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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

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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A tale of two classes: British Airways World Traveller and WTP

By fintan horan-stear →.

Unfortunately, on a recent roundtrip between London Heathrow and Newark, New Jersey, starting with LHR-EWR in World Traveller economy class, these flashes of PaxEx brilliance were overshadowed by appalling service on the outbound across the Atlantic. 

Having already checked in online, I arrived at Heathrow’s Terminal 5 and went straight to the self-service bag drop system, which worked flawlessly. There were no queues. Unfortunately, the same could not be said for security, which took 35 minutes to get through. 

The automated bag drop was simple to use. Image: Fintan Horan-Stear

Once through security, I waited in a paid access lounge for my gate to be called. When the announcement finally came, roughly 20 minutes late, I was pleasantly surprised to see that my flight would be leaving from the A gates closest to the terminal. That is until I learned I was simply headed to a bus gate. I waited patiently at the cramped gate lounge as the stream of premium passengers trickled past and into the bus.

Fifteen minutes before our scheduled departure, my group was called, and we made our way to the vehicle. Unfortunately, once we arrived at our Boeing 777, boarding was a scrum. During the process, a crew member chided passengers for their bag arrangements in a rude and passive-aggressive manner.

The 777 is a mainstay of BA’s fleet, but it’s still surprising to see BA use remote stands for them. Image: Fintan Horan-Stear

Inside, I took a hot second to inspect my World Traveller economy class seat, part of a seat pair near the back of the aircraft. Though the seat is older, and perhaps past its prime — as evidenced by the small inflight entertainment screen — it has a lot of personal space and in fact, I found it to be quite comfortable.

A blanket, pillow, and disposable headphones of poor quality awaited me. The seat has no individual air gasper, as is often the case these days aboard widebodies.

The seat was a solid product, but it is in need of a refresh on British Airways. Image: Fintan Horan-Stear

I went to the lavatory to freshen up before takeoff, and, shockingly, the bathrooms were filthy. We hadn’t even left at this point. 

One can only assume the delay in boarding meant a short turnaround. Image: Fintan Horan-Stear

Once we were in the air, I decided to peruse the IFE selection, which had a variety of blockbusters and UK original series. I settled on Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade , and the 1989-era picture quality of the film suited the ancient IFE screen perfectly. Alas, the Wi-Fi and USB power port in the seat did not work.

Whilst the selection was a bit limited, I was grateful for the classics on British Airways. Image: Fintan Horan-Stear

Despite some tired fixtures, the seat itself was good enough. Even when the seat in front of me was fully reclined, I had enough legroom, and as a 6’4 (193cm)-sized person, I fitted in the space. Having said that, the pan of my seat continuously slid forward throughout the flight, causing my legs to ache from keeping them tense. 

Legroom was sufficient, with clear space even for a tall person. Image: Fintan Horan-Stear

One hour into the flight, the drink service began, with BA serving World Traveller Plus premium economy passengers first before moving onto World Traveller economy. I had sparkling water and white wine. The Chilean Sauvignon Blanc was soft and fruity. I also snagged a sparkling Italian wine that was too sweet. The two crew members serving the drinks were friendly. 

Two hours into the flight, the meal began. Special meals were hand-delivered first. My Asian vegetarian meal consisted of a buckwheat salad starter, Daal curry, cheese and crackers, and mango parfait, which were all tasty and satisfying. However, my enjoyment was dampened when a crew member, who had arrived to assist with meals, scolded the passenger beside me for having his headphones in and not clocking that he had missed the meal. 

It was not an isolated incident, as I overhead flight attendants grumble audibly about passengers during the flight — presumably they assumed the passengers couldn’t hear them because of the headphones, ironically enough.

The meal was the highlight of the BA flight. Image: Fintan Horan-Stear

Following the meal service, I tried to remain in the background as much as possible to avoid raising the ire of the crew. 

The IFE was buggy and slow, so I spent the rest of the flight watching Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and questioning my life choices.

I certainly identified with the heroine of The Temple of Doom on this flight. Image: Fintan Horan-Stear

Ninety minutes before landing, a snack service arrived, including an Indian-flavored vegetarian Wellington that was not bad. 

I was grateful that British Airways could offer a hot snack equal to the meat version on board. Image: Fintan Horan-Stear

As we prepared to land at Newark, I felt downtrodden by the abject rudeness of the crew. I hoped that, on my return flight to London in World Traveller Plus premium economy, the experience would improve.

The ground experience at Newark was a pleasant surprise. Checkin was faultless, with no queues and friendly staff.

Security was also a breeze; advanced scanners meant no decanting of items out of my bag. And I had some time to relax before boarding.  

After amusing myself at the terminal, I arrived at the gate 45 minutes before departure. The mood was calm, and boarding began 20 minutes later. I took my seat just five minutes before we were due to leave.

The aircraft was a three-year-old Boeing 787-10, and I was excited to be on board a relatively new and modern aircraft. World Traveller Plus premium economy is located in a sub-cabin behind the cavernous Club World space, with 35 seats across five rows. The seats are wide and comfortable with a large IFE screen, seat controls in the armrest, power ports, and a cocktail table.

The cabin is conservative but quite airy. Image: Fintan Horan-Stear

I was grateful for the noise-cancelling headset and an amenity kit. And the legroom was impressive, with both legrests and footrests provided for extra comfort.

The seat provided ample legroom for this 6’4 (193cm) journalist. Image: Fintan Horan-Stear

Before boarding, we were presented with a glass of water or orange juice. As we taxied, I inspected the bedding; the pillow and blanket were beautifully soft with a blue and red herringbone design that felt soothing in the hand without being too heavy.

The amenity kit had a matching design and felt soft and sturdy. It contained the usual flight socks, eye mask, lip balm, pen, and toothbrush.

The amenity kit and bedding were frankly wonderful. Image: Fintan Horan-Stear

I tried out the IFE on takeoff, which unfortunately didn’t work initially, but, as we turned out of Newark, and with a very loud rendition of the Flower Duet playing in the cabin, the IFE came to life.

If the blasting of BA’s anthem song over the PA didn’t wake people up, the shock of the IFE system sending us to Johannesburg, South Africa might have given passengers a surprise. 

Your guess is as good as mine. Image: Fintan Horan-Stear

I inspected the IFE offerings: it had a lot of Paramount TV box sets, as well as HBO classics and the usual BBC fare. The system was slow and a bit clunky, but not awful. The quality of the screen was fine, with bright colours, but it lacked sharp definition. I decided on The White Lotus , which was good for escapism. But as before in economy, the Wi-Fi and power outlet did not work.

Whilst better than BA’s 777 economy class IFE system, it still wasn’t state-of-the-art.  Image: Fintan Horan-Stear

Menus were passed out as we climbed, and then hot towels were distributed. Bizarrely, this was done in total darkness, so even with the reading light on it was a bit of a fumble. Thereafter, a haphazard dinner service began.

The menu was a premium touch. Image: Fintan Horan-Stear

The lights were fortunately raised for the meal service. Though two flight attendants were working the service, they didn’t bring a drink trolley with them, so options were limited. Room temperature wine from the food cart was available.

The wine was frankly unacceptable for premium economy. Image: Fintan Horan-Stear

Strangely, no bread was offered, despite there appearing to be a full basket on the cart. I asked for a sparkling wine, which was brought after the meal service; it was the same Italian Frizzante served in economy. 

I had the Asian vegetarian option, which consisted of barley salad, korma curry, and a fruit plate. The salad was fruity and sweet, but not cloying. The curry was warm and the fruit plate was fresh and cool.

The meal was perfectly fine, but nothing exciting. Image: Fintan Horan-Stear

Having finished my dinner, I got ready for sleep. I found the seat to be scratchy but the seat next to me was unoccupied so I put the spare cover over my seat for added comfort. I got a reasonable 3 ½ hours before waking an hour before landing when the breakfast service began.

I was presented with a slimy roasted vegetable inside a wet roll, which was unappetizing. An orange juice and coffee completed the meal.

Breakfast was a bit of a low point. Image: Fintan Horan-Stear

As we began our descent, I surmised that this was overall a pleasant flight. The hard product offered space to sleep, and the Boeing 787-10 — with new and modern lavs and comfortable cabin pressure — made me feel fresher on landing.

I would have appreciated an operable in-seat power port, and indeed one of those seemingly forbidden bread rolls on the cart. But BA World Traveller Plus delivered a superior experience than the outbound flight in coach, as one might expect.

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• When BA Euro Traveller with add-ons outshines Club Europe
• British Airways Club Suite delivers big upgrade over former seat
• Taste testing The Uncommon sparkling wine offered by BA, Virgin
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Featured image credited to Fintan Horan-Stear

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About Fintan Horan-Stear

Contributing Writer Fintan is a London-based aviation and transport ‘enthusiastic amateur’, writing about trends and developments in the industry with a specific focus on passenger experience and “soft product” elements. His interest in aviation was sparked by the golden age of Pan American and the jet age, and still feels the thrill of adventure on... Read More

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Review of British Airways Premium Economy

British Airways was one of the first airlines to introduce a Premium Economy cabin on its long-haul aircraft - branded as World Traveller Plus . As such, many of its cabins are showing their age, but still serve their purpose well by offering extra space, better meals and more personalised service. The airline is retrofitting these cabins and upgrading the hard product, but this will take time, so in the interim be prepared for a mix of old and new.

The United Kingdom’s largest airline takes pride in offering reliable and friendly service while carrying the British flag to far corners of the globe.

British Airways is a founding member of the oneworld alliance, which means fliers can earn and redeem Avios points on its many partners. Conversely, members of other alliance member airlines can earn and redeem their miles with British Airways.

Airport experience

All British Airways flights pass through London with primary hubs at London Heathrow and London Gatwick airports (and a smaller operation at London City). London airports are known for stringent and sometimes overzealous security procedures, which can be frustrating for passengers adding extra time to the journey. Unfriendly airport security agents are enough to convince some travellers to fly another airline when booking international travel.

World Traveller Plus passengers can access individual check-in desks and a greater baggage allowance – two bags for the hold plus a cabin bag and laptop bag onboard. They do not enjoy lounge access once airside, though. Still, top oneworld elite status cardholders can use the lounges on eligible international itineraries no matter what cabin they are flying. These lounges include open bars offering cocktails, soft drinks, wine, and beer, service desks for assistance with tickets, a wide selection of magazines and newspapers, workstations with computers and free Wi-Fi, and buffets with warm and cold food selections.

Priority boarding is part of the Premium Economy experience.

Cabin & Seat

British Airways fly a combination of Airbus and Boeing aircraft, with World Traveller Plus available on each long-haul aircraft. The Airbus A380 World Traveller Plus cabin is found on the Upper Deck behind the Club World cabin in a 2-4-2 configuration over nine rows, while the Airbus A350 has seven rows in a 2-4-2 configuration. The Boeing 777 fleet varies between three and six rows in a 2-4-2 design, while the Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft differs between four and six rows and is always in a 2-3-2 configuration.

Even the original iteration of the Premium Economy seat has plenty of space. It varies depending on the plane, but expect a wider seat – typically 18.5 inches (47 centimetres), more leg room with a pitch of 38 inches (97 centimetres), including a foot and leg rest, lumbar support, a recline of around 8 inches (20 centimetres), a small side table and headrest with adjustable wings for better resting positions. Unfortunately, many seats have equipment for the entertainment system that impedes your legroom, which makes it challenging to store carry-on bags or wiggle your feet around during the flight.

World Traveller Plus occupies a more intimate cabin of no more than nine rows with a dedicated lavatory and curtains separating it from economy and Business Class. There are middle seats, which are worth avoiding unless travelling with a companion.

Bulkhead rows prevent someone from reclining their seat into your space, but it does mean that carry-on luggage must be stowed overhead for takeoff and landing. These seats also have television monitors that fold out from the armrest, and they cannot be used on the ground or during takeoff and landing for safety reasons. Four bassinet points are available on the front cabin bulkhead, with another two at the rear of the Airbus A380s.

Not all tickets are eligible for advance seat selection, although those purchasing flexible fares and travellers with oneworld alliance elite status can choose a seat for free in advance. Others must wait until check-in to assign a seat.

Waiting at each seat on boarding is a thick pillow and wrapped blanket, and power and USB  and power outlets are available for each passenger. 

The flight search on BusinessClass.com includes images, videos, and seat maps for most airlines and aircraft Search results also include details such as seat pitch, width and recline. This way, you can see the seat and cabin configuration of the flight in which you are interested before making your choice .

British Airways offers a lovely inflight service on fine china and metal cutlery. World Traveller Plus passengers are served some of the same entrees as those seated in Business Class, representing a significant upgrade from economy meal service.

Delivered on a single tray with real drink glasses (instead of plastic), most flights have two meals, including a hot meal after takeoff.

They include a salad and appetiser plus warm bread. Two main course dishes are protein or vegetarian, and the plated dessert offers a sweet finish. Flight attendants can provide snacks and drinks between meals, and passengers can visit a snacking station for self-service.

Before landing, a second meal is served depending on the time of day, which can consist of a hot or cold dish based on the length of the flight.

More than a dozen special meals are available for Premium Economy passengers, including Halal, Kosher and vegetarian options.

After takeoff, flight attendants offer glasses of sparkling wine before rolling out the beverage carts with a variety of complimentary drinks including beer, wine (two white and two red options) and cocktails. Coffee from London’s Union Coffee and an array of Twinings teas round off the menu.

Before the main meal, an aperitif service comes with mixed nuts and a choice of beverage.

Flight attendants are friendly, but have a lot of passengers to serve compared to Business Class. Expect the typical British-reserved service delivery you might find in a hotel or restaurant in the United Kingdom. Many passengers find that the crew adapts to the conversation and informality level of each person throughout the flight. Show them that you like to chat, and they will chat. Show British formality, and they will return the respect.

On flights where a foreign language is spoken at the destination, expect that someone on the crew will be ready to converse in that native tongue. British Airways also has overseas-based cabin crew on many flights; Indian flights, for example, often have crew based in India, which helps with cultural service details.

Entertainment

The seatback screen is adjustable so that if the person in front of you reclines, you can tilt it for better viewing. Noise-reducing headsets complement the solid selection of  entertainment programming , including the latest Hollywood movies, television programs, box sets, a global music collection, audiobooks and games. Screens respond to the touch but can also be adjusted via remote control.

Wi-Fi is available on most of British Airways' long-haul fleet, with  prices available  for hourly service or sometimes for a package to cover the flight. A cheaper offering that covers messaging or texting is also an excellent option for staying connected with loved ones.

The flight search on BusinessClass.com includes information on Wi-Fi and inflight entertainment .

Amenities & Facilities

Small amenity kits feature essential products – eye mask, ear plugs, toothpaste and toothbrush, lip balm, flight socks and pen, and a wrapped blanket and pillow are a fluffier upgrade to what is available in the economy cabin. Credit to the airline for making the small stylish amenities bag from recycled plastic.

On long-haul flights, families with infants can pre-reserve a bassinet to use. Children can also enjoy everything from cartoon and youth-themed shows to special toys and gifts to keep them busy.

Short & Medium Haul

British Airways’ short and medium-haul flights do not sell Premium Economy seating, but if the aircraft is flying a shorter route, these are excellent seats worth paying extra to enjoy the extra space that they afford. Most of the long-haul amenities (like hot meals, free drinks and noise-reducing headphones) are not available though. Buy-on-board service in economy class is standard on shorter European flights, which means the only benefit of paying for this seat on those flights is the extra space.

Sustainability

The airline is investing in the most fuel-efficient planes and focuses on reducing emissions both inflight and on the ground. Recycling programs in its lounges and inflight are another eco-friendly measure.

British Airways aims for net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, and the carrier invests in  carbon-neutral projects  in many of the destinations it serves. On its flights, it has switched to bamboo alternatives instead of plastic stirrers, reduced plastic use for amenity kits and headsets, and serves water bottles made from recycled materials. The airline sends less than one per cent of non-catering waste to landfills. BA's new uniforms are made from more than 90 per cent sustainable fabrics from recycled polyester and only use manufacturers of the 'Better Cotton' initiative. The old uniforms will be donated to charities, recycled into children's toys or contributed to the airline's museum.

The airline also collects loose change from passengers on its long-haul flights to support the non-profit organisation Flying Start. It supports less-fortunate children around the world. British Airways is also the first airline to build a waste-to-fuel plant converting everyday consumer waste to sustainable fuel.

A partnership with the Born Free Foundation has the airline advocating against the captivity of wild animals. British Airways Holidays helps to create a safe sanctuary space for rescued wild animals.

The flight search on BusinessClass.com includes information on CO2 emissions for each flight. Our quality algorithms also give a higher score to flights operated by the most modern and environmentally friendly aircraft.

What We Love

• Footrests and adjustable headrests to make it easier to sleep
• Business class-quality meals serving British products
• A nice selection of mid-flight snacks as well as an open bar throughout the flight

Read the BusinessClass.com review of British Airways Club World Read the BusinessClass.com review of British Airways First Class

BusinessClass.com searches hundreds of travel sites at once to help you find the best premium travel offers for both flights and the finest hotels.

Is Premium Economy British Airways worth it?

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British Airways World Traveller Plus Review [2023]

After a rocky flight across the pond, I decided to do a British Airways World Traveller Plus Review. Is it worth the cost? Read on.

There are few things that make me happier while travelling than getting an upgrade on a long flight. That is what happened in this British Airways World Traveller Plus review…and I’m not sure why. I have theories and will share them in a post soon, but for now, know that this British Airways World Traveller Plus review is by no means sponsored but did make this guy one happy flier.

That said, let’s find out if Is BA World Traveller Plus worth it.

Table of Contents

BA World Traveller Plus Review Summary

British Airways World Traveller Plus is a premium economy class that offers extra legroom, a wider seat, and other amenities. The cabin features a 2-3-2 seating configuration, personal in-flight entertainment screens, and a complimentary amenity kit.

The food and service are generally regarded as good, and passengers can also enjoy priority boarding and additional baggage allowance. However, the seats may not recline as much as some passengers would like, and the cost may be relatively high compared to other premium economy offerings.

Overall, British Airways World Traveller Plus is a solid option for those looking for a more comfortable travel experience without breaking the bank.

What Is The Difference Between British Airways Premium Economy & Business Class?

Economy Plus should really be thought of as “Business Class M inus .” For the most part, the service is the same minus the lay flatbeds. From what I saw while boarding and exiting the British Airways 747-400 on a recent trip to Europe, the Business Class seats are not that spread out and looked crowded…at least more so than flying Swiss Air or EgyptAir . Curious, and as I always do, on my return trip I spoke with the agent at the customer service desk. “How much for an upgrade to Business Class?” I said with a smile. To my horror, the agent said it would be over $7,000!

Paying an additional $7,000 at check-in seems incredibly dumb. An extra $390 for premium economy on a 9 1/2 hour flight, not so much. Thankfully, I didn’t have to do either and got an upgrade for free.

With that in mind, here is my British Airways World Traveller Plus review and why I think it offers some serious value.

Route: London to Vancouver Aircraft: 747-400 Seat: 35B Highlights : Entertainment and High Tea Low lights:  Meals

How to Upgrade to BA World Traveller Plus

To upgrade to BA World Traveller Plus, you can do so in a few ways:

• During booking: When booking your flight, you can choose to upgrade to World Traveller Plus during the booking process. You will see the option to upgrade if it is available for your flight.
• Online: If you have already booked your flight, you can check to see if an upgrade is available through the Manage My Booking section of the British Airways website.
• At the airport: You may also be able to upgrade to World Traveller Plus at the airport on the day of your flight, subject to availability.

Keep in mind that upgrading typically comes at an additional cost, so you should weigh the benefits against the extra expense to determine if BA World Traveller Plus is worth it for you.

British Airways World Traveller Plus Review – Seats

British Airways website boasts wider seats and more legroom in Premium Economy which, although true, is by no means spacious. There is ample legroom, decent recline, and a footrest for stretching out. 

Note: seats are  2×4×2 on the BA 747–400 so ensure to book seats A/B or H/J for maximum comfort!

British Airways World Traveller Plus Review – Service

Essentially, the meal service, amenities, and entertainment system are the same as Business Class. Seats include USB power and standard outlets (Europe and UK style). Where British Airways Economy Plus really differs from Economy Class is the seats and entertainment system.

  READ MORE:     Turkish Air Business Class Review

The amenities bag on this World Traveller Plus review was standard but lacking compared to those I found on Swissair , EgyptAir , and  Turkish Airlines.  Inside you will find earplugs, socks, a toothbrush and paste, a pen, and an eye mask.

Also inside you will find premium headphones, a nice touch, however, I prefer to stick to my favourite travel companion – the Bose-QuietComfort-25.

One negative on this World Traveller Plus review was the dinner tray. Mine sagged heavily in the middle which made eating and writing a bit awkward. A minor annoyance in the end but an annoyance nonetheless.

BA World Traveller Plus Review –  Food & Drink

Meals in Premium Economy are similar to what is served in Business Class except that they are not presented as nicely…or so I hope. Beyond the sloppy presentation, the food was just OK. I had an overcooked piece of beef with salty gravy and a neon salad.

The highlight of the meal service aboard this British Airways flight was the highest High Tea I have ever had. Well played BA.

World Traveller Plus Review –  Entertainment

The entertainment system is a huge upgrade over those found in Economy. The screen is much larger, brighter, and more responsive than those found in coach. My screen on the flight to Europe in Economy was so bad I could not get through a single movie. No worries, I made up for it in World Traveller Plus.

   READ MORE:  Norwegian Airlines Premium Economy Review

So, is British Airways World Traveller Plus Worth it?

Given my experience in Economy ( and recent reports of bedbugs! ), I believe an upgrade to British Airways World Traveller Plus is worth it for the extra pounds, especially if you are flying long distances. If you are looking to just sleep and can do so in cramped spaces then there’s not much for you in an upgrade.

As mentioned, I was upgraded but feel that BA World Traveller Plus is worth it for the extra comfort, meals, and space.

If you want to enjoy business-class services and amenities at a fraction of the cost (minus the lay flatbed) then the upgrade to British Airways World Travel Plus is highly recommended.

   READ MORE:  WestJet Premium Economy Review

What say you? Thoughts on this  British Airways W orld Traveller Plus Review ? Let’s hear it!

For more luxury travel reviews from business class and beyond see HERE .

So how does British Airways World Traveller Plus rank?

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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.

Flight Review: British Airways Premium Economy (World Traveller Plus)

Jayne Gorman

March 27, 2014

After a disappointing flight in economy with British Airways from London to Vegas I opted to upgrade to their premium economy product known as World Traveller Plus on the return leg.

For those not interested in detailed reviews let me tell you in one sentence if it is worth paying to upgrade to World Traveller Plus – it depends on the aircraft.

At the time of purchasing my flights to Vegas the BA site flashed up an image of a chic, ergonomic-looking new premium economy seat that it said could be all mine for just £150 extra. I caved in and coughed up so that I could see what it was like. I’d had a great experience flying premium economy with Cathay Pacific  and hoped BA would be of a similar standard. It was not.

The World Traveller Plus Cabin

Unfortunately the cabin I was met with on my flight was nothing like the one in the picture that had sold it to me. Our aircraft didn’t have the new cabin installed – perhaps it said this somewhere in the small print of the website but it evaded me if so.

That being said the World Traveller Plus section certainly felt more private, with only 4 rows in the left hand aisle I was sitting in. The seat was wider, pillow plumper and the footrest could be adjusted to just the right place for my little legs.

Cosy cushion and decent legroom in World Traveller Plus

The amenity kit was nowhere near as impressive as Cathay’s. The plastic wallet contained some very drab-looking socks and eye mask and the noise-cancelling headphones were old and scratched.

I never got to test out if they were any good though because sadly, just in premium economy, the inflight entertainment did not work – for the full 10 hours of the flight.

There was a system error in our part of the plane and, frustratingly me for, this even affected the reading lights. I tried to write some notes by the light of my phone (as the cabin lights were dimmed) but my phone battery ran out and there was nowhere in the cabin to recharge it. (Etihad economy seats, in contrast, come with power sockets and Wi-Fi!) The screen was the same small square with a visible grid pattern that I’d had in economy on the way out (that one had been working though).

  Looking at a blank screen for 10 hours – wondering when we would land

Unlike in economy, you receive a menu in premium economy, which tells you what you are about to eat and so it removes a lot of the guesswork. You also receive some pretzels with the first round of drinks, which is something I have noticed BA have scrapped in economy on routes I have recently travelled, including to the US and Caribbean.

I also learned that the pork dish I ordered was the same as the one on offer in Club World (where my lucky partner was travelling – he had a choice of 4 meals and we had a choice of 2) except his was better presented – served on a plate and sauce poured on top instead of left in a foil dish. The salad was bland and dessert a bit squashed but the most annoying thing was having to eat it the dark.

Was hard to see what I was eating in the dimly lit cabin

Breakfast was also disappointing. Although it was a 10-hour flight we were simply served a cold croissant in the morning with some ‘craisons’ (dried cranberries anyone?!).

In Club they were offered something warm as well as fresh fruit smoothies. Breakfast was marginally better than the coronation chicken sandwich we had been served as a second meal in economy on the way out though (the hostess had miserably handed them out with the words ‘It’s just a sandwich – you want it?’)

As a point of comparison my economy flight with Sri Lanka Airways a few days prior had come with two hot meals and a selection of up to 4 meals to choose from each time. We also received a menu so we knew what would be coming. (I still have no idea what was in the starter I ate on my flight out to Vegas with BA.)

Cold croissant in a box for breakfast

Having nothing better to do, and the extra legroom to do it in, I slept well on my flight home from Vegas. Because I nabbed the special offer upgrade price of £150 I am happy with my decision – when travelling on my own I would happily pay that price not to be so squished next to a stranger. In comparison to Cathay Pacific , however, BA have a lot of improvement to do with their amenities and food in order to match their premium economy offering. I’d also be keen to try out those sleek-looking new seats I saw on the website when booking. Better luck next time maybe..

Have you flown in a premium economy cabin with BA or otherwise? What did you think?

*With regards to the faulty in-flight entertainment passengers were invited to fill out customer complaint forms on the plane and within 10 days I received an email apology and 10,000 Avios from BA to compensate. They didn’t offer to move me during the flight.

Flying Business Class With BA

Flying First Class With BA

Flying Business Class With Cathay Pacific

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I’m Jayne, a travel blogger, content creator and mum to a 4-year-old son. I’ve been blogging since 2010, travelled to 65 countries and share travel guides and tips to help you plan stylish, stress-free trips.

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The beginner’s guide to vegas, 38 thoughts on “flight review: british airways premium economy (world traveller plus)”.

Interesting to read this as I travel a lot with BA and have been thinking about upgrading on long-haul – I did my first short haul business class flight and have definitely got the taste for it, especially as sometimes the price is not much different. Might give premium economy a try at the right price but won’t be rushing into it (unless it’s in one of those swanky new planes!)

Hi Jayne, Interesting post. I always like to hear about the flights – so that a person can judge the worth of an upgrade and query what they are getting if they do not seem to receive what has been shown in the brochure. 10 hours without a movie -that would be a killer for me!

Yikes, you don’t get a lot for £150 do you. I’ve only flown with BA twice; once in Europe and once to New York. The Europe flight was brilliant, I couldn’t fault it. But the NYC flight was awful both ways.

In a way, I feel like I’m really lucky because I have super short legs so I never feel too uncomfortable in economy (except Vueling, their seats are tiny!) but I do feel sorry for people with really long legs on long-haul flights.

Me too! I think with BA the main benefit of upgrading to World Traveller Plus is for the legroom. With other airlines, like Cathay for example, it feels like you also get a premium product and service with the PE cabin so it’s worth digging into the different airlines a bit. I’m glad I didn’t pay more than £150 extra for this service!

Really interesting to read this – I presume you were on a 747 and not a 777, going by the seats & the look of the overhead lockers. I recently (in the last fortnight) travelled on a 747 to & from Vancouver with BA. It was a package holiday & had chosen to upgrade to WTP from Traveller for the inbound flight too – we were charged £175 by the tourop, so for a similar length flight it looks like you got a good/fair price.

Having seen WTP on their other aircraft I can assure you it’s definitely a lot better hard product on the newer aircraft, so maybe just try to avoid flying their 747 until their retirement – whether it’s Traveller or WTP you opt for!

I was very interested to see that you were compensated 10K Avios for the IFE being broken. I ended up upgrading again to Club for our inbound flight. Amongst a few other issues which caused concern was the fact the cabin lights could not be switched off, or even dimmed at all. Likewise the crew were apologetic & came around with comments cards – I used the feedback option on the BA site as thought it would be more straightforward & within a week was offered 6K Avios as compensation for being kept awake all night. To be honest I was expecting more, if only because last year they gave me 15K when a special meal I’d ordered wasn’t on my flight. It really does seem like they pluck arbitrary figures out the air when it comes to compensation!

Ha that is so interesting. I will definitely pay more attention to what aircraft I am flying on next time and hopefully will get to see the newer aircraft. I also found the approach to compensation interesting, I thought they might offer to refund my upgrade fee seen as I had paid more to end up in a faulty cabin but wasn’t given that option.

Even the Boeing 777 haven’t all been upgraded yet. The old style premium economy in BA really isn’t worth the extra money when comparing it to what other airlines offer. I’ve done it twice, both times from the menu you might be left with poor selection from whatever people in Club didn’t choose and we didn’t get our first choice. If travelling 747 or 777 you could be better off paying £55 extra for an exit seat in economy, you can place your hand luggage case in front of you and it serves as a much better footrest than premium economy. Also, in economy you might be lucky to find an empty row and you can stretch out. This won’t work in premium economy as the handrests are fixed. Having said, hoping to see what their redesigned premium economy class is like.

Sorry to hear that you had a bad experience. A year or two ago my sister and I got a free upgrade into premium economy because of screaming children in the row behind us. I’m not sure if it was because we weren’t expecting to be in premium economy, but we really enjoyed it. We’re both tall so the extra legroom and spacious seats were definitely appreciated. I can’t remember what the food was like. It doesn’t look or sound particularly great from what you mentioned.

At least they’ve compensated you with some points. I hope you get to use them on a lovely new adventure.

Aw thank you so much! I totally agree the extra leg room can make all the difference, especially for those with longer legs than me! We’re saving our points up for something special so this will definitely help in that respect 🙂

Thanks for the honest review! I can’t wait to travel out of the country! ;D

<3 Carsla Founder & CEO of Connect-the-Cloths http://www.connect-the-cloths.com http://blogspotter.co/connect-the-cloths/ A stylist, foodie, & writer's blog in development.

I love your blog.. But it makes me miss travelling too much 😉 http://finestprocrastination.blogspot.co.uk/

I am considering booking WTP for a flight to LA mainly for the extra space however the return price is almost double that of economy and from what Ive read on here Im not sure its daylight robbery

I personally wouldn’t pay double the price but if there is an offer at check in for £150 upgrade the extra legroom does make the flight much more comfortable!

We are due to fly from LHR TO JFK on monday, we upgraded to WTP and going by these comments I am dreading it, I think there is nothing worse when flying lingual that horrible uncomfy seats. We have never flown BA before only virgin and thomson. We recently flew to orlando on the new thomson dream liner in premium. I have to say everything about that flight was excellent.

I’m sure you will have a great flight too. If you get a newer plane and nice staff it will be fine!

Having daughters in America I fly frequently across the Atlantic. I have tried several different Premium Class flights Virgin, British Airways, Delta (dreadful).

My last flight to LAX was with Air New Zealand which I rate the best of the lot. Superb, modern cabins with a new configuration, great food and lovely staff. Slightly dearer than the others but well worth the money.

I read a review of the AirNZ Space Seat recently and it looks awesome. Might save some air miles to try that one next time!

It was interesting to hear your comments about your WTP experiences. I have just booked flights with BA (this is the first time we have flown with them) to Orlando from Gatwick. We usually fly premium economy but this time after studying BAs website re WTP, decided to fork out to upgrade. For the 6 of us this has been quite a significant addition to the cost. I do hope that it won’t be something that I regret. Since booking I have read feedback on various forums and I’m amazed at how varied the WTP package is. Surely it should be generic if you are paying for this service?

It would be lovely to say the product was consistent across different routes but this sadly hasn’t been my experience. The type of aircraft and age of the cabin makes a fair difference – my partner always looks into what type of aircraft is flying a route before booking any flights. I have also had some bad luck with broken entertainment systems and lack of meal choice, which doesn’t happen to everyone! I am sure you will have a great trip and hope you enjoy the flight. J

Thanks for the great review. I have the choice of flying to Madrid through Dallas on American or through London on BA. The BA 747 on the PHX-LHR segment is the old-style WT+ and it would cost $500 extra r/t. I can get Main Cabin Extra on AA for only $130 r/t. If the BA plane had the new interior, I’d spring for the extra dough, but not for the old seats. BTW, I have also flown Cathay Pacific Premium Economy and found it to be well worth the extra $700 r/t for the long LAX-HKG route.

Gosh it is much better value to upgrade on AA in this instance – like you I think $500 for WTP on the old style product is overpriced. I have also flown PE with Cathay from LHR to HKG and it was a fantastic product in terms of leg room, price and service. I was expecting the same with BA but it was nothing like it!

BA mentioned to me that if you write to them 2 days before the flight they can tell you whether the plane will have a new style interior or not, as they will know the registration by then. Whether the upgrade offer is still available 2 days before the flight is another question! If you don’t get a response from their email you can try their account on Twitter.

Thanks for the insight Ian – this is really good to know!

I just forked out a bit for this as well. I hope it’s worth it. Legroom and a little more elbow room have to be better than Delta/KLM’s premium economy. Theirs was not worth even a low-priced upgrade and I got no sleep on the red-eye. It will be my first time with BA too, so I’m looking forward to it. It’s supposed to be a 777–here’s hoping all will be functional. I kind of wanted to pay for the PE ticket, in case there was a shot at an upgrade. You never know.

I’l cross my fingers for you! Have a great flight Mabel

I read your review of PE on BA with interest. I am flying PE from Los Angeles to LH in a few days for the first time on BA. I noted that none of the comments by others mentioned PE on the Airbus A-380. Hopefully, by now, the issues of food and IFE have been addressed or at least these issues won’t be an issue on the A-380. Have you had any comments about the overall PE experience on the A-380?

Thank you for your review and candor.

Hi Paul, I haven’t heard any feedback re PE on the A380 specifically but have flown economy on the A380 and found that roomy and comfortable in comparison to older aircrafts. Have a pleasant journey and let us know how you get on!

In answer to your question re the 380’s – they are all fitted with the new cabin layout. I recently travelled from LHR to Washington DC in their WT+ and the seat was great, as was the entertainment system. On the way back however it was a 747 with the old WT+. I have written to BA saying how bad it was. The seat was so tight (I’m 6’2″ and of a heavy build) that I broke the plug off my headphones when I sat down as there was barely enough room in those old seats. I was in the front row so had lots of legroom, but if I had been in a middle aisle then it really wouldn’t have been worth the extra paid. May be better taking your chance in Economy and hoping for a free seat next to you.

This is great insight Alistair – thanks. It seems it really pays to look up what aircraft flies on the route before paying more for WT+. How disappointing to have the new cabin on the way out and old one on the way back though. Hopefully all aircraft will be updated in time. I’m interested to see what Singapore Airlines Premium Economy product is like when they launch it later this year.

I flew back from Orlando with BA on Saturday 1st August. Like you I was enticed by the snazzy pictures and paid £200 to upgrade to WT+ as a treat to myself as I was travelling alone.

The boarding was a shambles. WT+ travelers were not called and I ended up boarding with Economy passengers.

Upon arriving to my seating section I was extremely disappointed to come across old, tired seating. On the plus side I was sitting in the front row so had extra leg room on top of the PE seat leg space. Entertainment screen quality was terrible. I opted for the steak which was tasty, but everything else with the meal was plain.

My whole BA experience has put me off traveling with them unless the price is cheap, I am a frequent Virgin flyer and their planes feel and look so much fresher.

The main WT+ positives are the leg space especially if at the front, and the extra bag allowance. Everything else is of economy standard and not worth paying more than £100

I had a very similar experience to you and completely agree. If you get a good deal the extra leg room is worth the money but in my experience the BA PE comes nowhere near that of Cathay for example, who really make you feel like a Premium passenger.

Not happy with BAs customer service, I received an email asking if I would like to upgrade to world traveler plus for £184, why not! You were given a choice to upgrade both outgoing and incoming, in coming was far to expensive as it was club class at £3,000 odd, so tried to up grade outgoing with no luck, got an error message each time, I would only let me do it if I upgraded both ways, what a cheat! So I phoned BA, I was told the error message was because they have sold out the seats in that class, ok then I’m out of luck, I decided later to pay for a seat that I wanted and found the price for the upgrade had gone down to £161, no seats left, so how come the price had gone down? Phoned BA again, no fobbed of again with sorry as it’s an online offer they couldn’t do it on the phone, the price went down again to £131, this time I asked for a manager to phone me back, have I received one?!?! No! I managed to get an upgrade at the checkin for £200 , seat was nice and had a good sleep, not the same seat as the picture, but had a foot rest and real cutlery, I would upgrade again,

Phew, sounds like you had a bit of back and forwards but so glad you got the upgrade at a good price at the check in counter. I never thought to ask on the day so this is a good thing to know. Hope you enjoyed your trip. J

We always travel economy and for a wee treat I thought going WT plus. After reading your blog and other reviews, I think we’ll stick with economy. I wouldn’t in the least mind paying £900 over the return ticket price if I thought we would have a much nicer flight. Thank you Jayne.

Hi Jean, depending on where you are heading I highly recommend Cathay Pacifics premium economy cabin – if they fly where you’re heading that is a nice treat worth paying extra for 🙂

My flight was delayed so they put me on the next one leaving in 45mins that was great I paid to upgrade £250 what did I get ? Never got aisle seat as requested ,when meal came I don’t like chicken What did they offer me NOTHING ,all the way from JFK to LONDON . As for the breakfast in morning, granola bar and a very cold croissant.I have been in touch with BA BEEN OFFERED £25 voucher which I told them was no good to me as this was my last flight They have told me I’m not entitled to anything more as meal is complimentary

I’ve flown BA World Traveler Plus several times now: DFW-LHR, BOS-LHR, LHR-IAD, and LHR-IAH, and I’m booked JFK-LHR-TLV-LHR-LAX in November. It is a much welcome improvement over Economy and the cost isn’t that much for the routes (next month for the JFK-TLV-LAX itinerary it is about USD $500. That’s a fraction of what Club World (Business) would cost, and you’ve got a heck of a lot more comfort for a long flight.

I haven’t flown BA for more than 23 years but have instead flown premium economy with Virgin or Norwegian.This past three week vacation with my family i chose BA World Traveller Plus as the price was a little better and also my preferred Norwegian Dreamliner just stopped their flight I’d been taking from Fort Lauderdale to London Gatwick.What an amazing surprise we got on board when led to our individual seating “pods”!! I there and then decided i would be flying with BA from now on! BUT…. Then came our return flight 3 weeks later and disastrously no full lay down Pod but a less than “premium experience in the “world Traveller Plus” seats. I don’t understand why or how we got the upgraded outbound seats but the return was a double disappointment.Not only no “pods” but the return seats were far inferior to Virgin or Norwegian Premium for a similar price.The seats were to close together( almost fighting the stranger beside me for the armrest), and the space to the seat in front of us was too close.The tv screen was a joke! tiny and with a blurred picture i had to strain to make out.(By the way last Feb i had eye surgery on both eyes and now have 20-20 vision in both!) The earphone plug socket is almost impossible to locate and when you do it is so close to your leg that the slightest movement yanks it out or worse brakes it off! The mail meal was ok apart for my wife who asked for the pasta with marinade and it was all gone.(some premium experience…not!!. All in all I can clearly state from our experience on all that we will fly Virgin or Norwegian next time. One thing i should add is that the service by the BA staff was better than Norwegian.

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JetsettingBen

Review – World Traveller Plus with British Airways

If you didn’t know, Oakland is a smaller airport in the Bay Area which is in a great location to nearby San Francisco, San Jose and all that Northern California has to offer. Being a smaller airport means there shouldn’t be very long queues. Hopefully!

British Airways fly direct from London Gatwick to Oakland several times a week on a 3-class Boeing 777-200 aircraft. Flight BA2279 departs from the West Sussex airport in the late morning and arrives into Oakland just after lunchtime – which is great if you want to maximise your time in the area.

Rather than go into a full detailed review, I have outlined some of the key benefits when flying in World Traveller Plus with British Airways and my thoughts on my recent flight.

An introduction to World Traveller Plus World Traveller Plus is the brand name for BA’s Premium Economy cabin and sports all the features you would expect for a mid-cabin to offer. Aboard the 3-class 777-200 aircraft, there are 24 seats in the World Traveller Plus cabin which is located in the middle of the aircraft in rows 12, 13 and 14. There are 8 seats per row in a 2-4-2 configuration.

Width = 18.5″ Pitch = 38″ Recline = 7″

Some of the main draws of flying in WTP include the wider seat with a greater recline than in World Traveller, lumbar support, a head-rest and a foot-rest. In addition to a dedicated cabin crew, customers will also find an amenity kit, pillow and blanket at their seat.

Check-In Customers travelling in World Traveller Plus are able to use the standard “bag drop” facility at London Gatwick. If you have been able to check-in online and have a boarding pass – you can use the new self-service bag drop area; otherwise simply head on over to a standard desk. If you are a British Airways Executive Club Bronze, Silver, Gold, or are a oneWorld Emerald or Sapphire member – you are able to use the premium-check in area.

Another great thing about travelling in World Traveller Plus is the ability to check-in up to two cases per passenger, weighing no more than 23kg each. Contrary to rumours, your baggage allowance cannot be pooled. Each bag must weigh no more than the maximum limit of 23kg.

Pre-Departure Service Aside from priority boarding, customers seated in World Traveller Plus receive a welcome beverage of sparkling wine or orange juice, and a choice of newspaper to read. The amenity kit presented to customers in World Traveller Plus is good. It contains an eye-mask, flight socks, toothbrush, paste and a pen. You’ll also find a comfortable travel-sized pillow and a blanket at the seat when you step on board the aircraft.

Inflight Dining One of the draws of flying in Premium Economy is the ability to enjoy a delicious three-course meal which is served on fine-china with linen napkins and stainless steel cutlery. For the entree offered as part of the first meal service, passengers in World Traveller Plus are able to choose from two of the options offered in Club World (business class). Again, this is similar to other airlines’ Premium Economy propositions.

On selected routes passengers also have the opportunity to choose their entree between 30-days and 24-hours in advance of their flight for no additional charge. This is a great proposition which allows you to ensure you can have the choice of what you would like to eat, rather than waiting until the day only to find they have run out of your favourite option – whether that was the chicken, beef or an alternative option.

Here is a very quick run-through of what I enjoyed on my flight to Oakland. You’ll find a gallery of the photos from my inflight dining experience below:

• Pre-departure beverage service (Sparkling wine or orange juice)
• A refreshing drink just after take-off.
• First meal service about an hour after departure. Vegetable pasta salad Selection of warmed bread rolls with butter Choice of entree from the Club World galley Lily O’Brien’s Dessert (Usually a cheesecake or mousse) A selection of drinks from the bar with a separate tea and coffee service.
• Mid-flight snack box (Offered to all customers in WTP and World Traveller) Crisps Popcorn Chocolate Bar Juice or water
• Second meal service about an hour and half prior to landing. (Offered to all customers in WTP and WT) Choice of hot meal Slice of cake Cup of water Tea/coffee/juice

Inflight Dining Photo Gallery

Inflight Entertainment The 777-200 aircraft currently based at London Gatwick feature the Rockwell Collins AVOD inflight entertainment system with 6.3″ LCD screens and about eighteen video channels. When the aircraft entered service, this system was “cutting edge”.

Of course technology has evolved at lightning speed. The system is quite clunky, but that is to be expected. There were a handful of movies, TV shows and audio playlists available to enjoy – including a few recent releases such as La La Land and Moonlight.

Inflight Service As the World Traveller Plus cabin is very small, the same two cabin crew members looked after me for the duration of the flight. They were professional and friendly; and genuinely passed through the cabin on regular occasions to ensure everything was alright. In-between meal times, the crew passed through on average every 45 or so minutes offering cups of water or orange juice. Of course you could always use the call button at the seat if you required the cabin crew for anything else.

Overall Thoughts World Traveller Plus is a solid and robust Premium Economy product from British Airways. The fares, service offerings and entire product is comparable with many other mainstream carriers and I’d certainly say it is worth the extra money on a long-haul flight.

Value for money: 3.5/5 Comfort: 4/5 Food 3.5/5 IFE: 2.5/5 Service: 4/5

Overall: 4/5

The long-haul aircraft at London Gatwick are to be refreshed from early next year. When complete, you can look forward to updated cabins which match the products offered on the Airbus A380 and Boeing 787 Dreamliner. According to reports, there will also be a brand new inflight entertainment system fitted; offering hours of content available for you to enjoy.

Fares to Oakland, California

As of the time of publication, British Airways are currently offering roundtrip fares from London Gatwick to Oakland, California from around £500 per person in World Traveller and £950 in World Traveller Plus; which is pretty good value for money. If you are savvy, you might be able to discover promotional fares which can be up to 25% cheaper.

Have you flown with British Airways in World Traveller Plus? I’d love to hear your thoughts on the product.

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I usually try and fly business long haul. I haven’t flown BA WT+ because I’m always a bit wary of getting this older style cabin – I recently had to choose between Virgin PE and BA WT+ to Mexico. I went with Virgin even though I’m BA Silver. Also am I right in thinking that the second meal is now only served on flights of 8hrs+?

Hi Evan. That is correct regarding the second meal service; otherwise it is an “ambient snack”. The 777s at London Gatwick are set to be refurbished on a rolling basis from early next year, which should match the cabins featured on the Airbus A380 and Boeing 787 aircraft out of LHR. I hope you enjoyed your PE experience on Virgin Atlantic though!

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BRITISH AIRWAYS’ £6.5BN INVESTMENT PLAN LATEST: WORLD TRAVELLER PLUS CHANGES ROLL OUT

Customers travelling in British Airways’ premium economy cabin, World Traveller Plus are about to see some exciting new improvements to their experience on board. The changes come as part of the airline’s £6.5 billion-pound investment plan.

Changes to the cabin, which will be rolled out over the coming months will include new furnishings, an enhanced service and an improved dining experience. 

The delicious new menus will be available from February 1 and feature a third main meal option and a more substantial hot second meal later in the flight. 

Launch menus, will include braised British beef with roast new potatoes, onion soubise and bourguignon sauce, roasted guinea fowl with braised red cabbage, green beans, roast potato and mustard and chive jus and rigatoni pasta in a creamy garlic and herb sauce with leek, pumpkin and baby spinach.

From the Spring, the airline will also be investing in its World Traveller Plus amenities, with new amenity kits, quilts and pillows.

Carolina Martinoli, British Airways’ Director of Brand and Customer Experience, said: “This latest tranche of our £6.5bn investment is set to improve World Traveller Plus and customers will see a real change to the cabin. In February the new menus will launch, followed in the Spring by the introduction of new amenity kits, quilts and pillows for added comfort and a touch of luxury.” Last year British Airways unveiled a new World Traveller Plus seat at Gatwick. The seat features a 50 per cent larger entertainment screen, as well as a six-way adjustable leg, foot and headrest to suit customers of all heights. The seat will feature on the airline’s A350 aircraft, when it arrives later this year.

Customers travelling in World Traveller Plus have the ability to pre-order their main meal up to 24 hours before departure, guaranteeing their first choice for their main meal. Customers can select this option by using the ‘manage my booking’ tool on ba.com 

2019 is British Airways’ Centenary year. The airline is investing £6.5 billion for customers over five years, including new aircraft, new cabins, new catering, new lounges, WiFi, and new routes. 

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London's airlines, airports and routes.

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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London Gatwick Airport

Take off to lots of popular destinations in Europe, America, the Caribbean, Middle East and the UK. Enjoy a selection of shops, coffee shops and restaurants within the terminal to set you up for your journey ahead.

Which London airport and terminal?

British Airways flights also operate to and from London Heathrow Terminal 5 and Terminal 3, as well as London City airport. 

Flight connections

Everything you need to know about flight connections with British Airways, including travelling between London airports.

Flight status

Check when your flight arrives or departs, and if it is on time or delayed. 

British Airways flights to and from London Gatwick operate through the South Terminal. You must meet the following times to be able to travel:

• Check-in closes  60 minutes  before long-haul flights depart and  45 minutes  before short-haul flights depart.
• Pass through security at least  35 minutes  before your flight departs.
• Be at the boarding gate at least  20 minutes  before your flight departs. See the 'Boarding' section, below.

The quickest way to check in is online, 24 hours before your flight departs.

• Check in online at  Manage My Booking  and print your boarding pass.
• Use the  British Airways app  to check in and download your boarding pass to your mobile device.

When you need to check in at the airport on the day of departure:

• If you are travelling in a group of more than nine people, please use a check-in kiosk or go to a check-in desk.
• If your child is travelling alone, or with you but on a separate booking, please go to a check-in desk.

Check the information screens to find out which check-in zone you can use for your flight.

There are dedicated check-in desks available if you are:

• Travelling in First, Club World or Club Europe
• Executive Club Gold, Silver and Bronze Members
• one world® Emerald, Sapphire and Ruby Members

If you have baggage to check in, take your bags to a Bag Drop desk. These desks are open at the below times on the day of departure.

Overnight Bag Drop  is available if you are travelling on a flight departing before 13:00. You can check in your bags between 18:00–21:00 the day before.

You can drop off bags for others travelling with you, but they must be on the same booking and you must bring their passports and all travel documents, including health tests, required for the journey.

Once your baggage has been checked in, we won't be able to retrieve it, so make sure you have everything you need before you check in.

If you are travelling with hand baggage only and you have already checked in, please go straight through security and to the gate. If your hand baggage exceeds your allowance, you may need to check it in, and charges may apply.

Have your baggage collected from your doorstep, securely transported to the airport, and checked-in for your flight, allowing you to travel to the airport luggage-free and head straight to security when you get there. Available for flights departing from Heathrow, Gatwick, Geneva, Zurich and Vienna.

You must enter Security at least 35 minutes before your flight departs.

Premium Security is open daily 05:30-14:00 and 16:30-21:30, and is available when you are:

• Travelling in First, Club World and Club Europe
• Executive Club Gold and Silver Members (plus one guest)
• one world Emerald and Sapphire Members (plus one guest)

After you clear security, please check the information screens at regular intervals and find out how long it will take you to get to the gate. 

If you use the  British Airways app , you will receive gate notifications directly on your mobile.

You need to  be at the gate no later than 20 minutes before the flight departs . If we have your contact details, we will try to contact you when it is about to close, but we can't delay the aircraft's departure to wait for late passengers.

You will notice a group number on your boarding pass, which shows your boarding priority. Please be ready to board the aircraft when your group is called.

If you want to take advantage of pre-boarding or priority boarding, please arrive at the gate early.

Pre-boarding  is available when you are:

• Travelling with small children
• Requiring disability or mobility assistance

Priority boarding  is available when you are:

• Travelling in First, Club World, Club Europe or World Traveller Plus
• one world Emerald, Sapphire and Ruby Members

If you arrive after your priority group has been called, you can use the priority lane to board at your leisure.

There are two British Airways lounges in the South Terminal, both located on the Upper Mezzanine level, between Dixons Travel and Inmotion (access via lift), after Security.

Once you have disembarked from the aircraft and are in the terminal building you will need to pass through Passport Control.

You can use the automatic ePassport gates if you have an eligible passport with a chip in it from one of the following countries: UK, EU, EEA countries (Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein) and Switzerland, Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea and the United States of America.

Premium immigration is available to book online at Gatwick Airport.

After Passport Control, follow the yellow signs for 'Arrivals/Baggage Reclaim' and look for your flight on the information screens to see which carousel your bags will arrive on.

Once you have your baggage, you may need to pass through Customs. 

Disability and mobility assistance

If you need additional help for your journey, such as getting through the airport, boarding the aircraft or reaching your onward travel connections, please let us know at least 48 hours before you travel on  Manage My Booking  and we can arrange this for you with Gatwick airport.

Getting to and from the airport

Gatwick railway station is directly accessible from the South Terminal.

Rail information and ticket desks can be found in the arrivals area of the South Terminal.

National Express operates a network of services each day to and from London Gatwick airport. Unlike other coach operators, National Express will take you to the heart of London Gatwick South Terminal from towns and cities throughout the UK, making getting to the airport hassle free.

Heathrow to Gatwick coach services run 80 times a day and the journey takes up to an hour.

Book your return tickets now to ensure a great fare or book an open ticket for more flexibility.

Taxi ranks are signposted once you are in the Arrivals hall, or you can pre-book privately run minicabs.

Gatwick is 28 miles (45km) south of London, linked directly to the M23 motorway at Junction 9 and to the A23 London-Brighton road. The M25 London orbital motorway is a ten minute drive away (Junction 7), via the M23, providing connections to the national road and motorway network.

Make your journey easier with our parking partners. Leave your car at a nearby car park with quick transfers, drop it off right outside the terminal with valet parking, or combine an overnight stay with parking and transfers at an airport hotel.

Plus, earn 5 Avios per £1 spent when you pre-book car parking.

Airport map

View a map of London Gatwick South Terminal to help plan for your journey ahead.

Fly from London Gatwick

Discover where you could fly to including a wide choice of short-haul and long-haul destinations.

Airport hotels

If you need to stay overnight, we offer a wide range of conveniently-located hotels.