Club Europe catering guide
 

New catering standards for Club Europe are coming, which you should see on existing routes from this Sunday. UK domestic routes will follow from 01 April.

There will also be a slight realignment of catering bands as the current Bands 1, 2, 3, and 4 will be replaced by new Short, Medium, and Long catering bands. We’ve been told we should expect a number of real, tangible improvements such as new crockery, new mugs, and also new wines (served at your seat from full sized bottles on Medium and Long flights). As to the quality of the new offering, well, the proof of the pudding is in the eating so please do post your impressions of the new service as it rolls out.

The following information is applicable to Heathrow and Gatwick routes which I hope you will find useful. This will be updated and expanded with product details during the weeks ahead once we get a better feel of the new offering.


Service timings
http://prospelicious.com/wp-content/...6/CE_times.png


Destination map identifying destination bands
http://prospelicious.com/wp-content/...tering_map.png
Note, the map is not fully inclusive so some destinations have been omitted for visual clarity. You can rest assured that Iceland, Canary Islands plus the myriad of Greek destinations all fall into the new Long category.

Borderline destinations located on the fringes of two bands are indicated in the next 2 diagrams
http://prospelicious.com/wp-content/...6/CE_BL_SM.png

http://prospelicious.com/wp-content/...5/CE_BL_ML.png


Food offerings

Short

• Special meals are available
• Wine is served in quarter size bottles
• Champagne is served in quarter sized bottles

Medium

• Special meals are available
• Wine is served in full sized bottles
• Champagne is served in full size bottles

Long

• Special meals are available
• Printed menus
• Wine is served in full sized bottles
• Champagne is served in full size bottles

Photos and impressions
This part has been left for you to populate. :)

We're flying out on a long CE on Sunday, so will let you know!

Thanks for the heads up.

Is there going to be a quicker rotation on the food, as I am sick to death of hot smoked salmon linguini or Chicken breast in jus on band 4 flight. 3 month menu rotations can not save that much money, but really annoys those who fly frequently.

Does wine served from full sized bottles include Champagne, meaning potential switch to Henriot from Castelnau?

Looks good on paper - assuming:
-Bands 1 and 2 become "Short"
-Band 3 is "Medium" and retains hot lunch and dinner
-There are overall a few good promotions up the bands (e.g. BUD/IBZ/FCO)

There will be hot meals on all lunch and dinner flights across all bands.

Then colour me impressed! Brilliant news.

Except within the UK?

Nice job with the graphics ^

More detail on BA.COM here; it's true!

https://www.britishairways.com/en-gb/information/food-and-drink/short-haul-business-dining?clickpage=resp-information--food-and-drink--index&kmtag=c&ban= DP 2x2 CTA1 L2

This is going to be interesting. I am preparing to be significantly underwhelmed. Full size wine bottles don't overshadow the same old breakfast, the utterly unimaginative brunch or the rigid meal times which mean departing HEL at 1655 means you are the recipient of 3 dry finger sandwiches, a pre packed cake and a heated scone on a scheduled flight time of c2hrs 45m.

The changes should work out better for you as HEL will be moving from Band 3 to the new Long category. The outcome of which should be a full meal service throughout the day

This is great news. Particularly on the ex-Band 1's where they managed a hot brekkie, but nothing else substantial the rest of the day?

"a tasty hot meal accompanied by warm bread"

With a plate?? :D

Will keep my fingers crossed. Read the BA.com link and some of the ideas do look positive. If I'm being picky, then the charcuterie brunch on a European sector would be better if accompanied by having the choice of the hot sandwich as per the UK Brunch offering.

Great work on the thread so far Prospero. Thanks for organising. ^

Tentatively this looks good. Let's see...

Isn't it a warm sandwich rather than a hot meal? I believe it may be...

Am doing a Long to LCA Tuesday so will post some photos.

Interesting... TXL is a stretch of "Short" band while WAW and KRK are both in "Long".

My next BA CE flight is mid May, two evening flights, looking forward to try the new CE service!

being in KRK I think this is great news!! My Friday afternoon flights from KRK have now become a meal, and my 16:55 return from LHR has also become a meal

It only mentions a full bar on some services... does that mean no more champagne breakfasts??

I cant imagine them opening / carrying a full sized bottle for a 9am flight

My reading is that it depends if it is domestic or not. Taken from the above quoted link

For lunch and dinner you can choose between a fresh salad and a hot sandwich (on flights within the UK) or a tasty hot meal accompanied by warm bread and a full bar service (on flights within Europe).

But, does that mean the choice is between salad and sandwich on domestics, and a choice between salad and a hot meal on European flights?

or

Does it mean that we will all get the salad and then a choice between sandwich and hot meal?

I would say say the former as the later isn't a choice as they would be giving you both. I do think their wording and structure could be a little clearer.

MODS is there any reason why we cannot post a screenshot of the above linked page for future reference if any changes do occur?

Nice work as always Prospero!

Personally with ARN as my base I like these changes and will now always get a proper meal. But as I read it some of the shorter flights will not get a hot meal post breakfast?

Maybe I read it wrong somewhere.

I'm flying back from MLA in CE on Sunday so I will take some pics and report back.

(Currently in the new Club Lounge at LGW which is very nice as has been reported. Very disgruntled passenger in front of me dismayed that the First lounge was closed when we arrived about 06:45 and was forced to turn right not left...)

I'm happy this is being rolled out on Sunday. I'm flying a 'long' route which used to be band 3 so was expecting an afternoon tea service. I'll cancel my special meal and enjoy the new offering.

Wait... so a 'tasty hot meal' on ALL European flights at lunch or dinner times?!

Is this actually a hot meal, or is it BA-speak for a cheese toastie?

If you take time to read the link posted above you will note:

"For lunch and dinner you can choose between a fresh salad and a hot sandwich (on flights within the UK) or a tasty hot meal accompanied by warm bread and a full bar service (on flights within Europe)."

I have, of course, read BA.com.

If you take time to read my post, I was questioning the definition of 'tasty hot meal' in this very sentence on BA.com.

Is anyone able to actually answer my question, please?

Thanks.

You are assuming that the information posted on BA.com is correct and not misleading marketing guff.

As with everything BA do these days, any improvement to anything will be balanced by an equivalent cost saving.

In a time where BA have been penny pinching across the board we now see a veritable improvement in the service offerings. This is a genuine improvement of the CE proposition.

Your question was clearly formed to imply a negative slant to this positive news, The answer to your question is clearly answered in my post. BA have been unequivocal in their description of the offering (a) a 'hot sandwich' on domestics (and presumably your 'cheese toastie' would come under that description) and (b) a 'hot meal' on other routes (and presumably your 'cheese toastie' would not come under that description).

Many thanks Prospero!

Perhaps you could add Marrakech to the list of places that fall into the new Long category please?

So you really think that, say, London to Amsterdam, will serve a proper hot main at lunch and dinner? :confused:

I do not believe this to be the case. Hence the clarification.

I think you are putting too much faith in BA.com.

By this logic, everything written on BA.com is so trustworthy that we can be sure BA will not be including a free bar in Club Domestic.

Thanks for confirming Tobias, that is great news ^ - and a big improvement on what was earlier mooted, which was a cut-back service on shorter flights depending on your departure time (which only works if you assume that there are no time zone changes and everyone is able to eat a meal on a UK schedule :rolleyes: )

It depends on your definition of 'proper'. Think of it logically. BA will classify flights in, essentially, three bands: short, medium and long. The catering supplied will therefore be appropriate for the duration of the flight. The meal offered on a 'short' LHR-AMS flight is obviously not going to be as substantial as that provided on a 'long' LHR-RAK mainly due to the time necessary to serve, consume and clear away the meal.

On 'short' bands I would expect a light meal, with something more substantial as you rise up the catering bands.

No. Like everything I read on FlyerTalk, I take it at face value.

If BA serve a hot meal on a London to Amsterdam, I will eat my hat.

We are not falling for that one, everyone knows you have a nacho hat just ready for this :p

Tobias-UK do you have any information confirming the introduction of hot meals (not cheese toasties) on all European sectors at lunch/dinner other than what is printed on BA.com?

I'm on the 777 to MAD on the 1st, will be able to pretend I'm in Club World with the new menu :cool:

They serve cheese toasties in Club World now? :p

Only if you know who to ask ;)