BOB £2.30 for some hot water !!
Jul 21, 2017, 11:28 am
#65
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Brighton, UK
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You can buy 1100 Tetley Tea Bags from Costco for £13.99, equals £0.013 per tea bag. Twinnings are perceived to be more expensive, but not far off £0.012-0.019 range per tea bag if you can find the wholesaler. And few years back, you could get 640 Twinning's tea bag for £3.75 which is less than £0.006 per bag (cir. 2009).
So I guess we can conclude that the hot water on board British Airways is expensive. Or, we can say that the cup made for BA is very expensive.
So I guess we can conclude that the hot water on board British Airways is expensive. Or, we can say that the cup made for BA is very expensive.
The decision is about price point that you intend to charge and whether that fits with what the market will bear. Cost is only there to help measure potential profitability, but profit derives from more than just that. Price too high and you miss out on sales, too low and you are not maximising your profit.
Pricing in the context of a menu will also consider the other items on that menu, particularly if they are direct alternatives. Overprice something and it doesn't sell, underprice and it'll sell out, or take sales from other lines which may be more profitable.
Back to the hot water, why assume that this should be free? It is a product with a clear value and will affect purchasing behaviour. On the basis that the tea bag is very low cost, and other items in the supply chain that ends with hot water have a real (e.g. Staff) or notional (lost sales) cost, charging seems to be fair enough.
Jul 21, 2017, 12:57 pm
#66
Join Date: Nov 2014
Posts: 935
Back to the hot water, why assume that this should be free? It is a product with a clear value and will affect purchasing behaviour. On the basis that the tea bag is very low cost, and other items in the supply chain that ends with hot water have a real (e.g. Staff) or notional (lost sales) cost, charging seems to be fair enough.
Jul 21, 2017, 1:08 pm
#67
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Jul 21, 2017, 1:17 pm
#68
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Jul 21, 2017, 1:52 pm
#69
Join Date: Jan 2016
Location: LHR/ATH
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ok guys can someone take a paper cup with them and some tea to test if they will get the hot water free? should be an interesting one. i'm sure a dailymail journalist would love to do it!
Jul 21, 2017, 2:21 pm
#70
Join Date: Jun 2009
Posts: 614
Yes, this happens quite regularly with people bring their own cups and asking for hot water. Japanese passengers often queue up at the back galley with their Thermos flasks, and hot water is distributed freely. If you haven't brought your own cup, BA policy is that you can buy one of the Twinings branded cups for £2.30. We have been given specific instructions not to use the BA branded paper cups loaded for crew hot drinks. Whether I agree with this policy or not, I have to follow it, as I have no idea whether you are a manager on a mission to get me reported (I kid you not). Oh the joys of BA in 2017.
Jul 21, 2017, 3:05 pm
#71
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: トロント
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Posts: 4,820
Because that's really what the tea drinker on this plane is doing. He's not ordering a full service meal and asking for pot of hot water to accompany the meal....all he wants is the hot water.
PS-my MIL drinks hot water only when out and about. She and her old group of friends hit up a little fast food place once a week, but they do all order food and accompanying items. She asks for a little cup of hot water...that is free because the whole group is ordering food.
Jul 21, 2017, 3:14 pm
#72
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: UK
Programs: BA Silver
Posts: 1,137
What you says makes perfect sense. In the end, it's up to hospitality. It's like in hotels. You pay 150 GBP for an awful room in central London thats supposedly 4 stars, and then they want to charge you 15 GBP for breakfast when it used to be included. My aunt complained, saying you made us pay that much for the worst room in your hotel, and you still charge me for breakfast? In the end, they gave the breakfast for free.
With BA, you are paying them to fly them. It is not free. So when you have a request that costs the airline nothing, which is boiling water that is from the onboard kettle (unlike sandwiches that are stocked and accounted for), whats the harm in giving the hot water?
I think too many people on this forum have been Cruzified, and dare I say it, some of them may even be partners in crime (as in they are implementing the BA strategy on behalf of Cruz!)
With BA, you are paying them to fly them. It is not free. So when you have a request that costs the airline nothing, which is boiling water that is from the onboard kettle (unlike sandwiches that are stocked and accounted for), whats the harm in giving the hot water?
I think too many people on this forum have been Cruzified, and dare I say it, some of them may even be partners in crime (as in they are implementing the BA strategy on behalf of Cruz!)
I've just accepted BA is generally not for me, other than routes I have to travel BA/IB.
Jul 21, 2017, 7:34 pm
#73
FlyerTalk Evangelist, Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
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Are you telling me they walk into a restaurant by themselves and order a hot water with slice of lemon and nothing else?
Because that's really what the tea drinker on this plane is doing. He's not ordering a full service meal and asking for pot of hot water to accompany the meal....all he wants is the hot water.
Because that's really what the tea drinker on this plane is doing. He's not ordering a full service meal and asking for pot of hot water to accompany the meal....all he wants is the hot water.
What the elderly gentleman did is that he got and paid for a hotel room, did not order from the room service but did call for a bucket of ice. And yes hotels will gladly deliver those too, not every company in the sector is as oblivious to the very concept of hospitality (of paid customers) as ba.
Jul 21, 2017, 7:36 pm
#74
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I almost come to hope the guy writes to the media and some pick up the story and relate it, without any drama or comment, just stating the facts.
If ba think that what they are doing is right and sensible, I'm sure they shouldn't mind.
If ba think that what they are doing is right and sensible, I'm sure they shouldn't mind.
Jul 21, 2017, 7:44 pm
#75
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Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Argentina
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In the real world being charged for hot water is nothing unusual.