British Airways Club Europe Review, BCN to LHR

Not Exactly a Suite

After a few days in Barcelona I needed to get myself to London to pick up the long-haul leg of an award ticket over to the US. The BCN - LHR sector basically came along for the ride, tacked onto the transatlantic flight for next to nothing extra in miles, and that put me in BA's Club Europe. I knew what I was getting into. Euro-biz is euro-biz. Still, having flown BA in J on the 747 to Seattle and in F on the 777, I was curious how the short-haul end of the airline stacked up. And in the back of my mind was the US domestic First Class recliner, which is what you'd get on a flight of this length back home...

The Shortcut Review of BA A320 J

Seatlink's Take

First things first, Club Europe is not a separate cabin. It's the front block of a normal A320 family narrowbody with a moveable curtain behind it, and the number of rows changes from flight to flight depending on how many seats they sell. The seats are the regular 3-3 (ABC-DEF) but B and E are blocked off so you fly 2-2 with an empty space next to you. My plane had the new black leather seats BA started rolling onto the Heathrow fleet from mid 2015, along with the mood lighting, which was pretty much the only cabin-wide upgrade. It looked smart I'll give it that (see pic).

The seat itself is around 18" wide with a 30" pitch, deliberately the same as the economy rows behind so the curtain can move. You get 3" of recline in Club Europe versus 2" in Euro Traveller, a four-way adjustable headrest and a slot in the seatback that BA calls a tablet holder (it only really works if your case has a lip). That's the whole list of features. There's a recline button in the armrest and that is about all there is to say about controls. For a US flyer used to a 21" wide recliner with 37" or 38" of pitch, it's a bit of a shock.

Bed mode? Not a chance, this is a two hour flight in what is essentially a nice economy seat. Storage is the usual seatback net pocket your knees press into, plus the overhead bin. The one trick up BA's sleeve is the console table sitting on the blocked middle seat, half leather and half wood effect, which is a great spot for a drink, your phone and the paper. Lufthansa and Iberia and the rest run the same blocked-middle idea but the table is a nice touch.

I was up in row 1, which is the only row with legroom worth talking about. You can see in the photo how much floor there is between the seat and the bulkhead, with the galley ahead on the right and the forward lav on the left. The trade off is the tray table lives in the armrest and there's no under-seat stowage for take-off and landing, so my bag went up top. If you want to open a laptop in Club Europe, row 1 is honestly the only place it works.

Tech-wise there is nothing. No screens, no headphones handed out, no power, no USB, and no Wi-Fi anywhere on BA short-haul at the time (that came a couple of years later). The overhead monitors drop down for the safety video and then show the moving map and that's your IFE. I'd charged my phone in the lounge beforehand which turned out to be a good move.

The meal came out on a single tray from the trolley and was better than I expected. A cold plate of jamon and chorizo with a boiled egg, a ball of mozzarella, a cherry tomato and a wedge of cheese, a bowl of melon, kiwi and pineapple, and a seeded roll with butter. Real glassware, a proper napkin. The champagne being poured was Castelnau Brut, which as it turns out made its Club Europe debut on this exact date, so I caught it on day one. Barcelona sat in the band of routes that still got a decent spread back then... BA cut the catering back later in 2016 before restoring most of it in 2018.

There's no amenity kit, no bedding and nothing of that sort, just a hot towel after take-off. The lounge in Barcelona is worth a mention though. The London flights go from the non-Schengen gates in Terminal 1 so you get the Aena-run Sala VIP Joan Miró, a contract lounge that is also on Priority Pass. A hot and cold buffet, a stocked bar and plenty of seats, and better than I expected for a third-party lounge.

Service was the highlight. The crew were friendly and quick with drinks and a hot towel right after take-off, then the meal, then a second drinks run before clearing everything with around half an hour to go. For a short flight they really did a good job and it was easily the best bit of the trip. 😀

Which seats to choose or avoid

Row 1 is the row to go for. It's the only one with meaningful extra legroom and the only one where a laptop fits. 1C is a sneaky good pick as the bulkhead wall doesn't extend all the way across so you can stretch your legs out, but you pay for it with galley trolleys passing on your right and lav traffic in front of you. 1D and 1F are a little wider with more elbow room than the left-hand pair, which is why a lot of regulars book them.

Grab a window pair (A/C or D/F) if you can, as the blocked middle gives you the console table and shoulder room either side. Aisle seats get bumped by the trolley. Avoid the last row of Club Europe wherever the curtain lands on your flight, because economy passengers lean on it and the row behind you is full 3-3. Anything from row 2 back is the same 30" as economy and once the person in front reclines, it gets tight.

For more seat reviews from other travelers on British Airways, check out their seat maps here: British Airways seat maps

The Bottom Line

Classic euro-biz. The empty middle seat, the food and drink and a genuinely good crew made for a pleasant couple of hours, but the seat is an economy seat with a curtain in front of it and there is no getting around that. Put it next to a US domestic First Class seat and it really doesn't compare at all - narrower, less legroom, no power, no screen.

If Club Europe shows up as a cheap add-on to a long-haul award, as it did for me, take it and enjoy the lounge and the champagne. I wouldn't spend a pile of Avios on it as a standalone. Keep an eye on the catering too, BA have a habit of trimming it and then putting it back, so what you get on the tray may not match what I got.

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