[Flâneur]

Has anyone also experienced BA’s Club Europe’s new drink rationing service ?

I flew Club Europe from Heathrow to Marrakesh on BA on Feb 9th. My request for a second bottle of wine with lunch was unapologetically refused by the purser. (kindly remember, these are only 187ml – so about one OK glass big – and this is a 3.30hr approx sector !) I was informed it was because the they had to save some for the return flight passengers.

When was such rationing introduced by British Airways? This seems highly inconsistent with British Airways Club Europe brand promise.

What next ? A Rationing Book issued along with your Executive Card ?

Shave – Gold Card Member.

[JJ]

Bet they would have let you Buy one though! But do agree its not right but probably the way it will be with BOB meaning smaller club bar. They understock with food also,as my wife only got half a Panini on a flight to Dublin once when the passengers at the front got a whole one – Didn’t tell her at the time though…

Strangest drink experience I had was on American Eagle. Stewardess came down asked me if I wanted a drink, Said Lemonade please, – oh we dont have that. Fair enough then a coke please? Oh dont have that. What do you have? Diet Coke! Perhaps she should have just asked me Do you want a Diet Coke Yes or no?

Not unexpected from American cabin crew from expereience sadly and thats why my american cousin will always fly BA when she crosses the pond…

[rferguson]

I agree with the sentiment that the refusal of a second bottle of wine is mean. Especially in Club.

Saying that, the drinks carts are return catered and sometimes people take the proverbial with their requests for booze and sometimes the crew have to take into account other customers.

Slightly OT – I was chatting to some Mixed Fleet crew in Singapore yesterday saying that BOB in eurotraveller must be an absolute pain (I don’t work short haul flights). I was surprised when the crew said they love it as the requests for ‘a gin and tonic, a bottle of white wine, a coffee and a congac’ (you’d be amazed how often we would have such requests back in my short haul days on a 35min MAN shuttle) have long gone and people are far more reasonable with their requests.

1 user thanked author for this post.

Flagflier

[ConstantFlyer]

No. Not had any problem. Trust the crew to manage it.

[christopheL]

I can imagine the requests for ‘a gin and tonic, a bottle of white wine, a coffee and a cognac’ are a relic from the time when BOB didn’t exist. A penny saved is a penny earned !

[Drsimon]

i havnt flown BA club short haul (LHR to CPH was my route) in a while (i now live in australia) but flying BHX – CPH when we come back for a visit in SAS Plus i am always looked at with ‘really’ eyes when i ask for a bottle of wine with lunch/dinner – which considering the Danes are generally into drinking always amazes me!

[flier74]

Not knowing the loads on the OPs flight to Marrakesh and the subsequent return load I feel the Pursers reaction was a bit overzealous. There’s a fair amount of wine loaded and I was never refused a second quarter bottle of wine on any route.
What I would suggest is feed it back to BA, I know you may think what’s the point, but this needs looking into and maybe the individual needs to be spoken to.
With regards to the “Buy on board” comments, that’s actually now more of a problem than Club Europe on busy leisure routes where Crew struggle to have enough stock, so I am convinced that the “buy another one” would have not been the preferred option to the Crew as it would have left them short and I don’t think Crew would ask a Club Customer to buy a drink from Buy on board

[canucklad]

Slightly off topic, but still about wine and booze/drinks in general…….

With the price of aviation fuel rising , I’m surprised that the accountants haven’t influenced “liquid” load factors before now.
Then take into account the war on plastic that’s currently and correctly all the rage, then there must surely be a more practical and cheaper alternative to satisfying customers thirst on aircraft ?

Maybe , boxes of wine rather than hundreds of little individual bottles ?

1 user thanked author for this post.

PeterCoultas

[capetonianm]

Boxes of wine are a practical solution for a number of reasons, but look ‘cheap’. Which of course pax would never accept ….. oh …. I forgot what this whole topic is about!

I am certainly in a minority here but I fail to understand why there is this sense of expectation and entitlement that people should be given food and drink (except perhaps water) on short flights.

It would save fuel, time, money, admin, bureaucracy, and labour to cut it out completely. I enjoy food and drink as much as anyone else and in a long flight it passes the time, but is quite unneccessary.

[canucklad]

[quote quote=920552]Boxes of wine are a practical solution for a number of reasons, but look ‘cheap’. Which of course pax would never accept ….. oh …. I forgot what this whole topic is about![/quote]

Indeed capetonianm

Again it comes back to my point about airline management thinking…..
They mostly suffer from linear , and without apologising for the pun “inside the box” thinking !

There are so many innovative ways for little or no cost and potentially in this example, saving money that airlines can adopt . yet rather than learn from other industries they seem to restrict their creative changes to how to strip us of cash, rather than enhancing our experience of them

It doesn’t even need to be a cardboard box !
Why not a re-useable lightweight aluminium contraption that acts a coolant, as well as firming up the plastic bag of wine white inside!!

Don’t brand it as “Boxed Wine” , market it as “Exclusive to You , On-Board Wine on Tap” and add in the personalised delivery of the glass with a white napkin and hey presto , you’re saving money and customer perception wise, they’re receiving an almost bespoke service compared to those competitors that chuck cheap plastic bottles of warm white wine at them. And the benefit is, it works in all cabins !!

I’m sure I’ve mentioned this before, and it proves my point. EK have a Polaroid camera on board, the cabin crew come out and offer to take photos of the kids on board…..Smiling Kids + Delighted Parents = A happy Memorable Experience ……I wonder how much this costs EK

1 user thanked author for this post.

Inthesandpit

[Stonemill14]

Not my experience an inbound sector on BA into LGW recently. Plenty of wine at lunch despite club being full. Two bottles with my meal and after commenting to the Purser that their new selection was very nice, another couple to enjoy in my hotel that evening!

[ViajeroUK]

You probably reaped the benefit of strict rationing on the outbound flight Stonemill 14, they had so much left over for the return flight that it allowed them to be generous with you!

[SwissExPat]

On the subject of weight, I have often thought when walking through shopping/duty free section at airports that all that one sees there will be AIR Freighted out of the airport on the planes we board!! (save the items that you buy and are collected on return in the airport).

It must be a significant amount of goods (particularly by weight) and I expect that at some stage the Fuel accountants will start to take note.

The converse arguement which is often aired is that the existance of Duty Free and shipping at airports makes flying ‘cheaper’ for us due to to the rent payable by concessionaires to airport owners, thus reducing the amount of landing fees etc.

At some stage the balance may shift.

[capetonianm]

In an ideal.world, there would be no ‘duty free’ mazes to negotiate, and the space could be used for passenger comfort. As for the wastefulness of transporting that across the globe, using up fuel, locker space, plastics, etc. Ban it.

[esselle]

Broadly speaking the commercial activities in airports today generate as much value for the owner as aviation revenues.

Imagine the impact on airport economics if shopping was “banned “

[Author]

Posts