[VintageKrug]

This is an impressive result for BA, though to be fair the judgement is largely in favour of oneworld’s frequent flyer perks vs. the far more limited offering from Star.

Swiss is the airline with which I have been most impressed on my travels; their First Class is superb.

[Senator]

A fair assessment of my two favourite European carriers, on some rather shortish segments. I would like to add a couple of clarifying comments:

ZRH-EWR has for the past 12-18 months been operated by Swiss on the A340-300. PrivatAir is long gone.

ZRH-JFK on LX14 out and LX17 coming back is occasionally operated by Edelweiss crew both in the cabin and on the flight deck. It is however, the exact same splendid hardware on board and good F&B.

I think most of the comparison is fair. I do these segments a bit on discounted business fares. If we take the ZRH-LCY segment first:
(-) The BA ERJ will assign all seats (2-2) if full in CE
(+) The Swiss AVRO has 2-3 seating, so choose the D or F seat for comfort; no one next to you.
(+) When arriving at a remote stand in ZRH, the dedicated C-class bus will collect you on Swiss; this is actually preferable to docking at stand as your walk to customs and immigration will be rather short.

I carry (as the name says) Miles & More Gold and BA Gold. From the respective home airports when we look at LHR vs ZRH:
(+) BA LHR T5 vs ZRH lounge offer for business/Silver and Gold Cards, BA wins hands down
(+) Swiss overall hands down for ease of access for airport in Zurich vs. LHR T5
On-board is nearly a wash, through I appreciate the Swiss style large bottle of Fizz and wines, as well as dread the BA Afternoon Tea service.

The best with Swiss exUK in discounted business is that even the cheapest fares offer flexibility (not Business Upgrade “P”-class) but fares booked in Z. These hover around £400-450 return just about anywhere in Europe.

[VintageKrug]

Could you make more explicit your dislike of the Afternoon Tea; it’s my favourite repast and I always look forward to it on board?

What exactly makes it “dreaded”?

[Senator]

VK, simply that it is offered on longer routes during time periods when a proper meal should be served. An example would be LHR-ARN both on:
BA780 departing at 14:05, but worse
BA782 departing at 16:40

Whilst the first flight I can understand falls within “Tea Time”, the second should be a dinner service.

My observation is that most passengers on these flights comment to staff that they would have preferred a proper meal, and it is not uncommon that Club contains 10-15 passengers on this route so there are quite a few voices to be heard. The alternative option is SAS which offers a warm meal throughout the day along with starter and cheese.

Whilst I enjoy scones as much as the next person, I tend to rush to these flights with no prior lunch or no dinner on the later flight. Thank Goodness for the lukewarm Fizz on offer 🙂

Perhaps it is a cultural element where the ROW would rather forego the quintessential English pastime of Afternoon Tea. I would personally rather spend the same amount as I recently did at the Savoy for Afternoon Tea on a proper meal somewhere else. Whilst this is obviously my personal preference, I tend to notice I am not alone in wishing for something else on this flights.

[Henkel.Trocken]

I think most travellers who have to endure BA shorthaul C would agree that afternoon tea should be discontinued.

I’m sure a small minority enjoy film wrapped sandwiches and stale scones but they are not my choice and I agree with Senator, too often it comes after missing lunch with not much prospect of dinner.

It would be good to see a decent breakfast service until 10.00am and then a couple of hot options together with a decent starter and cheese plate during the rest of the day.

Of course for so long as BA is managed by accountants and passenger service is the last priority, it won’t happen.

[Senator]

I would like to add that I am not always blown away by the Swiss offer either on these shorter flights. The comparable ARN-ZRH (as to ARN-LHR) is normally a stellar offer on Swiss with a nice salad, followed by a hearty warm meal, cheese and dessert. Normally too much for me. However, on the shorter routes I travel with Swiss like LHR-ZRH or ZRH-LUX they leave quite a bit of room for something more in my view all though I was pleasantly surprised on my last trip from ZRH-LHR were a nice, warm breakfast was offered.

[rferguson]

Interesting about the lounge access policy for Swiss ‘Silver’ card holders.

Looking at StarAlliance.com benefits comparison page no Silver levels do not get access to lounges, only the very top tier members. How disappointing!

I agree with your other comments regarding travel into and out of LCY on BA. I think economy is great on the new Embraer (affectionately referred to as ’embroyo’) jets. The Club Europe product is disappointing though. When you consider the seating pitch and configuration is identical (2×2) to economy and there is no lounge access @ LCY you have to question the appeal to it. I guess if you can get a good upgrade deal on ba.com for a minimal amount it may be worth the extra tier points and the upgraded inflight service (I actually find the meal offerings better than ex LHR).

I actually flew Lufthansa LCY-FRA J on the identical aircraft BA uses from LCY (E190). Interestingly, they provide 1×1 seating in J class.

[Senator]

rferguson ,

“Not all Silver Card holders” are equal 🙂 Meaning, BA Silver is not the same as Finnair or Qantas Silver as an example, so a wide brush comparison is slightly unfair. What I experience however, is that a BAEC Silver card does offer significant value to its holder.

Miles & More Silver is not much to have I agree. Given that Star offers two levels and One World three it is not truly an apples to apples comparison.

[rferguson]

Oh yes Senator. Aware of that. In fact in most airline ‘Silver’ seems to be one of the lower tiers with a Silver/Gold/Platinum scenario.

Just looking at the Star Alliance benefits comparison though – they only list benefits for the top two tiers in each airlines FFP – which I would imagine would be akin to BA Silver/Gold or OW Sapphire/Emerald. And in each it is only one tier (the top one) that gets any lounge benefits versus the top two tiers with OW.

[LuganoPirate]

Senator, Rferguson, you’re forgetting Star also has HON level. Obtained with 600,000 miles flown over two years. First / Business lounge access even with cheapest ticket for member and 6 guests.

Being met at the plane and whisked through immigration. If a stand they come for (take) you with a car. Gold card for partner and quite a few other benefits as well.

[rferguson]

Very nice LP!

[Senator]

LP, if I am not mistaken the HON programme has been watered down substantially. You could also say BA has a few tiers after Gold with the Gold Guest List (GGL), Concorde Room Card and of course Premier.

M&M HON is now only earned in Business and First and given the massive devaluation of earning potential in discounted business class completely impossible for me. Furthermore, I understand the companion card has been downgraded to FTL and no longer offer SEN status. This I have yet to confirm. However, if you travel frequently in Business or First it is stellar benefit to have. I know a couple of people who enjoy it immensely.

Apparently it became a victim of its own success. At the offset, they expected about 2,000 people to qualify. There has been rumours of roughly 8,000 – 10,000 HONs and they were simply not able to keep up the service for that many members is my understanding.

[LuganoPirate]

I just checked Senator, and the Senator card is still given to HON members.

I’m no way near but if I do the trips I hope to do this year, I’ll get there hopefully next year!

[CXDiamond]

I guess the seat and food service are equal, what make Swiss win every day are the crew. No other airline has crew like them and when you find an old Swissair MdC, they are a total joy to fly with, nothing else comes close.

[LuganoPirate]

Ill go along with you on that one CX. Fully agree

[Author]

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