G-CIVC

I flew BA CW on the LHR-SFO A380 not along ago which was my first BA CW experience in 7-8 years (!) amidst tons and tons of CX J and AA these couple years. Perhaps I had very low expectations to begin with but it wasn't as bad as I thought

The food was much better than CX (you can see our endless complaints over at the CX forum...) although how they catered enough menus but not wine lists is beyond me still. However, not starting the 2nd meal until 90 minutes before arrival and still wrapping up with adequate time to spare was quite impressive.

Seat was okay as I could sleep comfortably and the padding was alright presumably because the plane was relatively new. Although I have no idea how/where I could put my stuff if there weren't those lovely bins on the side. I must say that I was probably in one of the better seats 59K that contributed to my enjoyment.

Service was a mixed bag, only 1 CC called me by name, another one was friendly but the rest were indifferent (and seems like the crew to pax ratio is as sparse as CX, another thing we love b*tching about at the CX forum). IFE was hardly international so I had the map on all flight long but that was not a nuisance. The kits were borderline comical but CX isn't too better here, of course QR is stellar in this aspect.

Perhaps the most disappointing bit was the LHR lounge (I used GF and took a look at the GC above) - both extremely tired, furniture worn, overcrowded and clinically unappealing. So were the showers. The spa was cool tho.

For those that fly with CX on some sort of a frequency, you will see that they tend to impress well for a one-time flight, but if you fly CX regularly, you get annoyed with the stuff that they don't do well at quickly. The only thing that is consistently superb is service, but that goes a long way too!

Dan72

+1

I think across all the airline forums you can see a link between familiarity with the airline and levels of criticism. Novelty and trying something new appears to distract people from issues that they would likely raise on their normal carrier.

IAN-UK

The truth is I'm happier in my favourite BA seat than I'll be in the seat of any other airline. There are still niggles about the silliness of the divider, but once that's solved, i'm happy.

Other seats in the cabin are on a sliding scale of awkwardness. The worst offer enforced intimacy in one of the central pair.

At least on AA, QR et al I am (reasonably) certain of what I'll be getting. It will be not be so good as I might receive from BA but certainly better than what I could end up with.

PUCCI GALORE

Ok - yes I agree but you've asked a fair question. I think that it is that I can talk to them and they know what I am saying and what it is that I want. They are usually open to a laugh and a joke and, again, they don't take themselves too seriously. They usually are devoid of that saccharine charm that is has all the sincerity of a Rodeo Drive shop farewell. I am not saying others don't (I've had some super AA and AF cabin crew) but that's what I like about BA crew - I know where they are coming from in the main.

I'll give a for-instance. One day during a manual safety briefing on a Short Haul flight, the crew member in Club doing his demo in front of a sea of ill-mannered newspapers (we ask one thing of you, you attention and even that is too much - yes I know that it is intended for five-year olds but that's the CAA for you). Suddenly when showing the oxygen mask and showing how to pull it to you, the thing slipped through his fingers and smacked him in the kisser, fortunately not hurting him. We roared with laughter. The CSD stuck her head out to see what was going on and continued. For once the papers had gone down and people watched hoping for an encore. The crew member was killing himself laughing when he got to the galley.

Andriyko

What do you want BA to do? BA is a business. All airlines want to put as many seats into a cabin as they can. The problem is that many can't find the right configuration to do it. There is nothing wrong with CW. For most people the fact that they can sleep on the plane on a bed is already good enough. Let's not forget that most people fly to get somewhere not to experience a new seat. I've said it before - as I almost always combine BA and AA on my trips to the States, I fail to see what the difference is and what either seat adds to the journey or does that the other does not (I'll add that it is not a problem for me to lift my leg a little bit to get out of the window seat, but I never had to actually climb over anyone to do that).

I was not comparing CW to AA's old configuration. I merely pointed out that climbing over is required in that setup but not with CW.

IAN-UK

So you keep saying. And at every opportunity :roll eyes:


But why can't you accept that not everyone shares that opinion?

Reiterating your sunny view of CW isn't going to establish it as a universal truth; it really isn't going to sway the opinion of the foolish nay-sayers.



that sounds pretty much like a comparison to me

mmxbreaks

Which is more spacious... But the new AA plane fit is hideously uncomfortable - the worst business seat I could name due to lie-flat discomfort.

HIDDY

It has to be accepted there are plenty of travellers who are perfectly happy to continue to buy the CW product because it suits them.....some even love it. Is it the best J product out there? Obviously not but neither is it as bad as the same people on here rather boringly keep telling us.

IAN-UK

Absolutely accepted. In fact i just said that a few threads up.


But why should it be so difficult for the fans not to recognise that for a handful of others the BA product might not be a joy? And for some, it plainly is as bad as they keep telling us: that's why folk keep turning up to tell us :roll eyes:

These are subjective opinions, not absolute truths subject to verification.



for me, my only fights in CW in the last couple of years have been upgrades, or thanks to Lufthansa strikes when the airline bought me seats on BA. The lottery good CW seat v bad CW seat is one i just don't need to take on.

But living in the far north it's an easy decision for me to ditch Heathrow connections in favour of Munich, Zurich, Istanbul and Doha: I recognise that for others non-stop from LHR is a clincher.

MeanwhileBackAtFAI

Out of sheer luck I am on AA 208 right now (surprisingly decent inflight wifi), ORD-DUB originated at SFO this morning. Avoided all the BA IT outage drama.

This is a 767-300 1-2-1 and it's OK, but not like the A330. The IFE is a Samsung Galaxy tablet, though FA made a comment that they are being phased out.

The service is good, but honestly the food quality is not nearly as good as on BA. I should have taken pics, the beef itself was good, but it was literally served with two cups of rice. The starter was literally two cups of saffron orzo. Not cool.

I am with AS FFP, so flying J on BA gives me 100% base miles and 100% booking bonus which both count toward status, on top of that 100% additional bonus and then 100% elite status, for basically a shitton of miles every flight, thus I really prefer BA. I can put up with the not that great seating for all those miles.

NA-Flyer

Recently I flew Srilankan airlines in J class onboard A333. To my surprise they have better hard and soft products in J class than BA

ozflier

I agree, I avoid BA business now like the plague.
Seats are tight but bearable but food and wines so far below other offerings.

thegoderic

However in F, I get a male kit with razor and the like.

Andriyko

I am not trying to sway anyone's opinion as it is not my job to convince people to fly BA.. I don't understand how pointing out the reality - that millions of passengers like CW and pay for it - amounts to not accepting someone else's point of view. I realize that some people do not like CW. I don't understand why as I fail to see a difference between different business class seats as long as one turns into a flat bed (well, actually, also as long as it does not go under the seat in front and allows free or easy aisle access, which CW does for me). But even if the accepted opinion here is that F is J+, J is apparently now Y+ or even Y, it does not make it the universal truth either. Of course, that millions of others like BA won't help someone who hates the airline but then I don't understand what they're trying to achieve by reminding us that BA is not CX or QR and constantly wishing that others should rather hurry up and abandon BA so that BA finally wakes up and changes the seats, reverses BoB, puts flowers in washrooms etc.

BarryAZ

The impression I have from reviews of others and my own relatively limited experience with BA business class is that with all of the newer metal (320 / 777 / 787) BA business class is a bit more like economy plus plus. Seating is all that much better than premium economy (I noticed that on a 320 flight and from what I can see the 8 across cramping for the 777 in Business class reflects, shall we say, other than that of a world class airline).

I flew from Seattle to LHR recently on a 747 -- business class upstairs -- and since it is old metal, there is not the same cramping in place -- the offset there is the aging entertainment system --- but still it seems better than the new "modern" seating arrangements for business class. Access to the lounge is nice though.

I think in future though I will seek out alternatives to BA flying -- not only due to the down graded business class environment, but also of course, due to their too frequent system problems.

I recall flying BA a decade ago and thought they were top notch then. Sadly, in many ways, BA is not up to the standards of some of the better USA airlines today.