Our vegan Business Class experience with British Airways

The current economic climate makes flying in the premium cabins even more expensive than previously, with increased fuel charges and airport taxes resulting in higher ticket prices. It’s always frustrating when you are paying more than you normally would and your experience is not up to par.

Recent experiences ‘up front’ with British Airways as vegan passengers has been kind of underwhelming with certain room for improvement, but there have been some highlights which is what we were hoping for more of on our most recent return flights in Club World with British Airways between Singapore Changi and London Heathrow. Flying out of Changi in Business Class gave us a selection of One World lounge options, so arriving at the airport early we planned to visit the three One World lounges that are located in terminal 1.

The British Airways Lounge at Changi

Our ‘lounge tour’ started at the British Airways branded lounge which is located on level 3 of terminal 1 and conveniently close to the other One World lounges that we had access to.

Frustratingly nothing was labelled as vegan on the buffet but after asking we confirmed that the linguini aglio olio, chick pea salad and sweet potatoes salad were all suitable for vegans. This trio of cold entrees were very good and presented an excellent option complete with flavour, nutrition and protein; it would just be preferable if they were labelled correctly to avoid any confusion.

As there was no hot option available, the kind staff offered us a vegan dish from the Concorde Room which is the British Airways First Class lounge. Our expectations were exceeded with a delicious Singapore grown lions mane mushroom creation with tomato and coconut curry sauce and basmati rice. It was for sure one of the tastiest vegan meals we’ve enjoyed in an airline lounge.

And to round off our very enjoyable experience we both enjoyed an alcohol free gin and tonic made with Tanqueray 0.0 which was very refreshing and the perfect drink before our flight.

Qatar Airways Premium Lounge at Changi

The Qatar lounge which is considered by many to be the best Business Class lounge at Changi was very disappointing as vegan travellers. The a la carte menu stated ‘vegan dishes are completely free of animal products’ but the only option was vegetable sushi roll with Japanese cucumber.

When discussing the other menu and buffet options, it was clear that the staff team did not really understand what vegan was as we were offered dishes featuring burrata, egg and cream. Despite the lounge having a nice ambiance, we decided not to spend any time there as there were other lounges for us to visit.

Qantas Business Lounge at Changi

We had high hopes for the Qantas lounge, having been seriously impressed by their First Class lounge on a previous trip. The business lounge had a noodle bar which sadly didn’t have a vegan option, but the salad bar had a tomato and red onion salad, mesclun leaves tossed with vinaigrette and a raw salad with chickpeas and tahini dressing. The all day dining options were jasmine rice, French beans with garlic confit and penne arrabiata. Whilst these might not have been the most exciting options, everything looked fresh and was clearly labelled as vegan.

As we had dined in the British Airways lounge we were no longer hungry, but managed to find room for a vegan dessert with sago, coconut cream and mango which was a delicious sweet treat.

Singapore to London with British Airways

This was to be our first time experiencing the relatively new Club World Suites which at our time of travel (July 2026) have been retro fitted across 75% to 80% of the British Airways aircraft. With the older Club World seats being seriously outdated and coming in for regular criticism, we were excited to have the opportunity to see for ourselves what the new product was really like.

It was impressive in many ways, from the new IFE system complete with 18.5cm screen and the semi private suites complete with 1.98cm flat bed it was an entirely upgraded experience when compared to the previous Club World offering. Frustratingly, the WiFi didn’t work for the entire flight which was our only disappointment of the hard product on board.

But what about the vegan food we hear you say; after all that is what this post is all about. Well, it didn’t start well with a flavourless tofu salad and olive oil dressing, a dry bread roll wrapped in plastic and cheap margarine which may or may not have been vegan. No flavour, no imagination and just not good enough.

Our main course was penne pasta with mixed beans which sounded as boring as it looked, once again lacking in presentation, creativity and flavour. When it came to dessert, everyone else was served raspberry vanilla gateau or warm toffee pudding and a selection of cheeses after their meals, whilst we were offered jelly and fruit. The highlight from our flight was the San Miguel 0.0 that was available, as sadly the breakfast was equally as uninspiring and appetising as our dinner.

Yet another disappointing vegan experience with British Airways who quite simply need to improve there VGML offering and realise that dry bread rolls wrapped in plastic, salads with no imagination, overcooked penne with mixed beans and a bowl of jelly just is not acceptable in their premium cabins.

British Airways Galleries Club at Heathrow

With Terminal 5 at London Heathrow being the ‘home base’ for British Airways there are three Galleries Club Lounge options available, which depending on your departure gate will make one of them the most convenient. We chose T5B Galleries Club Lounge as it’s always quiet and is convenient for BA11 which usually departs from the nearby gates. Our choice proved to be an excellent one as the lounge was very quiet compared to the other lounges and the staff team were very friendly and helpful; it was the perfect place to relax whilst awaiting our overnight flight.

We were super impressed with the vegan options which included an excellent salad bar with extensive vegan options that were clearly labelled, and harissa tagine with basmati rice and green veggies from the hot section, again all clearly labelled vegan.

There was a ‘live station’ with staff preparing burgers and jacket potatoes but sadly there was no vegan burger available. However, the jacket potato with baked beans and vegan butter, vegan cheese and plenty of black pepper was simply delicious. They even had vegan scotch eggs which were made with butternut and were excellent. For dessert we loved the vegan ice cream from Jude’s and with Tanqueray Seville 0.0 available, this has to be one of our best vegan friendly airline lounge experiences to date.

London to Singapore with British Airways

Our return flight was also onboard one of the British Airways Boeing 777-300ER which are all now fitted with the Club Suite. As this was our second flight, we knew that despite the modern refitted cabin, there was no USB type C charger point, only USB type A so we were able to bring the correct adaptor which was essential for a scheduled flight time of more than 13 hours.

Frustratingly the WiFi did not work yet again which is disappointing and meant we were unable to catch up with some planned work and keep on top of the football results from the World Cup! But overall, we would have to say that we are big fans of the Club Suite and look forward to experiencing it again.

The vegan food was quite simply incomparable to what we were served flying out of Changi. It was excellent and just goes to show what’s possible when the caterers use their expertise to create dishes that taste delicious even when flying more than 30,000 above the ground. I’m not sure who provides the food out of Changi, but it was substandard to say the least, whereas the food out of Heathrow, which is supplied by DO & CO, saw them excel themselves with delicious vegan food. Our salad was full of flavour with baked eggplant and lentils for that protein hit, whilst our curry with rice and veggies for main was a real treat that we both enjoyed immensely.

Our expectations for dessert were low to say the least, so when we were served a delicate, beautifully presented and delicious creation we were suitably impressed. It’s fair to say that we slept well having enjoyed an excellent VGML experience.

Breakfast was equally as impressive with vegan yoghurt and fruit to start, followed by scrambled tofu, vegan sausage, tomatoes and mushrooms. All we can say is that our food was very good indeed flying out of Heathrow, which further highlighted just how poor the food was when flying our of Changi and it’s this inconsistency that needs addressing.

The Club Suite is a huge improvement on what was previously available, but in our opinion it’s only brought British Airways to the same standard of many other airlines that fly these routes, that said it was very good and we would happily choose to fly with BA again if the aircraft features the Club Suite.

Being able to fly direct to the UK from Asia is a bonus with no need for time wasting stop overs in the Middle East, and the crew were attentive and courteous on both of our flights. The vegan food was very good in both lounges, with the Heathrow lounge being superior due to the clear labelling and extensive options throughout.

On board our experiences were as varied as they could be with our flight departing from Changi serving sub standard vegan options, whereas what we were served flying out of Heathrow was very good and of the highest standard. Consistency is key in all business and it would be good to see British Airways trying to find a way for their passengers to receive a similar level of catering on all flights, not just those out of Heathrow.