That's a good point but I think it is fair comment that if any of the BA Reps do post and they have been very helpful with many many members on here for various issues, members shouldn't 'have a go' at them personally about this specific issue of BoB.

It is not their role on here to defend BA and they will only be delivering information from decisions made by people way, way above them. Complain by voting with your feet/wallet, tweet, FB, write to BA, use ba.com etc etc.

Back on topic I am very disappointed that even tea, coffee and water are not freely available.

£2.30 for a teabag is f*cking ridiculous if you ask me!

Exactly!!! Monarch are the same!

Are you using a different Twitter to the rest of us?

https://twitter.com/search?f=tweets&...rways&src=typd

The feedback (at least those related to the catering change) seem almost unanimously negative.

You'd be pretty thirsty to want to drink the aircraft potable water. It is treated with chemicals and just about bearable in coffee.

It would cost very little to serve decent water for free (most airlines do it by the cup from a large bottle on the trolley) so BA seems to be positioning itself lower than most of its competitors.

I'm pleased for people who want to buy food on board since you can't get anything decent at the moment. But taking away marginal-cost drinks and dressing it up as an upgrade is just offensive.

Exactly PETER01! My point was not to have a go at the Rep as the Face(less) BA worker, but have the opportunity to have questions answered re future bookings etc rather than everyone ranting and throwing up hypothetical scenarios... Maybe they'll pop up?

I think that this is, to some extent, right. I would not expect a sudden, dramatic fall. The impact, imo, will be far more gradual: it will be greater proportion of customers switching to LCCs as everything that used to distinguish BA from an LCC operator disappears and all you are left with is the price differential. The real damage is the damage to the brand when BA is no longer perceived (rightly or wrongly) as offering a superior product to LCCs.
Individuals like Cruz, however, are not terribly bothered by that and never held responsible for it because, by the time the damage is done, they are long gone.


I think that it is a mistake to think that the only thing that matters is long-haul traffic. Most short-haul routes cannot be sustained purely on connecting long-haul traffic. You need both O&D and connecting traffic to sustain most routes. If you struggle with O&D traffic, that will impact on the viability of the route.

The water from a bottle is usually also considered potable ;) :D

except - perhaps - when it's needed to flush!

Maybe we can bring our own teabags and ask for free boiled water??? :D:D:D

Or maybe we can bring an empty thermos through security, and then fill it at a boiling-water-dispenser before boarding? If only Heathrow and Gatwick would be kind enough to install them :)

Rename the first few rows some form of Business, don't put anyone in the middle seat and let those pax have a couple of things from the BOB menu.

Which I fully expect is what the 'improved' CE will be soon enough

"In line with our customers wishes for a common and consistent short haul service..." etc

I interpreted your post read that the BA Reps on here don't care so sorry of that wasn't the case but it's a point worth raising though in my post.

It's still a while away yet but I would be happy if the BA Reps on here can (if possible as they might have been instructed not to post of Flyertalk re this emotive issue), to confirm one way or another if existing bookings will be honoured but for some reason I doubt it.

Presumably the same one Alex uses?

If it's anything like AY, they quickly sort out the J passengers, and then do the BoB run down the plane.

So, if you want another drink in J, then you'll probably have a long wait.

Oh, I have.

I had my first buy-on-board experience on a BA flight recently (a Vueling flight, AMS-LTN, bought as a BA codeshare). I'm glad I had breakfast at the BA lounge in Schiphol, because first, the crew didn't show up till about half an hour past boarding time, and when we finally set off, they hid behind their curtains at the front and back of the plane for the entire flight and didn't do the buy-on-board catering run that they should have done.

That's not bad really and about the going rate. Harrods charge £5 for a pot of tea for one :p:D;):rolleyes:

Even more ridiculous PETER01!!

I'm going to request a chargeback for the flights I have booked. Petty and it probably won't get very far, but I'll enjoy it. BA say a G&T and a sandwich is a little over a tenner, so that is what I will ask for on each booking

I like that naming suggestion.

Ladies and Gentlemen, we will shortly be commencing our in-flight service. Customers in our some-form-of-business cabin will be offered a complimentary snack and bar service. Customers in our Hungry Traveller cabin will be able to select from our extensive buy-on-board menu, unless of course you don't have a contactless payment card or any Avios with you, in which case, you will stay hungry until we land in Istanbul in 3.5 hours/Athens in 3 hours, in which case you will resolve to travel with Turkish Airlines/Aegean Airlines next time

Yes I was jesting of course hence the wink and the sarcasm icon. Tea, coffee and water should really be free.

It just makes you wonder............what's next?!!!!!!!!!

please group, boycott those changes and dont spend a penny

Oh dear, BA haven't even bothered to update their own website - screen when booking for May 2017

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CtiBmmrXYAAkpkq.jpg

How very dare you!

He wasn't lying. This "enchantment" commences next year - on January 11, to be precise. [Meaning they are turning down around 100 days of potential M&S profiteering by not introducing it sooner!]

One actual enhancement if this is happening...

Let us pre-order hot meals? Avoid wastage with a pre-order system. But I'd love the option to have a hot meal (M&S or otherwise) to quell my lounge boozing (which I'll self-enhance to make up for the onboard service). Also, end of long day of work etc etc etc.

You don't need to request a chargeback. According to the poster above BA CS are offering 1000 avios per booking (about a tenner) or a refund if desired.

Is there even anything left these days to upgrade/enhance!? :p;)

Don't give them ideas, they will charge for that next! :)

VY do have something like this, but you presently cannot book it under a BA code.

It's a shame that was your experience of vueling, as low cost airlines go, I've always really enjoyed their service. I can at the least vouch for the short hops offered by flybe that the trolley always gets rolled through and have never seen them struggle for time to serve everyone and do it courteously at that in their very short flight lengths.

Well, here are a few possibilities

1) BIL (buy in lounge)
2) Oyster card readers at T5 Gates 4/10
3) 10% added SQ (like YQ only for the privilege of using a seat)
4) New 'extras' menu in the Spa (for the more discerning client, naturally)

I could go on, but frankly Mr Cruz will have to pay me if he wants any more of my good ideas...

Certainly makes me feel better about the fact I'm about to lose gold status.

That includes £1.80 for the water though. And probably 10p for the sugar...

Just noticed , when you call BA to complain about this, they now have an automated press 1 feature to basically cut you out of the system and it says the representatives won't be able to offer any more information on the subject.

lol

I'm looking forwards to the state of the aircraft cabins if current cleaning standards are maintained.

All the rubbish generated by left behind packaging & airport purchased fast food will take some cleaning!

this is very sad. I love BA and I fly them as much as possible, but with this move they are not rewarding the loyalty of us frequent flyers in EU.

It is already difficult to keep status (I am CX Diamond, and in 7 months of intense EU travels I only got halfway through Silver...), but with this move it becomes useless to prefer BA against a Star Alliance or SkyTeam carrier. I might just get a PriorityPass card and that's it.

Very, very disappointed.

So just to confirm, airlines can just take away things from an agreement that you made with them and paid for when you booked and get away with it ?

No :(

oh no.....current cleaning standard...it is already bad enough

The BA twitter team seem to think complimentary food and drinks was not included in the fare, and therefore nothing is due to those who booked before today for travel beyond 11 January.

With this move, I won't be surprised if people start stuffing crips and soft drinks to the bag from the lounge..

Sorry if I missed it in the 438 posts so far today (!)- any changes to UK domestic breakfast?

Yes, the spiel/drivel they have been given by the Comms team is making all of this even more laughable.