[Andrew66]

I would think that the easy answer to the OPs question is 100% of them will have New First , but I understand that Alex is being facetious , and I get the banter , although some are more naturally funny than others .
But I also understand how the BA crew who post on here do get a bit upset at the constant and mostly unwarranted criticism that BA attract .
It so happens that I’m flying in First for the first ever time in November although not on the 380 , and inside I’m very excited about that , it’s something I never thought I would ever be able to afford , but with being in BAEC for just over a year and booking all my leisure travel through BA , I’m nearly at silver status and have the Amex card too which has enabled me to book F return for me and the wife for just £1000 for a trip to Dubai with the 2 4 1 voucher , to be honest I couldn’t be bothered if they don’t escort me to the seat ( I’ve looked at the seat plan so many times now I could probably find the seat blindfolded .
On all my trips so far the staff have been courteous and friendly and welcoming and the food and drink have been of a very good standard .
I probably spend about 12 k a year on holidays and I could spend all that with thomson etc etc , but I wouldn’t get what BA are offering me in return for spending it with them , so I’m a bit biased in how I feel about them ( but for good reason ) I only travel about every 2 to 3 months and I understand that business travellers travel more often so the hard and soft product loses its wow factor more quickly and quite rightly they are probably more picky than me in having to endure the BA offer as part of their working day , whereas mine is totally leisure based .
It is more than likely that I will never fly F with any other airline because I can only fly F in BA due to the reward and FF program , and I’m sure and agree that other airlines do offer a more superior product , but I’m also sure that the BA in First for me will be a wonderful experience with my limited financial resources ( I have to pay out of my own taxed income ) and I do get a bit fed up reading that I’m going to get poor service , uneatable food , low quality wine , and be squeezed into an overcrowded cabin , but hey look on the bright side I get direct aisle access !!! Whoopee !!
Overall from my perspective I get good value for money .

[Papillion53]

Andrew66 – I’m with you – please do not be disheartened – have you read my BA F review on the start of my Alaskan adventures?

I, too, could find my way to any seat in F, but there is something just that bit special about being shown to your seat and being fussed over, and made to feel even more special with all the fussing!

There is a lot in your comment about serious travellers, and by that I mean anyone, not necessarily just business travellers, who travel a lot, in that they become “used” to it and it is just not that special any more. My DH feels that way a bit travelling much, much more than I do, but I can still feel the magic! It is like staying at an hotel too many times, it just loses a bit of that first visit sparkle.

And I also know how you feel – I never thought I would ever be on the “other side of that blue curtain”! :-))

[MartynSinclair]

Marlene – your comment to BAcrew1 – I too would be very interested to meet some of the crew posters, especially RFerguson.

Am on BA9 this week – I will have the upside down BT traveller :)))

[esselle]

Hello Papillion53

I completely agree with you that things loose their sparkle after a while if you become very familiar with them (although the initial growl on starting up the Aston still makes me smile).

The bigger point, I think, it when something should happen but doesn’t or, even worse, something that should not happen does, it is likely to get you going a bit, and my sense is that this is what irritates folk the most.

Hey Ho! China bound. Let’s see what joys await.

[EU_Flyer]

BAcrew1, I know my comments regarding crew attitudes were hard, but I do have little time for people whinging and whining about why BA is picked on etc…

It’s a high profile British brand with millions of customers a year, many of which are corporates who read/contribute to this website. If BA crew can’t take the criticism, which is probably proportional to BA’s corporate market share ex UK, they should, in my opinion, take a second to think about why people write what they write.

I’m an easily pleased traveller. I love flying BA, choose to do it whenever I can and generally am very happy with the airline. I was also unfortunate enough to be travelling to LHR from SYD in December 2009 when the Bassa/Unite strike was called and spent a very very stressful week wondering if I’d even get to London for Christmas to spend time with an ailing family member (who shortly after died). My opinion of legacy crew has been forever diminished after that experience (given the totally appalling timing) and part of me will always (perhaps unfairy) percieve legacy crew as selfish whining overpaid trolley dollys who nearly ruined Christmas for all those people that entrusted their Xmas travel to them back in ’09.

That said, I realise the airline is filled with many hard working, dedicated legacy crew whom I always treat with respect when I meet them on board and on the ground. Most are actually very nice people who I enjoy chatting with.

Unless they whinge.

So that’s why I have this attitude to BA legacy crew when they over-dramatise simple light hearted jokes.

I’m a city lawyer. If I took every city lawyer joke to heart I’d have jumped off Tower Bridge years ago.

[bacrew1]

Thanks for replying AU77…
Now that you’ve clarified I agree that your comments are a bit harsh and you are generalising crew who aren’t on the new fleet. Just the same as me generalising that all premium class travelllers are a pain in the neck!? (but I honestly wouldn’t say that)
You are quite correct that there are some bad eggs in the batch, but you’ll also find there are some fantastic people who outshine, and I would even go as far to say are wasted being cabin crew.
I’m not one of the crew who can’t take criticism, infact I’m often feeding it back myself to the powers that be!
This may seem as an excuse but ever so often crew don’t have the “tools” in order to do their job as they’d perfectly like…. However having said that… Having to press a call bell 3 times in First class is simply unacceptable.
IMHO BA will never be perfect for everyone. Whatever floats someones boat could easily sink another’s! Classic proof being posted here is to whether customers find it important to be escorted to their seat in First Class or not…. It should be the standard…. but trust me… I’ve been shoo’ed away so many times when I’ve tried…. you can never get it right!? There is usually something going on or a reason why a crew member is unable to escort someone to their seat… you may find this an excuse but examples are… It would leave the boarding door unattended, which we can’t do. Crew held up, dealing with issues/duplicate seats onboard. A crew member already escorting someone to First who was just ahead of you in the queue… No offense to anyone here, but sometimes people need to look at the bigger picture. Having said that, if there are plenty of crew hanging round the boarding door area, then there’s absolutely no excuse not to escort someone up to First!

[EU_Flyer]

Thanks bacrew1.

I know some fantastic BA CC who could probably have done other things with their life but who chose to be cabin crew and BA is a richer airline for that. I honestly sometimes dream of what life would have been like had I been a flight attendant instead of a boring lawyer . I’d probably have been exhausted but with some great experiences under my belt as well. I choose to fly BA over QF, AA, CX etc because I like the product which includes the crew. It ain’t perfect, but every time that safety video animation comes on with the BA music, I feel comfortable knowing that I’m probably going to have a decent flight.

I think what a lot of crew perhaps unjustifiably feel is that BA customers are out to get them. We’re not. We want to have an enjoyable, safe, smooth, comfortable flight without any drama. I personally don’t care if I don’t get escorted (as if I can’t find the damn seat myself) and if I don’t get my first choice at dinner, it’s actually not the end of the world and I like the BA food. Yes, no showers at DXB annoys me and waiting 25 mins at Fast Track security really gives me the shits (it’s not BA’s fault I know) but generally I’m easy to please. The Xmas ’09 strike however was completely unacceptable and totally selfish (I won’t repeat myself).

Cabin crew (on all airlines) do have (in some cases) problems with attitude, self importance and arraogance. Perhaps it’s the jetsetting lifestyle, 5 star hotels etc. But anyone in a service position has to treat their customers fairly and with goodwill. I have to do the same with my clients who would get up and leave if I gave them attitude or whinged or rolled my eyes at them etc… Just because I’m a lawyer in a top firm doesn’t mean I don’t have to lick ass.

For this reason, some CC need to get some perspective which includes not assuming that customers are the enemy (some are, most aren’t) and that their job is “To Fly to Serve”.

As I remind myself everytime I take on a new client or matter at work. It’s not about me, it’s about the client who’s paying me whether I like it or not!

[Papillion53]

bacrew1 – I am probably one who does try to look at the big picture and am realistic, but in this case it is not the passenger’s role to look at the big picture. You have to remember that the CC on the door do not know by glancing at someone’s bp whether they are a First first-timer, or an old timer – who may well shoosh you away. To be shown to your seat never happens in any other class, so yes, it is special for that reason alone. And for travellers like Andrew66 and myself, it is part of the whole experience as travelling in F is not a regular occurrence either. That is something that some CC, not all, but some, would do well to remember that whilst many in F are regular passengers, some may be travelling in that cabin for the one and only time in their life, and have saved hard to be able to do so. It is an event. A special event. Not one paid for by their company.
G
If there is only one crew member there, then surely explaining that they would like to escort said pax to their seat, but can’t because of any of the reasons you have stated, would be better than just pointing.

And with 3 members of crew allocated to F, with only 14 pax to seat, I find it hard to believe that there would be many occasions when this could not be done.

Although it certainly is not the end of the world if it doesn’t happen, it does get the whole in-flight experience off on the right foot.

Edited to add: alexupgrade77’s last sentence should be tattooed in the brain of everyone working in a service industry.

[bacrew1]

I totally understand you both and am not arguing. The non escorting usually happens for a reason…. I just don’t want other reader’s to think it’s generally down to crew laziness (as may be perceived by some)

I’m not going to go into the in’s and out’s of how we could do with extra crew since the removal of ours… we’ve bored that discussion to death 😉

Hopefully when the A380 starts flying, escorting to First shouldn’t be a problem as BA a currently recruiting internally for staff to help out during boarding in the premium cabins on the big bird!
However this is A380 specific and this standard will be inconsistent for all other aircraft types as we won’t get the extra hands (rolleyes)

[Papillion53]

Not implying laziness at all – it happens as you say for all sorts of reasons!!

That’s a great idea to have staff just for boarding the premium cabins, that would certainly free up the flyng CC to get on with their pre-flight duties and give the purser enough time to meet and greet in the cabin. Shame it’s going to be restricted to the A380! Rolleyes back! And smiles back too!! :-)))

[Andrew66]

Hi Papillion, I’ve just read your review and you have a lovely honest way of describing things , I really do enjoy reading your opinions .
The food sounded wonderful and I’m looking forward to that , I know that we expect good service and whenever I receive good service it does immediately change my mood , but to feel the benefit of good service I think it does need to engaging from both sides , if you are grumpy or stand offish it makes you unable to be receptive to good or great service no matter how hard the other person is trying ,
Even though the crew are there and paid to do their job and offer service , I find that by being polite and respectful and receptive means we both get the best out of our time together , I prefer a more natural approach rather than a subversive situation .
I do hope we get escorted to our seat and fussed over I think you’re right Papillion in that its nice to fussed over and made to feel special , and I’m very confident that will happen based on my experiences so far , it will also be a good opportunity to engage with the crew and enjoy the hospitality and really enjoy the experience , once again you’re right in that you can only have that “first time ” feeling once , but hopefully that magic still remains .

[StandingThemUp]

bacrew1

I offer this by way of a possible explanation and not as a criticism.

One of BAs (corporate) very annoying habits is to execute what look like cost cutting exercises and to announce that these are in response to customer feedback.

Now, anyone who has ever worked in marketing (and I have) knows how easy it is to create loaded surveys, to exaggerate a question, “would you rather have your free meal withdrawn or be bitten by a black mamba.’ Unsurprisingly, this would elicit a very high degree of choice to avoid death and accept no free meal.

Rightly or wrongly, there is a cynical view amongst a lot of BA frequent fliers (of which I am one, already at 320 tier points less than 2 weeks after my yearly reset) that BA think we are stupid/guillible and this causes some degree of resentement and thus a propensity to cut the company little slack.

I know this, because I talk to travellers in the lounges and on the aircraft.

It’s not the crew’s fault, but sadly you are part of the public facing organization and I can understand that it gets wearing for you, but I wouldn’t take it personally – unless you are a senior manager 😉

Edited to add that I work in a very exposed, public facing role, where I get qualitatively and quantitatively assessed by my clients after every engagement. You have to take the feedback at face value, assess whether it is reasonable and then decide whether to accept/reject. Some of the criticism is unreasonable/unfair, but it’s just part of the game and I now reject it (as in don;t take it on board, I don’t inform the client) and move on, realising that you cannot please all the people all of the time.

[AllOverTheGaff]

Wow…..that deteriorated fast eh?

@ esselle – 28/06/2013 18:21 GMT

LOL!

Rgds.
AOTG.

[EU_Flyer]

Yeah I know….

What was intended to be a light hearted fun post turned into yet another slanging match.

Whilst nobody is to blame, it’s a shame that some people here feel the need to sensationalise everything.

As frequent travellers, sometimes we just want to have a laugh about our travelling experiences.

Nothing more. Nothing less.

[travelworld]

Alexupgrade77@0724.

Agreed.

[Author]

Posts