[IanFromHKG]

AnthonyDunn – 07/09/2015 15:11 BST : The CX crews may not have an iPad, but they do have a long printed manifest from which they clearly take their cues. But it is a nice touch, never-the-less.

I think they may be moving to an iPad format as I have seen a couple of crew on recent flights wielding them – although having said that, the long paper roll of names was also still in evidence!

Had such a fantastic flight back from PVG on KA in Y the other day that I wrote in to express my appreciation – and it takes quite a lot of going above-and-beyond to trigger me to do that. I have travelled in First and had less attentive service. It just goes to show how good crew can make a flight special, even to a battle-weary traveller like me!

[seasonedtraveller]

Back to the original topic….

On last weeks AA flight I was personally welcomed as a OneWorld Emerald despite having zero points with the AA program,

Todays BA0001 LCY to JFK however was a different matter.

Despite there only being 26 pax on board, and despite my being the only GGL on the flight, the CSM didn’t even bother to come & say hello……..

Inconsistency once again…..

[dutchyankee]

@seasonedtraveller – 14/10/2015 20:32 BST

I am amazed that it didn’t happen on BA 001. I really want to try that service from LCY though, as it sounds excellent. Do you know if BA ever allows Avios redemption on the LCY-JFK flights?

[PerthWA]

IanFromHKG

I’ll join you in fantastic flight from PVG last week except mine was TO PVG on DragonAir.

Not sure what it was but wow, it was almost over the top in terms of care and attention!

Oddly though, I was going to again heap accolades to CX on their amazing inflight service and attention even in a full Y cabin, PER-HKG excellent even though we were delayed due to the typhoon, HKG-PVG as above WOW on DragonAir, PVG-HKG, again same lovely CX attention, and then of course it all went wrong…

HKG-PER, well who the heck did I think I was?! The old soak right behind me was fawned over, brought tumblers of champagne, bottles of water blah blah… me, ignored. Completely.

What a difference a crew makes…

[JordanD]

@dutchyankee – 15/10/2015 07:43 BST
Yes they do. I redeemed an Avios Amex 2-for-1 redemption on BA001 back in Aug 2013. Fantastic.

Back on topic, got a Gold welcome last weekend (Sunday) from OSL-LHR. This was a Mixed Fleet operated flight, and one of the most personable, friendly crews I’ve had. Appeared to be two Golds in the Y cabin that the SCCM welcomed. The more “junior” members of the crew were a delight – spent a good 15mins talking to two of the ladies in the flight, and their delight and joy in the their jobs was abundant. One of them was extremely helpful with regards the In Flight Duty Free and clearly knew what was what.

[Falcon7x]

Flew LIS-LHR last week, the CSD (or whatever their term is) was doing the rounds with her iPad, and gave a number of welcomes to Gold pax, there must have been an issue with her iPad though, as he skirted from a pax in front of me to a pax behind without even looking at me.

[TominScotland]

dutchyankee, yes, JordanD is correct – I have an Avios booking for 2 confirmed for July next year on BA001

[seasonedtraveller]

dutchyankee – 15/10/2015 07:43 BST

I was chatting to a couple at Gate 24 lounge area (boarding area for BA0001) who were booked using Avios – they had booked a year in advance which I thought was very lucky to have secured 2 x Avios seats on a flight with only 32 seats available…….

For the record, it is a very nice flight indeed, a lot different from the more run of the mill 747 or 777 jaunts from LHR
Sadly, it no longer qualifies for 210 TP’s as it used to, it’s now the more standard 140 each way.

Landed bang on time yesterday at 2pm meaning the awful JFK to manhattan rush hour (actually 3pm-7pm) is missed & an Uber to Midtown took less than 30 mins.

Good luck with the booking and I hope you will enjoy

[Cavemonster]

As an example of the extremes of recognition, have just got back from the USA, both legs in WT.

Outbound to PHX
Greeted at the door like a long lost friend, gushing apols for being late, generally fawned over by both the CSD and the guy serving me who commendably remembered to to address me as Mr Cavemonster for many hours. I wondered if they’d mistaken me for someone who is actually important as they kept asking if there was anything they could do (I just asked for London Pride/G&Ts on repeat). My travelling companion was really impressed at my VIP treatment.

Return from LAX
No acknowledgment whatsoever. When the meal appeared, I was asked if I’d like any wine, I said – looking at the bottle of water on her cart – ‘no thanks but I’d like a glass of water’. The response was blunt ‘there’s water on your tray’ and she’d moved on….just rude…she didn’t even say it nicely!

It’s just a shame that BA service is so variable.

AA service one expects to be consistent (i.e. not great); but in economy of a MD80, I was surprised to get a greeting at the door and then a personal visit on board thanking me for flying OneWorld and asked what I’d like off the cart for free. A nice gesture.

Ian

[dutchyankee]

Thank you JordanD, TominScotland and seasonedtraveller for the advice and comments. I will definitely try to score some tickets on this flight. It sounds great. I used the original BA 001 and 002 quite a few times in the past, but sadly Concorde is gone and now I pay my own tickets so even if she was still around, I wouldn’t be on board!

I’ll let you know if I am lucky!

[Wolfman]

“MR Gilbert, NICE to have you back….” – anyone know who the stewardess was/is?????????????????????

[seasonedtraveller]

Whilst hardly a deal breaker, I guess it’s the inconsistencies which trouble me as regards the personal welcome.

In my mind, once the welcome has been made on any BA flight, the bar is then set for me and failure to do the same on future flights is falling short of my expectations.

As an example, the last time I took BA0001 was in May and the CSD came over and quietly introduced himself telling me that he would ensure my meal choice was taken first etc etc.

I had a feeling of value in a small but pleasant way. As the saying goes, it’s often the little things…..

[Carajillo2Sugar]

All you poor, overlooked Golds, eh?!

As a mere Silver, the only time I have ever had a welcome is from a CSM on a MAN-LHR flight, who flashed a lovely smile, asked me how I was and enquired as to whether I knew if my onward flight was on time. I looked puzzled and said I was hoping to be heading home from Heathrow to Sarf London, unless her ipad said something different? That was when she realised she should have been talking to the guy in the seat across the aisle….

Ah well, it was nice whilst it lasted…..

[ConstantFlyer]

Fascinating thread. I live in a different world, as my regular travel encompasses many of the smaller and unusual non-alliance airlines. I rarely fly BA, due to a dislike of transiting Heathrow and the (until recently) lack there of a Priority Pass-accessible lounge. However, some recent journeys have allowed me the chance to compare their offering with my regular jalopies. Better than BA: Somon Air (Tajikistan), Airzena (Georgia), Rossiya (Russia); similar to BA: S7 Airlines (in OneWorld, of course), Uzbekistan Airways (yes, really!), Don-Avia (Russia); worse than BA: Belavia (Belarus). Purely my own opinion of boarding/disembarkation and on-board service, and not taking into account cost of the tickets!

[dutchyankee]

@ConstantFlyer – 15/10/2015 13:07 BST

Someone travelling in my current neck of the world, I felt so lonely! 🙂

I do have to say, however, Rossiya from my experience is DIRE!! The seats in business are much better, but crew, food, and cleanliness horrendous. I have flown them to Samara, Krasnoyarsk, and Kazan as they are the home base airline in LED, and I must say I now connect via SVO and fly their mother company Aeroflot as they are far better, beautiful seats and cabins in general, good service, and excellent food.

I agree about the rest (haven’t flow Somon Air), and feel a bit sorry for Belavia. They do try hard, and Minsk really is an up and coming city! The one I would add is Turkmenistan, excellent fleet, great seats, mediocre crew.

[Author]

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