[Anonymous]

[tolotaxi]

What are people’s views on the new WTP Club food service, does it make travelling WTP worth it for the premium over World Traveller?

[VintageKrug]

I woudn’t say that the improvements (which are that Club World main course is now served instead of the economy offering) are in themselves worth the premium.

But as part of the overall package, it’s good to see increasing differentiation.

I tried WT+ for the first time about a year ago and was impressed; for shorter day flights it’s very good value, and especially so if you get the new WT+ cabin on the 6 777-300ERs:

http://www.britishairways.com/travel/new-world-traveller-plus/public/en_gb

[Henkel.Trocken]

It must be difficult to gauge the food offering. As someone posted earlier in the week, BA F food is now nearly as good as the food in economy on SIA or Emirates.

The food in C on BA has been subject to so many cuts that I wouldn’t get excited about it. Even VintageKrug has stated that you have to choose carefully to have a decent meal in F on BA so I would imagine in WT+ you stand no chance. I would probably opt to take sandwiches.

[tolotaxi]

Thanks, would it be worth upgrading with Avios?

[Henkel.Trocken]

I’m no expert on premium economy cabins but it depends what your priorities are. If you are happy to have a little more space at a premium cost then go for it. Don’t bank on getting anything else as the food is poor, the IFE very third tier and the crew can be amazing or dreadful and very rarely anything in the middle.

Have you thought of flying with another airline?

[Tete_de_cuvee]

Tolotaxi – find loadings first. The WT+ seat provides more leg room but very little across the bows and as the arm rests in WT+ are fixed there is little benefit if the seat next to you is vacant. In economy you may get lucky with a low load and can stretch out on a row of your own as the arm rests can be lifted.

[VintageKrug]

It’s very inexpensive to upgrade with Avios; if you have enough, you’d be daft not to. 10,000 is enough for a one way upgrade from economy to Premium Economy/WT+ transatlantic.

BUT by far the best use of Avios is to upgrade from premium economy to http://www.newclubworld.com – it’s a sea change between sitting in a seat with no lounge access, to having lounge access and getting a fully flat bed.

In my view you get better value paying the few hundred pounds extra for Premium Economy/WT+, and then upgrading those tickets with avios (or cash – upgrades are usually offered in Manage My Booking) to Club; particularly on night flights when the bed is important. Still only 10,000 avios one way transatlantic, and subject to availability so ensure you can get the upgrade at time of booking.

You should be cautious about taking the advice of certain posters in this thread, who appear to have a curious hatred of anything BA and therefore whose opinions cannot be trusted.

Food on BA is good in my almost weekly experience of it, and indeed there has been a marked investment and innovation lately with the introduction of Height Cuisine programme (involving Heston Blumenthal) which emphasises umami and foods well suited to altitude.

You can learn more about that programme here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKhNUUeaxkE&feature=relmfu

[Henkel.Trocken]

On the other hand, don’t be taken in by the BA chief apologist on this board.

Many people I know refer to the Height Cuisine programme as the Sh*te Cuisine programme which is a much more accurate refelection of what will be thrown in front of you.

BA have some strenghts, as another BA apologist said recently, they have a reasonable safety record but of course it’s no better than anyone else’s, well except Air France but that’s not a measure of success.

I’m struggling for another strength.

[VintageKrug]

There’s a good Trip report here, in which FrequentFlyer99 was impressed by the improvements in the WT+ food offering:

http://www.businesstraveller.com/discussion/topic/British-Airways-B747-400-Mid-J-World-Traveller-Plus-(premium-economy)-1

[Henkel.Trocken]

Be cautious of posts such as the one sighted above. People who post such things very infrequently usually have little experience of travel and are often impressed beyond measure that they are not flying Ryanair.

Like any other recommedation, look at their profile and see whether they look credible to you. If all they do for instance is plug a particular airline with a load of positives, BA for instance, they probably don’t really know what they are talking about.

[VintageKrug]

How funny. I’d be cautious of people who have a manic hatred of anything related to British Airways, and judge their contributions accordingly.

Henkel.Trocken – 14/04/2012 15:30 GMT

Be cautious of posts such as the one sighted above. People who post such things very infrequently usually have little experience of travel and are often impressed beyond measure that they are not flying Ryanair.

Like any other recommedation, look at their profile and see whether they look credible to you. If all they do for instance is plug a particular airline with a load of positives, BA for instance, they probably don’t really know what they are talking about.

[tolotaxi]

I certainly cannot justify paying for a premium economy fare and therefore would not switch airlines. However, I have a reasonable bank of Avios that would have been much larger if they hadn’t shortchanged everyone in the transition from Miles. By the way I’m BA all the way, particularly due to Terminal 5 but also because of the very good food I got in WT recently. The service was very cheery and professional.

[tolotaxi]

BA’s strengths are many: Terminal 5, Codeshare programs, value of Avios to name but a few. I have never had a bad flight with BA and the majority of my flights have all had service with a smile, not the attitude I have experienced from Virgin.

[FormerlyDoS]

“What are people’s views on the new WTP Club food service, does it make travelling WTP worth it for the premium over World Traveller?”

Not unless you value a meal at about 190GBP.

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