scillyisles

Hopefully the difference between what is advertised on the website and what you get on board is not as great as it is at present with the existing BA food offerings. The problem I can see is that the selection of sandwiches will quickly diminish as otherwise wastage will be an issue and we all know how BA like to play the environmental card as well as the customer feedback has indicated the range of sandwiches was too large.

The inclusion of Percy Pigs in my mind really sums up the airline's aspirations - one of the most unhealthy sweets out there - a bag contains 569 calories and 125g of sugar.

stu1985

Just means all us status lot will have to have an extra few G&Ts in the lounge before boarding

markle

I was hoping (expecting?) that BA would have gone the Icelandair route for BoB - complimentary tea / water / coffee, everything else paid for. Would surely have helped differentiate them a little from Easyjet / Ryanair, and not cost that much.

Sadly I was wrong.

wb1969

So now, if I want to fly BA, I have to pay for:
check in bags
seat selection
food
drink
use a credit card to book

Avios & TPs are a joke.

Might as well fly EasyJet. At least they give the impression of wanting my business.

Disgraceful really.

If BA continue to market themselves as a full service airline, they should be sued under the Trade Descriptions Act. They are nothing more than a low cost carrier now.

crazyanglaisy

Sadly no surprises on the alcohol, but I'm very surprised they're not keeping complementary water, soft drinks and tea and coffee given that this policy is being applied to all flights under FIVE hours.

I shall be spending the next three months collecting lots of empty bottles of mini gin on board, which I'll then fill up at home, place in the plastic bag in my hand luggage, and drink on board with a couple of tonics and a slice of lime taken from the lounge. I wonder if I'll be able to purchase a couple of cubes of ice at 10p each?

Jamier45

Well that's me no longer booking domestic or short haul Europe.

Ryanair and easyJet are now much more attractive.

aks120

I am going to say that I don't mind this - I rarely eat anything on short haul and maybe have a wine on the occasional flight up and down to Edinburgh.

If I am hungry, I am lucky enough to be able to grab something in the lounge before departure. If I want to drink wine, again I can do so in the lounge.

However I do think that not providing free water is a health and safety issue - in fact I would be surprised if they are allowed to keep people in a confined space for a period of time without the ability to drink water and this in itself is ludicrous. Never mind adding a delay to the mix. THAT is the bit I find very distasteful about this whole thing.

aks120

tom139

I don't see how they can get a way with this for those with existing bookings? Surely they have to provide something?

corporate-wage-slave

And following on from dsf's link, one interesting point is that to some degree BAEC cardholders have had some protection here, in that on a commercial ticket, even a £40 fare will come with 625 Avios for a Gold cardholder. So to that extent if the Avios were expendable in this form then even the cheapest revenue ticket would generate approx £5 of Buy on Board merchandise. Now this is still taking the Avios away, nothing is "free" here, but BAEC members do have an interesting option.

It's fascinating they went through this thought process. Reworded: the corporate customers will just expense the difference, so a less than visible fare increase. Leisure travellers can dip into their Avios balance, and I bet there will be a few Hilton style promotions rolling from here on.

I'm also in the "it could be worse" category. It does seem a better Buy on Board menu than Ryanair and easyJet, and a much better value menu than IB, EI and VY.

BJ787

Sample avios price list,

https://www.businesstraveller.com/business-travel/2016/09/29/british-airways-avios-payments-onboard-food-drink/

G&T and a sandwich will cost you 1125 avios. A bargain when you think it only costs £31 to buy 1000 avios.

pfd

Can someone do a survey of current prices at Pret/Boots/WHSmith etc at LHR and LGW? I'll have a small wager that they'll be higher in January as the captive audience becomes more captive (especially things like water which are actually quite cheap at the moment).

ba_cityflyer

The cost-cutting is so heavily ingrained throughout the whole management structure. This is exactly Alex Cruz's directive from the board. Impossible to prevent the inevitable slide.

It is impossible to compete with low-cost carriers when they have such a high cost-base. The airline is practically a flying pension fund!

British Airways need to differentiate in other ways, rather than copy an impossible-to-copy business model.

I predict a short-term equity bounce from improved financials, until passengers cotton on to the fact the value-add-differentiated-offering rug has been pulled from under them, and revenue inevitably declines as previously loyal passengers divert to other carriers. Will make for an interesting business school case study in a few years time.

patersoj

To paraphrase Inigo Montoya:
"Upgrade. You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means"

Arctic Troll

I think it would have made sense as a differentiator- at least in the short term to bed in the changes- but they're so determined to go down the LCC route that I'm not actually surprised.

BA's sole advantage now is the timetable, with more options in IRROPS compared to the LCCs who only run a route daily or less.

I still remain convinced that trying to emulate the LCCs without charging LCC prices is going to end in disaster. But Cruz is the executive so what do I know.

Arctic Troll

I disagree, c-w-s, I really do. Have you seen EasyJet's menu recently? It doesn't have the M&S name, sure, but that's pretty much the only difference between the two menus.

Oh, that and EasyJet give you Fever Tree tonic for your G&T, and charge 40p less than BA intend to.

http://buyonboard.easyjet.com/