Originally Posted by
NeverFirst
This really gets my goat, even though I (have) never travel(led) in First.
How price-sensitive is an F customer, as opposed to a C/Y? If the food is going to cost an extra £20 per portion loaded, that's going to be about £200 extra per flight (very rough calculation there). With even 4 customers that's only an extra £50 per ticket.
Just charge extra per ticket and offer a proper F experience.
It's not self-evident that this would be a better business model or serve the majority of pax better. There are too many aspects that would need fixing, each at an incremental cost. This thread focuses on meals, previous ones have griped about the type of champagne served pre-departure, the amenity kit etc. etc. By "proper F experience" you presumably mean something highly personalised including the full package, e.g. chauffeur limo, escort from lounge to seat, gourmet food & wine, exclusive fast-track everywhere, much smaller cabin, and generally no evidence of penny pinching. This then becomes a product for a hyper-rich elite, and at that point is ceases to interest me. What we have at present is something that's a bit better than CW, a bit more comfortable, a bit more exclusive, at a slightly higher cost if you buy discounted fares or upgrade with Avios. To me, that's quite a useful option. Like everyone I'd like to have my cake and eat it but realistically I can see that an affordable First is going to involve compromises.