[Hess963]

Correct Martyn,

but oftenly the crews or the CSM him/herself try not to show it to the pax. As there are names and infos which none other than crews should be seeing them. But sometimes you do see who is sitting where and who is the most “Honourable of all F pax ” on that flight.

[FCTraveller]

I don’ t like the fact that BA upgrade so many passengers to F, and I always have a feel for how many there are by comparing the number of free seats when checking in during the day to the number of free seats on the flight, which often is vastly different. However, the issue of whether passengers should get different service is another matter and I firmly believe that it is wrong to treat them differently. Whether someone has paid full whack, sale price, upgrade from J or Y even, or miles, they should all be treated the same once in the cabin. Some of you say you have seen this but I haven’t. Staff travel however is a different matter. In fact, a crew member was part of the other forum, let’s ask him or her what the policy is.

Last month coming back from Atlanta, one of the pilots came and installed himself in the seat across the aisle from me and was there for quite a long time. I really don’t like that.

[VintageKrug]

BA actually has one of the most restrictive upgrade policies – operational upgrades only, even in the current environment; contrast this with most US carriers whose elite members expect an upgrade as a matter of course.

BA treats upgraded passengers in exactly the same way as paid passengers.

The ONLY slight exception to this is the first choice meal preference which is given to those with status, paid over those without, or upgraded, a practice which most airlines follow in cases where not all choices are available.

Staff travel has specific rules, but others will be able to give more first hand knowledge of those regulations than I could.

[NTarrant]

So to clarify VK, a Gold Exec card holder who has been upgraded will have preference over a Silver card holder who has paid a fare?

[MartynSinclair]

VK – not sure how you justify “restrictive upgrade policies” when so many staff are upgraded by the red cap over full fare passengers. My info comes first hand from both red caps and from flight deck crew. You wont see the red caps going on strike – they have a very profitable side business……………

[Hess963]

Martyn..I hate to say this really—but in this topic you are right ! I have the impression, you have got a good in- and oversight of it.

Nigel: I just hope tha a Silver paying pax has more rights and privilege than a Gold card holder who is upgraded—do someone who has the insight will really tells us BA internal policies? I believe they won’t do it voluntarily.

[VintageKrug]

Martyn, while it may happen, it should not and is not “policy”; I referenced “restrictive upgrade policy” not what may actually happen on the ground.

[MartynSinclair]

you are absolutely correct VK – it should not happen, but it happens virtually every day. If the BA enforcement teams did spot checks and found that staff were being upgraded in an unwarranted fashion, by fellow staff, it could casue a very interesting HR and legal situation as it could be considered as ‘theft’ and ‘fraud’. Just like the spot checks on cross border ticketing, where the first sector from Europe to London is not used, bording IS DENIED to fare paying passengers. I love BA, but unfortuantely the managers do not want to address these issues, which is one of the reasons why Unite have so much power to dictate to BA. BTW has anyone seen Unite’s balance sheets and how wealthy the Union is…………………….

[JJames3]

Travellator

Sorry I’m a little late in the thread, but I’ve done both LGW – BGI (Barbados) and LHR – LAX on ‘Miles’ and on both occasions saw no difference to the service levels in F on either flight. and I had 2A on all legs of the flights.

[HonestCrew]

Upgrades and Staff Travel. The way it works and the info crew receive.
Of course, if you have paid for your premium cabin ticket it can certainly be irritating to see, what looks like, upgrades or staff in the same cabin.
As for being treated differently, the crew will endeavour to treat everyone the same, ensuring the customer has the best experience of the First product. If the customer is a regular then we know that they know what is expected. If the customer is upgraded due to oversales they will receive the same service. If the customer is staff or are maybe treating themselves to a First class flight we will want them to have the best experience possible, one to remember. So, whoever the customer is we want them to receive the best for a number of reasons.
As for priority service, crew love a quiet life, therefore we will do the best we can with the resources available to ensure all customers have everything they want. If, for example, everyone wanted the same thing for dinner, who do YOU think should have priority?
Prems, Gold, Silver, ticketed First, upgraded pax, staff. Fair enough?

Info we have.
We know: Who has paid full-fare.
Your tier of Executive Club membership.
Who had been upgraded .
Staff passengers and their cabin entitlement.
Who has been rude to groundstaff, who to keep an eye on.

We do not know if people have upgraded with miles.

There is absolutely no resentment of any type for upgraded pax. Eveyone is due a little bit of luck, if it is your lucky day, fair play.
However, if you have been upgraded and start acting like the big ‘I am’ this will result in notes being made, passed on and you can bet it will never happen to you again.
It is more a problem with Economy to Club upgrades due to oversales rather than with Club to First, but it does happen.

Staff passengers.
Some staff are entitled to travel in First or Club. This could be because of their position in the company or length of service.
Like it or not, this is the way it is. Staff should try to keep a low profile. Some staff are better at doing this than others. Crew travelling know the score, a baggage handler with 30 years service and his wife off to Dehli may not. I mentioned on another thread, if you work for Ford you will receive discounts when you buy a car. Customers can’t go to Ford and complain about this. In our industry the product we have is the onboard service. Utilising this rewards staff and does positive things for morale, which can only be a good thing for all.
If you have worked for an airline for 25 years there isn’t much else they can reward you with.
Frequent flyers will be able to spot staff or upgrades, but please know they do not receive preferential treatment. Staff will always have last choice of food for example. Very rarely will staff be sat in a cabin they are not entitled to.
The good old days of putting your dear old mother in a nice seat if they were travelling on a flight with you have, BY ORDER, been banned by BA – citing THEFT. Make up your own minds there folks.

FCTraveller mentioned a pilot taking a seat in the cabin. Fair enough to ask why?
If the flight requires 3 pilots only 2 operate at one time. The other one is not required and can ‘rest’. Most aircraft have bunks however a few do not, therefore a premium seat is blocked for them.
The best place for them to be is in the cabin closest to the flightdeck. Should the brown stuff hit the fan you want all hands on deck ASAP.
Also, to prevent fatigue, it is best for our drivers to have the quietest cabin and most comfortable seat. Of course, it is unlikely they will sleep if it is 11am, they may watch a movie, but so would you.

I hope that is of some use folks.

[HonestCrew]

Just to add, with so many thousands of crew, some may not be as good as others when it comes down to it. Because we are not the robots of the asian carriers, we do have some flexibility when it comes to providing the service. This is mostly a good thing, however everyone does things differently….if you feel it is not good enough, put pen to paper, its the only way we can make things better.

[Tailspin]

While you might find cabin crew of “the asian carriers” robotic, you might stop t consider that these airlines, such as CX and SQ, and, to a lesser extent MH, ANA and Asiana, receive widespread accoldaes for their service.
When was the last time BA’s cabin crew won an award?

[HonestCrew]

Dont get me wrong, I didn’t mean to knock them. CX and SQ are very good, consistent and their attention to detail is second to none. Point I wanted to make was even though there are service guidelines there is room for flexibility for BA crew. Rarely, very rarely I hope, there could be a crewmember who, for whatever reason, may not want to give 100% that day, whereas our Asian colleagues have Chief Mama-san breathing down their neck, they dare not put a foot wrong. But, that system seems to work and prizes are awarded for that.
So if you feel the service was not up to scratch that day, let the airline know.
Feedback we receive from our customers includes joy at being able to have a conversation with us and the flexibility we can offer, light hearted banter now and again, etc.
I will never say “we are the best”, ( I don’t like the self appreciation society) there will always be a couple of bad eggs in such a big basket and no doubt BA staff can learn a lot from those carriers.

C.3.P.O. – out.

[MartynSinclair]

The flexibilty that Honest Crew mentions – I know we live in a world of hightened security and rigid procedures (even robotic!) but talking of flexibility, has anyone else come across a BA Captain, who likes to address his upper deck passengers in person. He is a real character, back to the old days when the 4 gold bars were visible and were seen to be in control. I have flown with him twice and on each occasion before engine start, he came out of the flight deck and addressed all the upper deck passengers with an amusing yet attention grabbing introduction and flight safety message. A reak old school kinda fellow, but it was a nice touch to see and only on these 2 occasions since 9/11. Also to the BA crew last week, that allowed me to store my special food requirement, in a flexible manner in the galley, thank you very much indeed. Honest Crew, you are indeed right, its nice to see the flexibilty and common sense attitude – just wish there was more of it from all airlines…..Good post!

[FCTraveller]

Honest Crew, thanks for that. One clarification though, you say crew are aware of full fare paying passengers. Does that include distinguishing between full fare and sale fare? You said that you are not aware of miles upgrades, what about someone paying only with miles?

Point well taken about pilot using F seat. I will remember that next time.

You comments about Asian crews were a bit harsh! I have never found them to be robotic.

Anyway, thanks again for your input.

[Author]

Posts