Originally Posted by
warakorn
Of course this is normal. This is done to protect cabin revenues.
Imagine a passenger wants to upgrade to C or F -> BA can always tell him (and not lying) that a seat is available, but catering is not available.
BA doesn't give free upgrades so I'm not sure how this 'protects cabin revenues' - if they don't want to sell an upgrade they can just price it at an extortionate price instead. However, BA's entire business model is built around encouraging passengers to trade up, that's why they have probably the highest proportion of longhaul J seats of any carrier and the world's second largest F-equipped fleet. Surely one of the worst ways to ensure someone pays to upgrade again is for them to not get any catering!