British Airways flight BA0218 help

[chloes nana]

We are leaving in 13 days for our 20 day mediterrean cruise. we will be flying out on British Airways flight BA0218 DEN to LHR on a 777, don't know if it is a class 200 or 300. we leave at 8:15 pm DEN time and arrive 12:10 pm LHR time.

We then have a 4 hour layover at LHR before we catch a connection flight on BA to FCO. The final leg of the flight gets us into FCO at 5:45 pm Rome time. We are flying coach.

 

so my questions are:

when are the meals served on this flight?? I really don't want "dinner" at 8:30 at night. If anyone has taken this flight is it a 200 or a 300 class 777 plane?

Are these flights usually sold out in coach?? I want an isle seat and my DH wants a window. I believe these are a 3-3-3 seating plan. would like to do a A-C or H-K seat choice. is this likely or not to happen, don't really care what row.

Also has BA gotten better with the lost luggage issues now that they have terminal 5?

thanks for the help and insight. Never traveled overseas and am a little leary of this long flight.;)

[FlyerTalker]

when are the meals served on this flight?? I really don't want "dinner" at 8:30 at night.

You will be served a dinner shortly after takeoff (probably 45 minutes into the flight), then a breakfast before arrival.

If anyone has taken this flight is it a 200 or a 300 class 777 plane?

You can compare the seatmap on your itinerary with the seatmaps on SeatGuru. My info only shows 777. Not sure if BA even flies the 300.

 

Are these flights usually sold out in coach?? I want an isle seat and my DH wants a window. I believe these are a 3-3-3 seating plan. would like to do a A-C or H-K seat choice. is this likely or not to happen, don't really care what row.

Only your particular flight will be of interest. Personally, I think you and DH have to make a choice. A window plus next or an aisle plus next. It is far too likely that you'll have someone in between and you'll have to make a command decision on the spot as to which one of you moves. Of course, you may get lucky, but I wouldn't put money on it.

 

Also has BA gotten better with the lost luggage issues now that they have terminal 5?

Yes

[chloes nana]

the seating chart shows them as a 3-3-3- seating, maybe I will consider 2 isle seats across from each other if he'll give up the window.........I just cannot be the man in the middle. I like to get up and move around, even on a 4 hour flight. Any other suggestions?

How is the food on BA considering it is plane food?

[fbgd]

Out of DEN it is the 3 class 777-200. BA have ordered the 777-300 but none are in the fleet yet.

 

Terminal 5 is fine. Used it a fair amount now and am yet to be anything but impressed with the luggage delivery, admittedly I've not connected through T5 but compared to the rest of LHR it is pretty fantastic, as far as passenger experience and logistical stuff.

 

Get on ba.com exactly 24hrs before your flight and select your seats when online check-in opens. That should give you the best chance of seats you want.

 

How is the food on BA considering it is plane food?

 

Distinctly average, even in First or Club World. Haven't flown World Traveller for years.

[chloes nana]

out of den it is the 3 class 777-200. Ba have ordered the 777-300 but none are in the fleet yet.

 

Terminal 5 is fine. Used it a fair amount now and am yet to be anything but impressed with the luggage delivery, admittedly i've not connected through t5 but compared to the rest of lhr it is pretty fantastic, as far as passenger experience and logistical stuff.

 

Get on ba.com exactly 24hrs before your flight and select your seats when online check-in opens. That should give you the best chance of seats you want.

 

 

 

Distinctly average, even in first or club world. Haven't flown world traveller for years.

thanks

[Gardyloo]

We are leaving in 13 days for our 20 day mediterrean cruise. we will be flying out on British Airways flight BA0218 DEN to LHR on a 777, don't know if it is a class 200 or 300. we leave at 8:15 pm DEN time and arrive 12:10 pm LHR time.

We then have a 4 hour layover at LHR before we catch a connection flight on BA to FCO. The final leg of the flight gets us into FCO at 5:45 pm Rome time. We are flying coach.

 

so my questions are:

when are the meals served on this flight?? I really don't want "dinner" at 8:30 at night. If anyone has taken this flight is it a 200 or a 300 class 777 plane?

Are these flights usually sold out in coach?? I want an isle seat and my DH wants a window. I believe these are a 3-3-3 seating plan. would like to do a A-C or H-K seat choice. is this likely or not to happen, don't really care what row.

Also has BA gotten better with the lost luggage issues now that they have terminal 5?

thanks for the help and insight. Never traveled overseas and am a little leary of this long flight.;)

 

Denver-London operates with 3-class service - economy, premium economy, and business. 777-200 and 777-300 are different models of the 777 produced by Boeing. As far as I know BA doesn't own any 777-300s, only 777-200s, which they configure either as 3-class planes (like yours) or 4-class, with the addition of first class to the 3 on your flight. Denver doesn't get first class.

 

You can't pre-select seats on BA unless you have "elite" status in either BA's or a partner's frequent flyer program. Otherwise you can pick seats 24h before your flight. On (Aug. 22?) at exactly 24 hrs before your flight, log on to http://www.britishairways.com/travel/managebooking/public/en_us with your booking reference number (it will be on your e-ticket) and you can select seats. Snooze = lose.

 

Because of this policy, and assuming you're flying on Aug. 23 (13 days from now) the "seat map" for your flights shows very few assigned seats as of today. However in terms of seats sold/available, only the more expensive fare categories in the economy cabin are still for sale, which usually indicates the flight is quite full. I think you'd have to be pretty lucky to get an empty seat between you frankly. In that case I'd opt for two aisle seats opposite one another, and still be prepared for having to get up to let people climb over you all night as they travel to the loo.

 

They usually keep the cabin lights up for an hour or 90 min. after takeoff, during which time they'll do a meal run. Then around 90 min. before landing they'll do a breakfast run.

[chloes nana]

Denver-London operates with 3-class service - economy, premium economy, and business. 777-200 and 777-300 are different models of the 777 produced by Boeing. As far as I know BA doesn't own any 777-300s, only 777-200s, which they configure either as 3-class planes (like yours) or 4-class, with the addition of first class to the 3 on your flight. Denver doesn't get first class.

 

You can't pre-select seats on BA unless you have "elite" status in either BA's or a partner's frequent flyer program. Otherwise you can pick seats 24h before your flight. On (Aug. 22?) at exactly 24 hrs before your flight, log on to http://www.britishairways.com/travel/managebooking/public/en_us with your booking reference number (it will be on your e-ticket) and you can select seats. Snooze = lose.

 

Because of this policy, and assuming you're flying on Aug. 23 (13 days from now) the "seat map" for your flights shows very few assigned seats as of today. However in terms of seats sold/available, only the more expensive fare categories in the economy cabin are still for sale, which usually indicates the flight is quite full. I think you'd have to be pretty lucky to get an empty seat between you frankly. In that case I'd opt for two aisle seats opposite one another, and still be prepared for having to get up to let people climb over you all night as they travel to the loo.

 

They usually keep the cabin lights up for an hour or 90 min. after takeoff, during which time they'll do a meal run. Then around 90 min. before landing they'll do a breakfast run.

we actually leave 2 weeks from today, sorry about that, August 24th, where do you see the seat map for what seats are already assigned? Or if I am unbale to access this info how is the Monday the 24th flight look? thanks for you insight

[chloes nana]

mistake:o

[Gardyloo]

we actually leave 2 weeks from today, sorry about that, August 24th, where do you see the seat map for what seats are already assigned? Or if I am unbale to access this info how is the Monday the 24th flight look? thanks for you insight

I use a paid subscription service called Expert Flyer, which allows you to see seat maps and availability by fare "bucket."

 

BA 281 on 24 Aug shows the current available inventory:

 

J9 C9 D9 R9 I6 W9 E9 T9 Y9 B9 H9 K9 M3 L1 V0 S0 N0 Q0 O0 G9

 

J, C, D, R and I are business class fares. W, E, and T are premium economy fares. All the rest are coach fares, in descending order of cost. (For example, a "Y" economy fare is $3500 round trip.) The number next to the letter is how many seats at least are available for sale at that price. However they are NOT cumulative - there are not necessarily 49 open seats in economy (even though Y > G = 49.) If they sell a seat in "H" inventory, then you may well see all the "9s" turn into "8s" because the same seat could be sold in any fare category. By the way, the G9 figure has me puzzled - no seats in G are available when you try to book, so I don't know what that entry means. As I mentioned on another thread, they have a special class at Hogwarts to teach airline "yield management" people their dark arts. Maybe some BA wizard can enlighten us Muggles.

 

My guess - and it's truly a wild donkey guess - is that there might be as many as 25 - 30 open seats in economy at the moment, out of a total of 212. With two weeks to go I'd be surprised if there are many empty seats at all in coach when it's wheels up. Purely a guess, though - these are closely guarded numbers in the industry.

[FlyerTalker]

we actually leave 2 weeks from today, sorry about that, August 24th, where do you see the seat map for what seats are already assigned? Or if I am unbale to access this info how is the Monday the 24th flight look? thanks for you insight

Probably through the use of a paid service that provides this information.

 

As mentioned many times before, seat maps are a very inaccurate method of determining the load on a flight.

 

Through the use of paid tools, I assume, Gardyloo found that only the higher priced buckets are still for sale, thus his thinking about a non-empty flight. It's not sold out, but there aren't cheap seats. Other than having direct access to BA's system, that's as good as the info gets.

 

Get on early and grab what you can. Be ready with your preferences in mind.

 

Also, it is "aisle". And I much prefer blue to purple.

[chloes nana]

I use a paid subscription service called Expert Flyer, which allows you to see seat maps and availability by fare "bucket."

 

BA 281 on 24 Aug shows the current available inventory:

 

J9 C9 D9 R9 I6 W9 E9 T9 Y9 B9 H9 K9 M3 L1 V0 S0 N0 Q0 O0 G9

 

J, C, D, R and I are business class fares. W, E, and T are premium economy fares. All the rest are coach fares, in descending order of cost. (For example, a "Y" economy fare is $3500 round trip.) The number next to the letter is how many seats at least are available for sale at that price. However they are NOT cumulative - there are not necessarily 49 open seats in economy (even though Y > G = 49.) If they sell a seat in "H" inventory, then you may well see all the "9s" turn into "8s" because the same seat could be sold in any fare category. By the way, the G9 figure has me puzzled - no seats in G are available when you try to book, so I don't know what that entry means. As I mentioned on another thread, they have a special class at Hogwarts to teach airline "yield management" people their dark arts. Maybe some BA wizard can enlighten us Muggles.

 

My guess - and it's truly a wild donkey guess - is that there might be as many as 25 - 30 open seats in economy at the moment, out of a total of 212. With two weeks to go I'd be surprised if there are many empty seats at all in coach when it's wheels up. Purely a guess, though - these are closely guarded numbers in the industry.

:D:confused:well Gardyloo, I am totally confused now....I understand the seat availability thing but what about the letter assignment, we initially booked our flight last October and paid the $3500 fare, when the rates plummeted we were given the adjustment on the airfare and ended up paying $1700 RT, so that puts me into the ?? bucket.

[chloes nana]

Probably through the use of a paid service that provides this information.

 

As mentioned many times before, seat maps are a very inaccurate method of determining the load on a flight.

 

Through the use of paid tools, I assume, Gardyloo found that only the higher priced buckets are still for sale, thus his thinking about a non-empty flight. It's not sold out, but there aren't cheap seats. Other than having direct access to BA's system, that's as good as the info gets.

 

Get on early and grab what you can. Be ready with your preferences in mind.

 

Also, it is "aisle". And I much prefer blue to purple.

then for you it will be blue. thanks for the insight, I will be sure to book my aisle ( I knew that, it was a booboo, sorry) seat at exactly 8:15 on the 23rd, or at least try to and hope for the best. again thanks!

[Gardyloo]

:D:confused:well Gardyloo, I am totally confused now....I understand the seat availability thing but what about the letter assignment, we initially booked our flight last October and paid the $3500 fare, when the rates plummeted we were given the adjustment on the airfare and ended up paying $1700 RT, so that puts me into the ?? bucket.

It doesn't matter. You're asking if there are open seats in coach, and the answer is yes, but not very many (in all likelihood.) That means the odds of getting an empty seat between two people are low but not nonexistent.

 

Is the $1700 per person or for two? If for one, are you sure you're not booked into premium economy ("World Traveller Plus"?)

[chloes nana]

It doesn't matter. You're asking if there are open seats in coach, and the answer is yes, but not very many (in all likelihood.) That means the odds of getting an empty seat between two people are low but not nonexistent.

 

Is the $1700 per person or for two? If for one, are you sure you're not booked into premium economy ("World Traveller Plus"?)

that is for both of us RT. thanks for all your help:D

[Globaliser]

when are the meals served on this flight?? I really don't want "dinner" at 8:30 at night.

In fact, for an 8.15 departure I wouldn't expect dinner to be doing the rounds until about 9.15. If you have an on-time departure, you can expect to take off something like 20 minutes or so later. It'll then be another 10 minutes or so (depending on weather) before the crew can be released to start the service. The first stage is the bar service; dinner follows in the second round once the ovens have heated up all the food.

 

About 90-120 minutes before arrival, there'll be a second meal service - probably a continental (cold) breakfast. But there are snacks and drinks on request throughout the night if you get hungry or thirsty - just push the call button and ask. A good crew will do water runs from time to time as well.

If anyone has taken this flight is it a 200 or a 300 class 777 plane?

It's a -200. BA doesn't yet have any -300s, although some are on order. If you are looking for a seat map, you should be looking for a 3-class aircraft: Club World (business), World Traveller Plus (premium economy) and World Traveller (economy) - like this one and this one.

 

However, a word of warning: there is a new configuration of 3-class 777 which is being introduced now, which has 48 business class seats. There are few online seat maps for this one at present. And you probably won't be able to know which one you've got until OLCI opens.

Are these flights usually sold out in coach??

Expect your flight to be absolutely full in economy. You're travelling in a peak season, and BA's current selling strategy is being quite successful in ensuring that every seat is taken in economy.

Also has BA gotten better with the lost luggage issues now that they have terminal 5?

Terminal 5 has revolutionised BA's baggage performance. You have a pretty decent chance of your bag being on the belt by the time you arrive there.

How is the food on BA considering it is plane food?

Ignore fbgd. He's got spoiled, soft and flabby; and he can't remember what it's like to have to fly down the back with the masses. ;)

 

In economy, BA's food is actually pretty good compared to the offerings of competitors. Granted, it's airline food and economy airline food at that - but it's usually reasonably tasty and filling. BA curries, if offered, are generally a good bet for all sorts of reasons. The only real generic criticism that I could make is that the meals tend to be over-salted, which is a regular caterers' trick in these situations because the lower air pressure means that conventional flavours are not so easily noticed.

[chloes nana]

If you are looking for a seat map, you should be looking for a 3-class aircraft: Club World (business), World Traveller Plus (premium economy) and World Traveller (economy) - like this one and this one.

seat guru chart is exceptional! thanks for the link!:D

 

He's got spoiled, soft and flabby; and he can't remember what it's like to have to fly down the back with the masses. ;)

for some of us, this is the only way to fly when attaching it to a 20 day cruise. ;)

 

In economy, BA's food is actually pretty good compared to the offerings of competitors. Granted, it's airline food and economy airline food at that - but it's usually reasonably tasty and filling. BA curries, if offered, are generally a good bet for all sorts of reasons. The only real generic criticism that I could make is that the meals tend to be over-salted, which is a regular caterers' trick in these situations because the lower air pressure means that conventional flavours are not so easily noticed.

thanks, I was more concerned on the breakfast end then really the dinner, 9 pm is a little late for me to be eating...

How about the luggage forwarding to FCO without incident? has that greatly improved also? don't really want to overpack the carry on;)

[fbgd]

How about the luggage forwarding to FCO without incident? has that greatly improved also? don't really want to overpack the carry on;)

 

As long as you don't leave yourself a silly short connection it should be fine. Those who 'bodyslam' T5 have read too many tabloids or just got plain unlucky. Apart from the days just after the terminal's opening and a day or two last month T5 has far outperformed the rest of LHR with respect to baggage delivery and transfers. That's not to say it couldn't be mislaid, there is always a chance of something going astray but at T5 you're giving yourself a real leg up.

 

Globaliser may have some stats for us.

[Globaliser]

thanks, I was more concerned on the breakfast end then really the dinner, 9 pm is a little late for me to be eating

Although you'll have to get used to later dinner times once you get to Europe! Dinner at 8.30 pm is pretty unexceptional. As you probably know, by European standards many Americans eat dinner at an hour which is more appropriate for a late lunch.

 

Unfortunately, the breakfast won't be a substantial meal because it's a relatively short flight. I think that it's likely to be something like pastries, yoghurt and juice, plus tea/coffee.

 

As you have a 4-hour transfer (which I'd missed reading earlier), my suggestion would be not to bother with the breakfast on board if you sleep through it. Rather, go to the restaurant named Plane Food in Terminal 5 - you can get a good breakfast there.

How about the luggage forwarding to FCO without incident? has that greatly improved also?

T5 really has revolutionsed BA's baggage operations. I don't think I can quite do the entire range of statistics, but it's true that baggage performance at T5 is better than anywhere else at Heathrow and better than pretty much every other hub in Europe. Overall, by March 2009 BA was seeing only about 5 short-shipped bags per thousand passengers (which compares to a European hub average of 25-30 per thousand pax). The biggest source of problems is baggage that's transferring to/from other airlines in other terminals, and most of that is caused by late flights. As your connection is a really straightforward T5-T5 connection, your risk is minimal.

[chloes nana]

so my only other question would be how long does it take to clear customs at LHR since it is a T5 to T5 connection? Realistically with a 4 hour layover how much actual free time will I have? thanks for all your help! This is helping to ease my mind regarding the flight thing!

[Gardyloo]

so my only other question would be how long does it take to clear customs at LHR since it is a T5 to T5 connection? Realistically with a 4 hour layover how much actual free time will I have? thanks for all your help! This is helping to ease my mind regarding the flight thing!

Zero minutes; 3h 50m+ free time. You don't clear UK immigration or customs. You go through a security check then off to your connecting gate. Your bags will be transferred to the Rome flight. You'll go through passport control and customs there.

 

Edited to add... Actually you won't go to your connecting gate because it probably won't have been assigned yet. You'll be hanging out at the T5 shopping mall.

[chloes nana]

Zero minutes; 3h 50m+ free time. You don't clear UK immigration or customs. You go through a security check then off to your connecting gate. Your bags will be transferred to the Rome flight. You'll go through passport control and customs there.

 

Edited to add... Actually you won't go to your connecting gate because it probably won't have been assigned yet. You'll be hanging out at the T5 shopping mall.

no assigned gate?? do I just watch the departures boards for my gate number then? Is it because we are in so early with a 4 hour layover that there is no gate assignment for the connecting flight?

[Gardyloo]

no assigned gate?? do I just watch the departures boards for my gate number then? Is it because we are in so early with a 4 hour layover that there is no gate assignment for the connecting flight?

Yes and yes. Not sure how early they post gate assignments - the norm is ca. 3 hours but I haven't done a T5-T5 transfer for about a year.

[chloes nana]

thanks for all your help!! I really appreciate all the answers to my questions.:D

[Globaliser]

so my only other question would be how long does it take to clear customs at LHR since it is a T5 to T5 connection?

Realistically, expect the entire process to take about 45 minutes from the time the aircraft parks at the gate:

• Disembark.
• Follow signs for Flight Connections. If you have arrived at the satellite (the B gates), you will be led downstairs to the transit to take you to the main building.
• When you arrive in the immigration/connections hall, go to the right hand side (with your back to the airfield) and go to one of the desks for international connections.
• Your London-Rome boarding pass is scanned here.
• Go up the escalator to the security screening checkpoint.

If you are lucky and the queues are short, this can be done in about 20 minutes. Then you are free to wander around the shops and restaurants.

no assigned gate?? do I just watch the departures boards for my gate number then? Is it because we are in so early with a 4 hour layover that there is no gate assignment for the connecting flight?

Gate numbers are typically posted something like 90-120 minutes before the flight, and often even later than that. The reason is that gates are dynamically allocated depending on the state of the flight operation that morning and the gate where your outbound aircraft is parked. And aircraft are sometimes allocated to flights quite late in the process, depending on what else is happening in the operation that day. So a gate number won't be posted until the airline knows which aircraft is going to operate your flight and where it is.

 

Anyway, there is no need to go early to the gate. You'll just be lonesome and bored there. (I never understand this obssession with being at the gate hours before the flight.) From anywhere in the T5 main building, it takes no more than 15 minutes to get to the furthest gate, even in the satellite. (From the shops/restaurants area, I can reliably do it in well under 10.) If you have a gate at the satellite (a B gate), there are fewer facilities in the satellite than in the main building.

 

So please don't rush out to the gate. It profits you nothing. All you really need to do is to get yourself ready to go to the gate 40 minutes before scheduled departure, look at the boards to find out which gate, and then go there. It's that simple.

[Gsel]

Thanks everyone! LHR T5 wasn't even built the last I was flying thru there! Plus I was in uniform, much easier.