corporate-wage-slave

I have now updated post 3 with comments on the return sector, this link takes you straight there:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/28765150-post3.html

As noted, it wasn't actually a Sleeper service in the end, but the menu is the same and hopefully you can see how it would work on both the Sleeper and Good Night services.

missdimeaner

Thank you c-w-s for a most informative post on the evening catering JFK-LHR.
Looking at the menu I do agree that some sort of panini free 'main' would be appropriate, I am not a bread lover so it doesn't offer me a choice of a hot dish.
Not using the trolley for dinner seems sensible as it might lengthen the dinner service ???
I won't be trying out the evening departure service until late November- hopefully I'll be snuggled up in the White Co bedding (hopefully)

rossmacd

Is the breakfast service also hand delivered? I would be very disappointed to have have trolleys rolling down the aisle for breakfast whilst I can usually get another 40-50mins sleep.

corporate-wage-slave

No trolleys at all on that flight from start to finish so breakfast was hand delivered. And breakfast was served with less than an hour to landing, though the card suggests 75 minutes. Those who asked for a wake up just for tea/coffee would have received about 35 minutes before landing (card suggested 50 minutes), though usually the flight deck announcement at 40 minutes to landing would raise many passengers from their slumbers.

BingBongBoy

Looks very nice... I will look forward to experiencing it when I position to New York in a few weeks...

rossmacd

Great thanks - good news ^ I do not fancy having to rely on AA on an east coast overnight TATL as you do not get as much sleep as BA. The Bose headset collection and trolleys ensure that!

I can usually push my sleep to 20mins out after getting a gentle shake from the CC to get moving - they joys of sleeping tablets.

HilFly

The panini have replaced the bacon roll so it's bread replacing bread. The panini looks a big improvement over the bacon roll.

Frequent flyer 101

Given these service improvements, how does everyone feel about choosing BA vs AA for LHR-JFK flights?

msm2000uk

In one of the early posts, it was noted that the new bedding, had been delayed while a better material was sourced (IIRC).

Is there any update to this?

I'm flying to JFK, albeit on an early morning flight in November, but would obviously be keen to try out the upgraded product.

M

Prospero

So that we can focus our minds here on BA's new soft product on the JFK route, I have taken the liberty of moving two recent posts into a more suitable thread. See, http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/briti...k-opinion.html

Prospero
Moderator: BA forum

corporate-wage-slave

It's buried upthread a bit, but my understanding is that the new White Company bedding is on track for a mid October implementation (15 October target). The new amenity kit will come with that.

msm2000uk

Marvellous - many thanks CWS.

M

MPH1980

I've just come off the 175 this morning (seat 64K if anyone at BA wants to identify me and chat :-)) ...

I have a bit of mixed feelings about the new service.

Let's start with the positives:

Love the new glassware - the tumblers look great and the stemless glasses are much more stable.
Really like the non-slip trays they come with
The trolley with the starters looks good - although didn't notice the use of the wine carrier.
The entire experience feels much more premium.
The 'triple bread' was great
Smaller second meal was also excellent - I had the Tapas beef and it was packed with flavour, as were the two little cakes.

So I think presentation wise this is a great improvement.

But I really felt let down by the quality of the food on the main meal. Perhaps I was expecting too much.

1) When the starters were presented it was done as "today we have ..." and then they listed the two salad options (the burrata and the salmon) - but not the soup. Being me I figured they'd maybe had a problem with the soup and weren't offering it. Turns out they were - but because of the way it was presented, I missed out. Yes - I know I should have queried it - but I was trying to take the service in. Equally - if there are options there - it should be offered.

2) The burrata was fine for a standard salad, the main flavour came from the leaves - the tomato and the mozzarella were lacking.

3) I had the beef gnocchi and the beef was a tale of two pieces. The cheek (or at least I think it was cheek) was excellent. The 'steak' piece was typical BA leather. The dish had clearly been overcooked by the burnt stains around the gnocchi. Once I was finished - there was also a clear fat layer sitting on top of the remaining sauce. On the plus side - the gnocchi were tasty and soft - as was the asparagus.

4) The dessert - I went with the chocolate trio as it sounded so good. There was almost no hit of chocolate for me. With something like that - I expect an indulgent experience and it tasted more like eating a chocolate mousse from a supermarket.

5) The service *felt* slow. Tray came out. Wait 5 minutes. Starter offered. Finish starter, wait 10 minutes - cleared, wait 10 minutes - main etc.

The period with the tray but no starter was particularly painful.

I did raise all of this (except the dessert) with the crew. The CSL on the upper deck did say that they thought the beef should be in for less time. She also said it was only their second time of doing it and that they were *much* slower the first time.

I have a bunch of pictures (which are much the same as ones previously posted) - but
I was left feeling underwhelmed. Beyond the trappings of the service (which are great now), I couldn't feel the food itself had really been improved on (for the main meal).

I will admit the second meal was excellent - but that's always been a hallmark of the JFK route thanks to Do&Co being there for a while.

So there we go. Improved? Yes. Comprehensively improved (for me)? No.

I'll have to wait and see the new bedding experience to see if they've done enough.

corporate-wage-slave

Thanks for that constructive feedback, and I'll add it to the feedback email, maybe after Pascoe has reported back.

Two of the five items should be easily fixed and a third should not happen. I have suggested already that a "sample soup" should be put on the trolley. It is in the menu, but to keep it warm the standard is to prepare it in the galley and serve from there. If some of the first row passengers select it, it would still be warm enough for immediate service. Even on the rollout SOP, the crew were supposed to mention "and we have the soup available too".

The speed of service will definitely improve: I'm sure you remember all the complaints about the 787 in this area and that's now gone away.

Overcooking: that really shouldn't happen, and Do&Co are allegedly very prescriptive about cooking time. But there is this terrible habit (UK wide I suspect) of giving it "just another minute or two"....

MPH1980

Adding photos of overcooked beef, the fat layer and the whole dish for reference.