Hotel Motel Holiday Ian

My first British Airways Club Europe flight was BA677 from Istanbul to London Heathrow on 18 February 2022. I had expected the jump from economy to short-haul business class to feel noticeably more premium. In practice, it was one of those travel experiences where the label promised more than the flight delivered.

The booking

• Flight: BA677
• Route: Istanbul Airport to London Heathrow Terminal 5
• Date: 18 February 2022
• Departure: 17:40
• Arrival: 19:05
• Cabin: Club Europe
• Passengers: 2
• Price: approximately £575 (US$783.20) for two, based on the exchange rate on the booking date

This was a cash booking rather than an Avios redemption. The ticket also came with the more generous Club Europe baggage allowance of two checked bags of up to 32kg per passenger.

What Club Europe actually felt like

This was our first experience of British Airways Club Europe, and the biggest surprise was the seat itself. It was essentially the same style of short-haul seat used elsewhere on the aircraft, with the middle seat in each block kept empty.

That does give you more personal space and removes the awkwardness of having someone directly beside you, but it did not feel like the sort of step up I had associated with the words “business class”. There was no substantially different seat to make the cabin feel special.

The food was the biggest disappointment

I remember the meal being poor. Food is one of the few areas where a European business-class ticket has an obvious opportunity to distinguish itself from economy, so an underwhelming meal stood out.

That disappointment was made more obvious because of the flight we had taken just four days earlier.

Turkish Airlines Economy was better

On 14 February we had flown from Rome to Istanbul on Turkish Airlines flight TK1862 in Economy Class. Despite being the lower cabin, both of us came away feeling that the Turkish Airlines flight had been the better experience.

The service felt better and, from memory, the food was significantly better too. That made the comparison difficult to ignore: the economy flight had felt more hospitable, while the British Airways business-class flight felt more like an economy seat with a blocked middle seat and a few added benefits.

What Club Europe did give us

It would be unfair to suggest there was no benefit at all. Club Europe came with more space around us, a much larger checked-baggage allowance and the usual business-class ground benefits associated with the ticket.

For travellers who value lounge access, priority treatment, baggage allowance or simply keeping the middle seat empty, those benefits can be worthwhile. But if the main expectation is a meaningfully different seat and a substantially more premium onboard experience, the reality can feel disappointing.

Was it worth paying for?

For this particular flight, I did not come away feeling that the experience justified the business-class label. The strongest memory from the journey is not something Club Europe did especially well; it is that we both preferred the Turkish Airlines economy flight a few days earlier.

That does not mean Club Europe is never worthwhile. Price, flight length, lounge access and baggage needs can all change the equation. But as a first experience of British Airways short-haul business class, it was underwhelming.

The wider trip

This flight was the final leg of a February 2022 trip that included Rome and Istanbul. In Rome we stayed at Hotel Indigo Rome – St. George before moving to Rome Cavalieri, A Waldorf Astoria Hotel. We then flew Turkish Airlines from Rome to Istanbul before returning to London on this Club Europe flight.