In this review, I review British Airway’s World Traveller Plus, also known as Premium Economy, on their new Boeing 787-900 Dreamliner on my trip from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to London. This product was newly launched a few months before, and I was eager to try it.
We have also reviewed First Class On The British Airways Dreamliner B787-9 as well as Business Class on the B747 Jumbo and Business Class on the B777.
The Seats
The Premium Economy cabin is located right behind the Business Class cabin. There are a total of 6 rows of seats. The first five rows, rows 16-20, have seven seats across, configured in a 2-3-2 pattern, while the last row, row 21, only has two aisle seats on each side. The middle rows of that last row are where the toilets are, so travelers should try to avoid seats on row 21 if possible.
I took seat 17D, on the second row and next to the aisle. The seats themselves looked slim, sleek, and not bulky like older generation seats. The seats were 18.5 inches wide, and the pitch, the distance between the back of the seat on one row to the other, was a generous 38 inches.
The seat monitor is sizeable at 10.6 inches and is controlled by the controller on the side of the seats. Another decent surprise was the 2 USB ports under the monitor and the universal power port at the bottom of the side of the seats. The in-flight entertainment system had a decent range of movies, TV series, and music.
I noticed this flight was quite full as I headed to my seat. On the seats were an oversized pillow, a blanket, a small amenity kit, and a large pair of headphones. The seats felt comfortable and could be reclined quite far back by using a few buttons on the side. The amenity kit contained the essentials – a toothbrush and toothpaste, an eye mask, socks, earbuds, and a pen. The blanket was plush but not too thick. The headphones were the noise-canceling type normally distributed in business class and above, so that was another pleasant surprise.
Food and Beverages
As this flight left Kuala Lumpur quite late at 11:05 pm, the meals on board were dinner and breakfast. After taking off, I was offered drinks. I chose white wine and was offered two small bottles of them. Sure, don’t mind if I do!
The dinner service began shortly after we took off. British Airways claims that the main course of the Premium Economy meals will be from the business class menu. I had the Grilled Indonesian red snapper as my main. The starter was a generous serving of shrimp salad, and the dessert was a mixed berry crumble with creme Anglaise. I was also offered some bread, although the stewardess could not explain what type of bread it was. The food was decent but nothing spectacular.
After dinner, the stewardesses also offered tea and coffee. As it was almost 1:00 am already, I opted not to consume these and prepared to sleep instead. I reclined my seat backward and put on the eye mask, earbuds, and blanket. The lights began to dim shortly after, and the combination of fatigue and comfortable seats made me fall asleep easily.
I woke up shortly before breakfast and felt refreshed. Soon, the breakfast service began. The choice of mains was between a full English breakfast or omelets. I chose the latter. The omelets were served with potatoes, mushrooms, and half a tomato. There was also a chocolate chip muffin, strawberry yogurt, a small cup of orange juice, and coffee or tea. Just like dinner, the food was decent, but nothing spectacular.
During and after breakfast, I watched some TV series on the entertainment system. I continued watching until we were about to land. We landed at Heathrow shortly after 5:00 am.
All in all, I would say that the British Airways Premium Economy flight was quite enjoyable. As a Premium Economy product, British Airways has got it right. I would not hesitate to take it again.
If you are planning to book a flight, it is worth reading our 10 tips to find cheap long-haul business class flights.
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