tom139

So, I have now completed a return leg in First Class to/from LGW. The outbound flight was apparently oversold in all classes except First and therefore the booked 10 pax (me included) were joined by 3 upgrades. No issues with this, these things happen and good on the people who got upgraded.

Where I get p***ed off is when the flight is catered for 10 pax and subsequently things run out - champagne being the main one - 4 bottles between 13 adult passengers for an 8.5 hour day flight. Is that a joke? It ran out 3.5 hours to go...consequently no champagne for afternoon tea. They did manage to salvage some Tattinger from Club but we were made to feel very guilty about this. Additionally, a number of people didn't get their first choice of food, and these weren't the upgrades!

On the return, 9 booked in First. Flight was pulled from online check in for some 'adjustments' according to You First circa 8 hours prior to departure. Surprise suprise, 14 seats then filled in First. This is despite J, W and Y still being sold online. This is where I get suspicious about how legitimate these upgrades are...

Of course, the alcohol and consumables are now return-catered from LGW so were done for 9 apparently...and they only uplift food now at outstations. Additionally, someone in their wisdom has decided 1 large bottle of fresh orange juice is enough for 14 (well, at least 9) First passengers to have as part of the breakfast service. Consequently, we ended up with concentrated rubbish.

Would be grateful to hear your views on this as well as I am so frustrated.

Skimo

The catering should be adjusted when the figures in F change, even at the very last minute. If the upgrades were 'suspicious' I'd be highly surprised if they were given a choice over the other customers in F. Sorry that you had a bad experience though.

Genius1

During my one and only BA upgrade to date from LHR-YYZ (upgraded to F from J), we were asked last for our meal choices and one of our preferred main courses was not available. We did also not have the amuse bouche.

I was fine with this, as I was thankful for the upgrade.

Clearly BA should prioritise pax who had booked in F (whether revenue or redemption, it matters not), ahead of those upgraded free of charge for operational reasons.

cornishsimon

Disgraceful.

I have no problem with operational upgrades, even over selling J knowing seats are free on F.

However, the flight should be catered fully for the number flying in total, as well as drinks, and consumables. However I suppose at least the F toilet didn't run out of toilet paper !!

In your shoes I'd send an email to you first along the lines you posted here and explain how badly BA have performed with the F product due to the OP ups.

cs

layz

My views are as follows:
Business class - comfort is key, allowing business travellers to either get work done or rest so they can be at their most productive when they arrive at their destination. It's also nice for leisure travellers for similar reasons, comfort is the key point not luxury.

First class - expectations should be exceeded whenever possible, luxury is the key selling point. So items such as running out of food or drink should be the exception, not the rule. Of course, these things happen and you might just be extremely unlucky.

Whether you pay for F with cash or with Avios as a special treat you want your expectations exceeded.

When I had my first F I seemed to be getting constantly refilled without the LPGS, asked the first time if I wanted a refill and then automatic until I asked him to stop. Either I was the only one drinking it or they overcatered.

My second flight was an overnight, so just had a glass of the stuff and some food, but there were no shortages either for the main meal or breakfast.

First F was paid for (but in a sale), 2nd was an airport upgrade (would never have purchased it if I had a poor first experience) and my next two are paid CW upgraded using a GUF2. If my past experiences weren't exceptional then I'd have booked WTP and upgraded into CW instead.

In your situation if they know the flight is oversold, they should cater on the possibility that people will be op-upped and fill the F cabin, unless they happened to sell a lot of last minute tickets they'd know the likelihood of this.

Also, I can imagine many of those who were upgraded might have had their first F experience thrown on them so they might want to maximise it themselves. Therefore they might drink more champagne, etc than they would have done in their ticketed cabin.

TravellerFrequently

I can understand your disappointment and I would write to BA.

I was upgraded to F in March on the way to GRU. I took the Purser to one side and said that I was grateful that I was in F and was quite prepared to be asked last for my meal choices, etc. She thanked me for making the comment. I received my first meal choices.

I did not think about limiting my LPGS consumption in case it ran our however, as I assumed that the supply was not as limited as you had in your flight. Sounds like frequent past experiences on VS!

Crampedin13A

Remember when people used to say that BA kept their F and J cabins for people who actually paid for them with cash or miles which differentiated them from the N.A. airlines? Considering they seem to be full all the time now yet there is no award availability months out in empty cabins that policy has obviously changed so perhaps BA should be catering the F cabin for an expected 14 passengers. As OP stated I'd love to know the criteria now of how and whom you have to be for getting upgraded to F.

layz

That is, of course, how it should be done.

layz

The difference is AA and others would fill up the F cabins (at least in domestic, do they do it in international?) even if there was plenty of room in the other cabins.

As far as we know BA generally just do operational upgrades or paid upgrades (cash or avios). You won't get upgraded for free just for a gold card even if you're the only gold card holder on the flight with a CIV of 99.

Crampedin13A

I've seen a GCH get upgraded 5 minutes after boarding from a half empty CW cabin to an almost completely empty F. How do I know? I was talking to him in the lounge and then we were seated next to each other. I assume it was the CSD who came had a word and asked him if he would like to change to a better seat. He came back through CW mid-flight and said he had no idea why he'd been picked but that he was very happy.

olybeast

I've not had my first choice of meal when there was only 4 of us in F outbound from heathrow, so I know they don't fully load for the number of pax they have

travelwithross

It's stories like this that make me not want to MFU to F in case the experience is poor. BA should over cater for F so as to always exceed expectations. I don't care if it costs them money. I pay enough for J as it is. It's a pity that I am not a bean counter - I'm sure someone will be along soon enough to say "oh but you'll have to pay for it with higher tix prices and less benefits". Aye. Ok then.

When I got a J to F upgrade from ORD on New Years Eve just gone, the F cabin wasn't full and neither was the J cabin. All choices given. Nothing ran out. But I can't help but feel I was upgraded with a few others simply for being Gold and it being New Years. There were only 2 actually booked in the cabin which ended up being 6 by the time we took off.

layz

I don't think that's supposed to happen just because of status, but perhaps the iPad said this person had a recent bad experience and so the CSD decided to make amends for customer satisfaction purposes.

I'm sure the crew on here could post other scenarios where this might happen. Presumably it's up to the CSD/CSM to decide whether doing this would affect the quality of service in that cabin.

layz

My two F experiences have been great and I hope my next two will be too (as they'll be on the A380 my expectations will be high). If you enjoyed your New Year experience I'd say go ahead an UUA, you may be unlucky, but when the service is good it's a great way to travel.

I think if I had any disappointing experiences I'd settle with J as it has all the comfort I need.

Crampedin13A

Well I just bit on an A fare to LHR today as the I fare to my final destination has not budged for months and I think it might start climbing. Combining the A fare with a cheapie ET ticket to my final destination the 2 tickets combined come out $300+ less than the I fare ticket right through. I end up with 460 TP as opposed to 360 TP for the itinerary and no more wasting my time looking for non-existent award space to use 40K Avios to UuA and I get to use the CCR on the return trip. I've been told the game has changed so I'm going find some new rules to play it with. Bet those 2 F cabins have 14 people in them on both of the flights even though right now I'm the only one seated on one flight and the other has 4 of us. So the price for restricted F is hardly more than restricted J on some BA routes which suits me fine but shows that BA must be struggling to sell full F fares but is probably overselling CW or WT+ and rolling the cabins which is reflected I guess in the onboard F experience.