[stevescoots]

BA025 into HKG yesterday, no welcome not even a polite one when showing boarding pass, just “strait ahead turn right” which was actually wrong as it was left. in fact I interacted with 4 crew members only one of which showed any resemblance of a smile, one of them a man just managed a grunt.no introduction from CSD. one thing that amazed me was waiting for the toilet only for one of the crew to come out, they left it with toilet paper on the floor and a sink full of water from brushing teeth. I ended up cleaning it myself!

[norbert2008]

Nice touch recently sitting next to a friend who is Gold holder CSD welcomed him and myself, nice touch it doesn’t take to much now they have I pads to help but should ‘time permitting’ a must.

[PeterCoultas]

My best on Miles&More was silver (always only my second *A choice for mileage deposits) but recently connecting to long haul so unusually business LCY-ZRH and surprised by being welcomed when boarding by name. All in the business section were given excellent treatment (papers, meals, drinks more drinks & tolberones and friendly smiles) despite this short LX flight being completely full. It can be done if the crew want!

[Rockhopper]

I personally can’t stand the fake iPad driven customer interaction. A warm welcome comes naturally to good crew (of which BA have many) irrespective of status. I would much rather be ignored than be given a generic “Welcome back Mr Rockhopper and thank you for your loyalty”.

I regularly use the IOM-LCY route and the crew know their regulars right down to their usual drink choice. Returning home in an evening from LCY the first question is always “Driving at the other send sir?” If the answer is no then my preferred alcoholic drink is put down without having to ask, if Yes then the usual non-alcoholic one. I appreciate that – it makes me feel that they make a genuine effort.

But back to the OP’s question – the various responses do just highlight that yet again BA struggle with consistency of service, and in this case with their supposed most important passengers.

[Carajillo2Sugar]

Just like LH in Germany, KLM in The Netherlands, AF in strikesville, Iberia in Spain etc etc, BA is the ‘Daddy’ in the UK market so a question for those of you who travel regularly on a mix of airlines;

When compared to BA, which carriers do you think offer a more consistent level of service and by how much do they exceed those offered by BA?

[NNoah16]

From my point of view, no carrier provides a consistent level of service on all flights on all sectors across all cabins.

Although I travel with quite a few carriers; non ever exceeded BA (when performing at its best in a premium cabin)

The closest in consistency is Air Berlin.

[Carajillo2Sugar]

NNoah16 – that’s really my point but it will be interesting to see what other members of the BT Forum think.

[NTarrant]

Interesting question Carajillo2Sugar, which I’m sure will have some interesting comments!

Out of the nine airlines I have flown so far this year (BA, QR, CX, SV, XY, PR, WY, GF, ME) the best service has been CX and QR and he level has been consistent. SV provide a reasonably good service, a bit perfunctory, but relatively consistent. All in Business class except PR.

[MrMichael]

In the last year I have flown BA, IB, Flybe, Qantas (domestic),LH, Swiss, KLM & Egyptair.

BA wins in consistent service, IB the loser.
BA in the warmest welcome, LH the coolest.
Best product overall, Swiss, worse KLM.

[DavidGordon10]

Indeed an interesting question Carajillo2Sugar!

I have just added up, and I find I have flown on 15 different airlines in the last 12 months. I won’t do the one-upmanship of listing them all, but:

I have a gold card relevant to all except 3 of those airlines, and I have never once been given a “gold card welcome” (and I don’t care!)
Best short-haul business – LH
Best (at least most consistent) short-haul economy – Swiss
Best long-haul business – TAP (to Angola)
Best long- or mid-haul economy – TK and Egyptair (despite the lack of ethanol)
Best UK lounge – United in T2 (because of the martinis, essential before the Egyptair flights)
Best non-UK lounge – TK in Istanbul

[MartynSinclair]

I would quite happily give the award for:

“The USED TO BE THE BEST Airline to British Airways”…..

2015, the company believe they are still in the 90’s!

For me, the most consistent airline in terms of on board service has to go to CX.

so far this year 53 sectors on 5 airlines..

[CathayLoyalist2]

I have just made a brief three date trip to Sydney out in WTP and back in Club. Whilst some of the following might seem petty they are part of an overall impression. Outbound in WTP a straightforward flight the ‘newish’ seat is fine and the service by the book with little other chit chat. At Sydney, arriving at 5.05am we were held on the plans for 25 minutes because a ‘jobs worth’ from Australia customs determined that the spray cans used to disinfect the cabin prior to arrival had not been depleted and so the doors were shut and the overhead bins opened for a repeat performance. Was that BA’s fault well these things happen and maybe more a case of a picky official until the CSM said this has happened before. On the return sector I was upgraded to Club CX Diamond/One World Emerald) for which I was very grateful for and so got the chance to see/feel for myself just how BA performs and could I be persuaded to give BA some of my business. On boarding I made the mistake of trying to enter the cabin via the First Class gate only to be told “only first class it’s that gate for everyone else”. First time I have experienced that but not an issue for me. My seat was 16D an aisle seat in the last row. Observation, being there you get served last so your meal choice might have gone. The toilets are close and possibly the occasional distraction. The CSD or CSM as he called himself did walk up and welcome just one passenger in 16A complete with his iPad in tow. I didn’t see him welcome any others and whilst not a BA member there had to be other Exec Members in Club. Two biggest issues is clearly the 8 across seating and that’s how I felt, crammed in and the 9/10 occasions the crew lowered the divider to talk to the entombed passengers became irritating. As has been commented before it makes life difficult for the crew having to step over not to mention the one passenger who almost tripped stepping over me!. I would be reluctant to pay the prices they charge for their CW product I really do not think it ‘passes muster’. Finally the amenity bag was just like a cloth carrier bag hence the presentation was poor. Overall the experience for both sectors I would describe as functional, the crew likewise. Not in anyway unpleasant but I guess what was missing was warmth and that feeling you might get i.e. “I’m really looking forward to this” was missing . In my humble opinion BA is run along the lines of the purchasing mantra meaning “just in time’ which translates to ‘just enough is good enough’. I know this will sound bias and as I said I looked objectively at this BA experience CX scores so much higher in every department

[KarlMarx]

Carajillo2Sugar – 03/07/2015 12:59 BST

When compared to BA, which carriers do you think offer a more consistent level of service and by how much do they exceed those offered by BA?
++++++++++++++++++

I cannot comment on all carriers, but as a frequent user of Swiss intra Europe, the consistency of service delivery is high and much more uniform than BA (which might be a good or bad thing, depending on what a customer likes.)

Service/product level is a different question and I don’t see so much difference, apart from the extra legroom on Swiss, which is why I changed from BA.

[K1ngston]

I have flown 74 sectors with airlines such as:
MH
QR
BA
SQ
CX
Thai
Qantas
Virgin Australia
AA
Air Niuginea
Air New Zealand

The best service by far for a premium customer on Long Haul including the hard product is CX, the best on Short haul is Virgin Australia, the worst and I will be controversial I am not a fan of QR, don’t like the airport in Doha, sick of the inconsistency of hard product offered albeit last week flew the new 350 from Sin which is good, I think SQ is overrated their service on the ground is not like CX.

I mentioned on another thread earlier that I flew BA to the UK last week F there and J back and the hard product is not good but the staff were superb in both directions and when you have the right staff everything else does not matter, and just for the record of the thread I was not welcomed on either sector as a BAEC Gold with over 3,500 points this calendar year!!!!

[747foreverforus]

Slightly off track here, however just flown BA In F to BGI from LGW, no welcome by name, however the crew were great. After talking to the cabin manager it appears that BA management at Gatwick have decided that they no longer need a purser in F, therefore the cabin manager does not have time to talk to anybody in F let alone the Golds. This is a recent change, I last flew (the same route) in F in March and was most certainly welcomed and greeted by the Purser. What I find strange though is that when it came to meal ordering, I was the first person to be asked, as I am Gold BAEC – can anybody explain the thinking behind BA management – apart from the obvious cost savings they are looking for? When will they realise and appoint a CEO that is customer service driven? Or will they leave it too late? The cabin manager did give me the name of the BA manager that has made this change so you can all rest assured that I will be contacting them directly on my return to the UK
In my humble opinion BA management has decide to rest on a reputation that it had many years ago and doesn’t seem to mind that it’s reputation now is heading down the plug hole, especially by those of us who are loyal and care about a once great airline

[Author]

Posts