ahmetdouas

no no no, most european legacies still give free things in Y. You should replace 'modern' with 'low cost' Y.

seat1C

I do agree with the OP. I noticed the lack of interaction pretty much right away. As a GCH when I'm at the back I am more often than not in the exit row, which does give an opportunity to interact, but even there you just get a generic and very rushed speech to read the instructions. (Quite rightly - in terms of the instructions, though I do know them inside out). My point is that there must be more status passengers in the exit rows than before and it is therefore a good chance to interact, but it generally isn't taken up in a positive way by the crew.

I still won't be switching to easyJet unless I'm forced to. (And that is after my employer has basically banned flights to LHR and LCY due to cost, leaving LGW as the only BA choice - the big positive being the Gatwick lounges and the really nice staff and general cleanliness compared to Heathrow).

corporate-wage-slave

I have to disagree, based on my experiences you would be hard pressed to find a better business product within Europe, short of heading towards Turkey. The realistic competitors here are AF, KLM, Lufthansa and SAS. With the exception of Rest of the Day Mediums the catering is excellent on the whole. And though I've seen the reports of missing food, I've not been on a BA CE flight recently where this has happened, except for at the gate upgrades.

Horatio

This. A fair observation regardless of one's views on BOB per se.

makin'miles

I'd agree that BA Club is solid when stacked up against Europe's largest airlines. However, I'd also say that realistic competitors are more likely determined by the route/s that a traveller needs to fly regularly (I'm not really interested in KL unless I'm headed to AMS).

Looking a bit beyond the carriers with the most market share and keeping in mind their relatively limited number of nonstop routes from London, there are a number of airlines that offer a somewhat better product IMO. On catering, I've definitely preferred Austrian, Swiss and Aegean to BA, for example.

That said, for someone based in Greater London, BA is likely the very best choice if booking Club. The network cannot be be beat, the lounges are solid, and so there's a decent value proposition all the way around. I'm by no means calling it the worst of the bunch - its not - but IMHO that doesn't make an excellent product either.

UKtravelbear

Please name them and what they provide.

rocketship87

Since when is a chat considered a service? Do you always thank people for talking to you?

The service is safely transporting you from A to B. Whether or not you thank the CC is up to you and your manners.

rossmacd

Laughable.

BA6948

AF/KL/AZ/A3/LH/LX/OS/TK/TP: Mineral Water, Hot Drinks, Soft drinks, Alcoholic drinks, snacks or meals.
AY/SK/FI: Mineral water, hot drinks and juices
KM: Mineral water, sandwich

​​​​​​​Budget Airlines (including BA, IB and VY): nada!!!

subject2load

Any notion that CE could be described as "an excellent product" certainly stretches incredulity - even for those of us who value freedom of opinion, as much as the freedom to spend one's money - or that of others - however one chooses. I'd say it needs more than a leap of imagination to use such hyperbole.

The simple reality is that there is very little to be found (if anything) in the way of true onboard quality where shorthaul intra-European commercial air travel is concerned, whether from BA or its competitors. The best that can be said for the current CE offering is that it reflects an average standard within a sea of ongoing mediocrity.

A quick glance at the catering inefficiencies as recounted (and merely the latest in a series of experiences) by CE travellers on a concurrent thread (when a CE food choice is not a choice) instantly dispels any semblance of excellence.

Grace B

Apart from TK business class, of course.

subject2load

Have yet to enjoy it myself - but yes, seemingly a shining exception, from all that I hear/read ^

daftboy

While I think that is a coherent argument from the OP, it strikes me that the “opportunities for interaction” identified as absent really are probably not terribly important to a majority of the passengers on board at any one time, who will have different personality types, be from a range of backgrounds and cultures etc. In the grand scheme of things most people don’t fly often, and many of the most frequent flyers probably aren’t high yield (equally some of them definitely are). I’m sure BA/IAG know all this and are comfortable with the balance of how BOB impacts their typical mix of flyers.

I largely enjoy flying BA, but for me personally the last thing I want is a big load of chinwag and banter (massively summarising!) on a shorthaul flight. Longhaul is different though, and in premium cabins at least that possibility remains.

Greenpen

That's because they won't serve the sweet bubbles you Argentina types crave.

BA6948

There is a bug chunk of high yield frequent business travelers that only fly Y due to strict corporate travel policies (I am one of them).
These will feel alienated by all cost cuts and service deterioration at BA. But that's for another topic.
The interaction with the crew especially if they start recognizing you was what made the travel enjoyable especially if you fly every week.
The BA experience at the back is the same as U2, FR, IB, EI or VY. What makes it worse is that the prices are still astronomical of you fly last minute. Like someone said in the beginning, the good thing about BoB is that it opened as to alternatives. And yes good interactions with crews are possible with other airlines. I certainly had good laughs with AF, KL and A3.