BRITINJAPAN3

NO, being Gold suggests ( but we dont know) loyalty to BA so then little experience of other airlines.

thinkingallowed

In my experience anyone who thinks CW meals are equal to QR J ones is trolling or flew QR on a bad day and really only thinks of food as fuel.

My experience with CW food is so bad that I am planning to take my own next time.

dylanks

On the return flight from this summer's JER Do, only KARFA and I received a greeting in 1D/F... our gold friends across the aisle were watching. JER-LGW is a rather short flight and it was easy to greet us both at once. It all went downhill from there when KARFA explained his excitement on that aircraft being the one A319/320 of BA's that he had not yet flown on.

aceman

why would BA bother to improve? The genius of having revenue share agreements with AA going west and QR going east means they get to put their feet up, its literally genius.


as an aside, for anyone doing the ex-eu QR fares, I've noted often that doing it as a multi city and returning directly to LHR instead of the EU jump off point can often be the same price, and occasionally cheaper.

Blueboys999

Doesn't being Gold with BAEC like every so-called 'loyalty' programme status simply indicate that the holder has met the necessary qualifying requirement of the particular scheme - nothing more, nothing less? Sticking with BA even for that isn't necessary.

The fact that so many people on these boards hold status in multiple programmes both within and outside the world of travel suggests that they have no 'loyalty' whatsoever in the traditional sense of the word.

Prospero

Other than the Arabic Meze, QR's meals have been a bit of a let down IME. The service is impeccably delivered and very polished but the food itself is a bit, well, meh to be honest.

BA's current Meze starter is also very good - tastes fresh with a variety of flavours.

Blueboys999

While I'm a fan of QR, to some extent I agree with that. A few things are exceptionally good but there is also a lot of pretty ordinary stuff as well.

Rather like dining at a restaurant, it's really the whole experience that makes for an enjoyable meal. Comfort, ambience and service are at least as important as the food itself and that's where QR has the upper hand for me.

OldFruity

Although slightly off thread and whilst we are comparing some elements of BA v QR the following pics are of a desert from BA F and a desert from QR J. Spot the difference ,bearing in mind that we eat with our eyes first. . The mains from both flights were on a par IMO.

Markie

For me, it's a bit of balancing act.

- QR - good on board, nice enough lounge (but won't let me in to First lounge), but 6-7 hour flights don't let me eat AND sleep. Ground and reservations services are hard to reach and customer service is rubbish. Planes change frequently, leaving you with a rubbish experience if you're unlucky.

- BA - well as GGL/Concorde Room - the ground experience is better. Problems usually get sorted in my favour when calling GGL help desk. Longer ex-LHR flights let me eat and sleep. Club is poor but I can often upgrade with a Joker and a voucher so don't mind.

If the QR fare is better, I will often put up with their problems.

corporate-wage-slave

All very good points I feel. I would highlight one particular factor:

- the sheer span of QR's fleet is extraordinary. One of my recent flights was on a 777 with seating far worse than the recently retired BA 767 service. No working power, very poor seat quality and a very poor IFE. Window passengers are trapped by the aisle passenger's seat. At the other end are QRs mini suites (not yet tried) and the very good A380 seats, albeit in a huge dorm. Now BA has many fleet variations too, but the span is much narrower and if you like the BA product as I do then after a few QR flights I was somewhat longing for my CW window seat.

Now I don't think anyone has said QR are perfect - they are not, and it's quite possible to come up with a heap of other niggles as we have seen upthread - the point is that we're lucky to have some good airlines in the oneworld alliance and some good choices. Equally on another day, another route, another aircraft, BA can easily outperform the rest of the pack.

Blueboys999

That raises a point which hasn’t been covered much in ths thread. All my travel these days is with my wife so we perhaps apply different criteria when choosing who to fly with. We find the current 777 QR cabin to be as good as it gets and aren’t fans of the Club seating arrangements. On the other hand if I was travelling alone it would’t be so clear cut.

Markie

All true - next week I am on BA B789, A321 and a QR B777, A380 an AA A330, A321 and an RJ B787 A320 - exciting stuff for a 10 day trip.

dodgeflyer

That is slightly selective though. Yes, the A380 is a big dorm, but so are some of BAs 777. Stepping over in QR is something you’d have to do on BA as well on a 777 as you know well (plus all other aircrafts...). The screen is better than anything BA offers unless you have an upgraded aircraft 380, 787 and some 777 on BA? On my last mid-J BA flight I could barely make out the people on the screen. At least the QR screen is of good resolution on the 777 if a bit far away. QR offer three seat variations, not including the Q-Suite which is one three or four aircrafts.

And the Q-Suite really does blow all other business product out of the market from a total viewpoint of privacy, comfort and design.

Now, the reason why BA can get away with the bare bones service and shoddy quality on many aircrafts (and a severely downgraded wine list) is that most people if given the choice would opt for direct if going to London. BAs market is London despite what people want them to be and personally I loathe a 6-hour flight plus and a 7-10 hour flight with QR over direct. For work I’d always chose direct if given the choice. I think BA is fairly aware of the product quality given that prior to the JV with QR BA was cheaper than QR, and on HKG flight cheaper than CX. And we’re talking home market airline vs foreign out of LHR.

EDIT: apol - CX/BA price similarly but price charges/fees differently. That said, for dates checked CX has very little I inventory but fully available on BA. And when booked days in advance which I do for work CX is often £3k more than BA.

corporate-wage-slave

There are at least 3 777 variations on QR that I've travelled on in the last 6 months. One of which isn't a step over, you cannot exit at all if the passenger has the table out or has the seat in a particular recline, they would need to straighten up. Yes it is selective, that was kind of the point I was making: namely on (e.g.) KUL you're comparing potentially a fairly ropy 777 from QR with a 787-9 from BA. Horses for courses, unless that is, you are travelling WTP or First. There again QR is probably going to be a lot cheaper. There is no perfect answer here.

roy2016

+1 so on point