subject2load

cosmo74

Are you able to say what you would be expecting with the new menus?

Can I help you

AUHDXB

Arse and Elbow come to mind...

Tobias-UK

AUHDXB

April?
May?
March?

I rest my case.

At least it goes with the title/theme of the thread.

rockflyertalk

Tobias-UK

DoctorCopper

A quick Google search produces a link to this recent article:

https://www.businesstraveller.com/fo...first-changes/

In First:
– Cabins on the 777s will be reduced to 8 seats, and all new deliveries will have no more than 8 seats in F to maintain a more intimate feel.
– New bedding, crockery and catering will launch in May, with an emphasis on small, ‘grassroots’ luxury British brands. I can’t remember what the brands were, unfortunately and I hadn’t heard of any of them. A big change will be the introduction of full size glassware, and more premium ingredients from local butchers, etc. I asked about the introduction of a caviar service such as Lufthansa, Emirates, Air France offer, apparently this has been considered, but isn’t coming as BA didn’t want to fit in with the crowd (read into that what you will!), but instead caviar will be worked into the canapés and appetisers in some way.
– The new First service has already been trialled on the San Jose route, whether the new service will roll out fully in May or only on selected routes, I alas don’t know.
– The ground product at Heathrow is also being looked at, with BA actually ‘benchmarking’ against Lufthansa and Air France, so hopefully there will be some positive improvements here.

Doc Copper

aristoph

As in SJC? The route they keep cancelling! lol

Lefly

Ah, bummer... my only scheduled F flight for 2019 is early March. Thanks anyway

HMPS

HIDDY

I think the problem is forums like this give the impression that glaring gaps in BA service levels are commonplace. The feedback from regular BA customers on here suggests that not to be the case.

Oaxaca

This is exactly how I view BA F. I think it may have been Lucky on OMAAT that used the barbed description of BA F as "the best business class in the sky". I use it in this way, but in a positive sense. I generally try to avoid CW these days if possible, so when BA is the best/only option long haul, I will go in F whenever I can. DIne-on-demand is also a factor for me, and with BA, F is the only way to get it. This has meant BA F flights increasing from 3-5 a year to about a dozen, the extra being instead of CW. I haven't flown all the J cabins in the world, but have flown many and I'm yet to find one that I consider superior to BA F, as some feel, though in some cases the difference is a lot less than it perhaps should be. I do echo the comments about the downward trajectory of the F wine list, previously a BA strength.

All the same, whether you call it CW+, F-lite or just F, there is still no excuse for the level of inconsistency displayed in provision of product and service. Consistency should not be cabin or price-dependent, even if the expectation of it probably increases with the price. In that dozen or so BA F flights over the last year (fairly even mix of WW/MF crews), I haven't had any outright bad service, and much of it was very good, but many times one or more things which should be part of the F service has not been offered/delivered correctly, leaving aside a few hard product failures. I think this is the heart of the OP's comments, and I think it has some validity based on what I think is a reasonable sample size of F flights (less than some of course). It affects me less because I know what I expect / want and and am not afraid to ask for it. I probably pre-empt some possible disappointments (like being fed what I want, when I want), but that shouldn't be necessary.

BA's current CC recruitment policy isn't based on the service that could/should be delivered in F, which I rather suspect WW/AC view as a necessary evil rather than an aspiration.
That said, I don't really buy into the MF-bashing, overall my experience of service attitude from WW/MF is fairly even, the different style you sometimes experience based on the generational difference doesn't bother me. I've only noticed a difference when things go wrong, the longer experience of WW crews mean they may have more tricks up their sleeves to fix issues (normally hard product failures IME). That's not the fault of the MF crews, at least for me. Others' mileage, as always, may vary.

xenole

I've said before that we all have different standards.
Someone getting their glass refilled whilst dining in the first hour or so of the flight sees that crew and flight as fantastic.
The next person finds that something that should be done by default, not just once in the first hour of the flight.

The baseline is so low here that anything above it is treated as amazing.
Take the comment about treating it as CW+ rather than First. That's the problem. It's sold as a first cabin so you expect something akin to that, not having to lower your expectations down to "I might get a drink, I might get my first or second choice, the crew might acknowledge me" etc.
F is hyped up here as some incredible experience and seems to often result in disappoint when expectations aren't met.

I won't generally pay for F. Say £2300 in F against £300 in Y for a potentially half decent crew and a bigger seat for a few hours just isn't justifiable. CW I may push to but even then, any length of flight in Y is survivable for me and at least there are no expectations of grandeur there that will dealt a swift blow to