[Defcon5]

Interesting article this morning in Head for Points, does anyone know if this correct?

Is BA’s new Club World catering essentially a big con?

[Flightlevel]

You don’t get chocolate after dinner now-not recently-and the meal is similar,no problem with choices on my last flight.

[openfly]

So much China, and so little food…..

[rferguson]

It’s interesting actually as BA has claimed it was never the intention that Do&Co would cater all routes yet the crew were under the impression that WAS to be the case.

Saying that, I have seen the new non-JFK catering and it is still definitely a step up. Yes, the hot meals are essentially the same. The quality and choice of the starters, desserts and cheese has definitely improved as has the afternoon tea.

[AlanOrton1]

I flew ERW-LHR this week and the new bedding, menus, crockery and food all looked to be present.

The pillow is very good / significantly better. The blanket I didn’t think was as thick as the older one.
Menu looks more like a business class offering in its layout than the small piece of card that has masqueraded as a J menu for the last few years.
Crockery etc was definitely a step up. Decent sized mugs for a cup of coffee / tea etc.
I skipped the evening meal as I ate in the lounge. The pre flight dining at EWR, IMHO, is far, far better than at JFK. Very good and excellent staff as well.
The breakfast was better than previous with two hot mains as well as all the other normal breakfast options.
Legacy crew on this flight were very good, polished and ran the cabin very efficiently given the sub 6hr flight time.

Add in the half decent AVOD and it is a noticeably different product than I ‘enjoyed’ a few weeks ago coming back from FLL to LGW.

[Flightlevel]

Very similar food however a better choice and better meals too – who cares about the china.
Plastic toothpicks? In the anti-plastic new world why plastic toothpicks? Weeks on vacation in Asia and Australia and always used wood toothpicks.
Everywhere except BA J class. Are they cheaper?
Now doubt they’ll soon be in the marine food chain too!

[TominScotland]

We flew outbound to Calgary on a 787 and Club World was definitely old style in catering and bedding available (but it was a daytime flight). On the return from Vancouver, on a 380, the new offering was in place. The dinner service was good and nicely presented. Breakfast, pre-ordered after boarding, was not special but service (on a 9′ 20″ flight) only commenced one hour out. The bedding was certainly a big improvement, especially the pillow.

[DNAdams]

Will this ‘new’ meal service and bedding be rolled out on all BA CW routes – even BKK? If so, does anyone know when?
Thank you

[rferguson]

Th new service has now been rolled out on all US routes. The whole network will follow although there is speculation that this may be on hold until the service delivery issues are resolved (passengers and crew are complaining the new service takes to long).

In terms of choice, quality and presentation the new catering is a step up from previous. There is a choice of three starters including a hot soup (officially four but this includes a salad which was in addition to the ‘old’ club world starter so I don’t count that), three main courses (the fourth cold salad option of old club world was removed) and four desserts (including a hot option). New linens, crockery, glassware, physical menus have also been rolled out. After take off nuts are no longer in packets but in ramekins. Hot towels have been upgraded. Yes, nothing revolutionary. Nothing that most other competing airlines haven’t been doing for a long time. But, undeniably a step up from what was.

There has also been a big focus on the ‘goodnight’ service flights from the East Coast US to the UK. I can remember the embarrassment a few years ago of the after take off choice being a hot sandwich or warm cookie and breakfast being a plastic punnet of fruit. Now a full dinner is offered (although a more scaled back service than the outbound daylight flights) including a choice of starter, choice of mains, choice of desserts (including a hot one). Breakfast has been upgraded too. The short night flights are carried out with the lights out for the duration from take off to 40mins before landing and there are no trolleys at all in the cabin to enable those that want to sleep to do so.

The full service daylight flights are having issues with the length of time it is taking to deliver the service.

[rferguson]

Just to add – ALL routes ex LHR will have the bedding by the end of this month.

[DNAdams]

Thank you rferguson for your detailed and very helpful reply. I only was asking about the LHR/BKK route as I sometimes use this service exAMS as it is such good value £1200 rtn. I treat it a bit like a good premium economy, however if they are upgrading the meal service and bedding then even better. When I flew this route in CW last January the food was totally inedible.
If only BA would upgrade the aircraft on this route!

[MartynSinclair]

[quote quote=867484]There has also been a big focus on the ‘goodnight’ service flights from the East Coast US to the UK. I can remember the embarrassment a few years ago of the after take off choice being a hot sandwich or warm cookie and breakfast being a plastic punnet of fruit. Now a full dinner is offered (although a more scaled back service than the outbound daylight flights) including a choice of starter, choice of mains, choice of desserts (including a hot one).[/quote]

I think the challenge on east coast to Europe is the balance of an F & B service verses sleep. Is it still the case that the lounges offer a half decent dinner service pre boarding? My personal choice would be to offer a section of the cabin to have a sleep service, so it was kept dark from take off to landing.. I always find it annoying, the lights go down for a night departure, then full on for F & B service on such a short flight…

I reported on another thread how impressed I was with the new club world F & B..

[rferguson]

Martysinclair – there is still the full lounge pre flight dining before departure from most US ports. Some smaller ports do not offer this due to the more limited nature of the lounges (ie BWI).

You are right in finding a balance between the F&B and sleep. I think a lot of the feedback previously was that some of the shorter east coast – US night flights almost had an ‘enforced’ pre flight dining requirement as onboard it was ‘take it or leave it’.

I find people like different experiences even on the shorter night flights. Many are business passengers wanting maximum sleep as they are straight into the office when landing in London. Others are leisure travellers who want to eat everything on offer. Even the day of the week plays a part. On Fri/Sat night departures you’ll witness a lot larger uptake than a Sun-Thu night departure.

Saying that, it still is all about creating an ambiance for sleep. The lights remain off for the entire duration of the flight and are only switched on once we are 40 minutes out of LHR to allow us to prepare the cabin for landing. We just use the personal/reading lights for those wanting to eat dinner/breakfast.

[Flightlevel]

Rferguson – most agree its an improvement, especially the pillow.
Back to my earlier question, why plastic toothpicks – is the airline saving money or weight?

[rferguson]

Sorry flightlevel, No idea on that one.

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