browserden

Last year we had the introduction of BaxterStorey but after some public humiliation they got their act together and the lounge catering is not too bad.

But this year they're really piling on the enhancements and I have no regrets dropping to silver and not factoring in FFPs when choosing my airlines (my Amex Plat Priority Pass takes care of lounge access in most airports and the options in T2 are superb).

So, in no particular order, here's the enhancements of 2014:

• Short haul cabin refit. Less legroom, fewer toilets (on the A319). BA have done what everyone on here criticised bmi for.
• Credit card booking fee raised to £5.
• No fast track connecting international to domestic at T5
• Abolition of free changes to Avios redemptions for gold members.
• Monopole in Club Europe
• Removal of certain special meals (e.g. seafood, jain)
• Removal of the Telegraph from most lounges (and the appearance of the Daily Mirror)
• LGW getting Wizzair cast-offs with even more seats than the LHR refurbs
• Removal of the greyhounds from the T1 lounge (removing the good memories of bmi, but leaving the bad ones like poor seat pitch).
• The new safety video where they didn't even bother to space the sentences out properly.
• No more dedicated A380 F pyjamas
• Removal of self check-in machines at a number of regional airports.

Any I've missed?

T8191

• Removal of toothpick from CW cutlery/napkin roll.
• CW Napkin ring/clip replaced by paper band.
• CW amenity "sack" without eyeshades/earplugs.

Land-of-Miles

The trouble with this list is that some things matter and some are trivial yet you seem to equate the 2.

I don't give a monkeys about odd lounge decor in the pit that is T1 but I do care about the new seat pitch. What would be a far more interesting thread would be to extrapolate a a cost reduction/profit contribution from each "initiative" and compare the total against the big bonus that KW, WW et al give themselves at the end of the year.

SteveF

Is that it? I don't think many customers will give a hoot about any of them. I certainly don't.

layz

If we're listing everything, however small:

The NCL ticket desk has been closed and replaced with a general ticketing/enquiries desk next to the check-in desks. The same had already been done with MAN in 2012.

It's not caused a problem for me so far but it still counts as an enhancement as it was done to cut costs (there were usually 2 people working on the ticket desk).

Most annoying enhancement for me.... Monopole

bafan

I hate the new CW amenity kits and the loss of legroom in CE.

Catering in the lounges is pretty awful and some of my recent CW meals seem to have been enhanced too.

At least they've kept champagne in CE (the Monopole is ok in my opinion).

layz

I consider it undrinkable on its own.

I've recently found out where I had my first taste of Monopole.

It's been 10 years since I used the Scotrail Caledonian Sleeper and I remember drinking this awful Champagne but never noted what it was. I was on the sleeper on Friday and I seen the wine list and the Champagne was indeed Monopole Blue Top. I know they hadn't changed the Champagne as I remembered the description.

muscat

Slice of cake gone from afternoon tea (or was that last year?)
No cream or jam with afternoon tea scones. CC asking people if they would like some!!!

IAMORGAN

HBO fares? Were they this year?

duckied

1. Agreed. Same legroom in CE as Y is poor. But BA does not have exclusivity on this in europe. Lufthansa is exactly the same.
2. Trivial.
3. should be addressed.
4. I don't like this either (being Gold). But I do understand the reasoning - Gold hard holders booking loads of 'speculative' bookings knowing they can canx anytime with no penalty reducing availability for everyone else.
5. Oh DEAR. Champagne offered on my recent LH/KL flights - none.
6. Big deal. These special meals have NEVER been an option on the likes of CX so I can see why BA are doing away with them.
7. Trivial.
8. Not heard of this. But given Easyjet has 60% of the LGW shorthaul market I can see the logic in competing along LCC lines ex LGW.
9. Lol
10. Are you kidding?
11. Why would ANYONE want PJ's dedicated to a specific type of a/c?
12. I guess there is a reason for this as surely a self check in machine is a least costly option than a human.

I'm no BA flag waver but some of these are trivial to the extreme.

browserden

I was aiming to list everything I could think of, however small.

When were LGW baggage handlers outsourced? I don't think it was this year but it has caused a lot of issues.

Anyone up for starting another thread listing genuine improvements made this year? Only good thing I could think of this year is 'Hello Daytrip' and that was scrapped pretty quickly.

None of these enhancements on their own are likely to stop someone flying BA, but there's plenty of straws to break the camels back in there. For example, a combination of reduced seat pitch and lack of fast track on int-dom connections makes BA much less attractive. Monopole + removal of certain special meals makes CE less attractive. Abolition of the free Avios changes for gold members makes gold status less attractive.

BA are currently profitable, it's a shame they're deciding to enhance away all their unique points. They should be looking at ways to increase revenue by attracting people away from the competition rather than just focusing on the cost conscious traveller.

At one time I would have said BA were better than KLM, Lufthansa, AF, etc. Now BA have no unique selling points.

I'm used to cutbacks, coming from bmi, but they had their strong points which were lost after the takeover. The main one being that as bmi didn't have a large longhaul network they could prioritise short haul during disruption, whereas BA usually cancels. bmi also used to employ their own staff at regional airports who could be a lot more proactive in helping deal with issues.

windowontheAside

Aren't day trips still going?

layz

Has the cake been removed already? Last I heard that enhancement was 'coming soon' as I've had cakes numerous times this year.

I think they started last year.

That was BA's excuse for enhancing away this benefit, but at the time I did propose a solution to this:

Changes free, cancel for a fee.

This would stop people creating many speculative bookings (something I've never done) but would allow people to make changes. This is very useful for Avios bookings so if you want to grab a flight that's OK but not ideal timing wise, you can then switch later to the ideal flight if availability opens up.

Am I right in saying even fully-flex revenue tickets don't get you free cancellations (there's a £15 online fee)? Therefore charging a fee for cencellations only would bring it in line with the revenue fares.

HIDDY

I wouldn't say that. For a start they're the only airline that flies direct to London from here.

SteveF

- And that fly direct to lots of destinations from London.