I would love to try flying Business class with BA some day!