allset2travel

Sorry I had no photos of the second meal. I must have dozed off, as I did not recall anything about that meal.

Can I help you

Don’t be sorry, you are entitled to your opinion.

aoyamaguy

Hi all

I took this flight yesterday in J. The menu was identical to that posted above. I thought the food was an appropriate selection for a flight of this timing / duration. I wasn’t particularly hungry but the portions did seem very small. Would have been nice to have the option of having two starters ie fruit and yoghurt, but it was made clear that only one choice was permitted.

Interestingly the first starter listed, orange juice, was offered to everyone as a pre starter (tasted freshly squeezed, definitely different to, and superior to, the PDB juice).

Not much to choose from by way of Club Kitchen snacks (I could see the selection from my seat and it was just a couple of bags of crisps, biscuits, mini crunchie etc and some cans of coke etc).

The second meal was very good in terms of quality but again very small quantity (eg two tiny cakes about 1 inch square).

Excellent crew throughout and a fun CSD from Manchester who knew without asking that I needed what she described as a “good northern brew” (ie strong tea with not too much milk) - fat chance of getting that on QR!

Got the white company washbag and pillow but disappointingly only a WTP blanket - are there supply issues with the proper CW blanket at the moment?

jayisgerman

Just sharing a few observations about my flights in December.

12/04/2019 - BA 282 LAX to LHR
Check In/Luggage drop seamless. Had checked in online, but always let the airport print my boarding cards. Able to get my preferred seat on upper deck (747) and was looking forward to catching up on some rest. Boarding was somewhat managed in terms of flight class/priority, etc. You had the usual drove of wheelchairs, followed by entire families with their household belongings pre-boarding. (I counted over a dozen). By the time we got to LHR, there were 2 wheelchairs at the gate; thus the miracle of in-flight-healing apparently continues to be a real thing.

Handed my crew gifts to the CSM and headed upstairs to settle into my little "introvert nook". The turnaround cleaning must have been rather rushed, as there was a used eye mask on my seat, together with a rather varied assortment of crumbs. But no biggie. As I always do a complete wipe down of seat and all surfaces on every flight - it certainly was not killing me to dispose of said items in process. Was handed amenity kit in a sort of "drive by and catch" approach. Was later offered a champagne or water. I asked for a Ginger Ale instead, and request was honoured. Neither during boarding, prior to take off, nor any time during the flight did the two dedicated attendants introduce themselves. Service was somewhat perfunctory, but again - I am OK with that. I do not need to be fussed over - arriving safely at my destination is all good in my book. Club World overall (upper and lower deck together) was about 60% capacity it appeared.

The one thing I did notice and caused me a moment of pause was related to the meal. I am a nurse, and work 13 hour shifts. I had just come off 5 days straight, and had been up for 24 hours by the time of the flight, because I had to pack between coming home from my last shift and heading to the airport as well as tend to all the usual last minute leaving-home-tasks. LAX was an utter nightmare with no parking available in any structures, and we had to exit LAX and re-enter the "inchworm" traffic 4 times before finding a spot. Not a long time for the lounge then, and hence I decided to just wait for the meal on board, since it would be relatively close anyway. When my meal order was taken, I asked to please have the soup and the cold appetizer of grilled aubergine. This was met with a VERY noticeable raised eyebrow and then the remark of "I can do this instead of your main course". When I mentioned that I wanted a main course as well; it was met yet again with a VERY noticeable look of judgement, but this time coupled with a heavy sigh. I was a bit put off by that, as this had not occurred on past flights (at least not to my face). But I figured it was my attendant's problem, and not mine. Dinner was delivered. Soup was very tasty (fennel I think) - the whole 4 spoonfuls of it. Aubergine was also good - the whole silver-dollar size portion. Main dish was 2 strips of chicken breast on sweet potatoe mash and veggies. Very good. Dessert was a pudding. All very good, but portion sizes were very much on the smaller side, even from prior flights. Bread (1 roll) was never refilled, nor asked about. Water was never refilled. Dinner drink was never refilled. My point is just that perhaps a simple "let me check if we have enough on board" or "I will see what I can do", and then perhaps come back with regret would have likely gone over better than what transpired. But, it was what it was.

I bedded down for a good night's rest. The seats on the 747 are certainly a bit on the older side, but I have flown them enough to know where to add additional padding. I slept for about 3 hours. Got up to take a walk about and use the lavatory. Attendant was sitting and reading magazine and did not acknowledge me or ask if I needed anything. No snacks were set out on upper deck. I went downstairs and wandered about. Got a juice from the Club Kitchen, which reminded me of how the snack stations in the economy galley used to be. It was literally only water, juice, soda. And one small basket of candy. There was absolutely nothing in the fridge/freezer. There were no crisps, no biscuits, no sandwiches, no fruit, no yogurt, no anything. It was rather surprising. But I was not searching for food anyway, so no issue for me. Went back upstairs and slept another 3 hours. Woke up for breakfast service about 1+ hour out of LHR. Only had the fruit and juice (breakfast cards had been collected and were fulfilled). Landed safely and off I went for a shower and my connecting flight.

12/17/2019 - BA 269 - LHR to LAX
Boarding was a complete mess. No telling of where queues for groups started or ended. The usual constant flow of wheelchairs (apparently healing works in both directions). Boarded straight to the upper deck, and settled into my nook by the window, after the usual wipe-down, etc. Designated attendant introduced himself, handed me my kit, and I handed him the crew gifts in return. I received my Ginger Ale in lieu of champagne/water. I had pre-ordered my meal and ordered soup as appetizer (hazelnut/artichoke?) - delicious. Main course beef was good, too. I asked if possible to receive cheese board and pudding, and was even encouraged twice to ask for anything more if desired. Wonderful attendant even dug up a Bitter Lemon for my dinner. <3 Slept pretty well for my usual 3 hours and then a walk about. Club Kitchen looked much more normal with hummus, yogurt cups, and various snacks. I drank my obligatory juice, and went back to sleep for my next 3 hour installment.

The temperature settings in the cabin were much more to my liking on this flight. It only got hot a couple times. Although I know it is plane dependent, too. The seats were a bit more comfortable (i.e. "younger) on this A380. Second meal was OK, but I was not hungry, so I only ate very little of it. Was offered another Bitter Lemon with my meal by fabulous attendant. Was also reminded by him (as he collected the trays back) to use the restroom soon, because the 40 minute-out announcement would come soon. He really did a fantastic job, without being too overbearing and I felt nicely looked after by him and the entire upper deck crew for my section. Landed safely and headed back into the LA traffic nightmare.....

Overall, no major complaints. Some very pleasant experiences, and no reason for me not to use BA in the future. Looking forward to the new suites, although I think LAX is a bit later in the schedule for that refurb.

subject2load

Hi jayisgerman - enjoyed reading your well-written report, thanks.

I’m especially intrigued by these ‘crew gifts’ that you handed out on both flights ! Is this something you make a habit of on all your BA trips ?? Can’t say that such a practice has ever occurred to me - and if it results in the extra special attention you received from crew on the 282, I doubt I will be taking up the idea any time soon. To me, the ‘VERY noticeable raised eyebrow’ along with the ‘heavy sigh’ when you had the temerity to request a soup and an appetiser (heaven forbid !) hardly speak of courtesy or good service. And I suspect I might have been rather more disappointed than you were by the uncleaned seat, absence of snacks, the empty Club Kitchen, and the lack of pro-active top-ups to bread / water / dinner drinks. But these aspects are subjective as always.

Your return sector 269 sounds a much better experience with a far more attentive crew ....... and I guess serves to underline the inconsistency which seems to characterise so many reports.

mikeyfly

Which crew are currently working LAX? Haven't flown it since last Christmas and have a return in Club in a few weeks

BA6948

Oh dear. To me that looks like a below average service in Club (sighs, raised eyebrows, dirt, no snacks, etc.). Are BA passengers regularly flying Club ok with this level of service? Have they go used to a bare minimum service in premium cabins. As an occasional AF Business Class passenger having also flown TK, SQ, and QF business this year it seems that BA are also at the bottom when it comes to longhaul J service. In comparaison AF cabins are always clean. The food is plentiful. Refills are so frequent that I find myself asking them to stop topping up my drinks not to get drunk. The snack section is full of food options: usual crisps and sweets, plus additional wraps or small dishes that can be hot, leftover of business class meals (cakes) and fruits. As a Platinum, we get the welcome treatment for each flight. Before landing you get a box of chocolate and occasionally a treat from First.

RB211

While people keep flying BA at the current levels of service, BA will believe that those levels are "good enough!" There is no incentive for them to make a positive change - and if they are making good to great profits, then the incentive tends towards "enhancement" rather than improvement. And if people keep flying BA at those levels of service, then for those people, those levels are by definition "good enough!"

(I'm not making any value judgement on the levels of service provided by BA - just applying market logic.)

rb211.

bafan

Yes, you’re certainly not given any indication by the crew or the menu that you can have multiple starters or desserts (at least neither me or my partner were last week) - and it all now seems light years away from the original launch and roll out.

Also, I couldn’t work out what to do with the seat cover/mattress topper thing - not the duvet, the thinner weirdly shaped sheet. Can someone explain in simple words for me, please ?!

RB211

You put it on top of the seat in bed mode, and lie on it. Or you just ignore it. Either is valid.

rb211.

bafan

But why is it such a weird shape, and smaller than the seat ? It just moved around in the night whilst I was sleeping on it. Seemed a bit pointless, tbh...

RB211

It's been a while, but I seem to remember it having roughly the same profile as the "bed." Back in CW next month so I'll revisit.

rb211.

jayisgerman

Hello subject2load - I indeed have done crew gifts for probably over a decade at this point. And yes, I do it on every flight - domestic, international, long haul, short haul, Y or J. It is just to make someone else's day a little nicer, that's all. I do not do it to solicit any favour or anything else in return. Serving the public is never easy, so it is entirely meant as a simple "thank you". It is usually an assortment of goodies of biscuits and chocolates (always individually wrapped servings), stylus pens, mini flashlights, etc. for long haul crews since that tends to be easier to share on a long flights and they have a much larger number of crew members. For my connecting flights and more short haul (e.g. LHR to TXL or such), I actually assemble little gift bags for every crew member whilst enjoying my visit in the lounge. It usually includes a handcream, a small notepad, a fun-colour pen, etc.

Reactions have ranged from absolutely no acknowledgment from any crew member to other times where the CSD thanked me at my seat, and had a quick chat. But in the end, I just hope it brings a smile to someone.

jayisgerman

Yes, BA6948 - I do agree this is at times below average. Some of these things, I pass on in surveys, etc. Other things I just let go. Overall, I feel very fortunate to be in a position at this point in my life to be able to fly business more than economy. As far as AF, I concur. I have flown them LAX to CDG in business as well and it was an extremely good experience.