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New Club World Service 2017 - catering and bedding – experiences and reactions

Old Jan 19, 2018, 5:19 pm
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Last edit by: makin'miles
New Club World Service 2017

Effective July 6, 2018, new bedding products expected to be on all Club World flights, worldwide (including LHR, LGW and LCY services).

New catering and bedding

Routes on which the new catering and bedding are in operation.
Launched October 2017
London Heathrow - New York JFK
Launched February 2018 (all from London Heathrow LHR):
Boston (BOS), Baltimore (BWI), Dubai (DXB), Newark (EWR), Philadelphia (PHL), Washington (IAD), Hong Kong (HKG)
Launched March 2018 (LHR)
San Francisco (SFO), Los Angeles (LAX), San José (SJC), San Diego (SAN). Las Vegas (LAS), Phoenix (PHX), Seychelles (SEZ from 25 March)
Launched 4 April 2018 (LHR)
Houston (IAH), Miami (MIA), Dallas Fort Worth (DFW), New Orleans (MSY).
Launched 1 May 2018 (LHR) - (Bedding previously launched on DEN, ATL, SEA, YVR)
Denver (DEN), Atlanta (ATL), Austin (AUS), Nassau-Grand Cayman (NAS-GCM), Seattle (SEA), Vancouver (YVR), Calgary (YYC), Nashville (BNA)
Launched 17 May 2018 (LHR) - (Catering previously launched on ORD, YUL, YYZ)
Toronto (YYZ), Montréal (YUL), Chicago (ORD)
Launched 1 July 2018 (LHR) - (Bedding previously launched on CPT, JNB, SIN, SIN-SYD)
Cape Town (CPT), Johannesburg (JNB), Singapore (SIN), Singapore-Sydney (SIN-SYD)
Launched 1 August 2018 (LHR) - (Bedding previously launched)
Abu Dhabi (AUH), Bahrain (BAH)
Launched 1 September 2018 (LHR) - (Bedding previously launched)
Delhi (DEL), Kuwait (KWI), Muscat (MCT)
Launched 1 October 2018 (LHR) - (Bedding previously launched)
Buenos Aires (EZE), Jeddah (JED), Mexico City (MEX), Rio de Janeiro (GIG), Riyadh (RUH), Santiago (SCL), Sao Paulo (GRU), Tokyo Haneda (HND), Tokyo Narita (NRT)
Launched 28 October 2018 (LHR) - (Bedding previously launched)
Abuja (ABV), Accra (ACC), Bangkok (BKK), Bangalore (BLR), Beijing (PEK), Chennai (MAA), Hyderabad (HYD), Kuala Lumpur (KUL), Lagos (LOS), Mumbai (BOM), Nairobi (NBO), Shanghai (PVG)

Launched 2018
London City (LCY) - New York (JFK)

Bedding only routes (as of 31 May 2018)
Bedding now launched on all LHR services
AMM, BEY, CAI, DME, DOH, ICN, IKA, LAD, TLV (IKA and LAD routes subsequently terminated; catering on remaining LHR routes expected to launch in December 2018).

LGW routes: White Company products expected to be on all LGW flights effective 06 July 2018, at which time all Club World routes worldwide will feature the new bedding product (see post 1367). Reports that new bedding loaded on LGW-JFK in late June (see post 1349).
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New Club World Service 2017 - catering and bedding – experiences and reactions

Old Oct 19, 2017, 2:50 pm
  #436  
 
Join Date: Sep 2013
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Originally Posted by Calchas
Porque no los dos?
Se trata de prioridades
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Old Oct 20, 2017, 3:37 pm
  #437  
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
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I’d love to see more pics of this service, especially the mains. I admit to not having tried the service yet so will try and keep an open mind but my worry is that the tendency for BA CC / procedures to overheat food is not going to augur well even with DO&CO on board.

I just wish BA had been bolder with this, in fact that’s what I expected when AC said there would be a total reset of Club World catering. It is not a total reset, the menus are broadly similar, the food is still cooked too long in the receptacle it is served in and the wines are untouched.

I do have a thing for food myself and am perhaps not representative because I have strong and specific views. However, what I will say is that British food has changed a lot over the last decade and I don’t really feel BA is reflecting the most of what our country now has to offer.

I recently flew on Qantas and was blown away by the food. You could compare BA and Qantas as legacy airlines with high cost bases. This is what was served as the second meal on a SYD - PVG sector, goats cheese tortellini with pine nuts currants and brown butter:



On the side was superb bread, which could have easily come from Gail’s, and an artisanal cultured butter. This was exactly the kind of meal I would eat in the ground whereas with BA, even in First, it’s always a variation on ‘plane food’.
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Old Oct 20, 2017, 3:58 pm
  #438  
 
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Totally agree. Qantas for me is probably overall favourite J class especially with the new seat. Food is simple and fresh and not overly heavy generally. Some decent wine and always had brilliant crews. Had one of my best inflight meals earlier this year. Lunch from SYD-AKL. Very simple but delicious salad. You also can't beat a good meat pie in J on a late afternoon domestic!
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Old Oct 20, 2017, 11:43 pm
  #439  
 
Join Date: Sep 2011
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Originally Posted by AAtticus
Having flown on QR more this year I have to say the extra bedding in J makes all the difference. Luckily they do make your bed for you .
I just flew back AKL-DOH-LHR on QR. Bedding and bed make-up service on the 777LR (old style J seat) AKL-DOH but nothing (I asked) on the A380 night service from DOH...

i found the A380 J seat a bit hard and uncomfortable, even with an extra folded blanket as a “mattress topper”. Great service though.

i was upgraded to J from LHR-MEL on A380. Nice big seat but food and service was the same as J (I.e. J service is on a par with F).
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Old Oct 21, 2017, 1:17 am
  #440  
sxc
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Originally Posted by choosethedrew

I recently flew on Qantas and was blown away by the food. You could compare BA and Qantas as legacy airlines with high cost bases. This is what was served as the second meal on a SYD - PVG sector, goats cheese tortellini with pine nuts currants and brown butter:



On the side was superb bread, which could have easily come from Gail’s, and an artisanal cultured butter. This was exactly the kind of meal I would eat in the ground whereas with BA, even in First, it’s always a variation on ‘plane food’.
I agree with QF generally having excellent food. But this was my second meal in J on SYD-HKG
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Old Oct 21, 2017, 1:33 am
  #441  
 
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Originally Posted by sxc
I agree with QF generally having excellent food. But this was my second meal in J on SYD-HKG
Oh dear! What was that, chicken wings? Mind you I’d rather have that than afternoon tea sandwiches.

At least your coffee looked nice?!
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Old Oct 21, 2017, 1:34 am
  #442  
sxc
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Originally Posted by choosethedrew
Oh dear! What was that, chicken wings? Mind you I’d rather have that than afternoon tea sandwiches.

At least your coffee looked nice?!
It was bbq pork noodles with black tea. No bread nothing else. Tasted fine but disapppointing for a second meal on an 8.5hr flight.

The other option was beignets - 3 deep fried dumpling things served in the same sized bowl.
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Old Oct 21, 2017, 2:43 am
  #443  
 
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Originally Posted by sxc
It was bbq pork noodles with black tea. No bread nothing else. Tasted fine but disapppointing for a second meal on an 8.5hr flight.

The other option was beignets - 3 deep fried dumpling things served in the same sized bowl.
I thought the reflection in your tea was milk foam HKG seems to get a raw deal on QF because it’s a lot longer than SIN (from SYD) but has the same catering. It obviously takes the 10h+ sectors for Qantas’ catering to shine.

But what I do applaud on Qantas is a more relaxed approach with an emphasis on freshness and quality. I wish BA would be a bit more like that but I guess there are also cultural differences at play.
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Old Oct 21, 2017, 2:49 am
  #444  
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I too like QF food (some people complain about portion sizes but I really like what they serve) but could I suggest that we keep those comparisons for another thread? Comparative threads add a lot of value, but this one is about an important service innovation trialled by BA and maybe discussing it directly would make the thread less confusing, especially where the comparison is not even to the new service to start with?
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Old Oct 21, 2017, 2:54 am
  #445  
 
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Thanks Orbitmic.

The BA forum constantly derails and talks about other airlines normally Qatar and Qantas
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Old Oct 21, 2017, 7:09 am
  #446  
 
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OK legs slapped. It’s just hard to talk about this new service without benchmarking it against the competition.
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Old Oct 21, 2017, 9:51 am
  #447  
 
Join Date: Nov 2009
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Originally Posted by Can I help you
I here we are changing to full bottles of spirts in the New Year.
Wouldn't that cause a lot of potential waste due to open bottles needing to be dumped/emptied before landing, at least into the US, in order to not run afoul with some customs or tax free treatment rules?

Whenever we're getting closer to landing into the US I have often volunteered my services to reduce open champagne bottle waste
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Old Oct 21, 2017, 9:59 am
  #448  
 
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Originally Posted by choosethedrew
I’d love to see more pics of this service, especially the mains. AC said there would be a total reset of Club World catering. It is not a total reset, the menus are broadly similar
There should be quite a few pictures around, the mains seem unchanged and indentical to all the routes DO&CO have catered for ages already (flights from east coast USA, ORD etc.) - despite the brand name, some of the mains on the A380 are typically nicer.
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Old Oct 21, 2017, 10:09 am
  #449  
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Originally Posted by teemuflyer
Wouldn't that cause a lot of potential waste due to open bottles needing to be dumped/emptied before landing, at least into the US, in order to not run afoul with some customs or tax free treatment rules?

Whenever we're getting closer to landing into the US I have often volunteered my services to reduce open champagne bottle waste
Our bars are not landed into the US but return to London, also when counting bars for customs purposes we can declare part bottles of spirits.
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Old Oct 21, 2017, 10:12 am
  #450  
 
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Originally Posted by Can I help you
Our bars are not landed into the US but return to London, also when counting bars for customs purposes we can declare part bottles of spirits.
Interesting! ...although I will till volunteer my champagne waste reduction services
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