[Binman62]

Yes it is important.
Wine does not change at altitude or inflight your palate does. A glass of any wine is likely to taste different at the end of a 10 hour flight than it did at the start

[first_class_please]

Care about, for sure? End of the world, no.

When i travel premium I’m looking at at a number of things, quality of the seat, IFE relating to length of flight, timings.

The food and wine on board I then simply expect to be of a high standard, to the level of restaurant experience certainly for first class.

After all, First class fares particularly are generally a sizeable amount more than “adequate” business class. BA NCW v NF for example.

The food and wine really should reflect that. Many times I’ve been served something and thought, jeez what on earth is that, it’s terrible.

Ok, I’m no expert, but I don’t expect terrible!

Would it make me change carrier? Only if there was another choice which was equal with the seat, IFE and timings, then yes, otherwise, I would just manage.

[openfly]

No

[BlackTower]

Agree with Martyn on fresh juices; ex LHR with BA no excuse. Inbound fair enough.

Agree with VK on Wine/Champagne and indeed desert wines are strong enough to work and my favourite.

Had most of a Smith-Haut-Lafitte Blanc on Kingfisher recently. Blew me away, a bit sad its £65 a bottle.

Delighted to read BA food is improved. Grounded myself for the duration. They don’t have fresh juices in The Scrubs either………

[VintageKrug]

I think it’s fair to say that in the days of yore, the IFE *was* the food and wine offering.

So it had to be of exceptional quality, as that kept you busy for two hours before reverting to a shaky projected movie from a few years ago and those dreadful “air tube” headphones – all the while dodging the noise from the engines and the wafts of smokers throughout the cabin.

F&B still plays a part, particularly in F, but in Y and to a lesser extent J it’s somewhat commoditised. And for the fares we are paying, rightly so.

[TridentGold]

VK makes a good point about IFE. Personally speaking, a good glass of wine and an interesting book (when I’m not working) contributes to a nice flight and plays a bigger part than often unreliable IFE. Of course, safety, seat comfort, efficiency, service and price are bigger factors in making a carrier choice, but recent good experience with wines on BA and QF left a very favourable impression. Even if I consumed the equivalent of a full bottle of say a £35 Montrachet, would that really have a big impact on the pricing of an F Class ticket? So for one I am in strongly in favour of decent wines procured at reasonable prices.

[BeckyBoop]

I do like my wine but am no expert and couldnt tell from a cheap or expensive bottle. I rarely drink on board because i get tipsy very easily 😉 but will some times have one with my meal. In First there should be no comprimise considering the the cost but less so in business – but quality should be of an acceptible standard to keep the critics happy. 🙂 xx

[Daytripper]

I wish I had the luxury of enjoying more than the occasional glass of wine/champagne onboard. However, work prevails.

For me, the greatest bonus of bus/first is being able to work in relative peace and with sufficient personal space to achieve the tasks I need to complete. The vast majority of my (considerable) flying hours are spent at my laptop, away from the on-the-ground pressures of the phone and other distractions.

Drinking doesn’t aid concentration (unless you’re a professional darts player…)

[highcadence]

Agree with VK to have something “interesting” onboard. As my wine consumption generally amounts to one glass with dinner, it’s good to experience different wines that I wouldn’t normally try eg. Swiss or English. If it’s terrible, no damage done.

[dutchyankee]

I for one definitely care about the wine (and the food) served in Business and First. It is all part of the experience, and luckily for me, when I travel, while it may be for business, it is my own business, and I am able to endulge and thoroughly enjoy the flights. I agree with VK that it is not the name on the bottle that is important, but the quality of the champagne (my preference) or the wine, tasted at altitude, that matters. I remember in the past many airlines touting how they served DP or Krug in First, and yet, at altitude, some of the best wine critics in the world marked these lower than some non-vintage Veuve or Bolli. I also agree, some new wines on the list from some different regions makes for an interesting opportunity to taste that you might not otherwise have or contemplate. Loved the Tait we had on last week’s BGI-LGW CW flight, excellent!

[First-Pax]

Please – let’s stop talking about cutbacks in the premium cabin.

‘First’ should be what the name implies – the best of everything – and that includes the wines.

[VintageKrug]

I’m sorry, but I disagree with that.

All airlines have to be price-competitive, even in F. Costs have risen inexorably over the past decade (especially taxes and fuel) and unfortunately people’s propensity to pay a premium for luxury has also declined.

While there will always be exceptions to the above, that it the trend; squeezed margins means costs must be a focus.

At the luxury end, those who genuinely have no cost constraints can fly themselves privately with greater ease than ever before, and NetJets et al provide an accessible entree into this market for the HNW individual.

Now, it’s right to say that airlines should strive to maintain a good to excellent level of quality in F, but to provision “the best of everything” in F&B on board is simply not affordable, especially as airlines have now invested so much in the on-the-ground facilities and hard product (beds, IFE) in the air.

There’s been massive investment in infrastructure in other parts of the experience – from new terminals to spas to new aircraft – and it’s only right that the priorities for F&B are adjusted accordingly, without overly affecting quality.

[Senator]

I as the esteemed dutchyankee travel mostly long-haul business/First for pleasure these days. I get my stressed CE or LX Business flights where work is important. I am rarely in work mode on my 3-4 long haul flights, so I am there to enjoy..

Therefore, F&B and IFE are important to me..

[esselle]

VK

Quality/price is one thing, and so making sensible and rational savings without undermining the positioning of a product is one thing.

However, havingTaittinger NV as the lead champagne in the Concorde Room is plain silly. This location is intended for the very top end of BA’s pax.

It gets worse when, on one sector in F you get LPGS, which is right up
there, and on the next you get the plain old Taittinger again.

Is it a race to the bottom driven by accountants, or do the logistics team struggle to keep up with the Marketeers? (read the guff about the wine cellar on the website).

All I ask it for some consistency, and, if I am to get the occasional surprise, that it is a nice one!

[First-Pax]

You are talking the product down VK. That can’t be right. You’ll be suggesting that top class restaurants and hotels should do the same next…

Other airlines are improving their first class product all the time, not cutting corners – and if BA continue to erode the quality of their product, they might as well scrap the ‘F’ cabin once and for all. Just look at what’s happened to first class on the rail networks!

[Author]

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