BA to trial pre ordering of meals.

I have two domestic AA flights on Sunday, flying in First. (Domestic business class). Meal choices were available for both. I selected my choice from a list of one meal option per sector!

Cheers for the update rferguson

This at first glance seems like a good idea, look closer and I’ll propose that the final result will be a diminished service, particularly in “Y” where most cost conscious customers can be found.

BA’s accountants have a perfect chance to cut costs by simply reducing waste, and at the same time appear to be delivering a new enhanced FREE customer service application. By charging for pre-selection they immediately create a barrier to the service.

The result of all these innovative “extra’s” that we as consumers have bought into without much resistance, is that , what we took as the norm once upon a time has now become sub-standard service almost by stealth . ….unless you pay for the extras…

On another topic in the forum, we were asked about our favourite meal….I’m sure all those meals mentioned came as part of the ticket price.

I think this works well on American Airlines (although from recollection one can select meals far in advance of 48 hours – not that helpful when you are on the road). I recently tried the pre-order meal service on a domestic AA first class flight from Chicago to San Francisco and thought it worked well – I recall there being three options – one of which was vegetarian.

I think it will be particularly helpful for those premium passengers that refuse to pay BA’s seat selection fee and then end up sitting towards the back of the CW cabin only to find that their preferred meal option is not available when the crew come to take their order.

I just hope that there will be no last minute and regular substitutions due to “operational reasons” (i.e. my preferred choice being replaced with something I don’t like with no alternatives available on a long flight).

I think this one is a three pronged ‘offer an enhanced service, increase auxiliary revenue and reduce cost’ approach.

On certain routes people in Economy ordering ‘special meals’ can be at the 60% mark of the economy cabin. These all have to be hand delivered by the cabin crew before the regular meal service and can really drag it out.

I know several airlines have online ordering for Business Class meals but I think few offer it in economy. I know KLM offers the ability to purchase an upgraded meal and Qantas offers the ability to pre order in Premium Economy and soon to roll it out to economy also.

Like I mentioned in my initial post I am not sure what the offering will be like – whether the choice will be greater with online selection or whether it is to be a KLM type approach. The service will initially be trialled so I guess it will depend on the uptake on the trial.

**These are my personal opinions only and do not reflect those of my employer**’

AspirationalFlyer, you also miss the other potential problem with meal selection. Once a significant number of people pre-order, so BA have “certainty” about what to provide for them, they are going to have an even smaller amount of leeway with the remaining passengers so it is even more likely that a popular option will run out quickly (if you see what I mean).

I have used AA’s pre-ordering service on domestic flights, and on two of the flights there were just three or four passengers that hadn’t pre-ordered. By the time they got to me in row three they were already out of options (which didn’t bother me, as of course I had pre-ordered, although ironically on both occasions the only remaining option was the one I had pre-ordered anyway!)

Bearing that situation in mind, I will always pre-order if the option is available to me, and since I am clued up enough to do that I think it works marvellously. Of course, I can see that for others who don’t know about it or for whatever reason aren’t savvy enough to do it, it just stacks the odds in the meal lottery even further against them.

Fortunately, on CX (who carry me on the bulk of my long-haul flights) I am always given first dibs of the meal options – one of the unwritten perks of being a top-tier FF! And on regional flights in economy, I not only get to reserve my choice, they usually hand-deliver it to me (with my preferred drink) before the main meal run starts 🙂

On a miserable day up here, north of border, you’ve made me smile rferguson…..

Business Speak..
However, Jaski admitted that BA was looking at offering economy class passengers “a slightly upgraded meal” which doesn’t appear on the inflight menu, for an additional fee.

Marie Waterside Antoinette Talk
If passengers in goat class want something edible to eat let them pay for it.

Ian I agree with many of your points.

– I think it is crazy to charge passengers in premium cabins to select a seat (let alone increase the fee).
– charging for an ‘upgraded’ meal service. Well I think this is a good idea PROVIDING it doesn’t see a decline in the current (‘free’) offering. I believe KLM have been offering this service for a while and it is popular.
– the HBO fares….a lot of us within BA questioned this fare with the same conclusion as yourself. Is shorthaul not just morphing into a loco? The answer seems to be that the loco’s are our biggest competitors on shorthaul. And the reasoning behind offering the HBO fares was not one that I had thought about. Apparently, the main reason for offering a lower ‘lead in’ price was so BA fares featured higher in search engines like Kayak and what not as (again apparently) many passengers booking shorthaul journeys will not scroll through thousands of options and will sort by price. SO I guess it’s like putting your product on the front centre eye level shelf in the supermarket.
– Club seats having same pitch as Y on shorthaul. Would I pay for it? As a Gold card holder, no way. I get most of the benefits I feel of value for free anyway. If I held no status and was going away to Venice with the other half for our anniversary, booked in Y and offered to ‘upgrade’ for £60 or £70? Probably.
– BA lagging behind on long haul product. Totally agree. BA needs to launch a new longhaul J class product, and SOON.

**These are my personal opinions only and do not reflect those of my employer**