Since I'm not a fan on the CX herringbone J, decided to recently retry BA CW on the HKG-LHR route despite a few poor experiences a few years back which put me off BA completely.

Was also given a complimentary upgrade to First on the LHR-HKG leg which I think was negotiated by my corporate travel agent for purchasing BA full fare J rather than my usual CX.

The outbound in CX was uneventful - seat was great but service was very average

The return leg in F has definitely put me off BA for the foreseeable future. Upon boarding the plane, I was literally stopped from entering the first class cabin and directed towards CW. The gentleman before me was greeted very warmly and shown to his seat but upon seeing me, it was assumed I wasn't an 'F' passenger (didn't even have the courtesy to ask my seat number or if I was looking for my seat but instead pointed out to me that I was about to enter the First cabin as if I had lost my way). I said I was in 2A and was asked to see my boarding pass to 'prove it' which I promptly produced, upon which the FA seemed a little embarassed (maybe alot of people try to sneak into the F cabins on BA??).

Other little things that bothered me:

- not promptly asked if i wanted a paper/magazine/drink after settling into my seat prior to take-off
- not given a menu (probably just a mistake), in fact I didn't bring it up till they came round to take my dinner order just to see their reaction
- having to consistently ask for my drinks to be topped up
- generally service that left me feeling as though I wasn't deserving to be in F especially when I observe the interaction between the FA's and other passengers

Maybe it would've been a different experience if I remained in my suit rather than my jeans and shirt (and long sleeved even though I had no tattoo) but somehow BA has managed to make me (I'm British-Chinese) always feel inferior when taking their premium cabins. I fly on a weekly basis and never have this experience on any other airlines.

I've given BA another go, but end result seems the same. I've titled this thread ''Still need to dress up for BA First" as i remember reading some threads on this board whereby some of the posters who appear to be working for BA still have this attitude of "when flying first, make the effort to dress up, standards have fallen dramatically from the good old days" along with giving out advice of "dress up and you'll stand a better chance of an operational upgrade/SFU at check-in".