Catering levels in BA First Class
Sep 21, 2018, 1:52 pm
#61
Join Date: May 2010
Location: UK
Posts: 5,380
The last four F flights I have taken have been priced at £200 more than J. The two I have coming up to/from SFO were also around the £200 mark more, perhaps £250. If denser seating arrangements and minimising catering waste allows such frankly amazing fares, then I have no complaints.
DorsetKnob - if you paid £10K for your F flights (did you, it wasn't clear?) then understandably you may hold a different opinion.
DorsetKnob - if you paid £10K for your F flights (did you, it wasn't clear?) then understandably you may hold a different opinion.
Sep 21, 2018, 3:00 pm
#62
Join Date: Apr 2014
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The last four F flights I have taken have been priced at £200 more than J. The two I have coming up to/from SFO were also around the £200 mark more, perhaps £250. If denser seating arrangements and minimising catering waste allows such frankly amazing fares, then I have no complaints.
DorsetKnob - if you paid £10K for your F flights (did you, it wasn't clear?) then understandably you may hold a different opinion.
DorsetKnob - if you paid £10K for your F flights (did you, it wasn't clear?) then understandably you may hold a different opinion.
Sep 21, 2018, 3:04 pm
#63
Join Date: May 2010
Location: UK
Posts: 5,380
No I didn't!! I have only paid for 1st where it was at the value you describe or even where 1st was less than J. However at the time I booked the figures I quoted were what BA would sell me a ticket for as opposed to AVIOS. However that should not impact the offering.
Sep 21, 2018, 3:25 pm
#64
Join Date: Apr 2014
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A fair point! However I would still maintain the risk of pissing off premium passengers which seems to be medium to high can be mitigated for negligible cost so it would make sense to spend the money. In most other businesses you would not take this risk. For example my wife will travel with me this weekend, doesn't travel a huge amount, but knows the airline business. She can't get her 1st choice meal because i chose it, there are only 2 of us in a 1st BA cabin, what will be her memory? What will she tell her friends? Not how fantastic it was we had a cabin to ourselves & what wonderful serve.....but.... wow BA are really .... we flew 1st & there were only 2 of us & I they still ran out of what I wanted to eat! Now I am exaggerating as we've also flown 1st & CC have offered my wife a 2nd helping of the main as they thought it was a little on the small side.
Sep 21, 2018, 3:50 pm
#65
Join Date: May 2010
Location: UK
Posts: 5,380
A fair point! However I would still maintain the risk of pissing off premium passengers which seems to be medium to high can be mitigated for negligible cost so it would make sense to spend the money. In most other businesses you would not take this risk. For example my wife will travel with me this weekend, doesn't travel a huge amount, but knows the airline business. She can't get her 1st choice meal because i chose it, there are only 2 of us in a 1st BA cabin, what will be her memory? What will she tell her friends? Not how fantastic it was we had a cabin to ourselves & what wonderful serve.....but.... wow BA are really .... we flew 1st & there were only 2 of us & I they still ran out of what I wanted to eat! Now I am exaggerating as we've also flown 1st & CC have offered my wife a 2nd helping of the main as they thought it was a little on the small side.
Seriously, though all airlines take this 'risk'. No airlines cater 100% for all passengers for all menu items. So the line has to be drawn somewhere. Personally I've never not been able to get my first choice of anything in F, and if I didn't, does it really matter to me that much? No! I'll order something else I fancy instead. Sometimes I think it is possible to get anxious that a special experience will be spoilt unless everything is perfect, and in the process of worrying the experience and enjoyable anticipation can be spoilt.
Sep 21, 2018, 4:51 pm
#66
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The difference is that AF and SQ rarely go as low in terms of promotions and certainly do not make F reward/upgrades as readily available, so on BA, you "also" get those very cheap F tickets, but for top paying passengers, there is effectively no discount whatsoever in booking BA, and at £10k return or more, one can perhaps see a little bit better why they might be miffed if they are being told that there is no muesli for them in a cabin with only two passengers, especially if their point of comparison is, precisely, AF or SQ.
Sep 21, 2018, 5:49 pm
#67
Join Date: Jan 2008
Posts: 3,835
As demonstrated by some of the other airlines mentioned.
The fact BA don’t flex the ratio upwards sufficiently in lightly loaded cabins to maintain probabilities is as mathematically infuriating as much as anything else.
Sep 22, 2018, 5:16 am
#68
Join Date: May 2010
Location: UK
Posts: 5,380
In that case, I'll make a guess that it means that you book F flights primarily when they are on sale/promotion? Absolutely nothing wrong with that, and I can understand that when it is the case one may have different expectations, but it would be well worth remembering that most passengers in F on some key routes like JFK, LAX, HKG have actually paid full fare. Full fare F on BA is not cheap, in fact it is not any cheaper than the fares offered by the "super stars" of the F world like AF or SQ.
The difference is that AF and SQ rarely go as low in terms of promotions and certainly do not make F reward/upgrades as readily available, so on BA, you "also" get those very cheap F tickets, but for top paying passengers, there is effectively no discount whatsoever in booking BA, and at £10k return or more, one can perhaps see a little bit better why they might be miffed if they are being told that there is no muesli for them in a cabin with only two passengers, especially if their point of comparison is, precisely, AF or SQ.
The difference is that AF and SQ rarely go as low in terms of promotions and certainly do not make F reward/upgrades as readily available, so on BA, you "also" get those very cheap F tickets, but for top paying passengers, there is effectively no discount whatsoever in booking BA, and at £10k return or more, one can perhaps see a little bit better why they might be miffed if they are being told that there is no muesli for them in a cabin with only two passengers, especially if their point of comparison is, precisely, AF or SQ.
Sep 22, 2018, 3:07 pm
#69
Join Date: Feb 2005
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Sep 22, 2018, 3:16 pm
#70
Join Date: Feb 2014
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I have to say I have never been refused my F first choice meal. Also on flights from SIN to LHR, my pattern is choose meal, go sleep 7 hours, wake up and have a movie and a meal (usually 2 mains and 2 starters - I just tell the crew to bring me anything left over and my main choices), and then sleep until landing - never bothering with breakfast on BA...
Sep 23, 2018, 2:31 am
#71
Join Date: Sep 2013
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Posts: 6,395
Sounds a little far-fetched, though I guess the world of travel is full of surprises.
Maybe a Wetherspoon’s on-board franchise operation ? They do great breakfasts (and tend not to run out of the scrambled eggs option, after serving just one person)
Maybe a Wetherspoon’s on-board franchise operation ? They do great breakfasts (and tend not to run out of the scrambled eggs option, after serving just one person
)
Sep 23, 2018, 3:20 am
#72
Join Date: May 2013
Posts: 6,349
No I didn't!! I have only paid for 1st where it was at the value you describe or even where 1st was less than J. However at the time I booked the figures I quoted were what BA would sell me a ticket for as opposed to AVIOS. However that should not impact the offering.
Indeed, or do away with F.
Sep 23, 2018, 3:24 am
#73
Moderator: British Airways Executive Club
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Sep 23, 2018, 3:59 am
#74
FlyerTalk Evangelist
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In that case, I'll make a guess that it means that you book F flights primarily when they are on sale/promotion? Absolutely nothing wrong with that, and I can understand that when it is the case one may have different expectations, but it would be well worth remembering that most passengers in F on some key routes like JFK, LAX, HKG have actually paid full fare. Full fare F on BA is not cheap, in fact it is not any cheaper than the fares offered by the "super stars" of the F world like AF or SQ.
The difference is that AF and SQ rarely go as low in terms of promotions and certainly do not make F reward/upgrades as readily available, so on BA, you "also" get those very cheap F tickets, but for top paying passengers, there is effectively no discount whatsoever in booking BA, and at £10k return or more, one can perhaps see a little bit better why they might be miffed if they are being told that there is no muesli for them in a cabin with only two passengers, especially if their point of comparison is, precisely, AF or SQ.
The difference is that AF and SQ rarely go as low in terms of promotions and certainly do not make F reward/upgrades as readily available, so on BA, you "also" get those very cheap F tickets, but for top paying passengers, there is effectively no discount whatsoever in booking BA, and at £10k return or more, one can perhaps see a little bit better why they might be miffed if they are being told that there is no muesli for them in a cabin with only two passengers, especially if their point of comparison is, precisely, AF or SQ.
But there are very few companies willing to pay full fare F nowadays. The time when investment banks and insurance companies would pay £10k for any executive is gone. Companies have corporate contracts where they can get F at a hefty discount, but even then, travel policies often impose J.That leaves the very top management and a few wealthy individual.
But BA has to fill 14 F seats per most plane, a tall order of business. Most pax are awards (including a lot of upgrades from paid J) and heavily-discounted fares.
I like the system used by some airlines (like DL) to ask for meal choice by status. And guys forking £10k are likely to have high status. I don't know if BA does the same.
You mention AF, but it has a different business model. Very few planes are equipped with F and most of those (77W) have only four F seats.
Sep 23, 2018, 4:27 am
#75
Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club, easyJet and Ryanair
Join Date: Sep 2011
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That's a rather drastic solution to a relatively uncommon problem! I'm sure most would prefer to choose the chicken in substitution for the pork belly - rather that than not be able to travel in the First cabin. Despite some of its faults some of us are generally happy with the BA First proposition. I for one would certainly not want to see it go.