British Airways misses big time

Old May 23, 2015, 5:16 pm
  #31  
 
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Originally Posted by defabrizio
Just a clarification - I've been a road warrior for almost 20 years. Before moving to the UK I was a top tier with Air Canada (I think it's the best world airline). I do go to North America often and have had Prem Econ before with BA. I fully expected a flight, double the length of a LHR > YYZ one, to have the same or better amenities than what I experienced on the Pacific. And yes, I did look to see what was included before I booked - in the UK the advertising laws are extremely strict. BA can be charged for not supplying what they claim to offer.
I'm just not going to bother. These two posts have left me speechless.
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Old May 23, 2015, 5:21 pm
  #32  
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I really hope you didn't pay that much for a WTP ticket with restrictions. I'm flying WTP later this year, but only because it was cheaper than a WT ticket for whatever strange reason.

Cheers.
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Old May 23, 2015, 5:30 pm
  #33  
 
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How can you rate Air Canada as the best airline in the world?
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Old May 23, 2015, 5:32 pm
  #34  
 
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Originally Posted by Caleklika
I'm just not going to bother. These two posts have left me speechless.
I think I'll join you...incredible really!
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Old May 23, 2015, 5:45 pm
  #35  
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Originally Posted by defabrizio
I do go to North America often and have had Prem Econ before with BA. I fully expected a flight, double the length of a LHR > YYZ one, to have the same or better amenities than what I experienced on the Pacific.
Is this the issue - that somehow you were expecting WTP to be better than it was on the LHR-YYZ route? One of BA's strengths is its consistency across cabins above WT - so what you get in WTP on a shorter long-haul is also what you get on a much longer trip to Australia (with slight differences due to aircraft type and update timescales).

It does sound like BA delivered pretty much what you paid for - it's just that the price you paid represented terrible value, so understandably you're probably upset about that and possibly looking for someone to blame.

I'm afraid in the end you will have to chalk this down to experience - there is no way whatsoever the ASA is going to find BA remotely in breach of advertising regulations, just your expectations. Unfortunately that's not what the law is or can be based on!
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Old May 23, 2015, 5:47 pm
  #36  
 
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Just checked and you can fly London to Sydney TODAY in business for £2000! MH on the A380 for £3000. Sorry OP but you really have had a mare here. Lesson learnt for next time...
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Old May 23, 2015, 5:59 pm
  #37  
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Trying to show BA up on a website is unlikely to serve much purpose on a website where people may actually know something about the product

From http://www.britishairways.com/en-gb/...traveller-plus , the product is described

•wider seats and more legroom
•small, intimate cabins with expert, attentive service
•delicious meals and full bar service
•personal entertainment system with noise-reducing headphones
•larger free baggage allowance

•a wider seat with greater recline, lumbar support, head rest and foot rest
•extra leg room to stretch out, sit back and relax, sleep or work
•comfy cushion, blanket and amenity kit with toothbrush, toothpaste, flight socks and eye mask
•power supply for laptops and other electronic devices


The only part I think that there can be an issue with is the concept that it has delicious meals. The web page even has pictures showing what the seats are like

The seats are 18.5" wide vs 17.5 inches wide and has a pitch of 38" vs 31" and recline further. The seats are imo much better than a normal economy seat

if you were expecting a business class product, then you were bound to be disappointed but BA never claims WT+ to be business class

Given that you have , it seems, utilised it in the past, I am unsure why you would be expecting it to be dramatically different on a flight to Singapore and Sydney

There are much cheaper fares sold in WT+ as long as staying at least a week in Australia.

Last edited by Dave Noble; May 23, 2015 at 6:07 pm
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Old May 23, 2015, 6:27 pm
  #38  
 
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Other way round? Looks like you are the one who missed out big time. Instead of Baileys you could have been quaffing champers.
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Old May 23, 2015, 6:36 pm
  #39  
 
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I think the OP was trying to say that the price he paid was incredibly poor value, which I can sympathise with. Depending on the circumstances and when I was flying, I don't think I would pay more than 2k for a WTP return.
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Old May 23, 2015, 6:41 pm
  #40  
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Originally Posted by Southlondonbonviveur
I think the OP was trying to say that the price he paid was incredibly poor value, which I can sympathise with. Depending on the circumstances and when I was flying, I don't think I would pay more than 2k for a WTP return.
The OP apparantly knew what the product consists of based on previous use and still went ahead and bought a fully flexible PE fare anyway.

I don't agree with the suggestion that it was poor value - the value of a full fare ticket is in the flexibility it offers and , for WT+ to CBR, that it allows stays of less than 7 days

The rant in the post seems to focus on the product not being as described rather than the price
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Old May 23, 2015, 6:52 pm
  #41  
 
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The maximum, I have ever paid for WT+ from Europe to Oz was 2K EUR. I needed a flexible fare and did not want to ride coach. Some 747s can be a bit worn, and one single time, I rode a 777 with a downtrodden PE product. Still the difference between the worst BA WT+ seat and the best coach experience ever (OZ or SQ) is still significant.
The divided arm rest, the threefold recline, ample legroom, space for your computer, and the legrest make all the difference in the world.
Originally Posted by defabrizio
..I was a top tier with Air Canada (I think it's the best world airline). I do go to North America often and have had Prem Econ before with BA...
So you take your interpretation of an ad over your personal experience with the product ? The TATL products and the Asia WT+ products are indistinguishable IMO.

But then you praise AC - and airline with over-dense coach seating which squeezes as many Y pax in a small space as physically possible. There's your reason why you buy WT+ back to North America and don't ride AC anymore.
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Old May 23, 2015, 7:16 pm
  #42  
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Originally Posted by weero
But then you praise AC - and airline with over-dense coach seating which squeezes as many Y pax in a small space as physically possible. There's your reason why you buy WT+ back to North America and don't ride AC anymore.
I haven't used AC much , but my one experience of it in business class on its high density configuration was very pleasant with an alternating 2-2-2 with 1-2-1 layout

Picking one of the single seats gave a very pleasant seating and would pick that in preference to BA if travelling to Canada again

Regardless, I agree that the complaint about WT+ seems without many merits
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Old May 23, 2015, 7:27 pm
  #43  
 
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Wirelessly posted (iPhone 3G: Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 8_3 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/600.1.4 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/8.0 Mobile/12F70 Safari/600.1.4)

Quite a few oxymorons on this thread posting that they are "speechless".
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Old May 23, 2015, 8:02 pm
  #44  
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Originally Posted by defabrizio
Just a clarification - I've been a road warrior for almost 20 years. Before moving to the UK I was a top tier with Air Canada (I think it's the best world airline). ..
OMG.. if you think that AC is the world's best airline, then you have absolutely no idea what the rest of the world can offer you, and besides, BA's WT+ is actually better than AC's Premium economy from what I hear...

Road warrior for 20 years and you can't shop around for better fares ex-LHR to Australia? Like others have said, all other airlines offer better deals than BA and on Business Class too.
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Old May 23, 2015, 8:13 pm
  #45  
 
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This OP can only be one thing.

Successful troll is successful.
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