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British airways' world traveller plus premium economy cabin: everything you need to know.

A look at the UK flag carrier's premium economy offering.

Today we will look at British Airways World Traveller Plus premium economy and see what it offers and if it is worth the extra money. While the concept of a premium economy cabin may sound relatively new, the idea of providing a nicer economy cabin has been around for just over 30 years. Taiwanese carrier EVA Air introduced premium economy seating on its Boeing 747-400s. Instead of calling it premium economy EVA Air called it "Evergreen Class."

EVA Air's upgraded economy seating did not go unnoticed by other airlines and was soon copied by the United Kingdom-based airline Virgin Atlantic in 1992. British Airways did not want to be outdone by a rival and created its premium economy product shortly afterward.

Premium economy allows you a free second suitcase

Before we talk more about British Airways World Traveller Plus premium economy, it's worth pointing out that "economy" is the key word here. While you may have a slightly bigger, more comfortable, reclining seat and extra legroom, it is in no way comparable to flying business class.

There are, however, advantages to flying premium economy over regular economy. The first is being able to check in a second suitcase for free. British Airways would charge extra for a second bag, which, in some cases, may result in the same total price as what it would cost you to book premium economy.

A friend recently flew on TAP Portugal from Miami to Lisbon and needed to bring two suitcases. When he saw what the Portuguese carrier wanted for the second piece of luggage, it was a no-brainer upgrading to premium economy as it was nearly the same price.

Wider seats and more legroom

British Airways premium economy passengers also get priority boarding which means you are in tier three, with first and business class passengers boarding first. British Airways' World Traveller Plus cabin is between business and economy classes and configured in a 2+4+2 layout.

It offers 18.5-inch seats with an 8% recline, which is great for sleeping but not so good if the person in front of you wants to recline fully, as it intrudes on your personal space. Each seat has individual charging points, and legroom is a generous 38 inches with a footrest. Each seat has a 10.6-inch inflight entertainment screen allowing you to watch hundreds of the latest movies and TV shows.

Want answers to more key questions in aviation? Check out the rest of our guides here !

WiFi is available on British Airways flights, but sadly even though you are flying in World Traveller Plus, you still have to pay for it. World Traveller Plus passengers also get noise-canceling headphones and an amenity kit. Unfortunately, the World Traveller Plus cabin has no restrooms, so you share the toilets with economy passengers.

Food and drinks

World Traveller Plus passengers are offered a welcome aboard drink: water, orange juice, or sparkling wine. Meals vary depending on the time of the day. If you are flying from New York to London, for example, flights are generally in the evening so you arrive in the UK early in the morning.

After taking off, the cabin crew comes round with the drink trolley, and then a little while later, the meal service begins. If you expect to get the kind of food served in business class, you will be disappointed as it is only marginally better than what is provided in economy. Later in the flight, before landing, a second meal service is given, which is more like a snack than a meal.

British Airways

Flight Review: British Airways World Traveller Economy Class from London to Houston

Departure Airport

Boarding is from gate A18. There is a short delay but this is well communicated by the gate staff. Various stages of priority boarding are applied. This begins with First Class and Emerald / Gold card holders, followed by Club World and Sapphire / Silver and finally Ruby / Bronze. After this, general boarding begins and there is no zonal approach for this. There is no priority boarding for families, elderly etc. The gate service is quite polite and efficient and despite the delay boarding is complete on-time.

Airplane & Cabin flown

Boeing 747-400 in Economy Class was at approximately 70% capacity. This aircraft is the renovated cabin with new seats and IFE.

Baggage Allowance

According to www.britishairways.com the free checked baggage allowance for a World Traveller standard fare is 1 bag (max. 23kg / 51lb per bag). Onboard, customers can take 1 handbag / laptop bag (max. 23kg / 51lb and up to 40x30x15cm / 16x12x6in) plus 1 additional cabin bag (max. 23kg / 51lb and up to 56x45x25cm / 22x18x10in).

The Economy Class Seat

The Economy Class seat has a 32-inch seat pitch and the living space feels comfortable without the forward seat reclined. The width is good and comfortable and there is also an adjustable headrest. The seat has a 9-inch PTV (widescreen) and integrated USB socket – there is no 110v socket for larger devices. The seat condition is satisfactory – the covers are clean with strong colours (e.g. not faded), there are some marks on the armrest and when I try to adjust the headrest it comes clean off the bracket – which is a surprise.

Cabin & Toilets

The cabin is clean on boarding. The seat covers are well presented, as are the carpets and these appear to have been renewed. The overhead bins and other cabin panels have not and as such not as presentable. There are 4 washrooms for the Economy Class cabin at the rear of the aircraft – these are clean on boarding but again, have older fixtures and fittings but are well presented.

The flight pushed back about 25-minutes late and departed 45-minutes behind schedule however, the captain mentioned that we should arrive with just a short delay into Houston.

Food & Drink

About 30-minutes after departure 2 carts enter the cabin – 1 per aisle and a bar service is offered. This offers a full range of beverages including beer, wine and spirits – as well as soft drinks, water and juices. I was intrigued by BAs recently introduced “Book the Cook” style service for Economy Class passengers and ordered the “Taste of Britain” option prior to the flight for 16 GBP. This is marketed as an upgraded dining experience and offers 6 options – Gourmet, Taste of Britain, Healthy, Asian, English Breakfast and Vegetarian meal trays. Having tried and been impressed by the service on BA’s sister airline Aer Lingus, I was keen to see how it matched-up. Unfortunately, despite reconfirming with BA customer service prior to the flight, the meal is not loaded.

I reported this to the cabin crew and they are quick to offer a meal from Club World. Whilst it was not what I ordered it was an obvious upgrade from the standard Economy Class fayre. Being fortunate enough to travel in Business Class on many trips, I was surprised by what British Airways is passing off as a long-haul premium catering nowadays. It tasted fine, but in my opinion, the presentation and quantity of food is pretty basic by business class standards of 2017.

For the second “meal” I was back to the standard Economy Class offer, and this is an afternoon tea snack box, which is quite nicely presented in a faux picnic hamper and miniature gingham rug. It contains half a coronation chicken sandwich and scone with jam and clotted cream – again, the quality of food is good but I cannot help but feel this is the bare minimum food for a 10-hour flight, particularly as BA has cut the free galley snacks. However, one can purchase a cinema priced bag of sweets from the cabin staff.

Entertainment

This Boeing 747-400 offers personal AVOD IFE at each seat with a 9-inch screen. The programming selection is extensive – not only in terms of Hollywood / British movies but there are also a vast range of foreign language options. TV programming is also wide ranging with a number of boxset options of the most popular US / TV series. Headsets are the in-ear type and given complimentary.

Pillows and blankets are available on each seat prior to boarding and the quality is meeting a satisfactory standard – there is no comfort pack (eye mask etc). There is standard pipe soap in the washroom.

Staff Service

I was quite happy with the staff service overall, and the crew were quite cheerful and polite. They respond very quickly to my missing meal order and said they had reported the issue. In fairness, I was refunded without having to chase up customer service, which I was surprised about. Outside of the main services they did tend to stick to the galley, so for any additional drinks you had to fetch them yourself. As the flight wasn’t too busy this was fine as it was easy to move in and out of my window seat. It was an above average experience in terms of the crew interaction, but it was just a shame there wasn’t a bit more of it.

Arrival Service

Upon arrival into Houston, there is the usual throng of ground staff with wheelchairs that are an inevitable presence for any US arrival nowadays. Once past this, it was a short walk to immigration which took about 20-minutes – bags have started to arrive as I reach baggage claim and my own luggage comes out less than 5-minutes after this.

Overall, the missing meal order aside, the flight experience wasn’t bad. The staff dealt with this issue well. They were very apologetic and as it turned out, their internal reporting system meant that I didn’t have to again deal with the BA call centre, which I found the experience to be consistently poor leading up to this trip.

I like the Heathrow Terminal 5 experience – it is nearly always efficient for departure which is my main concern.

In terms of the aircraft, I am a fan of the Boeing 747-400 and it is always a treat (albeit quite rare) to come across one nowadays. It is nice that the seats and IFE have been upgraded but there are certainly areas where the aircraft is showing its age.

Having travelled with many of the transatlantic majors in the last 12 months, British Airways Economy Class catering is pretty average in terms of the quantity and quality is fine. For those that partake, it is nice that one can still get a decent gin and tonic without being charged extra, but it remains to be seen if BA will remove this perk in the future!

In terms of value for money, I just fail to see it any more with the fares that British Airways charge. They have almost cut back to the bare essentials in Economy Class and aside from the IFE / bar product, everything is average or below. The fare was north of 750GBP return from a travel agent. From BA, it was more than 1000GBP. This was not, by any means a last-minute reservation (6 weeks in advance). I didn’t get my original afternoon flight (on the newer Boeing 787) as it was cancelled and I was moved to a less sociable early morning departure. For this I received a standard copy / paste non-apology from BA stating they had fulfilled their T&Cs – despite the inconvenience to me. It was a disappointingly poor, non caring response.

Ranked as a 4-Star Airline, the continuing cuts to British Airways business and economy class product standards makes their rating look unsustainable. The BA staff service is about the only saving grace at this time, but morale seems to be dropping there as well.

This flight report is based on fully paid tickets, not airline discounted or complimentary tickets.

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Refreshed but with room for refinement: A review of British Airways World Traveller Plus on the refurbished 777

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here .

[tpg_rating tpg-rating-score="74" ground-experience="7" cabin-seat="23" amens-ife="27" food-bev="12" service="5" pros="New fabrics, fantastic bedding and a huge inflight-entertainment selection." cons="Limited foot space, disappointing second meal and awkward service flows." /]

A lot of excitement in British Airways' 100th year has centered around its new Airbus A350 aircraft with the long overdue and highly publicized new Club Suite business-class product. BA has a huge task ahead to install this seat in more than 100 existing wide-body aircraft, a process that will take years.

The very first of the existing aircraft to complete the refurbishment was a Boeing 777-200, which was then assigned on the prized route from London Heathrow (LHR) to New York JFK. I got to try Club Suite on this aircraft , so I also wanted to try out the World Traveller Plus (premium economy) service. Having heard whispers this cabin was also receiving a refresh, I wondered: How would the product compare to other BA WTP flights?

World Traveller Plus flights between London and New York can be a great use of Avios, with one-way redemptions costing 26,000 Avios per person on off-peak days plus about $400 in fees, taxes and surcharges.

We ended up paying the charges using the Platinum Card® from American Express, which earned 5x Membership Rewards points per dollar spent on airfare when booked directly with the airline and with American Express Travel. And with BA as a transfer partner of both American Express Membership Rewards and Chase Ultimate Rewards , it's easy to amass the points required to book flights. Plus, there are often lucrative transfer bonuses between one (or both) of the programs and British Airways, meaning you'd need even fewer points to score an award.

[flight_stats ticket-class="econ" review-stat-section="Ground Experience" tpg-rating="7" tpg-rating-max="10" tail="G-RAES" age="22" departure="12" departure-2="10" duration="7" duration-2="02" live-tv="0" tailcam="0" headphones="0" comp-alcohol="0" extra-pillows="0" turndown-service="0" /]

I arrived at Heathrow Terminal 5, the home of British Airways, around two hours before departure.

Having checked in online but still needing a boarding pass, I tried out the check-in kiosks.

These were efficient, and I had my boarding pass in no time. I headed through Terminal 5 security, which despite the terminal being busy, was quick and efficient. I have never waited more than five minutes at any London airport security in my several years of living there.

From there, it was downstairs to find my gate. No lounge access is included with a World Traveller Plus ticket without any airline status, so I wandered around the terminal itself. The gate areas in the A Pier were heaving on a Thursday morning.

My flight was departing from the B gates, so I headed underground to take the transit train.

The B gates had more seating, though there were no power outlets at each seat.

Shortly after I arrived at the gate, around 60 minutes before scheduled departure, an announcement was made that boarding would be delayed around one hour due to an engineering issue.

Passengers in Club and First cabins were invited to return to the BA lounge in Terminal 5, but with no lounge for me, I decided to just stay at the gate and get some work done.

Despite the supposed hour's delay, boarding was delayed only 30 minutes, and I hoped we might even make up the time in the air for an on-time arrival into JFK.

Boarding was strictly maintained by group numbers. Groups 1 and 2 were boarded before me, and I was one of the first Group 3 members to board.

Other than the slight boarding delay, it was a civilized and organized ground experience and boarding process.

[flight_stats ticket-class="econ" review-stat-section="Cabin and Seat" tpg-rating="23" tpg-rating-max="30" configuration="2" configuration-2="4" configuration-3="2" width="18.5" pitch="38" tray="14" tray-2="16" lavs="4" live-tv="0" tailcam="0" headphones="0" comp-alcohol="0" extra-pillows="0" turndown-service="0" /]

I walked through the huge Club Suite cabins, which took up around half the aircraft, and then made it to the World Traveller Plus cabin behind it.

This was laid out in a 2-4-2 configuration. I was excited to see the seat fabrics were brand-new following the refurbishment, and the navy blue color looked smart.

The cabin was completely full on my flight, and with only a few seating options, I chose an aisle seat midway back in the cabin.

On closer inspection, I was disappointed to see that the refurbishment of the seats appeared to start and finish with the seat fabric. The casing of the seat had not been refreshed and was scuffed and dented. The IFE screens were also evidently previous-generation, as the buttons were quite faded.

Legroom was definitely a step above economy, and I liked the adjustable footrest.

The problem was there was very limited foot space under the seat in front of me. I do have big feet, but there was little room to fit these under what I expected would be a spacious seat.

There were two seat power sources to share between my seat neighbor and me.

There was a bifold tray table, which in upright position was able to accommodate my 13-inch laptop easily.

The recline of the seat was good, and I was able to fit in a comfortable, quick nap. Note that the seats recline deeply an abruptly: Both my seat neighbor and I were startled when the people in front of us reclined their seats.

The passenger in front of me was restless during the flight, and the seat shook significantly each time he tossed and turned. I could just manage to do some work on my laptop when the seat in front was fully reclined, though my concentration was interrupted numerous times when the seat in front wobbled and rattled because of the passenger's movements.

Although boarding commenced around 30 minutes late, we ended up departing almost an hour late, as the secondary screening for those with a dreaded 'SSSS' on their boarding pass was not set up properly at our gate at boarding time (perhaps because the delay in boarding ended up being far less than expected), so there were still passengers trickling on board well after I thought boarding had been completed.

With the Club Suite cabin taking up so much of the aircraft, the 777-200 featured a surprisingly small single World Traveller (economy) cabin in a tight 3-4-3 configuration -- this was the entire economy cabin.

There were no bathrooms dedicated to the WTP cabin. There was a pair of bathrooms at the back of our cabin shared between both cabins, though they were marked as out of order from boarding until several hours into the flight before a crew member noticed the stickers, checked the bathrooms and decided they were serviceable.

There was a curtain separating the premium and economy cabins, though this wasn't closed until halfway through the flight, which added to the feeling that there was little differentiation between the World Traveller Plus and World Traveller cabins.

[flight_stats ticket-class="econ" review-stat-section="Amenities and IFE" tpg-rating="27" tpg-rating-max="30" screen="12" live-tv="No" tailcam="No" wifi="5.7" wifi-2="0.36" headphones="Yes" comp-alcohol="0" extra-pillows="0" turndown-service="0" /]

This was the area where the flight really shone. I arrived to find several goodies waiting for me on my seat.

First was a plush, decent-sized pillow, which would not have looked out of place in business class.

There was a matching blanket, which was plush and large. Both had a really cool blue-and-white striped design that was fresh and stylish.

There was also a matching amenity kit in the same fun design, and headphones.

The headphones, while not noise-canceling, were of good quality and produced good sound. There was also the standard inflight magazine, duty-free magazine and sick bag in the seatback pocket.

While the IFE screens had not received an upgrade in the refurbishment, there were still hundreds of movies and TV shows to choose from. I certainly didn't get bored!

Though the flight map was fairly basic, considering the plane had just been refurbished.

The selections could be navigated by remote control.

Bathrooms were a good size and pretty standard, though I noticed that the mirrors were filthy, even at the start of the flight.

Wi-Fi was available shortly after takeoff and had good speeds: I was able to get quite a bit of work done on the flight.

[flight_stats ticket-class="econ" review-stat-section="Food and Beverage" tpg-rating="12" tpg-rating-max="20" live-tv="0" tailcam="0" headphones="0" comp-meal="2" meals-purchase="No" comp-alcohol="Yes" extra-pillows="0" turndown-service="0" /]

During the boarding process, poured drinks were offered from a tray. The cabin crew said they had "water, juice or Champagne." This immediately struck me as odd, because I didn't think BA served actual Champagne in World Traveller Plus (few airlines do). This is nitpicking, but if it were prosecco or English sparkling wine the crew member really should have described it as such. In any case, it wasn't very cold.

With an 11:20 a.m. departure, I expected a full lunch service followed by an afternoon tea meal shortly before landing, like I had experienced on other carriers on the same route, albeit with slightly later departure times.

As expected, lunch was served shortly after takeoff, beginning with a drinks service. All passengers were offered a premeal drink (a Bloody Mary for me) and asked to select wine for their meal. I asked for a white wine and was told there was only a sauvignon blanc. This was served with sour cream-and-chive pretzels.

There were three entrees. I would normally go for beef but decided to mix it up and selected a Thai prawn green curry.

BA serves World Traveller Plus meals still with the plastic and foil on top of containers. This really affects the presentation, and I wish they would tidy up the tray before handing it to the passengers ( Virgin Atlantic does the same thing).

This is the difference five seconds of tidying would make:

One of the big selling points of British Airways World Traveller Plus catering is that the entree is from the Club World kitchen, meaning you can expect a business-class main course. Unfortunately, while Club Suite passengers on this flight received meals plated in the galley, the same could not be said for WTP meals, which were reheated in the same dishes they were loaded onto the plane in.

This resulted in a fairly unappetizing-looking dish that tasted OK but was dried out around the edges because of the reheating.

I did like the starter, a goat cheese, orange and beetroot tartare. The goat cheese especially was a premium and refined touch. The cookie-dough cheesecake for dessert was also decent and got me ready to be in New York City.

Midflight, a small ice cream was served.

It was already pretty cracked when I opened it.

Around 90 minutes before landing, a second meal was served. I was expecting some sort of afternoon tea like on other flights to New York, but it was a lonely pizza, with tea or coffee offered this time.

While the main dish from lunch was promised "from the Club World kitchen," this was about as economy as it got.

The taste was decent, better than a frozen supermarket pizza and dense enough that it at least filled me up. I found the switch from proper china at lunch to paper cups for the second meal to be strange.

[flight_stats ticket-class="econ" review-stat-section="Service" tpg-rating="5" tpg-rating-max="10" live-tv="0" tailcam="0" headphones="0" comp-alcohol="0" extra-pillows="No" turndown-service="No" blurb="Delays and disruptions made for an uneven service flown that was little different from economy." /]

The crew on my flight were well-intentioned, but there were several frustrating elements to the flight. As the crew began serving lunch, they asked us both what we would like to drink at that moment and whether we wanted wine with our meal. I chose a Bloody Mary cocktail to start with and then white wine with my meal. This was both served to me before any food was. While that would ordinarily be fine, we then hit some turbulence, meaning the service was suspended for around 30 minutes.

This threw the entire service flow off. Most passengers drank their wine for their meal during the turbulence, and by the time their main courses were served, they had no wine left. The crew did not realize such a long delay would result in empty glasses, and, firstly, didn't both offer more wine when the meals were finally served (seeing glasses were empty), and, secondly, didn't offer any more drinks during the meal service at all.

While we were provided with coffee cups with our meal tray, the crew seemed so flustered that they completely forgot to serve any tea or coffee with lunch.

On this route that I've flown several times, I'm used to a full meal service shortly after takeoff and a lighter meal just before descent. The full lunch was served after takeoff as expected, but then midflight a single (mini) ice cream was served despite us having been served a normal dessert just a few hours earlier. I was confused why I was served two desserts so close together and initially thought that may be the entire second meal. But then around 90 minutes before landing, the crew came through a third time with a pizza, which, while filling because of its carby goodness, was not a patch on the afternoon tea usually served in World Traveller Plus on these flights.

There didn't appear to be any crew members dedicated to the World Traveller Plus cabin -- we were served first, but the same crew members then rolled down to World Traveller and served them. This added to the feeling there was little differentiation between the two cabins.

Overall impression

Given the huge improvement to the business-class cabin on this aircraft, I was hoping for more of an improvement in the World Traveller Plus cabin refresh. While new seat fabrics are nice on a 22-year-old aircraft, this was a pretty middle-of-the-road experience.

I appreciated the extra legroom and recline, and the awesome bedding was a lovely surprise, but this was far from a perfect flight. The lack of any real separation between the World Traveller and World Traveller Plus cabins was symbolic for the flight: While the premium cabin was served first, it felt fairly economy from start to finish. There wasn't much room for my (big) feet next to the bulky IFE box, and the turbulence with a full cabin seemed to upset the service flow, as things were simply forgotten.

The second meal service was strange: two very light and decidedly economy snacks served separately rather than a proper afternoon tea service.

This aircraft is more than two decades old, as are many flying BA's most profitable route, but in the future I'll be looking for a more modern aircraft where possible.

All photos by the author.

Review: British Airways 747-400 World Traveller Plus (Premium Economy)

I have to admit, i really enjoyed world traveller plus (premium economy) on british airways. on a daytime flight, it is a nice hybrid between economy and business class..

My day began in Istanbul with a business class flight to London. After a six hour layover, I was anxious to board my nonstop flight home to Los Angeles. I booked using Avios, at a cost of 49,500 Avios and $269.61 for both segments. The LHR-LAX segment was 32,500 Avios alone, though I had taken advantage of a 40% transfer bonus from American Express Membership Rewards, effectively brining the price to about 23,000 AMEX points.

My flight departed from Heathrow Terminal 5 and I was elated to find that my aircraft featured the classic BOAC livery. Boarding began late, but I finagled my way toward the front of the boarding queue so I could have a few moments to take pictures onboard before the cabin filled up.

British Airways 269 London (LHR) – Los Angeles (LAX) Tuesday, October 01 Depart: 04:15 PM Arrive: 07:20 PM Duration: 11hr, 05min Aircraft: Boeing 747-400 Seat: 36G (“World Traveller Plus” Premium Economy Class)

Onboard, I was warmly welcomed by the purser and directed to my seat. Two flight attendants waiting in the cabin also greeted me. The crew turned out to be remarkable on this flight.

British Airways World Traveller Plus Seating

The premium economy cabin featured three rows of eights seats across in a 2-4-2 configuration. Legroom is 38 inches and seat width is 18.5 inches, 1.5 inches more than economy and 1.5 inches less than “Club World” business class. The seats have footrests. In the first row (34) they extend form the seat itself. In rows 35-36, they fold down from the seat in front. I don’t care for these type of footrests and did not use mine.

Seat recline was adjustable via manual buttons below the armrest. An IFE remote control was also present there. Power ports were located in-between seats. Even in row 36 the seats fully recline.

BA’s 747s feature the older World Traveller Plus seats, cloth-covered and a bit better padded than the new(er) seats found on the 787 and A350. I found the seat well-padded and frankly very comfortable for the journey. I ended up snoozing for several hours and while it simply cannot compare to a lie-flat, I found it immensely better than economy class, which I’ve also reviewed here .

British Airways recently updated its soft product in World Traveller Plus. One of the upgrades was better bedding and pillows. Indeed, the blanket was better than what some airlines offer in business class and the pillow was plush and nicely sized.

Being an older 747, overhead bin space is limited, as the compartments are not meant for larger rollerboard bags.

British Airways World Traveller Plus IFE + Wi-Fi

Last time I flew the BA 747 was in first class and the IFE was woefully outdated. Since then, BA has updated its IFE to a new system with a higher resolution and instant response via touchscreen. A modern IFE system makes the flight so much more enjoyable and I enjoyed a couple movies including Anna and 100 Dinge (things), a thought-provoking German movie about consumption. Games, audio, and TV programming was also available as well as a moving flight map.

I was not expecting wi-fi, but it was also available and worked well. Pricing was not exactly cheap, but the signal was strong enough for me to have (discreet) phone calls over FaceTime audio and stay on top of email.

Noise-cancelling headphones were acceptable, though not excellent. They appear to be the same ones that BA uses in business class and are a big upgrade over the disposable ones in economy class.

British Airways World Traveller Plus Dining

Sparkling wine (a £ 6.00 bottle of  Prospero Brut  available at Tesco )  was offered prior to takeoff in glasses.

Shortly after takeoff, menus were distributed. Today’s selection included three choices:

• Braised British beef
• Prawn Thai green curry
• Autumn pumpkin and parsnip hotpot

Meal service began with drinks, a bag of pretzels, and a hot towel. One of the flight attendants recommended I try the red wine, remarking that it was “actually very good”. Since I planned to order the beef option, I took him up on his offer. The Vina Albali Cabernet Sauvignon 2018 sells for about £4 .00/bottle, but I found it to be perfectly acceptable.

Meals are now served on porcelain, though arrived wrapped in foil.

The plate contained a beet salad, crackers and cheese, cake, and a warm bread roll.

As always seems to be the case on British Airways, the main course looked like a cafeteria-style dish, but tasted good. The beef was tender and the vegetables flavored nicely by the chasseur sauce.

I awoke from my nap just in time for ice cream service, served about halfway through the flight. The Magnum ice cream bar may not have been healthy, but it hit the spot.

About an hour later, a snackbox was served. It included a potato chips, popcorn, and a Twix chocolate bar.

Finally, about 90 minutes before landing a pre-arrival dinner was offered. The choices were chicken tikka masala or conchiglie pasta with mushrooms and sweet red peppers. I opted for the pasta and found it even tastier than teh first meal. It was served with bread and a packaged banana loaf.

I was (pleasantly) surprised by the amount of food offered onboard British Airways in World Traveller Plus. You won’t go hungry in this cabin.

British Airways Premium Economy Amenity Kit

A stylish amenity kit was distributed before takeoff which included:

• Toothbrush + toothpaste

British Airways Premium Economy Lavatory

The lavatory was a bit grimy and certainly showing its age, but stayed clean for the duration of the flight. No extra amenities were offered.

British Airways World Traveller Plus Service

Lastly, a warm shoutout to the crew onboard. The crew was lovely; very professional and yet very friendly. They were attentive too, with frequent checks on the cabin and proactive offers for beverage refills. This was not a “mixed fleet” crew as most had more than 15-20 years of experience as a BA flight attendant.

A particular shoutout to Gail, who worked my side of the aisle and could not have been friendlier. I appreciate that this crew took time to engage with the guests onboard: it was clear they were not just going through the motions. A good-natured crew makes any flight a better flight.

When I boarded, I found my tray table was broken. Gail took it very seriously and immediately found a maintenance worker who was fixing a seat cushion in economy class. It took just a few moments for him to tighten up the screws and solve the issue.

We landed at LAX ahead of schedule and I was soon in my car heading home. I’ve now flown British Airways in all four cabins (first, business, premium economy, and economy) and quite honestly have had pleasant experiences across the board. I will not hesitate to fly British Airways again or recommend it to others. The high award fees in premium cabins are a huge disincentive to fly on BA when redeeming miles, but expect a good flight if you do end up on BA.

> Read More: Lufthansa Premium Economy Review > Read More: United Premium Economy Review

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About author.

Matthew Klint

Matthew is an avid traveler who calls Los Angeles home. Each year he travels more than 200,000 miles by air and has visited more than 135 countries. Working both in the aviation industry and as a travel consultant, Matthew has been featured in major media outlets around the world and uses his Live and Let's Fly blog to share the latest news in the airline industry, commentary on frequent flyer programs, and detailed reports of his worldwide travel.

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13 comments.

“the signal was strong enough for me to have (discreet) phone calls over FaceTime audio”

I can promise you, that unless the cabin was empty, they were not discreet and probably annoyed at least someone.

I just don’t understand the need.

Completely agree. They also usually say that voice calls are prohibited. It’s a shame to hear the flight attendants aren’t enforcing this.

The decay of social etiquette continues.

Matthew, I am waiting for you to do a one month challenge in eating only the more exotic dishes served on planes. You are funny with your predictable ordering of meat or pasta. Next time go Chicken Tikka Masala!

Especially after encouraging airlines to add more Indian dishes!

Sorry, but my journey from Denver to London in a 23 year old 747 was an utter nightmare! Grubby, shoddy and poorly delivered premium service. I wish I’d flown in economy and not been robbed and insulted by the worst flight in my life.

Voice calls are not permitted on board. Frankly this is disappointing coming from someone who has posted before about passenger shaming.

That only works if someone else is supposed to be shamed lol

It would be interesting to have you fly more premium economy and/or at least rank the ones you have flown so far.

Wow! After several years of headline making horror stories (for example, inedible meals, cuts to meal service, urine soaked seat cushions & multiple incidents of passengers arriving at their destination bitten by bedbugs) and many bloggers bemoaning BA’s slide towards another era where “BA” was short for “Bloody Awful” (as it was back in the day before Lord King & Sir Colin Marshall reshaped into the self-proclaimed, but well deserved slogan, as the “World’s Favourite Airline” in the late 1980s & into the ‘90s), it’s nice to see BA once again offering a quality product that’s more like its award winning era as the “World’s Favourite Airline” than when its service was so awful most derisively referred to it as “Bloody Awful”!

Here’s hoping this “upgraded & improved” version of BA is with us for the long-haul! 🙂

The older Premium Economy seats on BA were wider, and there were individual reading lights, which I loved. I’ve been fly6this class for about 10-12 years, and I have found that the seats are getting smaller and closer. It’s not nearly as good of a deal as it used to be.

Great review!

Two “addendums” (if you will):

1.) Assuming you were aboard BA’s “Super High ‘J’” 747-400 (based on the photos seen in your post above), I’m pretty sure the configuration for WTP cabin varies slightly from the “three rows of eight seats across in a 2-4-2 configuration” (for a total of 24 seats in WTP/PE class) as follows:

a.) four rows for the “A/B” left side window/aisle pair and the center four “D/E/F/G” grouped seats

– and –

b.) three rows of seats for “J/K” right side window/aisle pair

– For a total of 30 seat in WTP/PE;

2.) With your seat, 36G, adjacent/across the aisle from a lavatory, and directly in front of a galley separating WTP from the Main Cabin, were there any negatives being in close proximity to either the loo or the galley?

Just wondering?

Personally, I can’t see the appeal of 2-4-2 seating in Club World over 3-4-3 in regular economy class. There’s no way I’d be forking out extra cash and risk running being sested in the two middle seats at the centre of the Club World cabin. It would feel just like World Traveller, regardless of the “enhanced” soft product…

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British Airways World Traveller Plus Review: Is it Worth It?

By: Author Amanda OBrien

Posted on Last updated: 19/03/2024

In 2017 I flew premium economy with Qantas Sydney to Hong Kong return. It was a fantastic experience.

In fact, it was so good it made me question if I could really justify the extra amount to fly business class if it wasn’t an Australia – Europe/US flight.

So when was looking at flying from London to New York – and then Los Angeles to London return – I thought I would give British Airways World Traveller Plus a shot. Which I did back in 2018 and I recently flew with British Airways World Traveller Plus post-Covid in 2022.

I’m going to kick off with an update from 2022 when I flew from Portland to London Heathrow with British Airways in premium economy. My older review involved flying out of London Heathrow so it has quite a bit of information on checking in at Heathrow etc.

⇒ Click here for Prices and Deals on British Airways

British Airways World Traveller Plus 2022 update

After a long break flying with British Airways in World Traveller Plus I signed up again to try them out in July of 2022. I was flying from London to Washington DC, and then home to London out of Portland. I received an offer that was too good to refuse to upgrade to business class on the flight from Heathrow to Washington DC. This review update covers the Portland to London Heathrow leg in premium economy.

I somehow managed to end up on British Airways’s first (not sure if this is the first ever flight but it was certainly the first for a while) direct flight out of Portland to Heathrow. Everyone was in a great mood and there was even cake and sandwiches at the boarding gate for everyone!

As such, we had a very nice new 787 that I believe was a Dreamliner. Few things make me happier than realizing that I am on a relatively new plane as it always means a huge improvement in the premium economy experience.

When I mentioned to the crew that Virgin Atlantic offers its premium economy passengers prosecco the attendant even went and got me a glass of champagne from business class! As I said, all were in a joyous mood.

To be honest, not a lot has changed since the last time I flew World Traveller Plus with British Airways. The 787 I was on had only three rows of premium economy seats. I quite liked this as it normally means faster service and I feel more of a sense of space when the area is smaller. The seat layout was 2-3-2.

I had booked in my window seat when I booked the flight as I always do on overnight flights (I find it worth it to pay a bit extra at booking to achieve this).

One thing that has improved is the quality of the headphones in premium economy which are now noise cancelling. Also, the quality of the food on offer has improved. I enjoyed a very nice steak.

The Dreamliner 787 also has new touch-operated window screens and better cabin pressurization. If you are able to choose your flight and can see the different planes available, I suggest checking to find the Dreamliner 787 option for world traveller plus as it is definitely a step above premium economy on some of BA’s other planes.

British Airways World Traveller Plus Review (2017): Online Check-In

Unfortunately, things with British Airways World Traveler plus did not get off to a good start. Two days before my flight I went on to the British Airways app and was able to reserve one of the aisles British Airways Premium Economy seats – great.

The next day, when I went to actually check in online I was told that my passport number was wrong and that I wasn’t able to check in.

I then had issues with my uber so only arrived at the airport 90 minutes before my British Airways flight.

British Airways Premium Economy: Bag Drop and issues arise

I went and used the check-in machine for my premium economy British Airways flight and my seat had changed to a window – which was good news for me. Then I went to the desk for bag drop.

When the attendant is on the phone for some time when all you do is drop your bag, it is not a good sign. I was told by the attendant that I had been “sneaky” taking the window seat.

I was quite annoyed by this and asked how could I be sneaky when the app had done this for me. I was then told that they had overbooked business class and that seat had been meant for someone who was being downgraded to premium economy on British Airways – which meant they now wanted to move me to British Airways economy class.

I was so annoyed. It really makes me furious when airlines do this. Or should I say when British Airways do this as they are the only airline that has tried to bump me from flights several times due to overbooking.

In what other industry would an organization take your money ahead of time and then when you turned up to experience that service be told that you couldn’t as they had overbooked – and that apparently this was fine?

It is a major problem as a solo traveler as we are at the top of the list when it comes to who gets bumped first when it comes to air travel.

A British Airways staff member once told me that the safest people were those also flying with British Airways from a connecting airport eg Manchester to London and then on to say NY, followed by groups, followed by families and then by couples.

Only the male solo traveler is worse off than the female solo traveler. My annoyance was greater as I had injured my ankle in Nepal earlier that year and absolutely could not have sat in an economy seat for several hours without problems.

Luckily I had a letter from my doctor with me (I had it in case my ankle got worse and I needed medical treatment) so I was able to produce this and say I had to stay in British Air premium economy.

I ended up in British Airways Economy Plus but not without quite a bit of undue stress and frustration. This experience alone has been enough to really put me off flying with British Airways.

I do find it outrageous that you can be potentially bumped like this – and that the staff always seem to act like this is of no consequence and why are you getting upset? OK rant over!

British Airways Premium Economy Review: Getting to the Gate

Anyway, the flight was then at Gate A10 at Terminal 5, which means a very long bus trip. I thought we were driving to New York.

BA World Traveller Plus also means no lounge access and no priority seating.

British Airways World Traveller Plus Review: The plane and the seats

The British Airways World Traveller Plus 777 plane was a little old and compared to Qantas it felt a lot less spacious. The seat layout was 4 in the middle and 2 on each side.

I was on the side thank goodness. I would have been very unhappy to have paid for premium economy and to have had one of the extreme middle seats.

I often wonder who ends up in these seats – are they the people that don’t make sure they do early online check-in? Or maybe they are more tolerant than me.

BA World Traveller Plus Review: In-flight amenities

British Airways Premium Economy 747 has good quality headphones which were nice. The British Airways premium economy product also does have a very good in-flight entertainment system.

The British Airways Premium Economy in-flight amenity kit was not bad – socks, eye mask, earplugs, toothbrush and a pen. Great idea to have a pen as everyone needs one on a flight.

There is a lot of legroom and the seats are comfortable on the British Airways 787 Premium Economy flight. I was also pleased to see that there were 2 USB ports in the seat ahead and then 2 power points between the seats.

The food was a big positive for this World Traveller plus review 777 writer. It did feel like an upgrade from economy. We were also offered a lovely glass of sparkling wine before take-off.

Premium Economy British Airways Review: Some Positives

One of my favourite features of British Airways premium economy 777 is that they have a very useful brochure which explains all the features and benefits of the world traveler plus seat – this is such a good idea.

Every premium economy and business class seat is different and you don’t want to miss out when good features can be used.

There was also a good-sized storage locker next to the window which was handy – another reason trying to get the window seat is one of my top tips.

World Traveller vs World Traveller Plus

In March 2018 British Airways made major upgrades to its World Traveller and British Airways Premium Economy 777 cabins at Gatwick on their Boeing 777s.

Both cabins have had their entertainment screens increased by 50% in size. I’m looking forward to checking out the new six-way headrest.

Interestingly these new planes will feature a considerable increase in the number of World Traveller Plus seats – coming from a reduction in Club World. Premium Economy is on the rise.

So what about the rest of the fleet? World Traveller Plus is a major improvement on World Traveller, which doesn’t offer the best seats. Also, there are few opportunities to upgrade within World Traveller – apart from the exit rows.

If you have a long flight or an overnight flight I think the upgrade cost is absolutely worth it.

Upgrading to British Airways Club World

Theoretically, being in BA World Traveller Plus means it is easier/more likely that you can be upgraded to Club World. BA does offer paid opportunities for upgrades but not all the time – and not necessarily at the best prices.

The best way to check if this is an option for your flight is to visit the Manage My Booking page. The price generally varies between 400 and 700 GBPs.

For frequent flyers, Avios points are a good option for upgrading – or combining Avios points with payment. It is not normally the best use of Avios to upgrade (they tend to be their most effective for less-visited longer trips in economy class in my experience) but it is a good option.

Finally, if you are a frequent flyer and flying World Traveller Plus there is a greater opportunity for an upgrade. This will most likely happen when World Traveller Plus has been booked out and business class has seats.

British Airways Premium Economy: The Verdict

Overall, the seat itself is the key difference between world traveller and world traveller plus on British Airways.

On Qantas and other airlines, there does feel like there is more of a difference between the two cabins – particularly when it comes to service.

I was flying with British Airways when they were having extensive problems as an airline so it could not have been fun to be working for them at that time.

However, I am paying the extra and in my view, I do expect a slightly better service. I would hesitate to take British Airways Premium Economy again – mostly driven by nearly being downgraded to economy.

I don’t want to have to worry about this when I am headed to Heathrow. I, of course, would fly with them if there was a good enough deal, but they have certainly moved down my list after this experience.

Here is BA’s full rundown on their premium economy offer and The Telegraph’s Comparisons of Premium Economy Offers including British Airways Premium Economy Reviews

⇒ Prices and Deals on British Airways

British Airways World Traveller Plus Frequently Asked Questions

What class is world traveller plus on ba.

World traveller plus on British Airways is premium economy. This is a class between economy and business class.

Do you get lounge access with British Airways World Traveller Plus?

No, you do not get lounge access with a British Airways World Traveller Plus ticket.

Does World Traveller Plus on British Airways get priority boarding?

Yes, World Traveller Plus travelers on British Airways get priority boarding and check-in.

Does World Traveller Plus on British Airways get to use the fast track queue for security?

No, World Traveller Plus customers on British Airways do not get to use the fast track queue for security.

How wide are the World Traveller Plus British Airways seats?

The seats in British Airways World Traveller Plus generally have a 38 inch pitch and are 18.5 inches wide. The seats are 1 inch wider than economy and the pitch is 7 inches greater than economy.

Booking Flights:

I use Skyscanner for all my flights – from economy through to business – click here to Check out SkyScanner 

Boutique Hotels in London

Artist Residence is located in Pimlico which is fabulously central. It is in a gorgeous 5 store regency building and has a cute bar.

⇒ Read reviews on TripAdvisor ⇒ Book Now

The Portobello Hotel is located in one of London’s best known and cutest neighbourhoods Notting Hill. This is also the hotel where Kate Moss and Johnny Depp filled up the bath with champagne.

The hotel is located on a quiet street but is a great location.

The Great Northern Hotel is ridiculously close to Kings Cross and St Pancras stations which is incredibly convenient. The hotel dates back to 1854 but has had a major refurb so it feels fresh and modern.

The Hoxton hotel is in the heart of East London in Shoreditch and is a perfect base for exploration. The rooms aren’t huge but the location makes up for it – as does the great value for London with rooms starting at £99 a night.

Who Paid for What in this British Airways World Traveller Plus Post

I covered the cost of my flights on British Airways Premium Economy. This post on British Airways world traveller plus contains affiliate links. That means if you click on them and end up making a purchase on that website I will receive a small commission. I wanted to make sure you were aware of this.

READ NEXT: American Airlines PREMIUM ECONOMY REVIEW

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Amanda O’Brien is the creator and editor of The Boutique Adventurer. She has visited 80 countries and is a member of the British Guild of Travel Writers as well as the IFTWTA. She is passionate about wine had has just completed Level 3 of the WSET. Born in Australia, she lives in London.

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Journeying John

Sunday 5th of March 2023

Glad your food was ok and an upgrade but I have to reportthe reverse, bith in and oit of India, there was no choice and what was actually served was worse than mkat carriers economy meals. As for BA's IT systems and contempt for customers who habe paid for a service they don't recieve. Your experience is far from unique and I wonder if you would ever have got any form of compensation had you not had the ankle injury. BA or the UK brand of IAG are #BestAvoided today.

Amanda OBrien

Wednesday 15th of March 2023

I doubt it on the compensation front John! Luckily BA seems to be getting better but I am still nervous about being kicked off flights when I am travelling solo

Jean-Pierre

Tuesday 21st of February 2023

Interesting you had problems with entering your passport information when checking-in. This has happened twice to me using the BA website. The two occasions have been years apart so BA have not fixed their website.

I eventually found a telephone number to call for website support and after about 40 minutes the agent was able to get my passport info to take. It was very frustrating, especially after paying for the upgrade to World Traveler Plus, the taking more money part of their website works very well.

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Review: British Airways World Traveller on a Boeing 777-300ER

Posted by The Flight Detective | Jul 12, 2018 | Flight Reviews | 4

Thunderstorms meant my American Airlines flight was almost two hours late into Boston , meaning I missed my original flight. The gate staff advised to go to Terminal E as fast as possible and see if I could get on this service.

Two other passengers and I got the bus to the new terminal, ran through security and arrived at the boarding gate. My connecting flight at the other end was changed also and of course my luggage didn’t make it .

BA214 – Boston to London Heathrow (BOS-LHR) 31 May 2018 Boeing 777-300ER – G-STBG Seat: World Traveller 38D Departure: 22:50 Arrival: 10:20+1

Sympathy from the gate agent meant I was assigned a block of three seats to myself. Since this was flight four of five in a row, I really appreciated this.

Boeing 777 World Traveller Seats

Seats are arranged in three groups of three and I was assigned an aisle seat in the middle group. Small flat pillows are on each seat along with a blanket. Some dried vomit or food from a previous flight featured on the carpet in the aisle which was a little unpleasant.

Entertainment screens are touch screen though they do also have a controller. A USB charging port is provided for every passenger which is a great addition and is becoming more prevalent on aircraft around the world thanks to our addiction to devices.

Computer boxes for the inflight entertainment eat up a little leg room, but not much. My dream of putting the three armrests up and stretching out were dashed when an Indian girl from the row behind me decided to move forward to the other aisle seat. Drats!

Midnight Meals

Once in the air, the cabin crew come through with a drinks service. I ordered a Bloody Mary and a sparkling water and it duly arrived with pretzels and one mini Smirnoff.

When boarding I had spoken briefly to a crew member to tell her about my delays and what not. She was at the other end of the trolley and secretly gave me a second Smirnoff mini without her colleague seeing. BA often give you two, so it was nice to see she cottoned on to the fact I only received one.

While the curry looks a little bleak in the pictures it turned out to be quite tasty. The vinaigrette added the required pep to the salad and as a lover of sweet things, the millionaires shortbread went down a treat.

Breakfast Time

Boston to London is not a long flight by any means, clocking in at around 7 hours. After relaxing with a movie and trying to nap, the lights came back up and breakfast was served.

Overall Thoughts

World Traveller on the Boeing 777 is pretty decent. Passengers enjoy a large entertainment screen filled with new releases and classic choices from yesteryear. Being able to charge a phone throughout the flight makes me happy too, so the USB sockets are appreciated.

Dinner is substantial enough and the Indian curry was tasty, as was the rest of the meal. I feel the plastic cutlery lets the side down though as it looks flimsy and cheap for a full service international carrier.

The less said about the pretzel, the better. British Airways would do well to heat bread for economy class passengers instead of doling out plastic wrapped refrigerated sickly sweet crap like that for breakfast.

What do you think of World Traveller on British Airways? Have you flown it before? I’d love to hear your thoughts. Thanks for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.

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Aviation writer serving arresting takes on flying, loyalty, travel and airline history. There is a general focus on British Airways, Aer Lingus, Qatar Airways, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Qantas, Iberia, American Airlines and the other oneworld alliance airlines, plus selected other carriers. The repertoire also includes flight reviews, avgeek articles and interesting videos from around the web.

More Posts from The Flight Detective

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Review: British Airways World Traveller Plus

June 23, 2016

Top 5 Airline Breakfast Meals

May 26, 2016

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That breakfast is so mediocre. What a terrible offering. I understand east coast transatlantic flights are short, but if you’re going to wake people up from their sleep serve something worth it.

Yes, that is really disappointing indeed. I am sure there is something better out there that can also be handed out quickly. The pretzel was dire! Thanks for the comment!

NEVER ever fly BA for the food….seems to me I’ve heard that lots!

Weirdly enough, the catering is usually very good out of London. The food in business class and first class is usually really good too. I found it odd that the food wasn’t great actually, as for me the food on BA is usually a notch above other airlines. Thanks for the comment!

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BA100: 71. World Traveller Plus

100 Years Of British Airways: BA’s premium economy cabin, World Traveller Plus.

London Air Travel » British Airways » BA100 » BA100: 71. World Traveller Plus

This article was published in 2019 in a series on the history of British Airways and its predecessors Imperial Airways, BOAC and BEA. You can browse all 100 stories in number order, by theme or by decade.

Many have been updated since first published.

Like long-haul business class, which airline can claim credit for first introducing premium economy depends on who you ask.

Virgin Atlantic claims to have first introduced premium economy in 1992 with its “Mid Class” for full fare economy passengers (this was of course how long-haul business class first originate), later to be rebranded Premium Economy in 1994 and Premium in March 2018.

BA introduced its own premium economy cabin, World Traveller Plus, on 29 October 2000. This took the number of travel classes on long-haul aircraft to four. The cabin was explicitly targeted at premium leisure customers and cost-conscious business travellers, with the emphasis very much encouraging World Traveller passengers to trade up and not Club World passengers to trade down.

This was the first seat, which you’ll still find on all Boeing 747 and non-refurbished Boeing 777-200 aircraft, designed by Recaro:

The seat has evolved over time with new seats on Boeing 777-300, Boeing 787, Airbus A380 and refurbished Boeing 777 aircraft offering improved comfort as well as better at seat power and in-flight entertainment.

In terms of in-flight service, partly for industrial relations reasons, there was initially very little difference in service between World Traveller and World Traveller Plus. BA also offered little by way of enhanced ground facilities. However, the cabin has evolved over time in piecemeal fashion with improved food & beverage and amenities.

World Traveller Plus has become an increasingly popular cabin, partly due to proactive upgrade offers through ba.com and many corporate customers revising their travel policies. Though its value still remains very subjective. Some see little difference to economy. Others see it as a welcome relief.

New and recently refurbished aircraft have significantly larger cabins than when it was first introduced. With many new aircraft not featuring First Class and others having smaller First cabins, as it becomes the effective second class on many more aircraft, it should continue develop and evolve in the coming years.

You can continue reading our 100 part series on the history of British Airways and its predecessor airlines Imperial Airways, BOAC and BEA in numerical order, by theme or by decade.

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British Airways grounds faulty aircraft, apologises for flight disruption

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) gathered that some of the affected passengers have been endorsed on available carriers such as Virgin Atlantic and Delta Airlines.

British Airways has grounded its aircraft at the Murtala International Airport, Ikeja, due to a technical fault.

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The airline has, however, apologised for the flight disruption.

The airline’s Regional Commercial Manager, Nigeria and Ghana, Mrs Tutu Otuyalo , told journalists on Friday that the carrier had apologised to passengers.

She said that the airline would take up the costs of accommodation and meals for affected passengers.

Otuyalo said that the majority of passengers had been accommodated on other flights, while the carrier’s team continued to work hard to book the remaining customers on a flight as soon as possible.

“We will cover accommodation and meal costs for the customers.

“We would never operate a flight unless it is safe to do so. Most of the affected passengers have been re-accommodated to other flights.

”We have been in contact with our customers to apologise for the delay in their flight caused by a technical issue with the aircraft,” she said.

Recall that British Airways flight number BA 74, which was scheduled to depart Lagos for Heathrow, London, at 10.50 p.m. on Wednesday, suffered a hitch as the scheduled aircraft developed a technical problem.

The flight was rescheduled and later cancelled due to a technical problem.

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World Traveller Plus

Welcome to World Traveller Plus, our premium economy cabin. With fewer rows, the cabin is quieter, more spacious, and more exclusive than World Traveller.

A premium experience

• A separate, smaller cabin with wider seats and more legroom
• Two delicious meals and complimentary bar service
• A personal entertainment system with noise-cancelling headphones
• A stylish amenity kit made from recycled plastic bottles
• Access to in-seat power
• More free baggage allowance
• Priority boarding

Upgraded seat and amenities

The seats on our premium economy flights are wider, with greater recline, lumbar support, a head and foot rest, plus extra leg room to stretch out. Each seat also has its own power supply, so you can use your devices on board. A few of our aircraft might need you to bring your own adaptor if they aren’t sold on board.

Our stylish quilt and cushion adds an extra layer of comfort when it’s time to rest, and we’ll give you a special amenity kit designed with sustainability in mind. The bag is made using material from recycled plastic bottles and includes all the essentials. Relax with lip balm, an eye mask, a pen, socks, toothbrush and toothpaste, with earplugs also available on request.

Delightful dining experience

In World Traveller Plus you can enjoy a glass of sparkling wine after take-off and a starter, main and dessert with our dining service. During your flight we'll deliver snacks, hot, cold and alcoholic drinks to your seat.

In-flight entertainment

Stay connected to the world below or relax and leave it all behind in our World Traveller Plus cabin. You can lose yourself for hours in a blockbuster film or gripping series thanks to our huge on-demand entertainment library.

• A personal flat screen and noise-cancelling headphones
• High-speed Wi-Fi on most aircraft with free messaging on your personal device for Executive Club Members
• Access to Paramount+ with hundreds of the latest films and shows, as well as music, audio books and games

Treat yourself to the airport lounge

Sit back and relax before your flight with Lounge Pass, your key to non-British Airways airport lounges across the globe, no matter what airline you are flying with or cabin you are travelling in. Enjoy light refreshments such as alcohol and food, Wi-Fi and a selection of newspapers and magazines while you wait to board, plus Executive Club Members can collect 5 Avios per £1/€1/$1 spent.

Double baggage allowance

Baggage allowances.

World Traveller Plus’ generous baggage allowance means you can pack more for your trip. Bring both a cabin bag and laptop or handbag on board, as well as up to two bags in the hold.

Some routes and tickets come with an even greater allowance, and extra bags can be added for a fee.

Doorstep baggage pick-up & check-in

AirPortr can collect your baggage from your doorstep, securely transport it to the airport, and check it in for your flight for you. This means that you can travel to the airport luggage-free and head straight to security when you arrive. This service is only available for flights departing from Heathrow, Gatwick, Geneva, Zurich and Vienna.

Aircraft variations

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British Airways plane on nine-hour ‘flight to nowhere’ after technical issue forces turnaround

The houston-bound plane had just crossed the canadian border before backtracking, article bookmarked.

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A British Airways service from London to Texas turned back just as the aircraft reached North America , resulting in passengers enduring a nine-hour flight to nowhere.

Flight records show that the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, headed to George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston , had just crossed the Canadian border before backtracking on Monday.

British Airways later said the turnaround was a precaution due to a “minor technical issue” and it had apologized to customers on the flight.

The exact cause of the issue was not specified by British Airways , but several outlets reported that it was connected to the aircraft’s engines.

The flight left London Heathrow at 9.27am BST on Monday, and landed again at the same airport at 6.54am the following day – a total of nine hours and 27 minutes in the air.

Similar, successful flights to Houston only take about 30 to 40 minutes longer on average.

The Independent understands that the issue was not serious enough to have the plane grounded immediately but required inspection and potential engineering work.

Rather than grounding at Houston or another US airport, the flight returned to London where British Airways has technicians and resources to resolve the issue.

A statement from British Airways read: “The flight returned to London Heathrow as a precaution due to a minor technical issue. It landed safely and customers disembarked as normal.

“We’ve apologized to our customers for the disruption to their journey.”

The Independent understands that all passengers were rebooked onto alternative flights to Houston, including any missed connecting flights in the US.

Hotel accommodation and information on how to claim for any additional expenses, were also provided.

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Vintage Air Travel Images Through The Years

Posted: March 13, 2024 | Last updated: May 15, 2024

Air travel milestones through the decades

From the early days of flight and the "golden age of travel," to contemporary budget airlines and COVID restrictions and regulations, air travel has transformed dramatically over the past century.

Click or scroll through this gallery and join us as we take a journey through time to bring you the biggest milestones in commercial aviation history, including plans for air travel to become net zero by 2050 recently announced.

1920s: passengers wait to board a plane in 1929

The story of commercial air travel begins before the 1920s, in 1914, when the world's first scheduled passenger service set off between Tampa and St Petersburg, piloted by Tony Jannus. Though commercial aviation did not take off quickly, more and more companies tried to build on this milestone through the 1920s, with varying degrees of success. Here, passengers wait at Croydon Airport, UK to board a Handley Page W.9 aircraft, a model used by early airlines Imperial Airways and Sabena.

1920s: a Western Air Express airliner in 1928

1920s: Lady Heath pilots a plane for KLM Royal Dutch Airlines

1920s: passengers are served drinks on a French Air Union plane in 1929

1920s: an early in-flight movie in 1925

In-flight entertainment systems looked rather different too. Today airplane entertainment is a solitary, hi-tech affair but, in the early days of flight, passengers would typically gather around a single screen if they wanted to catch a movie. One of the earliest films to be shown up high was Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World in 1925 with Imperial Airways. Here, passengers on a German airliner also enjoy a movie in the year 1925.

1930s: a woman hands over an airmail parcel to Western Air Express staff circa 1930

The early 1930s continued in a similar fashion to the 1920s, with airlines offering airmail delivery services and also carrying passengers. Flying was still extremely expensive and fairly uncomfortable but, according to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum , the number of airline passengers grew from 6,000 in 1930 to 450,000 in 1934. Here, a woman passes on her mail to the crew of a Fokker F-10 monoplane operated by Western Air Express.

1930s: passengers listen to a broadcast aboard a flight in 1931

1930s: an early Anglo-Australian airliner in 1934

1930s: Eastern Air Lines stewards in the 1930s

In the 1920s and into the early 1930s, the role of flight attendant was one mostly reserved for men, who were usually referred to as "cabin boys." This was soon flipped on its head, though. The first female flight attendant, a nurse named Ellen Church, was employed in 1930 and by the middle of the decade most of these jobs went to women. The women were often trained nurses and there were also strict rules as to their age, height and weight. Before this change, this photo shows an all-male team of air stewards posing before an Eastern Air Lines plane in the early 1930s.

1930s: an Imperial Airways cabin in 1935

1930s: a Douglas DC-3 in flight

1930s: Pan American Airways flies across the Atlantic in 1939

1940s: Pan American World Airways' 'Flying Cloud' clipper

The onset of the Second World War meant developments in commercial aviation were put on the back burner, and all resources were plunged into the war effort. However, by the end of the decade, the industry was recovering, especially since the war had given rise to new runways and military aircraft were able to be converted and put to commercial use. This 1949 shot shows Pan Am's 'Flying Cloud' clipper, the first of a group of planes to begin a service between New York and London in the 1940s. 

1940s: passengers aboard a Pan Am Boeing 307 aircraft circa 1945

1940s: poster advertising TWA

As competition increased towards the end of this decade, the major airlines ramped up their advertising. This TWA poster advertises the Boeing 307 Stratoliner, and promises a smooth ride as the aircraft glides above the clouds. The 1940s was ultimately the decade that preceded the so-called "golden age of travel."

1950s: crowds wave off the world's first jet airliner service

1950s: a passenger enjoying lunch on the world's first commercial jet airliner service

1950s: a test flight for the Boeing 707 jet airliner with Pan Am

1950s: the Queen arrives in Bermuda on a BOAC flight in 1953

1950s: an air hostess attends to passengers on a National Airways Corporation flight in 1959

1950s: a movie projector on a United Airlines flight circa 1950

1960s: lunch service on a Lufthansa flight in 1967

The golden age of travel reigned on through the 1960s and, partly since there wasn't much else to do, dinner was a grand affair. Menus often included multiple courses, bread baskets and dishes such as steak or even lobster. In this 1967 snap, passengers are being served food onboard a Lufthansa flight. 

1960s: dinner aboard a SAS aircraft in 1969

1960s: The Beatles arrive in London on a Pan Am flight in 1964

1960s: flight attendants line up before a model of Concorde in the 1960s

1970s: the first Concorde flight from London Heathrow to Bahrain in 1976

1970s: the Queen on a Concorde aircraft in 1977

Concorde got the royal seal of approval (the Queen is pictured here onboard a Concorde aircraft in 1977), with its ability to cross the Atlantic in just 3.5 hours. But only a privileged few could afford to ride aboard the Concorde and it ultimately didn't shake up commercial air travel in the way it had been hoped. Cancelled routes, economic setbacks and a devastating crash meant the Concorde was out of service by 2003. 

1970s: Laker Airways founder Freddie Laker celebrates the airline's success

1970s: Laker and passengers aboard Laker Airways' Skytrain

Laker Airways' Skytrain offered a lower fare service between London Gatwick and New York's JFK, which began on 26 September 1977. Like many budget airlines today, the "no frills" service meant passengers had to purchase meals onboard and weren't subject to the usual luxuries of air travel in the era. Laker also came up with ways to reduce fuel consumption and engine wear to enable the lower costs. He's pictured here celebrating with passengers aboard the Skytrain in 1979. 

1970s: the first scheduled Pan Am Boeing 747 flight

1970s: passengers in the cabin of a Boeing 747

This was the first time that air travel was truly opening up to the masses. Since planes were larger, airlines were able to hold more passengers and therefore sell more tickets at a reduced price. Though flying still wasn't cheap, it was no longer only reserved for the super-rich. This 1970s shot shows the spacious cabin of a BOAC Boeing 747, filled with families, couples and other holidaymakers. 

1970s: passengers are served Champagne on a Pan Am 747 flight

1970s: lunch is served aboard a Boeing 747

1970s: a lounge on SAS's Boeing 747-B "Huge Viking"

1980s: Laker celebrates further fare cuts in 1980

1980s: passengers are stranded as Laker Airways collapses in 1982

Laker Airways collapsed in 1982, saddling debts amounting to $374 million. More than 6,000 passengers were left stranded in airports around the world. Here, exasperated travelers and dismayed Laker staff feel the brunt of the collapse on 5 February 1982. 

1980s: a Ryanair aircraft in 1988

1980s: Richard Branson celebrates the launch of his new airline, Virgin Atlantic Airways in 1984

1980s: a flight attendant serves dinner on a SAS flight circa 1980s

1980s: ashtrays on a commercial flight

1990s: easyJet boss Stelios Haji-Ioannou in 1995

1990s: Ryanair's chief executive promotes low-fare flights

The introduction of Ryanair and easyJet (and also Norwegian in 1993) meant pressure was put on traditional carriers, fares were pushed down and air travel became increasingly more accessible. As travelers also began booking holidays online, competitive pricing became more important than ever.

1990s: a Pan Am aircraft in 1991

2000s: security at Salt Lake City International Airport in 2001

2000s: the door to an aircraft cockpit in 2001

2000s: an easyJet aircraft flying in 2009

Travelers eschewed air travel in the years following 9/11 and, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics , it took until 2004 for air-passenger numbers to reach their pre-9/11 peak. Commercial air travel was recovering by the end of the decade, though, with US air passengers numbering 769.6 million in 2007 – a record high. During this time, it was low-cost carriers that saw the most growth. 

2000s: a traveler books flights online

Another significant change during this decade was the way travelers were choosing to book their flights. According to PhoCusWright , a tourism research company, 2009 was the first year that more than half of all travel-related bookings were made online. This placed even more pressure on airlines to be competitive and offer the best value for money.

2010s: a man works on his laptop during a flight

The internet hasn't just infiltrated the booking process. Nowadays it's commonplace for carriers to offer in-flight Wi-Fi, either as part of the package, or for an extra premium. In a major shift from the golden age of travel, this means that flying today is no longer just about pleasure and relaxation – it's also about catching up with work and keeping in touch with people on the ground. Online check-in and smartphone boarding passes have also revolutionized the airport experience over the years.

2010s: a sign for premium economy class in Hong Kong International Airport

2010s: an American Airlines flight in 2017

The main change in the last decade was the sheer volume of travelers: more and more people were flying than ever before, and the sky-high numbers had previously shown little sign of tailing off. In fact, in 2017, the International Air Transport Association had projected that there could be 7.2 billion air travel passengers by 2035 .

2020s: grounded planes at Berlin-Brandenburg Airport, Germany

The COVID-19 pandemic rocked the travel and aviation industry and both passengers and staff had to adjust to a new (and unpredictable) ‘normal’. Ever-changing international travel restrictions left airlines up in the air (figuratively, not literally), and major players including easyJet, American Airlines and British Airways suffered severe financial losses, resulting in job cuts. This photo from 1 June 2020 shows out-of-service planes at Berlin-Brandenburg Airport.

2020s: a passenger undergoes a temperature check at Heathrow Airport

Towards the end of 2020, civil aviation began to resume at a crawling pace, with the announcement of some 'air bridges' or 'travel corridors'. For passengers choosing to fly, airport experiences looked rather different around the world. Protocols and restrictions varied from airport to airport, and from airline to airline, but typically involved mandatory face coverings, contactless check-ins and fewer open airport facilities. A passenger is seen here in July 2020 receiving a temperature check at a BA desk at London’s Heathrow Airport.

2020s: a masked flight attendant on a Brussels Airlines plane

Passengers had to get used to new onboard experiences too. Depending on the airline – and in efforts to reduce touch points and contact between staff and passengers – changes were extended to a lack of inflight meals or trolley services, and the reduction of little luxuries like in-flight magazines, blankets and the like. Masks were mandatory on most flights too, while some carriers blocked the middle seats to allow passengers more space.

2020s: international air travel gets a slow lift off

The aviation industry continued to feel the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic into 2021, though the International Air Transport Association (IATA) predicted  a 50.4% uptick in demand for flights from 2020 . With vaccine programs being rolled out around the world, international borders finally opened. 

2020s: a passenger holds up an EU 'vaccine passport'

Around the world, testing and vaccines built bridges between destinations in staggered phases. For example, Canada’s borders first opened to double-jabbed Americans, before being unlocked for vaccinated travelers from around the world too. Double-jabbed UK travelers initially could fly to 'amber' European hotspots including France, Spain and Portugal without quarantining on return (though they had to take PCR tests). New Zealand and Australia also formed a 'quarantine-free travel bubble'. EU citizens could download  a vaccine 'passport'  (pictured) allowing them to cross EU borders with minimal restrictions.

2020s: world's first all-electric plane takes to the skies

In late September 2022, the world's first all-electric plane jetted off for an eight-minute flight above the skies of Washington, USA. Alice, the project name that stuck during planning in 2016, is the brainchild of American-based company Eviation , and will be fit for both passenger and cargo use by 2027. The successful maiden flight reached an altitude of 3,500 feet and the zero-emissions plane was powered by two 640-kilowatt electric motors. It is hoped Alice will operate flights ranging from 150 to 250 miles, and will come in three different configurations: a nine-passenger commuter, a six-seater executive cabin and an eCargo version.

2020s: relaxed uniform policies are welcomed

Cabin crew requirements have changed over the decades; as we've seen already, the 1930s followed strict rules regarding age, height and weight, and since then tailored uniforms and specific hairstyles became the norm. But the 2020s have welcomed a more relaxed approach and in September 2022 Virgin Atlantic ditched gender-specific uniforms allowing crew, pilots and ground staff to choose whichever they feel most comfortable in. Earlier in the year staff were also permitted to keep their tattoos visible, marking the first UK airline to do so.

2050: air travel industry set to become carbon neutral

We don't know for sure what the future holds for air travel. But the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO)  recently announced its support for a net zero goal for the aviation industry by 2050 . However, environmental campaigners say the plans don't go far enough, believing more measures were needed to ensure the 193 member countries of the ICAO meet the goal and hold airlines accountable. 

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