HIDDY

As one would expect. Even I've had a bit of a moan on here about my BA F experiences....and they were years ago before the days of Mixed Fleet and c-w-s.

TabTraveller

But it isn't just BA. It's AA. And CX. And QR. And EY. And NH. And... etc.

All airlines are consistent only in their inconsistency. You sometimes get a great crew, sometimes the service leaves much to be desired. I've had poor flights on all of the above carriers in J and F. I've also had really great flights.

I think the issue is the level of expectation, especially amongst those for whom F is an infrequent treat or a "once in a lifetime" opportunity. If you fly frequently in premium cabins, then any bad experience gets averaged out in the grand scheme of your annual travel and you learn not to get too hung up on the odd crap flight, however annoying it might be in the moment. The next one will probably be great. Where someone doesn't have a large sample size, I feel they probably have less realistic expectations going into it and a greater sense of injustice if those expectations are not met.

Ancient Observer

Subject to load makes a fair point.
I remember hearing of one complaint to Dulux about "stains" in their paint, which he had applied to his internal walls.. The complainant phoned up, and the switchboard put him through to the phone number of the Global CEO. (Way above the UK boss). The PA took the number, and when the CEO had a spare moment, he rang up the complainant. Complainant was surprised. Complaint fixed pronto.
The other people who seem to be so much better than BA at Service recovery are Amazon. If ever I have had a problem with Amazon, deliveries, it is fixed quickly with a phone call. Amazon have far more customers than BA, operate at much smaller margins, yet fix problems as they want repeat customers.
BA do not really want repeat customers.............even Golds in F.

Ned1968

LHR to MCT is over Ł3,300 return in First - that's Ł1,650 plus each way. It isn't unreasonable to expect that when you pay Ł1,650 that everything works, that you get good service, and eat and drink well. These are basic things. If the interior light in my car doesn't work I fix it; BA has an army of people to fix things when they break. If a professional designer creates something that is too fragile for daily use, then change it (and sack the designer). It is simply unacceptable and says "BA don't really care"

TabTraveller

I think you somewhat miss my point. Or perhaps demonstrate it.

subject2load

MumbaiDan

BA has won the race to the bottom. Just arrived in LHR after a flight from Haneda in First. The toilets were so dirty I can not even describe it.
Everything about that relatively new 777-300ER was filthy. The food was between bad and disgusting (bean curd with parma ham - are you kidding me?!). The senior (in age) flight attendants lost any interest in servicing us passengers. The wine selection was cheap. I feel really depressed after this flight. When will the Management of this company start doing something about this????

DYKWIA

When you and others stop flying them

TabTraveller

It's actually very dissimilar though. Your suit is a one time purchase of an item that you might hope to retain and use for a few years. If you've had a suit tailored before you'll know the process involves multiple fittings and adjustments to get it perfect. The first time is never right. This isn't exactly the sort of approach you can readily replicate at 30,000ft. All airlines provide a public transportation service to their customers. This service is delivered by humans, some of whom will be great at their jobs and others will be less good. They have one opportunity to get it right and even the best crews can sometimes be tripped up by bad circumstances.

My mindset is purely pragmatic. Many have high expectations because they don't fly first frequently, think Ł3k is a substantial amount of money and believe that first class travel should be luxurious. Sure, it's the nicest seat on the bus. But let's not forget, you are still on a bus.

nufnuf77

I am doing 4 F segments between LHR-TYO this year, and I am not ashamed to admit all of them on JAL. I like BA, but I would always choose JAL F over BA F. Same with CX to HKG.

TabTraveller

Two other airlines operate the route directly. What made you pick BA?

Ned1968

Apologies for any confusion on my part. You've got me wondering what it was now - perhaps you can elucidate again :-)

Mine is that there is a basic level of expectation that BA regularly fails to meet. I remember my "first First" years ago and the excitement leading up to the trip. Many "Firsts" later obviously I don't feel the same anticipation, but I still expect the basics of First class. Regardless of how many times you travel you expect things in an economy seat environment to work. The bar for First must be a little higher, for every airline and especially when they hype the experience. Other airlines might also suffer from inconsistency, but I suspect the basics are delivered more regularly. At any rate, it's the BA board so it's BA that matters. They have rivals introducing entire suites in First class cabins and still struggle to give you a meal and a light that works.

subject2load

PETER01

Well just to add to the thread of my own recent experience yesterday in paid F on the 789 and a single data point of course but here we go.

CCR- Attentive service, capacity was about half full I'd say. I had the Porridge with honey and raisins which was very tasty, probably as good as I've ever tasted and as a Scotsman I know my Porridges! I never went for the full English as I planned to scoff myself on board.

I checked the cleanliness of the tables on the terraces, clean watched the staff who were very pro-active in clearing tables and taking orders. The new furniture is very nice in my opinion.

Boarding/Food/Service - I had SSSS again, 2 times out of 3 in the last 2 months but this turned out to be an advantage as I was on board a few minutes before everyone else.

Shown to my seat and turned out to be a fantastic crew, genuinely friendly including the CSD. Very genuine and as it turned out a very polished team. I checked the seat area around me and it was spotlessly clean. I even ran my fingers in the cubby holes, windows and wardrobe and no dust/grime. (in 1K, 2F and 2K) Service and food was excellent and the warm Prawn noodle salad was amazing. Braised Beef was very nice as was the ice cream which I had along with another dessert, Rhubarb and Almond Dome. Lovely.

Regular top up's, I had 4 glasses of LPGS before we took off and I was one out of three on the 'K' side. Over the almost 11 hour flight I could see the F crew being genuinely friendly with the passengers providing very good service. In general this mirrored my F experience in the A380 at the end of last year.

subject2load, I see you have a 789 F flight coming up but if you experienced what I had yesterday I am sure you will enjoy it and it will be interesting to read your experiences and I genuinely hope you enjoy it. I agree the OP had a below par which is not acceptable and I hope the OP gets some recompense.

Finally, what I would say is that by their own admission many have NOT flown BA for quite some time and I find it hard to comprehend how people can comment when they have no recent experience, even in the not having been on BA for a few years.

Yes I have been on QR J, QF F and J, CX F, AA F and J before etc etc and all in all I still prefer BA overall as a package. I can choose who I want when travelling as a leisure flyer and who I spend my money on is important to me and I genuinely have no agenda, only to experience what suits me best. Include the BAEC, route network to the USA in that and this fare was an ex-Scandinavia Ł1200 for paid F and then WTP UuA in J back then that's a good deal so I guess I am one of the 'cheap' fare hunters on here like many, many others.

I'm back to California next month and April too, both trips in WTP so I fully expect I will again receive consistently good service with BA again, which for me personally is the norm and not the exception. YMMV as always.

ETA:L CSD was doing a Magnum run in F and I recommend the Strawberry one!

Pete

TabTraveller

My point is that very frequently BA, like most other airlines I fly, get it right. The light works. The food is as ordered. The champagne is cold. The caviar is... oh ok, not on BA. Anyway, life is good. You are totally right to generally expect things to work. However.

Things don't always work perfectly, regardless of how much you've paid for your seat and whether you can see the wing or not. Mostly this is down to human error. It sometimes happens on all carriers I mentioned, most of whom I fly at least a couple of times a year in F. Check out the other boards in FT if you want more colour on these inconsistencies. Those who don't fly F regularly, who get caught up in the marketing puff, who excite themselves pouring over trip reports and researching the prices of wines on board are bound to suffer severe disappointment if something doesn't meet their expectations. Those who are perhaps more pragmatic are sanguine and most likely end up being happier with the experience overall.