Drums

Just flown BA LGW-CPT. Was expecting alot better service from BA but instead was very disappointed.

Firstly we flew on a manky old 777. Seats badly worn, tray table was broken, entertainment screen barely working and not a flight attendant with a smile on there face. Food was bog standard and the return flight CPT - LGW experienced what literally seemed like 3 constant hours of severe turbulence and not a word from the flight deck in that time.

Another note is that Gatwick is an awful airport for any kind of connection. For some bizarre reason our have to clear the UK border and exit arrivals and come back in through departures. Nonsense stuff really. Had plenty stuff bought in duty free in Cape Town which all had to go back through security at Gatwick all a waste of time really.

Shocking service standard from BA, doubtful I will be travelling with them again. Also will certainly be avoiding using Gatwick for any kind of flight connection again. Airport is just not suited to any kind of seamless connection.

Calum

Think I might of found the problem.

BA6501

Connections are not LGW's strong points, however in the UK, all passengers arriving from an international flight must reclear security if connecting, no exceptions. LGW requires that even when going from Domestic to International in most cases, but that's due to the layout and not the law.

The flight deck tends to keep announcements to a bare minimum on overnight flights to allow passengers to rest - I'm sure if you were worried a crew member would be happy to help (unless it was actually severe turbulence, in which case they would be seated too).

T8191

Having done that route about 8 weeks ago, I can relate to your comment on the 777. My IFE kept defaulting back to the side-bar menu, denying me the chance to select anything. My wife's IFE needed to be propped open with a bit of cardboard. However ...

• "Food was bog standard" ... you were expecting what? Kudu Steak? Ostrich Fillet? Caviar?
• "3 constant hours of severe turbulence and not a word from the flight deck" ... A word stating the bleeding obvious? What did you want them to say?
• "Gatwick is an awful airport for any kind of connection" ... agreed, and discussed at length HERE

If you have the option to avoid Gatwick, why not? Sadly I have little choice in that matter when flying many of our s/h and l/h routes.

When I Travel The World

Sorry you had a bad BA experience, were you in Economy ? or Club ? First ?

I made the choice years ago to avoid Gatwick, no matter how cheap the air fares are.

I agree with other poster above, CPT-LGW was probably a night flight all the way back, same as my JNB-LHR flight on BA a few weeks ago, Captain said at the start, he would not make an announcement until 40 minutes outside LHR, we had about an hour of rough thunderstorms, nothing was said, I just carried on drinking.

I flew BA F back JNB-LHR

But decided to try Thomas Cook LGW-CPT on the way down, cabin was fresh and new, it was a little annoying you had to pay for the movies and the food was kept to a minimum, but I picked it over BA on Price, they have some great one way fares.

I don't like the A330 much, but from the sounds of it, much nicer and than the 777 BA used, and you can benefit from 2 - 3 - 2 seating in economy, and as the flight is fairly new, it was almost empty, so everyone had a row to themselves to sleep on.

Drums

Okay I am glad I am not the only one in regards to the 777. Quite frankly embarrassing putting passengers on that thing for 12 hours.

In regards to food, I was expecting something closer to the standard of the Gulf carriers. Maybe this expectations are misguided as I thought BA are competing against them.

Mike P

If you are comparing food in Club World to, say, QR J then you will be disappointed. QR J food is much closer to BA F, food in Club is usually pretty mediocre.

millionmiler

Competing can mean different things to different people. For example, I'm not aware that a gulf carrier flies nonstop between London and Cape Town.

Of course there are airlines that are better than BA in ways that clearly matter to you. For other passengers it may matter less.

I've rarely been thrilled by BA over the years but in the last few years moved almost all of my frequent transatlantic business to them as they started a nonstop to LHR from my home airport. It has saved me an enormous amount of time.

Drums

I understand that however I fly out of Dublin where there is no direct flights so that means I have a multiple options of where I can connect through.

I picked BA this time however I will fly Emirates next time and connect through Dubai and see how that goes. It will add 8 hours or so onto my journey in both directions but at least I will avoid that 777 and Gatwick.

ahmetdouas

Perhaps Air France could be an option? May be a shorter journey than Emirates if time is of the essence for you.

T8191

That explains a lot, in the nicest way. At least you have a major airport, with major carriers, in Dublin. Some of us [myself included] have to start at 'less capable' regional airports and need to get to a long-haul launch-pad - which will usually be LHR or LGW. As with your envisaged Dubai connection, that can often throw up all sorts of inconveniences, including a surface connection between LGW and LHR and potential overnight hotels due to inconvenient schedules. In my case, it's the bane of our l/h leisure travel, as JER-LGW is almost the only credible option to start a l/h journey from either major London airport*.

So - LGW(S) does not a very good arrangement for connections, the BA 777 fleet there is old and tired ... and I doubt many here will disagree with you

* And it's a PITA for us to get to DUB to start a TATL, but that's a different subject.

Smid

You are misguided as to whether BA is competing with the Gulf Carriers.

On some things (WT+ vs Premium), BA isn't even competing with Norwegian.

BHDATC

Just back from a miserable UD J experience from CPT to LHR.

1 hour and 10 mins after departure before a drink was served. Forgot me at breakfast and didn't see the two cabin crew for most of the flight. Cabin really dirty and IFE had about 5 movies available, and crashed throughout the night.

Had Hake with Risotto for dinner and it was like slime. Dessert was lumped down with the starter, a cake with cream, and it took nearly two hours to complete the main meal service. The cake was rock hard and uneatable by the time I came to eat it. No logic with this on a 11 hour flight at all.

Had a great F on the way out but nearly all my J's with BA are getting like the above.

I think that is me finally done with Clubworld. Its close to a joke now.

Dicksbits

I wonder how busy this service is...my friend flew to see her mother with Thomas Cook and her thoughts reflect the comment above: Clean aircraft, lots of room to sleep in Y etc. She thought their fare beat BA hands down...

T8191

One could ask if BA is even trying to compete with anyone.

BA sits smugly at LHR with a pretty good global route network, comfortable with the TATL trade and probably has zero interest in even trying to take on the ME3.

Apart from doing the bare minimum [of even less] I suspect it feels fairly secure in its position in the marketplace, and is solely concerned with the £££/€€€ on the balance sheet. Unless pax/revenue start to decline significantly, there's little incentive for them to actually do anything competitive.