[Marc_ACB]

I’ve had a few instances where I have travelled in a higher cabin to my other half. We will board together, then at the doors I’ll give him a quick kiss and say see you in a few hours.

On one occasion one of the crew joked that I should have offered to give up my seat (I didn’t feel too bad, he was in J this time, but I’m inclined to always keep my seat), and when doing the initial drinks service said he would send back a glass of the nicer stuff. Turns out, the crew had been super nice and has also given him an F amenities kit.

On another occasion, on a day flight to NYC (me in J him in Y+), in a fairly empty cabin, I was offered to invite him up for the tea service. The other half is a no fuss kind of guy and would have killed me if I had actually invited him up, but it was a nice touch to be offered.

On other times I’ve politely ask if I can send him a glass of bubbles, my request will usually be received with a smile and a “aren’t you nice to think about him” and once the initial drinks are served, he will get a glass of fizz and often crew will ask his meal choice preference then too.

At all times its been an appreciated gesture and never expected but I’ve always been pleasantly surprised by crew and I try follow up with a short thank you note when disembarking.

[openfly]

@GivingupBA….I have to ask why your tag is “GivingupBA”, when they were so kind to you?!! A little ungrateful methinks…..

[GivingupBA]

[quote quote=852167] @GivingupBA….I have to ask why your tag is “GivingupBA”, when they were so kind to you?!! A little ungrateful methinks…..[/quote]

I agree, I really do. I have a love-hate relationship with BA: I am tired of the Club World seats, especially compared with Cathay Pacific’s C class LHR to HKG, which I find definitely superior: so I haven’t flown on BA for nearly 3 years. But I have a huge soft spot for them and may return. I should change my tag, though…..

[MartynSinclair]

Out of interest, if there are empty seats in economy or business class, do cabin crew ever suggest F passengers should greet there guests elsewhere, but not in F cabin…?

[openfly]

@GivingupBA In a nut-shell you are so right….we all, except one or two, have a love-hate relationship with BA. BA=Marmite ??

[FDOS_UK]

[quote quote=852213] @GivingupBA In a nut-shell you are so right….we all, except one or two, have a love-hate relationship with BA. BA=Marmite ??[/quote]

I don’t understand the emtions – an airline is not a single entity, it is made up of a lot of people, some of whom are nice and helpful and others who are not. Likewise, the policies of an airline don’t care about emotions, they are just policies.

I had a lovely young lady looking after ‘my’ side of WTP recently, I don’t love BA because of that (though I really liked the individual), but when my pre-ordered meal morphed into a Hindu veggy, I didn’t hate BA, I just recognised that the company is not very good at delivering its core processes.

Thus, I can quite easily decide to fly BA, because the seat is good and the price is right, whilst considering it a mediocre airline – it is a workable value proposition, so long as you have very limited expectations of service.

No irrational love or hate, just a logical view of the world and if EK launches premium economy, I might well change carrier in a heartbeat.

People are so easily and unconsciously manipulated by brands and brand associations.

[K1ngston]

Totally agree with you FDOS_UK I don’t have much of an affiliation with BA these days living in Asia but will use them as and if I need to, case in point I am flying to BCN via LHR this weekend in WTP. I am using them because they offer great value for money against SQ and QR who don’t offer a WTP seat and the costs for a WTP seat is far more cost effective for my own business than a J seat

SQ is up to $1000 Moore expensive and whilst QR is competitive its in their Y cabin..

The last time I was on BA with my husband we were heading for our honeymoon and the crew couldn’t have been more friendly and helpful, so therefore the fact that the price is good the service was excellent last time and I will go back to Silver after these sectors have seemed to have worked out for me..

Can someone please let me know what Vuelling is like? My LGW-BCN is via this airline and having never flown them I would appreciate your thoughts

[FDOS_UK]

Haven’t flown Vueling for some years, but when I did, it was a bog standard low cost airline with tight seat pitch (though with extra space seat at a price), perfectly ok.

But then Cruz became CEO (before BA) so I’m not sure what he did to it.

I’m unsure if you will get lounge access using BAEC status.

[K1ngston]

Thank you FDOS_UK

[PrakashMehta]

[quote quote=852086]
It seems a few of my friends book one First (or Business) ticket and Economy for the family. Half way through the flight the other half comes up front and they swap places.
Has anyone seen this, or maybe done it themselves? Does the other passenger then get a First meal, wash kit, champagne etc and what do crew think of it. Is it even allowed. Just curious, but Rferguson, Handbag, have you seen this and as crew how do you deal with it?[/quote]

I have never been in this situation of family and self traveling in a different class. The closest I came to this was a decade ago when BA cancelled a morning EWR-LHR flight of my EWR-LHR-BOM trip just before Christmas. Fortunately they put my wife and me on an evening flight to LHR with a good connection to BOM. Don’t recollect if we were flying Club or WT+, but I was offered an upgrade to first while my wife got a seat in Club (that time I was silver and she had no status). None of us had flown first on any airline till then, so this was very tempting. But I politely refused and requested for two club seats.

So far the family has always been in the same cabin, whether economy, biz or first. But after reading the posts here, I’m tempted to maybe put my child in economy at some point in time (we normally do biz on all long haul). But then maybe not. How does one decide?

[K1ngston]

I guess it comes down to how much you love your kids Prakesh 🙂

[LuganoPirate]

Thanks all, very illuminating. I’ll keep a lookout now to see if it happens on one of my flights.

[traveldoc1]

I too have had a good experience with BA – though many years ago. Flying GVA-LHR – wife was in C (business trip) whilst I was in Y. She had an empty seat next to her and asked if I could join her – CSD came back and brought me forward, and we sat in companiable silence together. CSD ultimately had to check with my wife if he’d brought the right person as we weren’t chatting with each other!! (we often don’t if sitting together on a flight). But I HAVE declined an Emirates upgrade (C to F) when flying again with my wife.

[ASK1945]

A couple of years ago, quite by coincidence, my wife and I were booked on the same TLV-LHR BA flight as our son. He was in Club World, paid for by his client, we were in WT (self-pay).

The BA staff permitted us to stay with him until the plane door closed – but refused to allow us to visit him during the flight, even though CW was not full. He was able to come back to speak to us.

[Henryp1]

I can never understand why airlines would allow customers free upgrades to be with family, friends etc, the same for visits to higher cabins for a ‘drink’ etc. Why families and groups can’t pay and to sit together is strange, or manage a few hours separated. I’m against visits as no matter how discreet customers believe they are, they still disturb the overall ambiance of the cabin. One of reasons for travelling in premium cabins is the smaller cabin with reduced footfall.

Empty seats are great as the cabin should be even quieter, empty seats shouldn’t mean a free upgrade for someone sitting in a lower cabin, even if they are empty for the whole flight. Recently we travelled back from Dubai during the day and were the only two paying ticketed passengers booked. A nice quiet time in the CCB, but once on board the cabin was full due to upgrades. What could have been a quiet journey back to London turned out to be a busier than it could have been.

Maybe not the popular view but an honest opinion.

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