I have reviewed more than 10 British Airways Club Europe Business Class flights. If you travel around Europe on British Airways, their European Business Class is the highest class of travel offered on these short-haul flights.
But please be warned: Business Class within Europe is nothing like British Airways Business Class worldwide. There are no lie-flat seats. In fact, the seats on offer are currently the same as those in Economy. However, on most European British Airways planes, the Economy seats are 3×3 across the plane, whereas Business Class seats tend to be 2×2 on most short-haul planes, as British Airways have wedged a small into the middle seat which gives you room to breathe, plenty of elbow room as well as an alternate platform to sit your drinks.
Watch out for European planes flying out of London City airport as the Club Europe seats on these planes can be inferior to the rest of the British Airways fleet. The pitch or legroom on all British Airways flights, wherever they originate, remains pretty cramped in Club Europe, but for 2 hours, it’s not unbearable.
The Good
On European Business Class flights, you get a hot towel before your drink and meal, a drink (or as many drinks as you like, including alcohol), and a choice of meals delivered by less stressed, more attentive air stewards. The air hostesses are less stressed as they tend to be less busy than those battling with credit cards and the M&S food offering at the back of the cabin. It is always nice to be given a hot towel, a meal, and a drink during the flight. It helps to pass the time, and if the food isn’t very good in the airport lounge, this is a nice way to fill yourself up.
The Bad
Beyond the seats being the same pitch as in Economy class, there are some other ways British Airways Club Europe falls short. There are no charging points for your laptop on the A319, for example. I am not sure if this is the same across all Club Europe flights. There aren’t charging points in Economy OR in Club or Business Class, which is extremely frustrating if your laptop is hovering at about 10% battery life and you are only halfway through the flight! Thankfully, most European flights aren’t that long, so this tends not to be a dealbreaker when choosing which airline to fly with.
The Avios
I book most of my flights on Avios. My most regular route is London to Nice, which costs me 9,000 Avios Peak each way in Club Europe and 4,500 in Economy per person. The fees on this Club Europe are £25 GBP per person in each direction, so it costs me 27,000 Avios and around £75 GBP in fees for myself, my husband, and my boy to fly back from Nice airport. Fees are slightly less on Economy seats, and if you fly off-peak, you save a few Avios too.
Fly For Free On British Airways
I usually book my flights for free on air miles and American Express Rewards, which convert directly to Avios (along with other airline miles). The free Amex Gold Card is an incredible deal with a huge free bonus of Membership Rewards and even more if you apply through our referral link. You also get limited free airport lounge access with this free card. You can apply for the UK & US card right here.
How To Get Unlimited Airport Lounge Access
For unlimited airport lounge access, you will need to apply for the Platinum card right here. With my referral link, you will get more Membership Rewards points.
Flight Expectations
My flights in Club Europe are consistently great. The air hostesses always welcome us on board with great warmth, they are immaculately made up, and I have no idea how they keep delivering those smiles all day and keep their makeup still looking good at 9:00 pm, but they do.
Cabins vary between the new, more densified cabins (with more seats squashed in) and the older, more spacious cabins with slightly more room. The decor is a Royal blue and light blue with grey tray tables. These cabin interiors are not new or special, but they seem clean and functional and not desperately worn like the cabin on my most recent and rather horrendous Easyjet flight.
European flights on British Airways tend to be on their Airbus A319, A320 & A321’s, and the experience is very similar as they all have the same layout, 2-2 in Business Class and 3-3 in Economy, with the main difference being whether the plane has been refurbished recently or not.
Row 1 is the best seat row in the cabin of the non-densified planes as all the seats have a wall in front of them and loads of legroom. On the refurbished BA planes, being in the front row means that you have people pushing past your legs during boarding, which isn’t ideal. This is a major problem if you are seated in row 1 to the left-hand side of the plane but is less of a problem to the right.
The front row is undoubtedly the best row to pick on the plane, with the best 4 seats because of the sheer amount of legroom. So seats A C D & F in row 1 are by far the best seats on this A320. On BA’s refurbished, densified short-haul planes, I would always opt for seats D & F in row 1 because of the problem of passing human traffic during boarding in seats A & C. That said, the seats themselves are all the same throughout the cabin, including the Coach seats at the back, with exactly the same width. By booking into the Business Class seats on the flight, nobody sits in the middle seat (it is converted to a table), so you have plenty of elbow room if you want to work.
This is a major reason for me to choose Club Europe over Economy. When you try and type on your computer in Economy, you are liable to knock your neighbor as these seats do not have a generous width. In Club, you can work your way through the flight. 2 hours of my time makes it worthwhile for me to upgrade, particularly if I upgrade on Avios air miles!
Food in Club Europe
The offering tends to depend on the time of day you are traveling. As I mainly travel in the afternoon and evening, I usually get their afternoon tea or evening meal, which are both very good. My last flight was an evening flight, and I enjoyed a salad to start with tomatoes and cheese on a bed of lettuce. It wasn’t great. The tomatoes were cherry ones and had a vague taste of tomato. The lettuce leaf was swimming in oil and floppy. The cheese didn’t taste of much at all.
The main was a choice between salmon or a mushroom something. I didn’t quite catch what the air hostess said, but not being a fan of mushrooms, I didn’t go for that.
The salmon was on a bed of lentils and was pretty tasty, with bits of tomato and other flavors in the lentil bit and broccoli and olives to the side. This came with a soft roll and a chocolate cheesecake, which was quite rich and filling, even though it was small. I tend to thoroughly enjoy my evening meal on British Airways.
Their afternoon tea offering is usually a selection of sandwiches and scones, which are also usually delicious. You can see more details of the afternoon tea in my flight reviews below.
British Airways Lounges
For me, a major reason to fly Club Europe is to get access to the British Airways airport lounges, which are very good when flying out of London Heathrow and London Gatwick. These are the same lounges that you get access to if you are flying in Club World (flying Premium Economy does not give you club lounge access).
Out of Heathrow you get access to the Heathrow Galleries Club South Lounge or the Galleries Club North. Out of Gatwick you get access to the British Airways Business Lounge. All three lounges are excellent and are used by travelers flying Club Europe and Club World. For me, the use of these lounges makes it worth flying Club Europe on outbound flights from London.
Below you will find our most recent flight reviews of British Airways European Business Class. You can draw your own conclusions.
British Airways European Business Class Reviews
Evening Flight Review: British Airways A319 Club Europe Business Class
There is something very disorientating about flying late at night in the dark. You look out of the window and into blackness with no idea where you are, particularly if you are on a British Airways flight without drop-down screens like the one I am currently flying on. As an aside, there are no charging points for your laptop on this A319, even in Club or Business Class, which is extremely frustrating because my laptop is hovering at about 10% battery life, and we are only halfway through the flight. Thankfully, my flight is not long. BA flies from Nice to Gatwick in around 2 hours.
Flight Review: British Airways A320 European Business Class From Gatwick
I regularly fly on British Airways out of London Heathrow to Nice, just have a read of my European British Airways Flight Reviews to find out what the Heathrow route is like, but today I flew from Gatwick. I actually prefer to fly out of Heathrow because I am a major fan of Heathrow Terminal 5 with its modern and impressive design and the glamorous facilities, all set inside a modern aircraft hanger-style building with glass sides and loads of structural detailing.
Horray! British Airways Afternoon Tea Scones Are Back!
I love a British Airways afternoon tea. Even when it’s not the greatest in flavor, it fills my stomach and passes the time on the flight. Well, my dear traveler, British Airways scones are officially back! On my last flight over to Nice on the 25th of October, I experienced the new and improved afternoon tea. After my hot towel and drinks, I chose diet coke and a sparkling water, which came with a small packet of almonds (a first on such a short-haul bA flight), the trolley arrived with my afternoon tea.
Flight Review: British Airways Business Class London Heathrow To Geneva
Yesterday, I flew from London to Geneva on a short-haul British Airways Airbus A319 in Business Class or Club Europe. I promised to review and feedback from my latest Club Europe flight regarding the afternoon tea scones situation. You see, British Airways cut back their Club Europe goodies more than a year ago, to the horror of short-haul British Airways passengers, but they are making a u-turn and re-introducing much of the goodies that had been taken off the menu. Due to make their return are the scones and clotted cream along with the individual bottles of wine.
Flight Review: British Airways B767 Business Class Nice To London Heathrow
In this trip report, I review British Airways B767 in Business Class, Nice to London Heathrow. Usually, when we fly between Nice and London, be it on the Gatwick or the Heathrow route, we fly in British Airways Business Class on the A231, which I have reviewed. Sometimes, British Airways also flies a larger, aging Boeing 767 built in 1994 on this route, and we flew on this on our return trip from a trip to Nice. On this flight, we were traveling in Club Europe in a cabin right at the front of the plane. The cabin was split into a Club Europe cabin at the front and an Economy cabin behind.
Flight Review: British Airways A231 Business Class Flight London Heathrow To Nice
Having reviewed my usual afternoon flight on the British Airways A231 from London Heathrow to Nice in Business Class on a previous occasion, I will keep this review short and sweet. The seat and the plane has not changed, although the Economy part of the cabin will change as BA continues to densify their planes. On this flight, the food and drink choices were different from my last flight although the experience remains similar). You can read all my other British Airways flight reviews in European Business Class.
Flight Review: British Airways European Business Class
In this trip report, I review my flight on British Airways in European Business Class from London Heathrow (LHR) to Nice Airport in France. I am very, very happy to report some good news. My flight from London Heathrow to Nice left at 1:55 pm in the afternoon on Saturday, 10th February. Pre-flight, I stopped by the British Airways Galleries Lounge at Heathrow Terminal 5. The flight left around 5 minutes late, but the jolly pilot was keen to share that we would make up the time en route. I was seated in 5F, which was the back window seat in the Club Europe cabin.
Flight Review: Club Europe Short Haul On British Airways
In this trip report, I review short-haul Club Europe or Business Class on my flight within Europe on an Airbus A320 from London Heathrow to Nice. British Airways offers a fairly consistent Business Class offering throughout Europe which means that whatever your destination within Europe is; if you are traveling in Club Europe; your experience will be similar to the below. The seating in BA Club Europe on their Airbus A320 is pretty tightly packed in a 2x2 arrangement in front of the BA Economy Class cabin.
Best Club Europe Seats On British Airways A320
From my experience, Club Europe or Business Class seats on European flights on the British Airways Airbus A319, A320 & A321 are the same in layout (as shown by the pictures below), with the best seats being the front seats across all three plane types. Equally, the best Club Europe seats on the Boeing 767-300 and the Embraer 170 and Embraer 190 are also at the front. On the British Airways Airbus A319, A320 & A321, the seats are set out in a 3-3 configuration at the front of the plane with the aisle in the middle.
Is British Airways Club Europe worth it?
I like to book Club Europe tickets on British Airways on my outward leg of flights out of London Heathrow. For my family, this is worth the expense, particularly if I buy the ticket on Avios miles, but less so if I am paying for the ticket with cash unless I spot a good British Airways Sale. The problem is that I don't travel enough on a single airline to make it worth flying Club Europe solely for tier points towards status, so I am purely paying for the pre-flight access to the British Airways lounges in Terminal 5, in-flight experience and extra seat space.
We’ve also reviewed a number of my British Airways First Class flights and British Airways Business Class flights. British Airways also features in our 5 best airlines to fly to Europe in Business Class.
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