June EuroTrip Part 2: LHR to Milan Linate… in “Euro Traveller”

After about 4 days in England, it was time for a short 2-day trip to Milan, Italy (LIN).  The only reason for this trip was to reposition for my trip back to the US to take advantage of cheaper fares when leaving some European airports compared to starting in the US or UK.  Because I had canceled my SFO-LHR, LHR-Milan flight, I had to book this flight separately.  I booked it as an economy award ticket because it was only $1 if I needed to cancel it. 

Even though it was an economy award ticket, my BA Gold Status meant that I was able to use the First Wing check-in and the Galleries First Lounge, which I have visited frequently. 

Unlike many of my other trips, this was an afternoon flight, so they had a standard lunch/dinner offer at the buffet. 

The food on offer looked pretty standard for a lounge buffet all things considered.

The buffet is pretty large, but both sides just have the same thing for the most part.

There’s also a small afternoon tea sandwich section that looks very fun and very British, which is an important selling point for British Airways.

So I selected a few things from the buffet and sat down to chill.

They’ve also substantially reduced the offers through the table service menu.  Now it’s just drinks.  It’s really unfortunate because the table side service during COVID times really made it feel more special.

I had previously noticed that we had had an aircraft swap from an A321 to an A319, but didn’t think much of it until boarding.  The swap meant that I kept my seat assignment but I was no longer sitting in an exit row seat.  I spoke to the onboard crew who attempted to reassign me to the exit row, but for whatever reason, it didn’t work. But first, here is that seat:

You’ll notice that this seat is the same that I often have in Club Europe because these seats can be converted. But unfortunately, the reseating did not hold and I had to move back to row 16.

Row 16 on the A319 can never be a Club Europe seat, so this seat is slightly different (worse).

The general in-flight service for this economy flight was simply a small water bottle and some salt and vinegar corn chips.

But the flight attendants additionally came around and gave a glass of champagne to me and several others in EuroTraveller. I assume they gave it to everyone who had BA Gold status, which was a small but very nice touch that made me actually feel valued.

In summary, this EuroTraveller flight was very comfortable. Being able to use the First Wing and Galleries First Lounge before this flight was great (4/5). This seat was noticeably worse than the convertible seat I usually have (2/5), but the service was excellent (5/5). The meal service was minimal but slightly above average given the extra glass of champagne (3/5). The IFE was just in-flight WiFi, but that’s not decent for Europe at this point (3/5). Overall, this flight gets a 16/25, which is actually really good for a short haul economy flight!