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Andriyko

Talk about the real world and alternative facts... Please re-read the post I first commented on - it said nothing about a bad experience in F... But if it comforts you in any way, please continue to think that I took the discussion off topic.

itsmeitisss

You can get service like this on QR too. A few weeks ago from CWL to DOH, I asked for some water with my wine and the CSD equivalent pointed to the water in the seat. I asked if she would mind bringing me water in a glass, and she again pointed to the bottle of water. I told her politely that I would prefer to save that for later and would much prefer a glass of water. She sighed, rolled her eyes and stomped down to the galley to get it. QR isn't necessarily the haven it is often described as on BAEC FT.

Yes, I've made a complaint about her attitude and behaviour and if people don't, then they are as bad as those that leave poor reviews on Trip Advisor without speaking to anyone to give a chance for rectification and improvement.

Andriyko

This happened to me on AA a few times, although I did not have to repeat my request twice after I said that I preferred to keep the bottle for later.

Prospero

While there may be some truth to this, I don’t think this really applies to corporate F bookings as only a very few employees have the privilege of a fly First policy. If I recall correctly, corporate customers account for about a quarter of BA’s total customer base. I might be slightly off on the actual figure but the recorded stat can be gleaned from last months IAG Invested Day deck. So I’d wager that the vast majority of F customers are well heeled individuals supplemented by redemption ticket holders and curporates taking advantage of seasonal upgrade promotions.

Oaxaca

The totality of the OP's experience in a single flight is definitely not the norm IME, but many of the individual disappointments they expressed are recognisable. Some of these are avoidable with experience of BA First, but it shouldn't be necessary to "know what to do". The OP's experience seems to have been blighted by a poor crew, which is pretty much disastrous for any experience with BA.

Most of the crews I've had in F (and on BA generally) have been good to very good, but my biggest bugbear, which includes many of the good crews, is the regular failure to explain proactively the flexibility in timing and choice of the F dining. It would be very easy to start the order-taking by saying "you are free to dine when you want and we will try to accommodate any combination of choices you make from the menu" (e.g. two starters or cheese and dessert). This proactive offer rarely happens, but will usually be accommodated when requested. The OP appears to have encountered a poor response to such a request, compounding the issue.

First (generally, and certainly as marketed by BA, even if that diverges from reality), is meant to be about excellence. Excellence is as much about consistency of delivery as it is about the quality of the product delivered. BA just isn't consistent enough with its product and delivery, and since the various elements of the product have different value to each person, that's going to result in disappointments. A disappointed first-time customer is usually the most disappointed of all. Other airlines just have better consistency. In some cases people might find this "robotic" (I don't), but you almost always get what you expected. The consumer's tolerance of a price/quality trade-off diminishes as the expectation of the quality of the product, and indeed the absolute price, increases. That's before you even get into the wide range of prices that can be paid for BA F, also impacting expectation.

I think the OP would be unlucky to experience all these disappointments again on the same flight. Old IFE and lack of wifi is a matter of lottery, depending on route and aircraft. The dining issues should be addressable with a little polite assertiveness, as long there is a good crew, which will frankly be the make-or-break. At least on the return, there is the option of CCR dining and pre-order of main on the flight.

OP - if you decide to eat at a different time to the standard expectation, make sure you still tell the crew what your choices are when they first come to take meal orders, so they can keep them back for you.

Ancient Observer

The OP's experience must have been bad if it was worse than their UA experiences.

mikeijay

I've done quite a few BA Fs back-to-back this year and found the service really inconsistent e.g. meals, things running out. Sometimes it does feel like your in First Class, other times it really doesn't.

After the magic wears off, you find yourself sitting there at take off, in a crummy seat (not being rude to the seat - mines usually covered in crumbs), looking at your papery menu and ‘every expense spared’ headphones… and you think to yourself “Is this as really good as it gets? Really BA? Come on!”

The only constant is the crew! They work amazing hard with what they are given. They know its a long way from its prime but still try really to make the experience special.

Flexible preferences

Although I think one of the glaring elements to come through in this thread, from the start, is how the BA F crews are not a constant.

lost_in_translation

Yes, not all crew members are perfect and occasionally even great members of crew have a bad day on every carrier, they are human, after all!

I will point out here you're comparing BA F to QR J (I frankly cannot imagine this ever happening in QR F, although I've had a similar but more polite suggestion that there was a water bottle next to my seat in QR J before), so draw from that what you will.

travelinmanS

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Globaliser

I think I've recounted the story before about my first pair of F flights, which were much like the OP's report. The two experiences were like chalk and cheese, with the inbound flight still amongst the best ever flights I have ever taken anywhere, in any cabin. Inconsistency would be apt to describe the difference.

The most striking thing was that the two flights were operated by the same crew - we flew out with them and flew back with them two days later.

What I've tried to remember is that it isn't always even what the airline does by way of trying to make the experience consistent from time to time. People are people, and the real people on BA sometimes simply have real-people bad days too.

halfcape

Sometimes the difference is down to the cabin crew member. A month ago we took the morning flight from BOS to LHR, in seat 2E and 2F. After takeoff, I asked for another glass of champagne, which finally arrived with my meal. Mr halfcape received his immediately. With dinner, Mr. halfcape had a glass of water in a nice red glass, my side of the cabin did not get water. Then Mr. halfcape and his side of the cabin received bottles of water. I went into the galley and asked for a bottle of water and my CC said she didn't have any and would have to get some from CW. Then she noticed several bottles and gave me one. After the second meal, Mr. halfcape was offered dessert and since I knew I wouldn't be offered any, I told his CC that I would like his dessert and he was given dessert, which he shared with me. My side of the cabin didn't receive any dessert. Perhaps small things, but I was a bit disappointed.

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