British Airways misses big time
#31
Join Date: Apr 2015
Programs: British Airways Silver Card
Posts: 337
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.
#34
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: usually somewhere between 30000 and 40000 feet...but actually the English countryside
Programs: BA GGL/Lifetime Gold, EK Gold, Lowly M&M, Marriott tit, Hhonors Diamond, numerous others
Posts: 1,156
#35
Community Director
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Norwich, UK
Programs: A3*G, BA Gold, BD Gold (in memoriam), IHG Diamond Ambassador
Posts: 8,448
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!
#37
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Jan 2002
Posts: 44,435
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.
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
#39
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: London
Programs: BA Gold; FB Silver; SPG; IHG Gold
Posts: 2,963
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.
#40
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Join Date: Jan 2002
Posts: 44,435
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
#41
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: OSL/IAH/ZRH (time, not preference)
Programs: UA1K, LH GM, AA EXP->GM
Posts: 38,253
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.
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.
The divided arm rest, the threefold recline, ample legroom, space for your computer, and the legrest make all the difference in the world.
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.
#42
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Join Date: Jan 2002
Posts: 44,435
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
#43
Join Date: Jan 2008
Posts: 3,819
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".
Quite a few oxymorons on this thread posting that they are "speechless".
#44
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Join Date: May 2000
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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.