Flythe96flag

I have been saddened to read so many negative experiences fellow passengers have encountered on BA recently. I have been on the receiving end of less then adequate service myself, so I wasn't expecting anything great on my trips this month, especially considering the working conditions crew are facing.

I am glad to post, that I have received nothing but exemplary service on all my BA flights recently. From personalised service and being addressed by name throughout the flight (well done sent), to having the purser get me a special meal for my connecting flight which I had forgotten to order, as she was working both of my flights coincidentally. (Sent her my golden ticket for superb service in all aspects, which was met with great modesty "I'm just doing my job, sir") ^ ^

Thought I would post a positive experience for a change, seeing as a majority of posts especially regarding service seem to be negatively charged nowadays. (Not do discredit those experiences at all btw, I think many complaints are legitimate )

stu1985

Lovely to hear some positive news here.

So often (probably more than often) we hear about all the bad things that happen on BA and all of the horror stories, but at the same time we forget some of the things that are great about BA.

Thanks for posting!

GWH

I also have had a run of flights with excellent service, in first and business.

Last week I flew to Philadelphia and the crew were faultless. I was drinking Kir Royale and my companion champagne, as I took my last sip, the smiling flight attendant proffered a tray with fresh Kir, and also a champagne for my companion, addressing us both by name. Details like this are priceless.

I know some people have had a poor experience with BA, but I can only speak of the good service I have received.

livingforever

Hear, hear!

I've done nearly 30 sectors this year so far and not had a bad experience on a single one, short or long haul, in ET, CE, WT, WT+ or CW.

How the staff manage to keep putting a brave face on with the problems behind the scenes, I do not know...

stu1985

This is what i want from a crew - pro active service!

fiddlerkrt

Now that is impressive and I am really glad you sent her a golden ticket! Thanks for sharing!

ukgooner

I had another wonderful lcy-JFK flight yesterday. Faultless.

LTN Phobia

My latest BA flight was lovely too. Great, proactive purser and friendly, efficient crew, lovely breakfast (I chose frittata).

It was really busy in CE, and they completed the breakfast service very quickly and efficiently but without feeling at all rushed. They remained very attentive throughout the flight too.

My average experience on BA is good, but the crew members, particularly the purser, were extremely good on this flight.

Then there was a captain on another recent flight who went around to everyone at the baggage carousel when the bag delivery onto the carousel was delayed because of a technical issue. I was really impressed, especially as this was after a long flight and it must have been quite tiring.

I don't fly BA for food or drinks. I like BA because of their staff members. They really have many terrific crew members. I also enjoy the banter and fun I can have with them.

kauppias

I have had super service on BA in the air, at the airport, on the phone etc. I have rarely gotten recognition on board being a BAEC GOLD OR OWS/OWE! I would love to fly BA more but with the new BAEC accrual tables I have had to shift away from them. Luckily I gave a FA my Golden ticket allready and made her day

Markie

I did BA1/2 last weekend and the service was superb! The flight attendants were great - chatty, friendly, and nothing was too much trouble.
I know service tends to be better on these flights, but they really did make an effort.
On BA1 we had a running Victoria Wood sketch joke going - two soups..., macaroons on a low light since Thursday, as the FA came from Brum and was carrying two salad, very Mrs Overall!

(For those too young, or from outside the UK this may help - )

Flexible preferences

Great to hear you had such a good experience. What did you mean about the crew's working conditions though?

Flythe96flag

Based on what has been shared by some of the BA crew on this forum, it is apparent there is significant pressure put on the crew by management at the moment. You can read more on the thread discussing the matter.

Are BA cabin crew incentivised to provide good service?

Cut bonuses and stricter requirements to achieve them. (And less to work with generally with from a hard product and F&B point of view)

The purser on my flight lamented this as well, about how CW is no longer a competitive product.

flatlander

Two of us had great flights to and from JNB last week, the service was just as First class as it should be, with friendly and attentive crew - I don't think the service could have been bettered by any of the airlines usually held up as superior (JL, CX, SQ, etc).

We had a great experience in the CCR before departure, too: no wait for a shower, very good early steak dinner (we had not had lunch), several good cocktails, with excellent service from the CCR staff. The BA lounge in JNB was also good, with a good selection of food that one could have a full dinner from if one wished (we partook of a little, but only to buffer the malaria medication ).

Even T5 security on the way out and immigration on the way back were a rapid and fairly pleasant experience.

BA showed us they still have what it takes to be the best, and we were very pleased throughout.

JONNYBOY

Where I can I encourage my friends to fly BA to try it out. Most of them are routing from Amman to the USA and mostly in Economy, which I rarely travel. Every time I get great feedback from them about how professional and polished BA are in the air, even in Economy. And once they try they use them again in preference to other European or American carriers. The fares and routing rules with BA are usually very generous as well, certainly better than the ME carriers offer on that route. So BA win here.

Now I have my own occasional problems with BA but by and large they remain my preferred choice when heading West, not the best seats in the world in Club and First but good enough, not the best food either, but the service is generally good and when things go wrong as they often do when flying lots I have usually found BA to be one of the better airlines in resolving the problem. Clearly status and fare class helps, but even with friends travelling in Economy they have said much the same.

So BA has its faults but overall well done, and when they are good they are very very good, and even when they are bad and events conspire against them, they are generally better than others.

RDinJER

I think this thread really shows that is BA's people that make or break the experience. The amount of Gold's commenting here means that we travel enough to know what to expect from the seat, food etc so that's a none event, but interestingly all comments on good/great flights mention "great CSM" "lovely crew" etc etc

My personal favourite flight ever was coming back from BWI on a 767 in J on my back from our honeymoon, the crew expected a load of 5 but ended up with a full cabin due to a canx JFK service (which we were booked on). Nothing was too much trouble for the two gents and they had a great British humour to the way they went about their job.

We still laugh when thinking of that flight to this day.