[IanFromHKG]

HonestCrew and Binman, thanks for your replies, I have taken them to heart. I was just going to write a trip review, but you have spurred me into contacting Customer Relations!

Incidentally, a dumb question from an Asia-based passenger who doesn’t often take intra-European flights (and I couldn’t find the answer on the BA website) – is a welcome drink part of the normal Club Europe service? Flew LHR-GVA return and didn’t get one either way, which surprised me a bit. I know it is a short hop but my experience in Asia is that it is invariably part of the service, no matter the duration of the flight (even on domestic flights in the Asian countries where I fly).

HonestCrew, thanks for volunteering the answer to the question I hadn’t thought to ask about how the survey victims are chosen. I was curious, since I or the memsahib have received one on, I think, 6 out of the last 8 long-haul flights where I have flown solo or with her! I was beginning to wonder how the selection process worked… I also appreciated your input (in another thread) on how little time you have to prepare the cabin before the flight (which still doesn’t excuse the FA who stood (doing nothing apart from holding another passenger’s jacket) in front of, and ignoring, me for a full minute as I stood at my seat hoping she would take my coat and then, when I gave up waiting and asked her, said she would come back and promptly flounced off). And you are right in your broader point – although the seat length is still an issue for me when trying to sleep (at 6’3″ I was once described by a colleague as being “unnecessarily tall”, but frankly 6’+ isn’t that rare!) there was very little else apart from the crew to complain about on this flight – the food was decent, the IFE was much improved, the cabin and toilets were clean, but the whole experience was completely coloured by the terrible service – so much so that it was the first thing my wife mentioned as we got off the flight (our younger daughter was sitting between us so we didn’t talk much on board). It wasn’t that it was inefficient (although it wasn’t overly efficient either – we boarded early but in the two minutes I was in the toilet I clearly missed the pre-flight drink round and they didn’t come round again), it was just provided with such attitude. My experience has (sadly all too often) been that BA crews are inconsistent – I have had a (very) few really good crews, and many which are best described as mixed (in which case you hope that you primarily get the good FAs – which, of course, is often the case since they are the ones cruising the cabin and being attentive while their lesser colleagues are gassing away in the galley) but this is the first one in a while where every single one seemed to resent the passengers’ existence. As I commented on another thread a long time ago, my wife always prays for the gay cabin crew, who she says are almost uniformly the most helpful and attentive – I wonder why that is? Hmmm…

On the subject of other threads, there is an active one as I write about the identity and anonymity of posters. I can’t help wishing that HonestCrew and a few others (BTBAsccm, for instance) were able, in the real world, to have an extra badge on their uniforms saying “I post as xxxx on businesstraveller.com” – I would love to spot one of those! LOL. And, of course, if VK or BeckyBoop were to wear them, we could finally put those rumours to rest…

Martyn – have we converted you to future window seat usage? Will you be 60A/K instead of 60J from now on?

[DisgustedofSwieqi]

Ian

Welcome drinks are rare on European airlines, BA have not done these for years, nor most of their competitors.

Air Malta offers a choice of orange juice or water, so not up to Asian standards, but at leat something.

The legacy airlines intra-euro business class model involves ripping you off for loads of money, giving you a Y seat (with the middle seat free) and the minimum service they can get away with.

Austrian schedule normal short haul aircraft, with hard space saver seats, on flights up to 5 hours and so do others.

Total rip off.

[IanFromHKG]

I agree with you that European business class seats on BA (and possibly others) are a complete rip-off when purchased separately. However, when you tag them on to a long-haul flight, as we did (HKG-GVA via LHR) they can be ridiculously cheap – and in some cases, the airline effectively pay you to fly since the indirect routes can be cheaper than tickets to the hub where you transit!

[Binman62]

Ian…yes you will often find that BA and others will add on the |Euro or Domestic leg for free.

However if you want to see real rip of pricing….some call it market pricing…..try originating in LHR. Then look at originating in the EU. BA consistently 50%-75%…….yes that is right 50%-75% cheaper….. ex the EU and on the same aircraft and routes..

Example would be LHR CGK via HKG. ex LHR £23475 for 2 adults and 2 kids. ex BUD currently under £7000

Amazingly LH trumped this recently in their sale and actually had fares lower ex the UK than BA ex the EU but it was a one off. They do however remain less than half of what BA are charging.

[MartynSinclair]

Hi Ian, I will give the window seat another go, but will take the advice of others and choose the seat that enables direct access to the aisle.

Mind you, if I knew I would have such a delightful and entertaining employee next to me again, i would certainly opt for 60A. Quite smitten!!! (I hope the person doesn’t read this ………. ).

[HonestCrew]

no welcome drink on Club Europe service, just a welcome smile (sometimes) 😉

[EU_Flyer]

@ MartynSinclair 20/1/2012

Hi Martyn,

Your comments re QF ground staff were interesting to read. I frequently travel to SYD on the QF2 and 31 and also find the QF staff to be more proactive that usual.

This may have something to do with QF cutting services ex LHR to HKG and BKK and therefore cutting 50% of their staff at LHR. All have had to re-apply for their jobs so service levels have probably increased as a result.

But good on them for being pro-active. I guess with T5/T3 being as large as they are, individual service levels can always vary, but on recent CW experiences on BA, I have found the crew to be quite pleasant and professional without being overly warm or pro-active.

Personally, I think BA CW is fantastic and the privacy significantly better than QF Skybed. Food needs to be addressed though. My steak from SYD-SIN tasted like…. well… frankly it had no taste!

Otherwise, it’s “all the way with BA” for me!

[Tete_de_cuvee]

Alex
If service is also important, to keep you happy with BA premium avoid routes crewed with the new, lower standards, BA mixed fleet. MF is fine when in economy but the premium experience is having problems.

To address this, BA has apparently been trying to second the highly experienced legacy crew to help MF raise their game but few takers due to past events.

Resulting from strong demand for a first class service on the LHR-SVO route, it has been transferred to longhaul so the legacy crew will also be stepping in there.

[MartynSinclair]

@ 05/02/2012 23:01 GMT

I have known the Qantas staff in the BA lounges for nearly 7 years as I as was a regular F on the BKK sectors. Since I switched to BA, the relationships remain and they are always friendly and helpful even when flying BA.

I don’t think its fair to use their real names in a public forum, but look out for one QF lounge employee who is named after a colour. The attention to detail and pure professionalism should be an example to the BA staff who, are rarely seen, apart from sitting on their bums as greeters.

The fact that they have to reapply for their jobs is more recent, the high levels of service have been there well before this unfortunate situation.

[MartynSinclair]

@ 05/02/2012 23:01 GMT

I have known the Qantas staff in the BA lounges for nearly 7 years as I as was a regular F on the BKK sectors. Since I switched to BA, the relationships remain and they are always friendly and helpful even when flying BA.

I don’t think its fair to use their real names in a public forum, but look out for one QF lounge employee who is named after a colour. The attention to detail and pure professionalism should be an example to the BA staff who, are rarely seen, apart from sitting on their bums as greeters.

The fact that they have to reapply for their jobs is more recent, the high levels of service have been there well before this unfortunate situation.

[Author]

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