[AMcWhirter]

I would agree, FDOS. BOB is an important factor. But I believe CE is also about providing premium pax with a little more space, baggage allowance, recognition and so on.

As you know from the regions BA also competes with transfer carriers like AF/KL/LH/LX/TK who (in most cases) offer a business class product on flights linking the regions with their overseas hubs.

There’s also BE to consider. BA’s rivals like VS/EK/SQ/CX (who code-share with BE into T2) can’t be too pleased that their premium passengers are having to fly in a one-class Q-400.

[Ah,Mr.Bond]

I was looking to go to Glasgow in JUL. fares are: Basic=GBP83, Plus=GBP93 and Club=GBP370… one way. Rather interested in who they think will pay 370 quid for a one way 55 min flight? Most pax on these domestic routes are silver card holders anyway so will have no use for the additional benefits on offer.. are they crazy? And those buying at that price most certainly are.
OK, it will of course benefit those transiting onto longhaul flights on one J ticket, but for the rest of us going point to point it just reduces capacity on an already stretched service. I have never, EVER, flown domestically and seen an empty seat.
BA would do well to start using the older 777-200s on domestic routes like they did with the 767.

[AMcWhirter]

Ah,Mr,Bond – Maybe BA ought to return to those famous Shuttle days when aircraft of its long-haul fleet (including Concorde) was pressed into service to meet demand at busy times. (Concorde was rolled out on special occasions)

[FDOS_UK]

[quote quote=803902]I would agree, FDOS. BOB is an important factor. But I believe CE is also about providing premium pax with a little more space, baggage allowance, recognition and so on.

[/quote]

CE – extra space? 30″ (and possibly going to 29″) – can’t use a laptop in any row other than 1. If you are talking baggage allowance (and given your comment that the rationale is to compete with other long haul airlines), then surely the long haul baggage allowance would apply to short haul?

The best recognition these days is for HBO pax, check your free bag (worth £10-20) and get onboard before the CE/GCH. Wonderful and all for the cheapest price.

[FDOS_UK]

[quote quote=803935]

AMcWhirter wrote:

I would agree, FDOS. BOB is an important factor. But I believe CE is also about providing premium pax with a little more space, baggage allowance, recognition and so on.

CE – extra space? 30″ (and possibly going to 29″) – can’t use a laptop in any row other than 1. If you are talking baggage allowance (and given your comment that the rationale is to compete with other long haul airlines), then surely the long haul baggage allowance would apply to short haul?

The best recognition these days is for HBO pax, listen out for the busy flight annoucement (invariably it will happen), check your free bag (worth £10-20) and get onboard before the CE/GCH. Wonderful and all for the cheapest price.

[/quote]

[garrison76]

@FDOS: Yes, a little more space due to having an empty seat next to you. Don’t think Alex said anything about leg room? No need to twist it.

And we all get it, HBO pax getting to check their luggage and get on board before CE/GCH is annoying, and it’s clearly a major bugbear of yours currently. But (a) I very much doubt there are that many pax who are deliberately playing the system, as your posts seem to suggest, and (b) can I respectfully ask you to change the record?

[FDOS_UK]

[quote quote=804090]@FDOS: Yes, a little more space due to having an empty seat next to you. Don’t think Alex said anything about leg room? No need to twist it.

And we all get it, HBO pax getting to check their luggage and get on board before CE/GCH is annoying, and it’s clearly a major bugbear of yours currently. But (a) I very much doubt there are that many pax who are deliberately playing the system, as your posts seem to suggest, and (b) can I respectfully ask you to change the record?

[/quote]

Space is 3 dimensional, not just width ways and Alex did not define lateral space only, in a business class cabin, it is a reasonable expectation to be able to work on a laptop on the table (given the aircraft config is used on routes up to 3-4 hours in length).

You can doubt what you like, but I witness it every time I fly a domestic connector (which is often) and some are unaware, but there seem to be many who do know how to game the system. Don’t forget that many HBO travellers are shuttling to/from London and learn very quickly how to maximise their journey (fair enough, the airline is causing the problem, not them).

first class check in and boarding is a publised benefit of holding a gold card – BA is systematically reneging on this – I was #31 on board, last time and the first in the priority queue – it may not bother you, but it bothers the people standing next to me in the queue.

As for your request, you can ask what you like. BT is the editorial authority and you are not.

[garrison76]

[quote quote=804096]

garrison76 wrote:

@FDOS: Yes, a little more space due to having an empty seat next to you. Don’t think Alex said anything about leg room? No need to twist it.

And we all get it, HBO pax getting to check their luggage and get on board before CE/GCH is annoying, and it’s clearly a major bugbear of yours currently. But (a) I very much doubt there are that many pax who are deliberately playing the system, as your posts seem to suggest, and (b) can I respectfully ask you to change the record?

Space is 3 dimensional, not just width ways and Alex did not define lateral space only, in a business class cabin, it is a reasonable expectation to be able to work on a laptop on the table (given the aircraft config is used on routes up to 3-4 hours in length).

You can doubt what you like, but I witness it every time I fly a domestic connector (which is often) and some are unaware, but there seem to be many who do know how to game the system. Don’t forget that many HBO travellers are shuttling to/from London and learn very quickly how to maximise their journey (fair enough, the airline is causing the problem, not them).

first class check in and boarding is a publised benefit of holding a gold card – BA is systematically reneging on this – I was #31 on board, last time and the first in the priority queue – it may not bother you, but it bothers the people standing next to me in the queue.

As for your request, you can ask what you like. BT is the editorial authority and you are not.

[/quote]

Exactly my point – space IS three dimensional (i.e. length, BREADTH, depth), and Alex didn’t say legroom. So I think you just reinforced my point? Not trying to get into a slanging match here, but I do think your response was twisting Alex’s words to suit your point, even though they don’t in fact support it.

As to BT being the editorial authority, I don’t deny this, nor am I trying to censor your posts. I am just saying that you have made the point a number of times in various posts, and I’m sure many who read this forum (including me) get it and have similar views, but personally I don’t think it needs to be made repeatedly at every possible opportunity. Just makes the forum a bit repetitive and a little boring. But that is just my view, and as you rightly say I can ask what I like. It was merely a polite request, if you want to keep grinding your axe/banging your drum on here then that’s your choice. Not really sure what this achieves, though, or what it adds to the forum overall.

Have you taken it up with customer relations? Or tried emailing the powers that be? I realise it’s unlikely to elicit much of a response, but perhaps more productive (and better directed) than ranting on an internet forum?

[FDOS_UK]

Have you taken it up with customer relations? Or tried emailing the powers that be? I realise it’s unlikely to elicit much of a response, but perhaps more productive (and better directed) than ranting on an internet forum?

Yes, but not just me. The CSM on one flight proactively told me he intended to raise it with a senior manager as it was ridiculous.

Re space, if Alex had posted, guaranteed shoulder space, I’d have agreed. But space is more than just width and there is no difference in seat pitch to ET, so I don’t accept CE is more spacious, per se.

Many business travellers (especially on longer flights) do like to use the otherwise dead time to do some work on their laptop and it is impossible in a 30″ pitch.

[garrison76]

Many business travellers (especially on longer flights) do like to use the otherwise dead time to do some work on their laptop and it is impossible in a 30″ pitch.

Indeed – I don’t deny that. I have tried – and failed. Had my first ever flight on Vueling a few months back and got my first experience of 29″ seat pitch, if BA go down the same route CE will be even more of a joke. I don’t disagree with you, FDOS, just being lawyerly I guess… 🙂

[IanFromHKG]

Fortunately it isn’t often a problem for me, but I do think that having a so-called business class cabin where all but four passengers are unable to use a laptop is ridiculous. The last time I tried this ludicrous offering was when I flew back to the UK for my mother’s funeral, via Helsinki on Finnair, who codeshare with BA on the HEL-LHR sector, and I ended up on a BA plane for the sector to London. Having tried to sleep on the LH sector I wanted to spend the time on the 3.5-hour flight to London putting the finishing touches to the eulogy – and it was simply not possible to do this on the tray table despite the fact that I have the smaller MacBook Air. Laptops don’t get much smaller than this. As it was I was just about able to do it balancing the MacBook on my lap but it was very difficult and rather uncomfortable. Fortunately I was only working with text, I can’t even begin to imagine how difficult it would be working on a spreadsheet.

I still cannot help but wonder if – despite the ludicrously high price examples stated above – BA couldn’t generate a sufficiently high premium AND the correlative demand if they had a regional business class along the lines of US domestic “first” or the regional business classes used in Asia. They are already forfeiting one-third of the seating in business class (by having the middle seat empty). If they had four or five rows of proper two-by-two seating they could have a proper premium product that would make it far more attractive to LH connecting travellers and which people might just be prepared to pay on the basis that it really does add some value!

[Author]

Posts