subject2load

Hmm. Can't say this is a perspective I've seen voiced here by many other FT-ers (or indeed anyone I know personally).

But it does have an uncanny resemblance to the general tone of some of the responses sent by CR in response to all manner of customer grievances :
"Ok, we know we didn't provide what we said we would when you bought your ticket. But we got you there. So what are you moaning about ...?"

No, not unreasonable at all.

But this lack of any goodwill or discretion shown to you in your particular scenario is very much aligned to the old familiar mantra if you really want to be flexible, you'll find a way. If not, you'll find an excuse .....

dylanks

On domestic flights, AA overcaters in First/Business, and the extra meals are used to serve the flight crew meals. They'll sometimes even offer a couple of hot meals to a few status members flying in Y.

In CE, flight crew receive different meals than what is served to the passengers. For example, on a recent DUB-LCY flight, they were served a hot meal that had some sort of meat and mashed potatoes. The smell of the ovens surprised me and made me think that CE was going to be served a hot meal, but that was only for the flight crew.

Overall I see the relationship BA have with the BOB food/M&S to be similar to what US carriers have with wifi. It's a third party arrangement where BA receives a percentage of sales. So BA chose this option of having a third party handle most of the logistics, and are using that as a reason to be uncompromising.

Passmethesickbag

Whether or not that third company is M&S (I'm quite sure it isn't), I wonder if Marks & Spencer has really thought through how this reflects on their image.

hartwith

Right, time for a highly positive response in this thread.

On last night's BA921 from Stuttgart, I and 3 others were OpUp'ed to CE. At the gate, we were told that the cabin had only been catered for the 5 people in CE who were there intentionally. Fine, I knew the rules, I'll happily just take the free G&T.

Shortly after takeoff the CSM [name removed as per the FT rule] approached the 5 of us discreetly and once again outlined this message. No problem at all.

During dinner service he was eager to ensure that the 5 of us were well taken care of drinks wise and with copious amounts of OoA nuts. Then, once service had been completed for the remainder of the CE cabin, he came back to us with the unused meals for which 3 of us then got one. Not happy with his work, he then went to the back of the plane and retrieved 2 Afternoon Teas that had gone untouched from the outbound LHR-STR, to cater for the remaining 2 pax. All the while continuing to top up drinks and nuts.

All in all, his service was terrific and the reason why BA continues to flourish in spite of efforts from the top. I don't have a golden ticket left but if anyone from BA is reading this, kindly pass on my gratitude to him.

Andriyko

We must be reading different FTs. When complimentary food was removed people were saying that passengers who had bought the tickets before the announcement should complain as food and drinks were included into the ticket price (which I read as they paid for food).

What I meant to say is that we choose what we moan about. Absence of food on a shorthaul flight does not upset me so why can't I not moan about it? The price of food is a minuscule percentage of the overall ticket price, and I often decline food anyway, so since I do get what I paid for overall I don't get upset about one element of the journey that I did not get. There are things that I do value - ontime arrival, bags making it with me, free middle seat, a bed in CW, etc, and I would get upset if these were not delivered, but food is not something I care or worry about. That's my view; I am not telling others how to feel about this or that aspect of the flight.

BRITINJAPAN3

Why ?

CCayley

Indeed. I imagine if an announcement was made at the boarding gate to the effect that 'we need to move 3 eurotraveller passengers to the Club Europe section: you will sitting in the first few rows, the seat next to you will be empty and you'll get free drinks including alcohol, but there won't be any food for you unless you purchase it. Are there any volunteers?' pretty much every economy passenger would be raising their hand hoping to be picked. And I suspect that includes those here who are apparently disgusted at BA's use of this partial upgrade approach.

ulxima

It is really amazing to observe how this airline is well defended over an extremely poor service.
On the other hand it is also amazing to see how the same scenario (operational upgrade) comes with a different response from the community.
I still remember the post where someone complained about he service in F (being upgraded from J) not up to F standards and almost crucified by the majority of replies. Here is nearly the other way around. One pattern is constant, the defence shield raised for this airline.
Kudos to you guys, you are really a case study.
Do we really need to go down to basics and explain what upgrade (raise something to a higher standard) means?
Then we are all different, I may not complain (and I will certainly not) if I do not get the food on offer in that higher cabin (even in J) because there are other perks I am into (flat bed, front cabin) and that matters most to me.
Yet, upgrade is upgrade and if it happens then it must be delivered with everything that is on offer in that class of travel. No ifs, no buts, no whys!
Otherwise do not even call or present it as un upgrade.

Ulxima

CCayley

Where is the evidence that BA calls operational upgrades an upgrade? A boarding pass is presented, the scanner beeps an unusual beep, a new boarding pass is handed to the passenger. How does that amount to BA promising all the benefits of travelling in the next class of service up from that which was purchased?

Passmethesickbag

Some more material for ulxima's case study, I think.

Oaxaca

In my experience of op-ups, which is reasonably extensive over the years, the new BP has "Involuntary Upgrade" (or an abbreviation thereof) printed on it, so they do call it an upgrade. That said, I don't think that you're necessarily entitled to everything from the higher cabin, but neither should you get less than the provision for the cabin you paid for (which on BoB routes, is not difficult for BA to achieve).

Passmethesickbag

Other than BA, I've received operational upgrades on Air France, Austrian, Finnair, KLM, Lufthansa, SAS, Swiss, United, and probably some others I can't recall right now. BA is the only one that's ever brought up the possibility of not receiving the service of the upgraded class. To reiterate, this pains me more on behalf of their disproportionately graceful and sympathetic staff than on behalf of myself, as I'm well aware that any additional benefit is more than I've paid for, and I'm very thankful for a free glass of champagne — even Castelnau! I do still appreciate the gesture. But none of the other airlines had underprepared for the event of upgrading and treated me any differently from the other passengers in the cabin. Ever.

Oaxaca

Sure, I wasn't suggesting at all that you'd displayed any sense of entitlement. It's not nice for the crew to have to give this message to customers, and most of them do it with sympathy and discretion. If BA overcatered a little in CE (if for no other reason than to give those booked in CE more chance of their first choice), this would happen less. BA is what it is now, and will get away with whatever it can.

FrancisA

I personally tend to defend BA when I see such high levels of expectation and entitlement that they at times verge on the unreasonable. I would be particularly concerned if the desire say to fly planes loaded with numerous surplus and ultimately wasted meals to cover unexpected upgrades or to ensure a full choice to every passenger in a cabin, resulted in the cost of my fares rising.

In this instance, I would say that there is a world of difference between a paid upgrade (be it cash, UUA or an American-system System-wide coupon) and an OpUP. In the case of OpUPs, BA can and do anticipate the need for these and will cater accordingly, if known of advance. However, on the day OpUps, due to a defective seat on a full flight or an unexpectedly small number of no shows, are about matching passengers who want to fly to the available seats. Whether or not there is catering should not come into it, unless you would prefer to off-load people due to lack of catering in a higher cabin into which they could have been upgraded.

At the end of the day this is an involuntary upgrade (it is marked as such) and can come with elements of the higher cabin package missing. This is nothing new as I have said above. Ultimately, it is your choice to turn down the upgrade, if you don not like the conditions on which it is offers.

IAMORGAN

Whilst all the catering is accounted for, I think CSMs can give service recovery Avios....so could the crew sell a sandwich, take payment via Avios, then give service recovery Avios for "no CE meal"?