And perhaps also the (unprecedented) scenario of CC shying away from a promotion which could take them away from the ET cabins, and with it all that extra dosh to be earned from overpriced food & drink sales .....:cool:

Or an easy flight when nothing is selling. :)

The commission will be the same as it currently is on tax free sales, divided between all the crew onboard, including the SCCM.

Then as in any sales organization / department, managers will subsequently under pressure to produce sales and profits. Wastage on a flight will be tracked and personnel "counseled" ?

I'm interested in whether there's anyone who may be shitting their business down (from CE to ET) as a result of this.

The catering in both cabins will be of a premium quality - I'd certainly prefer a high quality bacon roll (even paying £5 for it) than the inedible Caesar Salad and hefty fare premium served on many CE Band 1s.

From that perspective it's a further point of differentiation removed between the two cabins.

There are enhancements coming to Club Europe in the Spring from what I understand.

Contrary to a lot of the sentiment shown in this thread, I'm finding a lot of regular customers are actually very positive about the prospect of quality M&S food coming to our flights.

All the products to purchase are reasonably priced and will be a great quality product and I actually think people will like the new offering in ET and those customers that want a full meal have the option to purchase Club Europe and that will also be an improved offering from the Spring.

BA is a transportation company, not a catering company. Nobody is pushing cabin crew to produce duty free sales, nor will it be the case with BoB.

Food is not really the issue.

Drinks are where BA want to make money and that difference is large on a 3 or 4 hour flight.

I imagine they will do very well out of that side of things....be nice to see some better beer on offer to buy though....their bar is set low unfortunately....Virgin trains have a better selection!

Is that what we describe choosing a lower cabin of travel on FT? :D

Agree. I have plenty of work colleagues who fly with BA on leisure and they have been shocked to find that they will now need to pay for their G+T on the flight to/from holiday - they don't mind the food aspect but no drinks at all (particularly those with children) is not going down well and I predict that a fair few of them will choose different carriers for their holidays this summer.

I think that a large part of the complaints in this thread are rather aimed at the drinks than the food B&B.

Compared to the current extremely meager offering of edible things on band 1/2/3 in ET, the offering will be much improved - which people may actually be willing to pay for if the quality is good enough.


Making me pay for my cup of tea and occasional wine or GT is what pisses me off. Hence I have a grand total of 0 bookings made on BA metal after this was announced. Admittedly I will still buy CE/CW if the price is right and suits my plans, but no ET/WT/WTP bookings will happen unless there is very good reason to choose BA over other options.

I'd be very positive too, if the BOB was an additional option rather than replacement.

Do the enthusiastic customers realise that while they'll be able to buy nicer food, that their tea and coffee will be paid for?

Anybody who remembers some of the complimentary band 4 meals and is positive about the January changes quite simply needs their head testing! No amount of spin by some on this forum will disguise the fact that BA management are just plain greedy and don't care about the airline's future.

I can completely see why some of you are upset that you will now have to pay for a cup of tea or a G&T when previously you have not but in reality, people buy tickets on the base price and not whether they will get a free drink or not.

Most of the alternative airlines that you might use also charge for drinks and many don't have the benefit of the BAEC and lounges that you will still be able to use as a frequent flyer with BA.

I don't think many customers will change airlines based on the cost of a G&T especially when looking at the bigger picture, many are going to like the M&S offering.

However the choice is completely yours to make.

Yes but thats the point! BA needs to be cheaper than the competition (AF/LH/LX) since they now offer an inferior product!

Not only that, they are more expensive than the people they are now offering an equivalent product to (EZ/FR)