Two very different First flights.
#31
Join Date: Sep 2013
Programs: BAEC Gold, EK Skywards (enhanced Blue !), Oman Air Sindbad Gold
Posts: 6,399
#32
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: In the air
Programs: Hyatt Globalist, Bonvoy LT Plat, Hilton Gold, GHA Tit, BA Gold, Turkish Elite
Posts: 8,720
The range of service in BA F between extraordinary and welcoming through to lazy, poorly trained and at worst bad attitude has to be more than any other class of any other airline I've flown. Luckily the great and good flights far outweigh the bad ones, but there should never be flights in F which make you yearn for at least the kind of treatment you get on a good flight with EasyJet.
I get agitated when something I make a large (for me) investment in isn't delivered well so I don't take BA F very often any more, but I will say the service on my one BA F flight this year was much closer to perfect than to bad.
I get agitated when something I make a large (for me) investment in isn't delivered well so I don't take BA F very often any more, but I will say the service on my one BA F flight this year was much closer to perfect than to bad.
#33
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: Provincie Antwerpen, Vlaanderen, België
Programs: MUCCI Gold
Posts: 2,512
Crew are human beings like the rest of us and will inevitably have off days. We shouldn't hold that against them, and maybe we don't know if there is some reason in the background for it. But to be honest I find it equally tiresome to adopt a glib "I find it hard to believe" that basically insinuates that the poster to whom the reply was directed is lying.
Believe it, because it *does* - however rarely - happen.
#34
Join Date: Sep 2013
Programs: BAEC Gold, EK Skywards (enhanced Blue !), Oman Air Sindbad Gold
Posts: 6,399
You really don’t understand how many other duties the SCCM has onboard, why should you, but BA have made it that we are part of the service in CW and giving these customers my full attention is a priority, greeting to First and GCHs come second and third.
I always manage these on day flights but on night departures it can be very difficult.
Please don’t judge a crew on if you do or do not get a SCCM welcome.
I always manage these on day flights but on night departures it can be very difficult.
Please don’t judge a crew on if you do or do not get a SCCM welcome.
The fact remains, however, that the fundamental characteristic of a first class airline cabin (much like any top level hotel, whether chain or individual) should be the warmth of welcome received upon boarding (or at reception).
From what you say, BA management have set out responsibilities for the SCCM in such a way that personal recognition of First and/or GCH's cannot always be your top priority - in contrast to the modus operandi of other carriers.
No escaping the point that it all comes back to inconsistency.
#35
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: London
Programs: Mucci. Nothing else matters.
Posts: 38,644
The LHR-JNB flight was dreadful. I think it may have been our first First. It was dismally disappointing.
The JNB-LHR flight, in constrast, was fantastic - right up there with the best First experiences that we've ever had. The crew couldn't have been lovelier and we couldn't have been looked after better on a night flight of that duration.
And yes, it had been a short-ish weekend in JNB. Two nights, when WW was still doing JNB. So yes, it was exactly the same crew on the way back as we'd had on the outbound.
I do remind myself of that sometimes when there's a flight that's really not so good.
#36
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2002
Programs: Mucci des Hommes Magiques et Magnifiques
Posts: 19,097
This !!
Point taken and fair comment CIHY, ref the myriad of duties involved - and also the fact that the crew should not be judged solely on the welcome, or lack thereof.
The fact remains, however, that the fundamental characteristic of a first class airline cabin (much like any top level hotel, whether chain or individual) should be the warmth of welcome received upon boarding (or at reception).
From what you say, BA management have set out responsibilities for the SCCM in such a way that personal recognition of First and/or GCH's cannot always be your top priority - in contrast to the modus operandi of other carriers.
No escaping the point that it all comes back to inconsistency.
Point taken and fair comment CIHY, ref the myriad of duties involved - and also the fact that the crew should not be judged solely on the welcome, or lack thereof.
The fact remains, however, that the fundamental characteristic of a first class airline cabin (much like any top level hotel, whether chain or individual) should be the warmth of welcome received upon boarding (or at reception).
From what you say, BA management have set out responsibilities for the SCCM in such a way that personal recognition of First and/or GCH's cannot always be your top priority - in contrast to the modus operandi of other carriers.
No escaping the point that it all comes back to inconsistency.
#37
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: In the air
Programs: Hyatt Globalist, Bonvoy LT Plat, Hilton Gold, GHA Tit, BA Gold, Turkish Elite
Posts: 8,720
The LHR-JNB flight was dreadful. I think it may have been our first First. It was dismally disappointing.
The JNB-LHR flight, in constrast, was fantastic - right up there with the best First experiences that we've ever had. The crew couldn't have been lovelier and we couldn't have been looked after better on a night flight of that duration.
The JNB-LHR flight, in constrast, was fantastic - right up there with the best First experiences that we've ever had. The crew couldn't have been lovelier and we couldn't have been looked after better on a night flight of that duration.
I used to do the ~600GBP upgrades from J from time to time when I wanted to enjoy some good food and drink as opposed to sleep on the route and it tended not to show BA at its best.
Last edited by EuropeanPete; Oct 26, 2017 at 1:03 pm
#38
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: London
Programs: BAEC Gold
Posts: 186
Actually, when you quantify the whole flight and situation, her eye roll was appropriate for her general demeanor and the situation.
I'm not in the habit of making up stories, or scenarios, just for the sake of it. Thank you very much. However, your insinuation most definitely deserves your very own eye roll for that. Have a lovely evening. x
Last edited by London32; Oct 26, 2017 at 1:22 pm
#39
Join Date: Feb 2005
Programs: EL AL Matmid, BA Executive Club GfL, GGL/CCR, Hilton Diamond, Avis President's Club
Posts: 2,085
In my (relatively limited) experience, you get good crews and bad crews on all airlines. My own experience is that I have found less variance on BA than the airline I previously flew on very regularly, but that cuts both ways: I would get some totally lazy crews sometimes, and some really top class ones on other occasions. With BA I find I get fewer of both, and most sit somewhere in the middle.
#40
Moderator: British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: TPA/ABZ
Programs: BA Lifetime Gold. GGL/CCR.
Posts: 13,250
I didn't say that and I was certainly not suggesting the OP made it up.
I find it hard to believe that a crew member would do it. I also find it hard to believe that two golfers in the same group each had a hole-in-one in consecutive shots but it happened.
I find it hard to believe that a crew member would do it. I also find it hard to believe that two golfers in the same group each had a hole-in-one in consecutive shots but it happened.
#41
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: Provincie Antwerpen, Vlaanderen, België
Programs: MUCCI Gold
Posts: 2,512
I didn't say that and I was certainly not suggesting the OP made it up.
I find it hard to believe that a crew member would do it. I also find it hard to believe that two golfers in the same group each had a hole-in-one in consecutive shots but it happened.
I find it hard to believe that a crew member would do it. I also find it hard to believe that two golfers in the same group each had a hole-in-one in consecutive shots but it happened.
In any case, the OP above apparently didn't much appreciate the sentiments either.
#42
Join Date: Sep 2013
Programs: BAEC Gold, EK Skywards (enhanced Blue !), Oman Air Sindbad Gold
Posts: 6,399
Hmm. Gotta love the wacky analogy
No great surprise that the double hole-in-one incident made the news - simply because it's so rare as to be virtually unheard of.
From the BBC report :
"The National Hole-In-One-Registry has calculated the odds of two players from the same foursome acing the same hole as 17 million to 1."
I'm pretty sure that most people (though perhaps not yourself, golfmad ....?) would deem the odds of witnessing a discourteous facial expression from a member of BA staff as somewhat shorter than 17 million to 1.
No great surprise that the double hole-in-one incident made the news - simply because it's so rare as to be virtually unheard of.
From the BBC report :
"The National Hole-In-One-Registry has calculated the odds of two players from the same foursome acing the same hole as 17 million to 1."
I'm pretty sure that most people (though perhaps not yourself, golfmad ....?) would deem the odds of witnessing a discourteous facial expression from a member of BA staff as somewhat shorter than 17 million to 1.
#43
Moderator: British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: TPA/ABZ
Programs: BA Lifetime Gold. GGL/CCR.
Posts: 13,250
Such an act would be worthy of derision, absurd, preposterous and in some circumstances, laughable but wait, that's the definition of ridiculous you provided above
#44
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: Provincie Antwerpen, Vlaanderen, België
Programs: MUCCI Gold
Posts: 2,512
I must genuinely be missing something here. I said that it would be ridiculous for a crew member to make an eye-rolling gesture to a passenger in F who requested more service.
Such an act would be worthy of derision, absurd, preposterous and in some circumstances, laughable but wait, that's the definition of ridiculous you provided above
Such an act would be worthy of derision, absurd, preposterous and in some circumstances, laughable but wait, that's the definition of ridiculous you provided above
Suggesting that it's hard to believe risks conveying the message that somehow perhaps the OP got it wrong, made it up or otherwise embellished their account for theatrical effect. I think that's unfair, and it's an unfortunate aspect of this forum that some choose to adopt a position that if they haven't experienced it, then it can't possibly have happened.
Last edited by V10; Oct 26, 2017 at 4:53 pm Reason: grammar
#45
Ambassador: Emirates Airlines
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Manchester, UK
Posts: 18,618
BA F is extremely inconsistent.