Prospero

BA’s buy on-board offering has been on the go for just over 6 months, and of course has generated a lot of discussion here in the BA forum. It is safe to say everyone here has now sampled BA’s version of BoB at least once, so we’d like to conduct a quick poll.

The poll consists of a single behavioural question and you will be presented with seven options and you may select a single option that reflects, as closely as possible, your projected travel patterns. Once you have registered your vote, you may wish to add a short statement outlining your reasoning, circumstances and/or any nuances you think is relevant and would like to share.

But there are two important conditions attached. You must vote before posting and you’ll only be permitted to post once although you may edit your post if you need to add or amend anything.

Here is the question we’d like you to consider:
Please take time to mull this over before responding and also make the most of your allocated post.

The poll will run until the end of this month. Your handle will be displayed below the option you vote for.

Skipcool3

It is not BOB so much as the complete lack of stock on longer return journeys at meal times. (for example flights from Cyprus) Easyjet handle this soooo much better....

Bmused55

I only fly SH with BA when connecting to one of their LH flights as it works out cheaper or the same as getting another airline and is also very convenient. Certainly would not choose to fly BA on short haul for any other purpose.

T8191

Our s/h travel is mainly ex-JER to connect elsewhere, and CE tends to be bundled with it. On a couple of trips we have bravely flown ET (and whatever EI calls it). On sectors of 1 hour or so, we see no need to BoB if in ET and we get something anyway in CE ... and of course can eat in a Lounge before leaping into the air. Any rare longer trips in Yerp (we have a MLA in the calendar) will invariably be in CE.

So, based on our recent experiences, we would not fly ET (or equivalent) again except in extremis and on short (c. 1-1.5 hour) sectors, and would certainly never BoB.

So, in essence, BoB has not changed our travel pattern as we hardly ever fly ET. And we wouldn't fly ET on any sector longer than an hour or so.

fransknorge

Significantly decreased my travel to BA, as it is now the company I will use as last resort. The removal of free soft drinks and the bullsh*t PR were the tipping point for me.

madfish

Is there a 'lag' on the data? There seems to be more names listed in some catergories than the number of posts counted?

I don't fly enough that the changes make a huge difference to the choices I would make. But would more likely avail myself of CE on domestics if not much more expensive with the catering being an added extra.

Prospero

I edited the poll question a couple of minutes after launch to improve the wording of the question - the poll tool places a character limit which effectively truncated the way the question appeared when it was set. This action may have reset the tally. My apologies.

We’ll do a manual recount once the poll has closed.

As I am see it, the poll is registering the list of handles correctly, but undercounting 5 votes overall.
Option 3: tally undercounted by 1
Option 5: tally undercounted by 2
Option 6: tally undercounted by 1
Option 7: tally undercounted by 1

apollo00

Nice to see this poll, I've been curious for some time how this affected others.

Personally the ET changes are a wash in my view, if I'm in ET I can at now get something I actually want to eat if I'm hungry which is an distinct improvement. I am annoyed they decided to include drinks in this though, whether coffee in the morning or Gin in the evening it seems rather petty. I'm also slightly frustrated the lack of BAEC recognition (ie. no free drink for any members which AY manage just fine)

I've actually found the revised CE food to be better quality and while some routes got the short end of the changes, others (ARN) are now significantly more appropriately served for the length of flight in my view.

Between these, I've found myself booking more CE on the longer routes as a result as an evening flight back from ARN>LHR now has a reasonable meal attached at least. I've also slightly decreased BA spend as I now use AY to HEL when I'm in that part of the world, previously I'd have taken whatever was best timed.

LeeT

I have switched all of my company travel over the last 18 months away from BA, falling from Gold to that dirty brown colour. Partly due to the continuous penny pinching attitude and errosion of product value. For me I have burnt nearly 700k avios on FIRST and CW tickets and will now book based on convenience and value rather than loyalty to a brand which has a diminshed value and loyalty to its traditional base.

World Traveller Fuss

Work travel remains the same (sparse short haul) though I look for cheap opportunities to pay the difference for Club or WTP.

Regular travel is to Paris. Club Europe is more substantial than Eurostar Standard Premier - coupled with CX CDG Flounge and LHR Galleries it's a more competitive option in terms of calories. Similar pattern to before.

RFS means I'm still incentivised to redeem for short haul European, though more often in Club than we used to so we can gain the service. Compensated by Gold Avios earning rate.

I wouldn't jump at the chance to spend like I did with BA on leisure travel though. RFS else look at other airlines or dates.

Overall, increased Avios spend but decreased Ł spend.

Barnaby100

Not the catering. But short haul UK CE has transformed my travel.
1) significantly increased by overall travel with BA.

The meat/cheese plate on the 9.30 from LBA to LHR is fabulous. The duck/chicken option on the return is inedible.

Speedbird92A

Since the introduction of BoB I haven't once flown BA in ET, all my flights have been Club. I'll only fly BA ET now if there's an urgent need. Otherwise my intra Europe economy flights will be via AMS with KLM mainly, which from NCL is just as easy as LHR.

chalf

I concur with the sentiments about recognizing elites with a free sandwich and drink. Particularly with M&S branded food, this would have been a significant selling point for me. Like many others, I would also have seen retaining free non-alcoholic drinks (I see no entitlement to a free G&T, but if trapped in a metal tube for 3 hours I do appreciate the odd cup of water, juice, etc.).

On personal travel, I am marginally less likely to book BA. From short-haul leisure travel, LGW or (swallow hard) LTN are no less convenient than LHR, and even STN isn't so bad. As a result, EZ is significantly more appealing than previously, since the miles on cheap Y fares are limited. For business travel, I'm slightly less inclined to fly BA, but for years I have tended to bring water on board (I drink a lot on flights), and if I want to eat I'll bring food as well, so the overall impact is limited.

If in J, I'm probably going somewhere such as IST, in which case BA is significantly disadvantaged vis-a-vis the competition, or else long haul (where it depends on schedule and routing).

Looking back over my post, BA is probably hoping that many will behave like me: limited impact on Y business travel (which tends to be in more expensive fare classes), slightly reduced [low yielding] Y personal travel, and potentially a marginal incentive to purchase CE for some. Still, marginal negative impacts multiplied by thousands of customers can add up.

camdentown

For what its worth, from my point of view, its hard to see the significant difference in Club Europe above Euro Traveller these days. The seats are the same, the legroom is the same. Having an empty seat in the middle of the row is nice but to be honest does not greatly improve comfort. The Club seats are the same as Traveler and are uncomfortable for more than about 1 hour sitting. The Club Europe catering is still poor, presented badly and the service much below what it used to be.
The BoB catering on Euro Traveller makes it a definite no for me and Club Europe is not worth the extra money, so other airlines are now getting my bookings on short haul.

hostime

I have not flown BA since February, when I was asked to buy a cup of coffee on a Ł1,050 two-hour long flight booked at the last minute. I know my loss of business to BA is marginal and will not keep them up at night (160,000mi last year - mainly in economy, sadly), but I have been much, much happier since I moved my travel to Lufthansa. City airport is much easier for me to reach than Heathrow, and a short stopover in Zurich or Frankfurt gets me anywhere - and with included coffee.