48 in CE - good idea?!

Old Dec 3, 2018, 5:34 am
  #61  
 
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Sometimes it goes rice and smooth, other times naan has a clue. 'Ave to give credit to a chapatis place of work though, they must yearn to poppadum(ee) into the mouth of some pax !

Probably best to limit booze intake to avoid straining the old tikka, good health is a bhuna real boon, and overeating also risks too long vindaloo....






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Old Dec 3, 2018, 5:37 am
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Originally Posted by chistery
When I've sat a bit further back my food has been delayed even more by people at the front stopping crew and asking for something else, before we've had anything!
I have probably been guilty of this in the past, and have seen it happen to me when Im further back. It doesnt really register if its just a request for a top-up, but perhaps I should wait in future. I certainly dont engage in a full on conversation with the cabin crew mid-service as some seem to do.

The cabin crew must be placed in a tricky situation, how to disengage and carry on with service without seeming rude or abrupt.
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Old Dec 3, 2018, 5:41 am
  #63  
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Originally Posted by lost_in_translation

I am also inclined to think 48 people in CE is too many, but then again if you want to pay 235 return to HEL or whatever the fare was, you cant expect BA to throw resources at the cabin!
Indeed.
Lots of cheap tier points to boot.
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Old Dec 3, 2018, 5:53 am
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I think a larger CE cabin is OK, so long as there are sufficient cabin crew to run the service. GVA is often of this dimension and generally works fine (though on that route many have seem to be "liquuds only"). The big advantage is that if the CE cabin goes to past the exit row it means those that are not Gold have a greater chance of the extra leg room seating.
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Old Dec 3, 2018, 7:15 am
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We were also on this flight back into LHR last night, I flew out on BA798 on Friday, also 12 rows of CE.

We thought the service on Friday was pretty good. The main difference from BA799 (which has been described above) being that following on from the initial drinks service the meals were taken by hand to passengers, and as soon as the BoB was finished up the back an additional FA came down to assist with meal service helping the CSM plating up (foil and plastic lids were removed in the galley) as well as delivering meals. Without the trolley the 3 of them were easily able to navigate up and down and they were appeared to be enjoy the challenge of it.

We thought the catering was a bit poor on the return flight, the 'Prawn dish' had 3/4 tray of white rice, with an inch wide of tomato with 3 prawns on top and an inch of spinach,


We had 2 lovely FA's and a CSM that clearly didn't want to leave the Galley
Agree, the FAs were lovely, I could see the CSM from my seat and he wasn't idle during meal service, he was loading trays of drinks, glassware and meals and bringing these down the aisle, along with making drinks that the trolley wasn't stocked with.

I booked months ago and couldn't get near the front
We booked October 3rd and snaffled row 1 both ways, hard luck.
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Old Dec 3, 2018, 7:38 am
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Originally Posted by Fitch
Sometimes it goes rice and smooth, other times naan has a clue. 'Ave to give credit to a chapatis place of work though, they must yearn to poppadum(ee) into the mouth of some pax !

Probably best to limit booze intake to avoid straining the old tikka, good health is a bhuna real boon, and overeating also risks too long vindaloo....






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Old Dec 3, 2018, 9:16 am
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I'm not against 48 in CE at all. However running out of meals, slow service and running out of glasses is not on. I certainly would have had 4 members of cabin crew including the CSM dealing with it. Surely 48 CE and not enough meals and glasses is just sheer greed on BA's part?
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Old Dec 3, 2018, 9:17 am
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Originally Posted by Tobias-UK
I am always amazed at just how well the crews manage on these short sectors, I've seen them complete 10 rows on the MAN sectors - and still be asked if I want another drink before landing!
Serving 10 rows of CE on the Man sector is very impressive! And getting you an extra drink
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Old Dec 7, 2018, 6:15 am
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Originally Posted by tomparskate
I'm not against 48 in CE at all. However running out of meals, slow service and running out of glasses is not on. I certainly would have had 4 members of cabin crew including the CSM dealing with it. Surely 48 CE and not enough meals and glasses is just sheer greed on BA's part?
Totally agree. The trouble with a large CE cabin is that it only takes a small problem to distract the crew and the rear part don't get the full service. BA2943 last night however only had 7pax in CE served by 2 CC and the service was excellent.
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Old Dec 7, 2018, 6:28 am
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That may be the case but on a flight to BCN recently sat in the back of CE it was very nice of the CSM to come and chat to us. She asked for our meal preference and put them to one side. Our return flight was the opposite and again sat in back of CE but no food by time we were served and a very small bucket of Avios.

On the HEL flight tomorrow morning and luckily got row 1 on way out and row 2 on flight back Sunday but it looks absolutely packed once again.
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Old Dec 7, 2018, 10:36 am
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We had 10 rows on MAN-LHR yesterday on a rammed densified A321. 4 crew serving CE and they managed very efficiently. I was really impressed!
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Old Dec 7, 2018, 1:10 pm
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Originally Posted by teledude
Didn't take anything back and was in 11F And yes agree about seating.... but should that be right? I booked months ago and couldn't get near the front
well that's mistake number 1... I won't book CE if row 1 isn't available.
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Old Dec 7, 2018, 3:47 pm
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Originally Posted by teledude
.........."And what is the service protocol now in CE? Row by row or should status count?
You don't expect much do you?
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Old Dec 7, 2018, 4:06 pm
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48 in CE is ridiculous considering BA rarely load the aircraft with sufficient provisions to cater for so many pax.

Unless theres only a handful of pax in CE, I much prefer the meals all being served from the trolley. Its much quicker and saves so much time versus tooing and froing from the galley 20 times. If youre near the front of the CE cabin, you can often have finished your meal by the time they do the drinks run which is poor service.

It ought to be drinks run, meals from the trolley, top ups, clear crockery, further drinks/clear up. You wouldnt be served food before drinks in a restaurant!
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Old Dec 7, 2018, 4:16 pm
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Originally Posted by navylad


Describing people are silly for choosing CE is well a little silly in itself. Whether it is work paying, you are time poor but able to afford and in need of TPs or actually just picked a bargain and want to have a little treat, particularly if you dont have status, plenary kf reasons why people choose CE, even if you dont. Im happy to travel in either cabin, but if paying for my folks for example Ill put them in CE.
CE sucks I dont choose it but simply dont have a better choice compared to AF or LH.
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