BA 9 LHR-BKK. Is it getting worse ?
 

Flew from London- Bangkok couple of days ago, from previous comments i wasn't expecting anything special but seriously it was worse then i was expecting....

Crew although very chatty, they seriously didn't have a clue about the service order which became clear later when 2 CC mentioned they had only finished Club World training last Saturday.

Meal Service took 3.5 hours from take off too Completion, drinks didn't appear until 45 mins after ordering, no drinks trolley, it was a complete organised chaos.

Menus given out, when it came to ordering , what was displayed was actually half not available and chicken and pork dishes added to the menu , it was a complete mess and confusion.

Breakfast cards given out, i didn't complete mine as the last thing on my mind was breakfast at 3.30pm , i was told i MUST complete if i wanted any breakfast, i declined and just had coffee the next morning, one comment about breakfast most of the passengers didn't have a clue when asked "are you ready for your HOT" wouldn't it be easier and more clear to say " Hot Breakfast or English Breakfast"

AVOD -i wasn't expecting anything special but it was pretty poor and needed re starting twice.

On the plus side Flight was smooth and arrived on time, Crew polite but very inexperienced.

Surely it is known by BA that the BA09 flight is poor? It seems it's only good value if you are starting ex-AMS. It's an old plane, about the worst quality AVOD/IFE that BA has on any long haul flight. Then there is the numerous reports of mixed fleet performance.

I know it's largely a leisure destination but because improvements have not been made over in recent years there is a stigma attached to this route. Many of the more savvy travellers would fly Qatar or Cathy or even MH and change rather than take the BA direct flight. After years of flying this route both in Club and Economy I doubt I'd ever consider it again and would hunt for better value flights with Qatar or Cathy or even MH.

If I decide I need the Tier Points or Avios or the BA metal flights for renewing BAEC status I'd just fly to KUL or HKG or SIN and transfer from there up to BKK.

I agree that being asked if I'm ready for my HOT would be a bit odd, but I'm not sure being offered a choice of a hot breakfast or an English breakfast would be any clearer.

Surely, "are you ready for your breakfast?" would suffice?

Even if I already had my tray and eaten starters/pastries it would make sense to me.

Although shortly before landing in Bangkok, asking if you're ready for hot is showing knowledge of the destination. :)

HI.

I would hope the English breakfast was hot also

Tbs

Honestly i knew it wasn't the best choice , but using a Joker and 241 meant the use of other carriers was out, as i mentioned above i wasn't expecting anything great, the flight and actual sleep i got where fine it was just the service elements that where missing.

Noted about the trolley, i have not flown BA long haul for quite a while due to other airlines offering better connections from Indonesia.

I think the Premium Language would be a decent idea, the CW cabin i would say 65% of the passengers where over 60 and had no idea what HOT meant.

I haven't flown this route for the past half year. But the last time I took it I was very happy I routed myself via HKG on the way back and promised myself to not fly the route again.

- My chair stopped working - making it so I couldn't put it up myself. Made for some great acrobatics for a 6'4 fairly overweight individual to get out of it. (got 100k avios refund for that though)
- Meals being unavailable happened to me almost all the time on BA9, where it seldom happened on to me on my other long haul routes in CW.
- They forgot to give landingcards to club world passengers?? When I asked for one the CC told me they'd bring it three times before sheepishly admitting they didn't had enough on board.
- Lastly, and this one stings quite a bit. I'm fairly hearing impaired - but if people look me directly in the face I've little trouble grasping what they are saying. I usually explain that to the CC in charge of my aisle and I've usually been met with a lot of understanding. On this flight I had one lady flatout tell me I should read the menu and point out what i'd like from it to "save us both the hassle". Complaints where made to the CSD, and got profoundly appologized. But it still really ticked me off, apparently it was a hassle to speak a little bit slower while looking me in the face.

/rantover

While I'm usually very very forgiving on BA (and actually quite like their service usually!) and fly them on 99% of my routes - this really tilted me (especially the last thing). The flight back via HKG was lovely though and I've always been treated with the utmost respect on my CW flights to TLV/JFK/HKG.

Just wow.

especially when they bring the wrong drinks....