After years of refusing to fly with British Airways because of an awful experience where they dumped us at Johannesburg Airport to find our own way home 7000 miles back to the UK, we decided to use them to fly to Port Elizabeth from Johannesburg OT airport, just a 90 minute flight what could go wrong.
Nothing did. Everything went to plan both to PE and on return flight back to Joburg. Although we did double book the return part with a later flight that was 100% refundable just in case BA did anything stupid again. Luckily they did not, so cancelled other flight scheduled for 2 hours later, although BA desk made me use phone to cancel because it was booked with Kulula Airways (its part of BA in South Africa) and not direct with BA, even though they were wearing Kulula uniforms! And that there was no Kulula desk at PE airport despite being told in an email that I would be able to cancel at the Kulula desk! Thats BA for you. So cancelled on mobile phone in a noisy airport, and will wait to see on the refund!
Flights typical for economy flights, narrow seats, bit of legroom,but staff friendly. Aircraft on return leg was an old old old plane with no markings on the outer and rickerty inside but the seats managed, just, to stay bolted down in the cabins.
Overall good value though. And as I said this review is just for these BA flights not BA overall.

I arrived at Heathrow Terminal 5 at 0530hrs for my 0830hrs flight to JFK. I used the First Wing in Terminal 5 to drop off my checked bag and go through security. The First Wing has its own security lanes and deposits you straight into the First-Class Galleries Lounge (I had paid for business class and upgraded to first class using Avios).

I walked over to The Concorde Room for breakfast. I ordered a fruit salad and kippers with a poached egg. The fruit salad was excellent with lots of differing berries. The kippers were very nice with the poached egg - it made a change from the usual English Breakfast I have had on previous occasions in the Concorde Room.

As I had been made aware of my gate number at bag drop, and the fact that the transit train to the satellite terminals (T5B and T5C) was not working, I left the Concorde room a little earlier than normal and made my way over to the gate in T5B via the underground tunnels (it is about a 10 minute walk).

As I was in Group One for boarding, I was about the third person on the aircraft. The lady on the door apologised that currently there was no one to show me to my seat, but I wasn’t bothered as I have flown in First Class on the BA Boeing 747 previously, so I knew where my seat (2K) was.

As soon as I had sat down, I was offered a choice of drinks (I opted for a Bucks Fizz) and handed an amenity kit and First-Class pyjamas. My earphones and a blanket were on the ottoman. My drink together with a bowl of warmed nuts was very quickly served.

Whilst the rest of the passengers boarded, I was offered a second Bucks Fizz which I accepted, but declined a third one.

The First Class seat is very spacious and being one of the ‘super hi-J’ B747’s it has the upgraded audio-visual system with lots of films and tv/radio programmes available. The supplied noise cancelling earphones work a treat with this system.

I Had pre-ordered a very light ‘top up’ breakfast (having previously eaten breakfast in the Concorde Room) which was very well presented and tasty.

Overall, I was very well looked after by the Worldwide fleet crew onboard. In general, I do find the ‘Worldwide fleet’ cabin-crew, being that little bit more mature than a ‘Mixed Fleet’ crew, know how to look after their first-class passengers very well indeed.

All too soon we were landing at JFK Terminal 7, dead on time.

Having Global Entry, I was straight through Immigration within a few minutes (later flights into JFK T7 can be problematic as it can be very busy when the later flights arrive and queues, even with Global Entry are often reported). However, BA177 arrives at JFK at 11.30am when T7 is very quiet.

My bag was about the third one onto the carousel and I was clear of customs and in the arrivals area within around 15 minutes of landing.

All in all a very good flight, with a very good crew.

We paid for premium economy tickets but ended up being bumped to basic economy with no explanation. Between booking and traveling the return flight from Miami, our flight schedule were changed twice by the travel agent, forcing us to rebook twice the connection out of London. When travel day came, our flight was delayed 1 hour. We were seated in the back of the plane, which turned out to be a 20 year old beat up and worn out 747. The seats were lacking even moderat comfort, and leg room was horrible. It was impossible to get any sleep during the night flight. Entertainment was useless. A 7" seatback videoscreen was impossible to watch because of poor screen definition. The food was terrible, not fit for human consumption and the wine was cheap and uninteresting. On the positive side, the crew were nice, helpful and professional. All in all a very disappointing experience on BA. To think that they will keep these old planes around until 2024 is mind boggling. They desperately need a total hardware replacement, now! Until that happens, BA is not a preferred choice of travel.

Flight excellent and staff brilliant once on the flight. Cannot say the same for the assistance at their check in desk at Santiago. The queues at check in were horrendous and people who required assistance were told it would be available after going through security. Alas no one there in the yellow jackets as everyone was informed. Not impressed. However we eventually got help, luckily we speak a little Spanish, and the trip home was good and on time.

Given the fact that this was a business class flight for all of us, you'd expect certain levels of comfort and quality. Thats what we got! Excellent service, food, in flight entertainment etc etc.

Highly recommended