Paid Upgrade to CE but no CE Meal
Aug 17, 2017, 4:41 am
#16
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Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Morbihan, France
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Posts: 19,167
The Purser should have known before the door closed that she was not catered - this is ridiculous. This is not some remote outstation. I agree that you should stop the payment if you can and complain big time.
I assume that you could drink from the CE bar, or was she proposing drinks from the back?
I assume that you could drink from the CE bar, or was she proposing drinks from the back?
Aug 17, 2017, 5:30 am
#17
Join Date: Dec 2015
Location: UK
Programs: BAEC Silver, *A, Marriott
Posts: 181
I am reading more and more of issues that seem to stem from a poor integration of passenger information and supply chain. If BA wants to minimise waste (such as not over-catering) they need to improve this substantially.
Aug 17, 2017, 6:48 am
#18
Suspended
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: DCA
Programs: UA US CO AA DL FL
Posts: 50,262
This is a failure of BA's systems integration. As soon as the CE seat was sold, a system responsible for the catering count ought to be increased by 1.
If BA can't acommodate that simple level of integration, it either ought not to sell the upgrades past a cut off time (certainly not at the airport) or it ought to make clear and have the passenger acknowledge that CE catering will not be available.
If BA can't acommodate that simple level of integration, it either ought not to sell the upgrades past a cut off time (certainly not at the airport) or it ought to make clear and have the passenger acknowledge that CE catering will not be available.
Aug 17, 2017, 6:54 am
#19
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: UK
Programs: BA Blue, IC Spire Ambassador
Posts: 5,227
It sounds like this is a LCY / CityFlyer issue. Heathrow and Gatwick tend not to have this issue. At outstations, the issue is simply because BA return cater and won't uplift additional catering! I agree that you should be Informed of this when you upgrade. Of course, someone might decline a meal and you might still get one.
Aug 17, 2017, 10:53 am
#21
Join Date: Jul 2017
Programs: BA Gold for Life, EK, AC, VS, Accor Platinum, Hyatt, Marriott, Jumeirah
Posts: 53
Sounds like a screw up. I've been refused an upgrade a couple of times at outstations (eg. IST), despite seats being available, due to the lack of catering available on board.
Aug 17, 2017, 11:03 am
#22
Join Date: Nov 2010
Posts: 5,596
Screw up or not,if BA had promotional material at check in,and were actively soliciting passengers to pay for upgrades,they cannot just say no meal after their check in literature was stating one of the benefits of paying was a meal.
Aug 17, 2017, 12:29 pm
#23
Moderator, Iberia Airlines, Airport Lounges, and Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Feb 2010
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Just to welcome you to Flyertalk Guy Traveller, and welcome naturally to the BA Board. Thank you for sharing your experiences, and I hope you will be able to share more going forward. Welcome on board.
Aug 17, 2017, 1:38 pm
#24
Join Date: Jul 2017
Programs: BA Gold for Life, EK, AC, VS, Accor Platinum, Hyatt, Marriott, Jumeirah
Posts: 53
Flight BA 8767: LCY-ZRH
Special upgrade offer at check-in with all the sparkling information about champagne and meals and blah, blah, blah.
Ok, do you know what? I take it!
The poor purser approaches me soon after take off:"I am sorry Sir but we do not have a meal for you but I can cater from..."
Horrified by the Operational Upgrade story I politely declined "Oh, no problem at all Madam, a glass of water is more than enough for me".
We were three passengers in CE, two of us without meal.
Now I am really curious to read what kind of arguments you may possibly write in defence of such poor service.
I remind you, the airline lured me into upgrading to CE by promising this and that and not delivering it!
Ulxima
Special upgrade offer at check-in with all the sparkling information about champagne and meals and blah, blah, blah.
Ok, do you know what? I take it!
The poor purser approaches me soon after take off:"I am sorry Sir but we do not have a meal for you but I can cater from..."
Horrified by the Operational Upgrade story I politely declined "Oh, no problem at all Madam, a glass of water is more than enough for me".
We were three passengers in CE, two of us without meal.
Now I am really curious to read what kind of arguments you may possibly write in defence of such poor service.
I remind you, the airline lured me into upgrading to CE by promising this and that and not delivering it!
Ulxima
Aug 17, 2017, 1:38 pm
#25
Join Date: Jul 2017
Programs: BA Gold for Life, EK, AC, VS, Accor Platinum, Hyatt, Marriott, Jumeirah
Posts: 53
Aug 17, 2017, 1:39 pm
#26
Join Date: Aug 2017
Programs: BA Gold
Posts: 90
Except BA don't offer AUP at LCY, so it would have been a POUG? I'm frequently told when enquiring at LCY, if I want to upgrade, they would calculate the fare difference and catering is not guaranteed.
Aug 17, 2017, 1:39 pm
#27
Join Date: Jul 2017
Programs: BA Gold for Life, EK, AC, VS, Accor Platinum, Hyatt, Marriott, Jumeirah
Posts: 53
Aug 17, 2017, 4:48 pm
#28
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: Amsterdam, Asia, UK
Programs: IHG RA (Spire), HH Diamond, MR Platinum, SQ Gold, KLM Gold, BAEC Gold
Posts: 5,072
On other 'decent' airlines , when asking for a late paid upgrade to J or F, sometimes at gate, I am sometimes turned down, after gate staff made a phone call, and told reason is sometimes they could not get the needed extra J/F expedited meal(s) to their plane for me in new class before departure.
However for LCY CE, what is the accounting here, a few extra meals at some cost versus the extra revenue of upgraded flier
OHHHH ... I forget, BA take the extra dosh and then say tough, no meal loaded !
However for LCY CE, what is the accounting here, a few extra meals at some cost versus the extra revenue of upgraded flier
OHHHH ... I forget, BA take the extra dosh and then say tough, no meal loaded !
Aug 17, 2017, 4:51 pm
#29
Join Date: Aug 2015
Posts: 1,499
It does sound like a POUG...and means BA had even more time compared to an AUP to get a meal sorted. Bit of a mess on their part.
Aug 17, 2017, 5:13 pm
#30
Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club, easyJet and Ryanair
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: UK/Las Vegas
Programs: BA Gold (GGL/CCR)
Posts: 15,914
On other 'decent' airlines , when asking for a late paid upgrade to J or F, sometimes at gate, I am sometimes turned down, after gate staff made a phone call, and told reason is sometimes they could not get the needed extra J/F expedited meal(s) to their plane for me in new class before departure....