[Alsacienne]

Please remind me what constitutes ‘short haul’ for BOB offerings …. Flight length? Destination? Anything else?

For those who need special food requirements eg medical reasons such as diabetics, religious requirements or simply allergy-related problems, it’ll be even harder to source suitable foods on the longer of the ‘short haul’ routes … especially on the return flights from ‘short haul exotic’ destinations such as Newcastle or Jersey ….(tongue firmly in cheek), so I hope that M&S will supply BA with the necessary items to suit this part of their monopoly market.

[Switzerlanding]

The move isn’t motivated by cutting cost but by choice & quality. So I guess they’ll have ‘Fiji’ water, a better brand of cola than Coca Cola, better tea…

Not sure what customers gave their feedback to encourage another service enhancement.

For me, my Gold will go after April and I’ll pay less to fly with easy jet and use the money i save to sit in a weatherspoons rather than the lounge. I’m guessing they’ll charge for food and drink in the lounges soon enough…

Bye, bye BA

[LuganoPirate]

I wonder if those with lounge access but traveling Y will fill their briefcases/ handbags worth lounge goodies? Come to think of it, they could turn a profit if they then sell those items to the passengers neighbouring them!

[MrMichael]

Anyone taking food/drink from the lounge to eat/drink onboard would in my view be a common thief. Lounges make clear the offering in the lounge is for consumption in the lounge. I have seen many a thief get caught stuffing half a buffet in to their bags at breakfast at the hotel I use in Madrid and had the embarrassment of having to empty said bag in front of other guests.

[WillieWelsh]

[quote quote=761955]Anyone taking food/drink from the lounge to eat/drink onboard would in my view be a common thief. Lounges make clear the offering in the lounge is for consumption in the lounge. I have seen many a thief get caught stuffing half a buffet in to their bags at breakfast at the hotel I use in Madrid and had the embarrassment of having to empty said bag in front of other guests. [/quote]

Spoken like a true BA apologist who if I recall correctly joined this board just as another BA apologist left, pure coincidence I’m sure.

So, if I had bought a BA short haul economy class ticket yesterday to travel in economy next March and a benefit when I bought it was a drink and something to eat and the component of what I bought is withdrawn arbitarily without compensation is that not also theft on the part of BA? What’s sauce for the goose….

[NTarrant]

Thankfully I don’t use BA short haul that often these days but I do see this as a retrograde step. For the casual user there is now no difference between EZY and FR.

Just done a round trip LGW-NYC in WTP and was very disappointed to be offered a sugary nutrigrain bar or chocolate muffin for breakfast.

They will be buying in these sandwiches at a relatively low price from M&S, it would have been a better option to give them away as an improvement to quality.

[mikeact]

Hardly

[MartynSinclair]

Mr Michael, really, when the lounge staff allow me to take a glass of wine or champagne out of the lounge and down to the gate the precedent has been set for me.. Would you consider someone who takes a paper out of the lounge a “common thief” too..?

Cheers…

[MrMichael]

WillieWelsh, as a BA apologist I take the same view whether one took it from a BA lounge or a Lufthansa lounge or even a No1 lounge when travelling Easyjet. If people at the time of booking had included refreshments as a part of the ticket then I 100% consider BA needs to do something about that. My view is that BA either needs to offer complimentary snacks to those with such a booking, give a voucher for onboard spend at the gate or prior to the flight, give Avios for spend on the flight or later, (say 1000) or refund people an amount of money (say £10). I also think that anyone having such a ticket should irrelevant of fare paid have the right to cancel without penalty. BA expect its passengers to fly according to the T&C,s and does not allow pax to change at will, neither should it be entitled to do so as in this case.

Martyn, you pose an interesting question. Regarding the newspapers, I get the impression in the lounges they are complimentary and thus one is invited to take them away. If the lounge staff invite people to take away a glass of wine or even a buffet for 6 people then that is not theft by the person who takes it, but maybe is by the lounge employee if it is done against the wishes of the employer. I have regulalrly at hotels asked if I can take a coffee outside the restaurant after breakfast to enjoy with a smoko outside, and very rarely been refused. I have also on occasion asked to take a piece of fruit (apple or banana) and the majority of times the staff have invited me to do so. Where I draw the line is an earlier poster who seemed to be promoting preparing a nice lunch and stashing it away for later consumption on the BA flight as if one was somehow entitled to do so. I do not get the impression from what I have read so far on BA-BOB that the idea was golds could simply go the lounge prior to the flight and pick up a picnic.

Maybe a Gold enhancement would be the ability to call the lounge in advance and have said picnic ready for collection at the gate 🙂

[esselle]

Most lounges will have a discreet sign placed near the buffet area saying clearly that food and beverages are for consumption in the lounge only.

[FDOS_UK]

Well, this is interesting.

People arguing that it is okay to remove F&B without compensation, but not okay to take foodfrom the lounge in lieu.

With the greatest of respect, that is a naive view.

Two wrongs don’t make a right, but the smart passenger won’t go hungry and thirsty.

Normally, I wouldn’t take things from the lounge, but I would have great sympathy for anyone who did, under these precise circumstances.

[FDOS_UK]

I wonder if anyone will test BA’s action through the courts? (specifically the noiases being made that no allowance will be given for the removal of F&B.

e.g., someone who booked a flight of (say) 4 hours duration, might reasonable expect to have a hot meal and 3 glasses of wine.

Let’s value the meal at £10 (starter and main) and the wine at £4.50 per glass = £23.50.

I don’t have any flights booked for 2017, or I might have been tempted to go down the small claims route to see what happened.

Also, I wonder if the ASA/Trading Standards might be interested?

[DerekVH]

canuklad what competition to BA have on the EDI-LHR route? It frustrates me that on GLA-LHR there is no competition which results in fares being higher than travelling to JFK on occasion.

FDOS I made a booking many months ago for 9 people to travel LHR-GLA-LHR in January; apparently BA are going to email all passengers with such bookings which, according to BA “are not many” so I will wait to see what this says before submitting any challenge.

I agree with what many have said, I am not really bothered by this change but it annoys me that BA are trying to sell this as something the customer has been demanding; show me one customer who has said they would prefer to pay for their gin and tonic than have it complimentary.

[MrMichael]

@DerekVH, I might say I think this is an enhancement. So to your question, my hand is up.

I never drink alcohol on a flight, I rarely eat the food on short haul. I travel regularly, 75% of the time in economy between LHR and MAD. About 75% of the time I fly BA the rest IB. The advantage to me on the BA flight is I get coffee thrown in and a crappy sandwich or wrap I only eat it 50% of the time. The other 50% of the time I either give it to someone in a neighbouring seat or it gets binned. Let’s not pretend these items are free, they are built in to the fare. When I fly IB I am happy to pay for the coffee, and paying for it I get more of it and it is better quality than BA. Paying for it on IB I expect and I get something worth the €2.50. Nothing goes in the bin. So instead as on IB people stuffing their faces and having a few drinks that I feel I am subsidising by only having a coffee everyone gets what they want and no more than they want and pays for it. Bottom line is lower operating costs for the airline that should result in lower fares (that’s what the LoCo,s business model is) and lot less wasted food that lets be honest in the western world is nothing short of scandalous. People will not usually buy stuff on impulse to chuck it in a bin. I am not a green by any means, but the waste of things on BA short haul must be a ton and a half a day, not taking in to account the fuel burn for the 50 odd sarnies that go in the bin.

People say this is the slide to the bottom for BA, I see why they say it, and I have some sympathy with that view for those that consider that onboard economy service should include free drinks and a hot meal or snack. The fact is they are living in the past, the airline market changed once Ryanair had more than one plane flying out of Luton. They need to get over themselves when they hark back to the “good old days”. Ask yourself this. How many people choose BA over Eurostar to get to Paris because they get a glass of wine and a chicken wrap included?

[openfly]

On Easy and Ryan a glass of water is free. I bet BA charge for it….”the water is free but we charge for the plastic glass”.

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