cruisr

I rarely fly BA but do love reading this board daily. Perhaps because of my reading here my expectations were very low for the flight I had on 6/28. It was an award ticket, BLQ-LHR-JFK. I was expecting surly cabin crew, unprofessional and unhelpful ground staff and lousy food. I am pleased to report none of that was experienced.
Starting in BLQ I asked if it was a bus and portable stairs or a jetway and was told it was a bus. That's a problem as due to a flare up of arthritis in both knees I couldn't do stairs. Despite not planning this in advance the check in agent sorted everything out and arranged for me to go in the "service entrance" That was the first time I ever boarded a plane like that. She also made note in my record that I cant do stairs.
I was in Club World from BLQ and the staff could not have been nicer. Very attentive and one of the FAs kept coming to my seat to let me know that the Captain still had not been advised if we will be remote or at a jetway in LHR. I never asked, she took it upon herself to ask. Nice touch. The panini (maybe due to BLQ catering) was really tasty. It was a short flight but pre meal drinks and cashews served and full meal service. We actually landed and had a jetway. I thanked the Captain (who was at the door of the flight deck thanking people for flying BA) for arranging the jetway for me
After a bit of shopping and some Galleries lounge time (I enjoyed the "outdoor" seating) it was time to board my F class flight to JFK. I thought it would be a jetway but it was remote. I checked at the desk and said I cant do the stairs and the rep said, "Oh, you must be Mrs Cruisr, we are waiting for you" I wont bore you with the details but every few minutes one of the ground staff was updating me about boarding and again, I went in through the service entrance.
The FA who met me at the entrance, welcomed me and escorted me to my seat and introduced herself. She said, "I imagine you would like a lovely glass of bubbly" Of course, I said yes. Before take off the purser came through, introduced himself, asked what was needed, if anything and said he could be reached at any time during the flight.
Without dragging this whole story out. The wines were excellent and after the champagne I had a lovely white and with my steak entrée a great Pinot Noir. The food was excellent as was the presentation. Service impeccable.
I kept asking myself if I was flying a different BA then everyone else.
In any case I wanted to give hope to others. Go in with low expectations and you will be pleasantly surprised. Even if I went in with high expectations I would have been pleased. BTW, the new ladies amenity kit, by Liberty, is the best, most useful one (with the exception of the Ferragamo I got from SQ) I have ever received. And, they gave out PJs on a daytime flight!
All in all a 10/10 and I will be emailing customer service with the flt info and names of crew so they can be recognized. Oh, almost forgot, the first officer helped me get my sim card out of my iPhone. He was in the galley when I got up to see if anyone had something I could use to eject it.

flyingmonkie

I was having a similar conversation with my brother yesterday.

I have had some superb flights on BA in all the cabins.

However the problem is consistency. I have also had some TERRIBLE experiences with BA. From angry cabin crew to broken hard product and inedible food.

Their challenge is the consistency. When they get it right they get it very right, when they get it wrong then oh boy!

jday

I hope you went to the CCR and not Gallaries but if there was an "outside" bit you were either in the CCR or GF.

Yes my only F experience was good as well. But as has been said consistency is BAs biggest issue. You just don't know what you are going to get.

Flexible preferences

Wonderful to read such a positive, and touching experience. It sounds like the OP was treated with heartfelt kindness many times.

I expect the 'flagship' JFK route may have been a factor in the excellent service in F with highly experienced crew.

SWISSBOBBY

Great to hear such a positive report.

I assume by Service Entrance the OP means a lift to door 1R

cruisr

Yes, exactly.

cruisr

Yes, it was a very experienced crew. I was chatting with the purser and he told me he and this crew basically fly back and forth to LHR and do both EWR and JFK.

To follow up. I realized I left a soft side, gray zippered case for my Bose earbuds on the plane. It is very tiny. The earbuds were in my purse but sadly my hearing aid was in the bag. I called and left a message with JFK baggage services and they called me back at 7:30pm. I was very impressed with all the effort the gal I spoke with went to. She kept putting me on hold and calling people and checking and rechecking her list of turned in items. She really went the extra mile. She is a 30 year vet of BA and she loves her job. Sadly, the bag has gone into a black hole. I wasn't expecting it to be found/turned in but I tried.

She was reading me some of the things people leave behind....how does one leave a backback onboard or a laptop? I would think something that big would be missed immediately.

Transpacificflyer

Tradesman entrance.

A lovely read indeed. And it certainly gives hope.