[openfly]

Due to the acquisition of the Monarch slots at LGW BA has found itself short of aircraft to use these slots. They have brought in Titan Airways to operate some 56 flights in and out of LGW every week for the summer. This is quite a large part of the BA operation. Titan Airways have a reputation for a high quality product in the airline world as they specialise in flight substitutions.
But, in this BA case, I flew one of their sectors a few days ago and the Club Europe product is not good. The Titan crew were ok, the seats better than BA, the legroom is about the same….but the major failing is the lack of appreciation of the BA “premium” product.
On the pa they announce that there are 3 toilets, two at the rear and one at the fron. So, with no cabin divider between economy and CE there is a constant trudge or queue in the aisle or front doorway of the CE “cabin”. Rather annoying!
So the Club Europe product description on BA.com of “your own private area” just doesn’t stand. I have to wonder how trading standards would deal with this.
If this was a one-off flight I would understand it. But over 56 flights a week…..??
I telephoned the Exec Club and described my experience and, without question, they rebooked me on the earlier BA operated flight.
One has to wonder if it would be appropriate to add some Avios compensation for the sub-standard CE product.
I doubt that this would be acceptable out of LHR. When Qatar Airways was used the CE offering was considerably better!

[Marc_ACB]

This disappoints me (not saying I am surprised). I am booked on a long weekend away to Malta in September (and the 160 TP are handy too). For the dates I wanted its BA out and Titan for BA on the way back, I could have picked another date I guess but I wanted to try the product – there aren’t many (if any) reviews. Oh well, live and learn – for the price I paid, I feel I’ll get the TP and overall value for money! Wait – Do they at least have champagne on the flight?

Just checked my booking – and it is appears a fairly full flight in “Club” for a Wednesday in September first 6 rows of club are reserved.

[GivingupBA]

I’ve been on Titan just once, Venice – London when BA were unable to fly because of strikes in Italy. Next day they sent a Titan plane to pick us all up. I was booked in Club Europe and found Titan to be excellent (seating, service, food & beverages) – better than Club Europe in fact.

[openfly]

Hi Marc,
Yes Champagne and they get the bar trolley out at wheels up!!
The first few rows are probably blocked as they are saved for Golds etc, so not necessarily full…..but it will be!!
But, you are right…a four hour flight with the queue for the front loo could be stressful.
If you look at the fancy pics about CE on BA.com, there is no resemblance on Titan whatsoever!
Enjoy!

[Marc_ACB]

Thanks Openfly. I am BAEC Gold, so I’m used to seeing empty seats up front.

Great news that the trolley services gets going at wheels up – if I drink enough I may be able to make a personal profit on the flights 🙂 Also the lounge in Valletta looks interesting. I’ll just chalk it up to a life experience – and take pics and may post a review of this leisure trip for other interested travellers.

[BugAdvisor]

The best thing about Titan (unless it’s been changed since my last European flight) is that they provide free food and drinks in economy – no BYOB.

In Club, I was offered a glass of champagne before take off – that never happens on BA.

Safety briefing was manual – much preferred to the same old safety video that I’m so bored with.

In Club, they offered the same food and drinks as BA. The seat was much more comfortable.

The only downside was that portable electronics can’t be used until airborne and must be switched off before landing – so I lost 30 minutes of watching a TV show on my iPad.

There is also a Titan app that has in-flight entertainment – but you need to download/install that before you fly.

When we landed, the FA held economy passengers back while Club de-planed – something that doesn’t happen on BA Club Europe.

[Globetrotter]

This is interesting – i’ve no experience of Titan but plenty of BA in ET and CE.

What interests me is the bathroom situation – there was a recent BT thread about bathroom access in the CE cabin by ET clients…particularly in some of the new config Airbus where they are reducing the aft toilets from 2 to 1.

I thought that the consensus was that on BA short haul, there was no rule/policy preventing ET clients using the ‘forward’ bathroom….and in the case of just one bathroom at either end, the consequences of ‘denial of access’ could be alarming! there was also some press coverage recently of American carriers shrinking the size of bathrooms on refitted aircraft…and this also implied that it was just one bathroom at either end – on some sectors of 7 hour duration…..

[openfly]

@Bugadviser….Titan are now BoB. I suppose with so many flights per week, for months to come, for BA LGW, they had to join ranks! All BA procedures now….phones, iPad usage, manual safety briefing.

[BugAdvisor]

Thanks openfly:
Titan are now BoB. I suppose with so many flights per week, for months to come, for BA LGW, they had to join ranks! All BA procedures now….phones, iPad usage, manual safety briefing.

The Titan staff did say that passengers had remarked how much more they enjoyed their flight than on BA – so I guess BA had to downgrade, sorry, align, the Titan service to avoid embarrassment.

[openfly]

@Bugadviser…all good things come to an end…where BA is concerned! 😢

[philsquares]

Flew Titan Airways from ALC-LGW a few weeks ago and it was one of the worst flights I have ever experienced. Musical chairs with friends moving up to CE to be with other work companions, nothing said. Entire meal service on a tray which will not fit on the tray table. All around very poor.

Wrote a complaint using the web complaint form. Finally, after several emails and two phone calls, there was a deposit of Avios Points into mine and my wife’s accounts. Nothing earth-shattering but it was 10,000 each.

Another complaint was raised regarding an unusual text I received at 550AM advising the flight (which left at 2100) was full and you could get carry on checked for free. Now, why would they send a text at that time of day for a flight that left in the evening? The first response was just amazing. The ungodly hour text message was justified because the messages are done by computer and there is nothing which can be done!!

Wrote a reply and will be interested to see when computers started setting their own schedules!

[Inga]

We’re flying CE from LGW-Palma on Titan next week. We’re using Avios, and only CE was available. It will be interesting to see what the product is like compared to regular BA CE which isn’t normally up to much. However, we still have the use of the lounge so we can have a few drinks and a bite to eat at LGW beforehand!

[StJohn14]

To keep things in perspective Titan are operating 28 departures and 28 arrivals a week to and from London Gatwick for BA This compares to a total of 620departures and 620 arrivals a week from Gatwick on BA metal so hardly a large part of the operation.

Have used Titan several times myself on BA flights. No issues at all.

[openfly]

@StJohn14….who do you work for, Titan or BA?!

[Stowage222]

I used Titan on my return from Faro last week. I can confirm they are serving a ‘Club’ product and I’m pleased to say the champagne and wine flowed. The girls were really trying hard on this Airbus 320. I asked the in flight supervisor if BA had provided them with BOB/Club training and was told no – just a crib sheet handed out before they left Stansted for Gatwick. In addition, on a full flight there were 2 in Club and 2 in ET – she said BA refused to pay for a 5th crew member. All in all I was happy with the experience under the circumstances.

[Author]

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