Markie

Bong

'Ladies and Gentlemen in the Club Europe cabin' she started, 'I am afraid due to the catering truck overheating we only have EuroTraveller offerings for you today.'

And with that, at 10,000 feet there was nothing we could do!

My flight to Copenhagen last night, bussed from A10 on the hottest day of the year in London, had no catering. In fact it had less than no catering, as the crew confided that they had to do EuroTraveller first and see what left overs there were for Club Europe. It appears that the catering truck had overheated in the sun (so had their passengers as we waited to board), and so they could not serve the food supplied.

Of course, crew meals were fine, and the smell of the cooking meal for the flight crew permeated the cabin just as we were served our double packs of nuts or single pack of lemon biscuits. 'We don't have enough if everyone has two sir'.

What was really disappointing is that having been called 60 minutes before the flight to A10 there would have been plenty of time to grab a sandwich in the terminal. But, cowards that they are, BA waited until somewhere over East Anglia before telling passengers of the problem.

As it turned out enough people in the back turned down the chicken and bacon roll with raspberry bun, that there was enough for Club Europe.

BA's compensation is due to arrive, in the form of 3,000 avios. Well worth the Ł125 upgrade to Club. Not.

madfish

My flight from AMS on Sunday morning had an issue with the catering. Keep on board overnight there was a problem with the chiller so couldn't be served. We were told we could collect a voucher from the information desk at LHR. I was given Ł10. Would I have preferred 3k Avios? Have to say CC were great and kept us informed of this and their attempts to sort something out for our arrival.

Saltire74

And from another point of view:

Arrived at GC North at 16:30hrs yesterday. A few broken slabs of cake and half sandwiches that looked as if they had been thrown back on to the serving area (can't eat any of that anyway due to Gluten intolerence). Opted for a couple of packets of crisps (gluten free of course).

Called to gate A4 for the flight to GLA at 18:00 (STD 18:55hrs) only to start boarding the buses at 19:25hrs (or there abouts). Finally got my domestic packet of crisps at 20:45hrs. Majority of the day yesterday surviving on crisps....yeeaahhhh.

If we hadn't been called to the gate at the time we were and knew about the rolling delay, I would have went and got myself a salad or something a bit more substantial than a packet of crisps from somewhere. Was planning to have had something resembling a proper meal when I got home had we been on time and so hadn't initially been bothered about the domestic offerings. Too late for that having got home just after 22:00hrs .

Anyways, home now. Square sausage & Irn Bru to make up for it. Will stay off the crisps for the rest of the month (is it possible to go cold turkey from lack of crisps - feel as if I overdosed on them yesterday ).

Safe & Happy Travels

S

IanAsiaTraveller

I flew back from Paris ORY to LHR yesterday. Flight completely full but I was in economy so I'm not aware if there was any issue with the catering. If I'm in economy I usually just drink a fruit juice and bring home the food offering. We've got several packets of those honey roast things in the kitchen at the moment!

gordon0808

Catering in ET TXL-LHR yesterday was a slimmed down version of AA's "Snack basket". The choices were crips or... crisps. When I asked for a sparkling water I was given half a glass of luke warm still water. She didn't even bother to ask if I wanted ice or lemon.

IanAsiaTraveller

Yes, this is something I've noticed recently: the variability in standard of cabin service. The "would you like ice or lemon" question was something that distinguished BA in terms of quality. Sadly that's maybe now been sacrificed in the competitive race to the bottom against the low-cost airlines?

bradders81

I don't think that was limited to your flight today. On my severely delayed LHR>MAN service, the CSM told me that catering on most club Europe services that departed after midday was fouled up. Terms such as 'spoiled' and 'lack of refrigeration' were being used. Add to that the 'heat impact' on the schedule yesterday and it's seems like amateur hour.

Markie

Indeed, the feeling was that it was lots of flights - which made the whole failure to make an announcement in the terminal so much worse. Of course, they would have had to issue vouchers if they had told people about it, so I guess BA saved a ton of money.

thegoderic

The crisps offered on domestics give me a dilemma every time I fly (twice per week at the moment).

Lounge crisps (kettle?) are OK and come in a large bag. The crisps offered onboard are, IMHO tastier, but the serving size is smaller.

So - should I go for taste or quantity. I could, of course have both, but that would just be greedy.

stevie

LHR-FRA yesterday in Club Europe. Had a glass of white I did not like so asked if I could try a red, she poured red into the remnants of the white without even looking at what she had done. My seat mate was amused as was I. When I pointed out to her what she did, she just frowned, took the glass away and did not replace with a fresh glass of red. I gave up at that stage. My seat mate and I came to the firm conclusion that CE is just not worth avois/cash anymore. Perhaps the heat had got the better of the crew as they were pretty useless.

Markie

The 3,000 Avios Service Recovery have just posted. The Purser was going round the Club cabin collecting emails after I asked her to log it on the iPad.

visit14

3k Avios is ridiculously low. What did they offer passengers who weren't members of BAEC?

I'd be pushing for a partial refund or a greater amount of Avios on the grounds that the product delivered was signifcantly different from what was advertised & what you had paid for.

Total incompetence from BA at "all touchpoints" in your passenger journey.

Sounds like the CC were particularly ill versed in "premium service." They should have come around and broken the bad news 1-to-1 with CE passengers instead of doing a PA and should not have been bossy with snacks or let on that only ET leftovers would be offered! I ln your position, I think the crew's handling of the situation would have annoyed me more actually than the lack of meal (especially if it was afternoon tea anyway).

Xordan

I don't bother with CE any more. Even my company flies us economy short haul now (yet J/F long haul). Seats are the same, I can eat just fine before/after the flight and the service isn't much different between the cabins. Don't know what BA's strategy is here, unless they want to phase out CE altogether long term.

mec72

3k seems very low for no meal because I usually get 6k for lack of first choice in CE (and apparently that's the ipad standard compo).

Sam Bee

I know this isn't the point you're making - but speaking to a few crew recently who can rock up 9 hour shifts - if they do not bring their own food then this is the only sustenance to get them through 3/4 sectors. And probably this is their only time to eat it.

I feel for them in this instance as they know perfectly if they have had to tell CE pax there is no hot food their will be envious looks as they tuck into their only hot meal for that shift. Certainly no winners, but they need to be prioritised I guess?