[Speedbird1994]

Apparently, they recently visited Lufthansa in Germany to see what they are doing for their First class passengers. If this is true, then hopefully it might serve as a wake up call…

[Guesswho100]

Just got off a BA flight to the Caribbean (ex-LGW) – travelled in Club World, B777 (not refurbished). I was shocked at the state of the aircraft – absolutely filthy, looked like it had not been cleaned in months, the seat in front of me was covered in stains where liquid had been spilled down the back of the seat etc, etc. The food was revolting – I would not have given my steak to a stray dog, it was truly disgusting. The IFE screen was so bad it was like trying to watch a movie through fog, in the end I gave-up. The crew were friendly and helpful but very young, clearly inexperienced (I assume mix-fleet) and the young man who served us looked like he had slept in his uniform. I first flew BA more than 30 years ago and until recently, travelled frequently for work and like others on this forum, I have witnessed first had the relentless decline of this one great airline, but today was an all-time low Surely the only way is up from now-on.

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capetonianm

[MartynSinclair]

[quote quote=913732]the seat in front of me was covered in stains where liquid had been spilled down the back of the seat etc, etc. The food was revolting – I would not have given my steak to a stray dog, it was truly disgusting.[/quote]

Any pictures… I hope you will post them…

[rferguson]

A steak fillet is always going to be the worst meal you can order on BA (unless you love it cremated and overcooked). The reason being that we are only allowed to serve it once an implement we insert into the centre turns a certain colour to indicate ‘this cow is dead as a doornail’. Elf and safety. Some other beef dishes turn out well – Do&Co does a delicious beef cheek on the JFK route which reheats much better than a fillet.

LGW flights are crewed by Single Fleet LGW. It’s a mixed fleet kind of set up at LGW.

[capetonianm]

Toonarmy’s observations make me feel better about a decision I took earlier this week.

Not being a huge fan of VS, and seeing the enormous difference between economy and premium/business on both VS and BA for the dates we have to travel, I bought the cheapest tickets I could get on nonstop flights LGW to BGI, which was on BA. I expect it to be pretty dire, thus am more likely to get a pleasant surprise than to be disappointed. It saved me nearly £2000 as we had very little flexibility on dates, and I will be able to do something far more enjoyable with that £2000 than sit in a more comfortable seat for a few hours.

The Dutch have a lovely saying : “If you’re going to buy sh*t, you might as well buy the cheapest sh*t you can get.” In this case that was BA.

[AlanOrton1]

This sounds like a very similar experience to a recent LGW-MCO flight I took in club.
BA and VS treat LGW as a very poor relation to their LHR operations. To be fair they always have, I remember travelling on the new VS premium economy seating from LHR in 2006, yet years later the old seat was still in use ex LGW.

My experience with BA ex LGW was night and day compared to my last ex LHR flight in J to ORD, which was very good.
I won’t stop using BA ex LHR as they provide a reasonable offering (price factored in as well). However, will no longer use them in J for long haul ex LGW. 4 times this year and not close to LHR standards. (Exception being the F lounge, where the service has always been very good, IMHO).

If only they could try and offer a more consistent J service….

[Swissdiver]

For one, I hope BA will keep the herringbone as I love to dine in front of my wife or any one else I am travelling with. And the privacy feel of the window seat is unique in business. Now a bit more storage would definitively help.

BA hot food… It has always been a disaster, at least for the past 20ish years I am flying BA. Now even in First, it is mediocre. That said, cold is usually all right, including cheeses.

Ultimately, no wow effect on BA, but when travelling on business, I like to know what I will get. And I need an airline to solve any problem that can inevitably occur. And BA does this very well, at least for a connecting passenger like me.

First definitively needs an upgrade as the current product is sub-standard, and it was already at design stage…

[capetonianm]

In support of BA, I must say that however poor their hard product is, whenever I have travelled with them and there has been any sort of disruption, the way they looked after me at LHR has been quite simply outstanding.

It may also be that as an ex-airline employee, and having done pretty much everything except design, maintain, and fly the aircraft, I do know how to approach people, understand the constraints, and what is reasonable and what is not. I cringe when I see the way some people speak to the ticket office/check in staff, and cabin crew, for example.

[traveldoc1]

…..if there is any cheese to be had. Flight LGW to Lima in full J class yet only 10 portions of these and biscuits loaded so quickly ran out. I had few options, but luckily flew back IB via MAD to LHR. Service and food vastly superior.

[toonfan62]

[quote quote=913889]In support of BA, I must say that however poor their hard product is, whenever I have traveled with them and there has been any sort of disruption, the way they looked after me at LHR has been quite simply outstanding.[/quote]

I wish I could say the same! Friday before Christmas, flight starts showing erratic delays from 45 mins to 4 hours but gate shows an hour after scheduled departure time and looks like a two hour delay is in order. However “First Officer is on his way through the airport, 15 minutes and we will board”. 45 minutes later “Flight Cancelled” on the screens and 5 mins later they announce it along with “we will try to get you a bus to Newcastle”. Desk in lounge and airport can only offer “we will try to get you on a flight in two or three days and we will try to get you hotel accommodation”!

Long story but had flown in from Orlando and met my Australian cousin in the lounge en route to the Fulham game next day (which was awful but I digress). Asked BA for our bags bag and were told “carousel 7”. Weren’t told we needed to go to the gate be taken down the stairs, dumped in a secure area with a “you need to go through immigration” before the BA employee disappeared behind the secure door. Total cluster, I was already in the UK, hadn’t left the UK but had to go through immigration line with no landing card etc. or any BA help! Finally got through, luckily our bags were there, made it from LHR across to Kings Cross in 45 minutes, caught an earlier train, drank them out of cider and vodka before Doncaster and met another exiled Toon fan who was in from Chicago to see the game and was at the next table to us at St. James’ next day. Story you tell your kids about but absolutely ZERO thanks to BA!

No notification of EU rights, and only Twitter got my trip refunded (I got the train back to LHR in protest) and the EU claim processed. Even then the refund was incorrectly processed with someone missing the “hundreds” off the amount refunded so I am still waiting on that!

Total apathy and lack of any care from BA – already booked my next trip “home” with my boys to avoid BA entirely – we are fortunate I knew alternate options, booked them before we left the airport and had funds to do so. Pity the person who was, like me twenty years ago, without the ability to do that. Totally shameful behavior due to “crew scheduling issues” and zero planning. Not the front line staff’s fault and I also feel sorry for some of the abuse I saw them take from other passengers, but not a company I will give another dime to!

[FaroFlyer]

[quote quote=913739]A steak fillet is always going to be the worst meal you can order on BA (unless you love it cremated and overcooked). The reason being that we are only allowed to serve it once an implement we insert into the centre turns a certain colour to indicate ‘this cow is dead as a doornail’. Elf and safety. Some other beef dishes turn out well – Do&Co does a delicious beef cheek on the JFK route which reheats much better than a fillet.

Must be a few exceptions, or crew that ignore the “E&S” rules. Last November on LHR > LAS I was UPGed to Club and, having pre-ordered beef in WTP, was given a “special meal”. It was a restaurant quality fillet steak, large portion, medium rare. Best beef on an airline since the mid 90s when UA 1st, from HKG to LAX, served Chateaubriand carved seatside, with a sharp carving knife, and you could choose medium rare. Aaahh… those were the days, except for reclining seats rather than beds

[Tom Otley]

As you may have seen, British Airways is posting teaser photos of the new business class seat…

There are four photos there…. (on Instagram)

View this post on Instagram

Whatever makes your journey special, we’ve got you covered with our new Club World seat. #FlyBA #BA100 #NewClubWorld #BusinessClass

A post shared by British Airways (@british_airways) on Mar 16, 2019 at 3:00am PDT

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GivingupBA

[Tom Otley]

[Tom Otley]

… and for those without Facebook or Instagram (good for you!) I have pasted the photos from the Instagram post (hence the arrows indicating how you scroll through those four photos, though obviously you can’t if I’ve pasted them in).

2 users thanked author for this post.

MartynSinclair, SouthernOcean

[rferguson]

All to be revealed tomorrow 😉

[Author]

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