First class passenger fuming sharing British Airways 'shockingly bad' seat

First class mess: A business traveller has complained after forking out $7500 for a BA fare. Photo / TikTok Luxury Traveller

A flight in first class, you'd expect nothing but the best – especially for a $7500 seat.

But one passenger on board a British Airways flight, has exposed the disappointment he had while travelling at the pointy end of the plane.

Jarvis Marcos, filmed his experience while flying first-class from Mexico to London with his girlfriend, Kamara Harding. During the flight, he claims he experienced the "shockingly bad" standards while seated in the most prestigious cabin — including dripping water from the airconditioning unit and even "sticky liquid" on tray tables.

After boarding the plane in August, Marcos called the 11-hour trip the 'worst experience' he'd had on a flight and posted about his experience to his 181k followers on Tik Tok.

"There were large gouges missing out of the seat itself and the surrounding of the seat," he said.

"Chunks of leather had been gouged out to the point where you could see the metal skeleton of the seat underneath.

"The seat also didn't fully recline into a bed despite that being something they advertise as part of the service, because the mechanics of the seat were broken.

"The seats also clearly hadn't been cleaned, which especially during Covid is just not acceptable.

Scuff marks and torn upholstery was not a first class experience for this passenger. Photo / Tiktok, luxury traveller

"There were crumbs in the storage cubby holes and streaks of a sticky liquid on the tray tables which had dried on and not been cleaned.

"The airconditioning above my girlfriend's seat was leaking and dripping water onto her which is also particularly unacceptable during Covid, as that's what filters the air."

As a frequent flyer, who travels more than 160,000km each year — Marcos said he was particularly disappointed in the "stale" and "overcooked" in-flight meals offered by the airline.

Along with "unclean" seats, the frequent luxury flyer said the metal framework in his $7500 seat was visible and an apparent malfunction meant the seat was unable to recline into a full bed.

Marcos was upset after paying $7500 to fly first class with British Airways. Photo / TikTok, Luxury Traveller

Mr Marcos, who paid for both his and his girlfriend's seat through frequent flyer miles, said after making a complaint — the airline offered the pair £150 (AU$281) per person in e-vouchers, which British Airways said was "fairly and appropriately" and wouldn't be offering further compensation.

In comparison, Mr Marcos compared his British Airways first class flight with the same seat on Emirates to show off the difference in each experience – including bottles of Dom Perignon champagne and "mounds of caviar".

A spokesperson for the airline British Airways apologised for his experience, and said their aircraft goes for maintenance regularly. The spokesperson said they intend to investigate why this particular experience "clearly" didn't meet their usual high standards.