Not BA Club Europe

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  • Anonymous
    Guest

    openfly
    Participant

    I have just flown from AMS to LGW in “Club Europe”….not again if they persist in using the appalling ex-BMi A319 aircraft.

    The “Club”seats are so close…30” pitch and so narrow. If you have a waist size of more than a gangly teenager, you can cannot use the table to work or eat, comfortably. The cabin divider is fixed at row 5, so we had three rows of Club and two rows of economy in our cabin. You could feel the glare of 12pairs of eyes gawping at us from the rows behind.

    These aircraft must be quite old. The Club toilet….used by our economy friends as well….was filthy with brown ingrained into the plastic. Maybe BA inherited poorly maintained aircraft from BMi.

    This is not the BA Club Europe product…and should be!


    CXDiamond
    Participant

    Strangely I prefer the seats on the old BD aircraft which when they were taken over by BA were in much better condition than the average BA shorthaul aircraft. If they have been allowed to deteriorate since then only one company is accountable.

    I was on several of the A319s in the months before the take over and could not have complained about the state of any of them.

    In their day the seats which used to be used by Lufthansa were the best shorthaul C seats in Europe. Again, if BA have tightened the pitch for LGW so be it but so long later, don’t blame the previous owner.


    KeaneJohn
    Participant

    I have to say I was pretty impressed with my CE flight from DBV-LGW this week on an ex BMI 319. I had managed to bag 1F and there was plenty of room and there were only 3 rows in CE with the curtain behind them.

    I made sure I was on the first bus to get overhead storage space which had to go in row 2 on the left. much to the annoyance of pax in rows 1 & 2 on the left of the aircraft too but all in all most pleasant flight if the afternoon tea was a bit meh..


    openfly
    Participant

    I complained to the Exec Club about the LGW A319 Club Europe cabin on this flight. They came back within hours with a sincere apology for the reduced standard. This must be a known complaint as they added a large quantity of Avios to my account as a sorry.


    millionsofmiles
    Participant

    The seat comfort is purely ond only a decision of BA:
    which seat pitch, what kind of seats etc.

    There are other 319s which have a better seating.


    Freedom1
    Participant

    gosh that 25 minute flight must have been absolute hell !!! ….. I’m glad you survived such trauma to tell the tale…


    FormerlyDoS
    Participant

    Freedom1 – 08/10/2013 23:08 GMT

    Let me ask you, if you paid a considerable premium for a flight which promised…. (MY CAPS)

    “Comfort and style

    Your comfort on board is our highest priority. Our contoured leather seat, in a SEPARATE SPACIOUS CABIN at the front of the plane, gives you plenty of room to stretch out and more personal space for working and relaxing. We also guarantee you a window or aisle seat, for that extra bit of convenience.”

    ……. and then your experience was

    “The cabin divider is fixed at row 5, so we had three rows of Club and two rows of economy in our cabin.”

    Would you be happy with that?

    Would you still feel the need to make sarcastic comments?

    I have experienced these ex bmi aircraft on several occasions and unless one can book the first row of seats, the C class seat pitch is a disaster.


    Chardie
    Participant

    OMG!!

    Imagine having economy class passengers looking at you for minutes on end. How distressing it must have been……


    SimonS1
    Participant

    I agree completely FDOS but then again I am one of those who thinks CE is a waste of time on a route like Amsterdam. The whole “separate cabin” proposition is a bit of an overstatement anyway, when usually all that divides you is a piece of curtain.

    BA is stretched to the limit on equipment right now which is why you find European config aircraft on routes to places like Amman and Moscow and knackered 747s with old first still plying their trade.


    FormerlyDoS
    Participant

    Chardie – 09/10/2013 05:47 GMT

    So do you find it acceptable for a company to offer a product and then fail to deliver it?

    A simple yes or no will be fine, no need for your highly developed wit.


    FormerlyDoS
    Participant

    SimonS1 – 09/10/2013 05:56 GMT

    Simon, I find CE a waste of space, too and would not buy the product, especially as I find ET a decent product. it’s more the principle of stating unequivocally that they will provide a separate cabin and then failing to do so that I find unacceptable.

    Openfly could take this up with the Adertising Standards Agency, who will investigate it.


    openfly
    Participant

    The reason I felt it necessary to complain was that the product is inferior to that at Heathrow on any short haul aircraft and also when compared to the 737 at LGW. Club Europe fares are high. Why should a product that is so markedly be acceptable? What comes out of this is that BA acknowledges the difference in that they compensate. If enough people complain maybe BA will change the situation to the benefit of the people on here who use the LGW CE product on the A319, particularly people such as I, who pay their own fares and want to get what they paid for.

    @FDOS I agree it could be a Trading Standads area, but BA agreed within hours that there is a problem and compensated me. …enough Avios for another CE flight….I think BA have the problem in hand.


    FormerlyDoS
    Participant

    openfly – 09/10/2013 07:15 GMT

    The compensation does show the situation in a different light and I am pleased that you received this, as it was the right thing for BA to do.


    Tim2soza
    Participant

    If Easyjet ever went 5 or 4 across in the front rows on a 34 inch pitch, CE would wither on the vine.

    That said, why can’t EZ airbridge all their flights at Barcelona? The BCN to non UK airports get an airbridge. The LGW / LTN flights do not.

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