lighting

Ok, so i'm really not one for complaining and certainly not one for superlatives and sensationalism. I also understand that companies and people get things wrong from time to time and thats ok, it's the way they respons when that happens that matters to me as a consumer and customer.

That said, i have just experienced, by far my worst ever flight on British Airways, an experience i deem unacceptable and that British Airways should be thoroughly embarrassed by, the problem is, they are not.

It's probably fair to say that i'm a no one on BA's list of important customers, i rarely fly much at the moment due to having two young kids, maybe 2-3 long haul trips a year and in a mixture of cabins. I have launched a new brand and this is now taking me all over the world and i'lll be flying more frequently for a period of time. Tokyo, New York and Dubai are all trips i will be taking this year and a lot more next year as we sign up new agents and distributors.

So, my business partner and i were heading out to our factory near Shanghai for a week to over see the first full scale production run of our new products and to travel around to suppliers of other raw naterials. I decided that we needed Club World as our schedule was busy and arriving and getting stuck in straight away was important. He reminded me that we had had an excellent flight the previous year to Hong Kong in PE on an A380 and we didn't need Club. I agreed.

I used a 241 voucher, 78,000 Avios and roughly £1k in taxes to book the flights from Leeds, through Heathrow to Shanghai.

When we boarded and saw the WTP cabin, i was shocked. It was outd dated, tired, broken and nothing like what we thought we were getting. My seat had stains all over it, the tray table didnt work, to stop my drinks or food slipping off onto the floor i literally had to either hold the table up with my hand or raise my knees up. Incredibly uncomfortable. I did manage to prop it up with my handkerchief for breakfast. When i told a cabin crew member she shrugged her shoulders and said they were all like that and she gave us double the gin and tonics that we had ordered. The IFE screen was tiny and incredibly basic, the selection of films available was poor.

There were only 5 rows in total in WTP, behind a very large Club World cabin (70% empty). We were in row 5 and during dinner service by the time they got to us, the beef had gone. I'm pretty sure it had been served in economy. I ended up having chicken teriyaki noodle dishes, where the noodles were half cooked and half raw. The chicken was dry and not great. We were not offered a drink for the entire dinner service. The cabin crew were all concentrating on economy and PE felt like an after throught. I ended up going to find someone to get some red wine and when they brought it, they gave us two bottles each. They clearly use this doubling up on alcohol as a way to try and appease angry customers as they must get complaints every flight.

During the flight there was about a 5-6 hour period where no one came and offfered anyone any water. people we getting up to go and find some. Also, when i went to find someone to ask if there was any snacks or food, i was told that quite a few others had asked them the same thing, they didn't have much catering on board and they were trying to find a solution. 20 mins later we were all offered an ice cream. I have never got off a flight so hungry and immediately went to Burger King in Shanghai airport.

I bought Wi Fi on board and this barely worked. I did however manage to look on the BA website that stated the proper PE cabin was available on 777-300 planes and i looked at my booking it said 777-300 as aircraft, which when i look now is blank.

I complained to BA and i recieved a standard email template telling me how many 747's they have refurbished and have 48 new long hail airfract and here's 8000 Avios, which they also said was for the lack of catering.

I've been loyal to British Airways for 20 years, always booking with them if possible. The brand meant something to me and after a long and tiring trip in places a long way from home, getting on BA flight was almost like being home, something familiar and comforting. I no longer feel that way.

Earlier in the year i took my first and to date only Virgin Atlantic flight from Manchester to Atlanta for the Super Bowl, i was in PE. It wasn't a brand spanking new cabin, looked quite old, but it was light years ahead of the experience i had on BA. Good seat, tray table worked, good IFE screen, good movie choice, USB port, decent food, attentive service from dedicated PR crew. I was also flown out to Dubai in Business Class on Emirates by a customer to Dubai and i thought that was better than my club world experiences.

BA know that when i booked my seat, i would be getting an out dated and old cabin, they knew that, the cabin crew knew that people would be angry about it and complain, yet they still charge full wack for it regardless. How long have they had to refurbish these cabin? They have chosen not to and they have chosen to provide a product that they know their customers will deem sub standard. Is this what the BA brand now represents? Knowingly accepting, not even second best and simply not caring?

Why not notify customers about the cabin they will get and why not discount the price and avios for the old and tired cabin? I don't walk into a shop, order a brand new TV for £2k and they go out the back and get me one from 5 years ago for the same price. It's pathetic.

Had i know (and perhaps i should have used this forum), we'd get that pathetic cabin, i'd have booked us into the club world cabin. If that had not been possible, i would have chosen a different airline or flown economy. I feel that i have been completely conned by BA and that their response has shown me exactly what contempt and disdain they have for me as a customer.

I asked to be downgraded to economy and get my avios back for the return flight, but they said i couldn't get avios back. The reutn flight was far better from a catering perspective.

Not that this matters to BA, but after 20 years loyalty, i will now book other airlines where ever possible and the BA brand doesn't represent to me what it used to.

Very sad.




Out dated and broken cabin

Hanky helping tray table stay up

Terrible

orbitmic

All airlines that I can think of have products that differ by aircraft in at least some of their cabins. You mention that you enjoyed your EK J experience, but that is exactly a case in point, EK operates a variety of J cabins across their fleet that vary very, very significantly in comfort and layout, and they don't give people the "warnings" that you are asking for either.

I don't think that you are right that BA "know their customers will deem [their PE cabin] sub standard". Now don't take me wrong - personally, I really dislike WT+ and would never pay for it (I'd rather just stick to Y and save the money or go CW), but it is clearly very popular with customers, and personally, having been with both the old and new WT+ I don't even think it makes a huge difference in my experience and I really don't sleep on either.

I'll be blunt here, but given BA customer service usual performance, I actually don't think that 8000 avios is such a bad outcome. I get that you are very disappointed by what you got, but apart from the apparent catering issue, I don't think there was much abnormality in what you describe and if that is indeed the worst flight you have had, I would say that you have had a reasonably lucky flying career to date.

corporate-wage-slave

This largely is about the gap between the A380, B787, A350 and ten-a-side 777 versus the other 777s . 747s are a more complex case. Unfortunately you have experienced the two extremes, which is perhaps a known issue in this forum, but not more generally. BA is on a refurbish programme for much of the fleet, but these old WTP seats will be around for a few more years.

By all means complain to Customer Relations but the best idea is to select future WTP seats based on aircraft type.

Zippo58

Recent WT+ A380 flight to /from Singapore end of May echo's your experience I'm afraid. Food was terrible .. outbound the beef with carrots and broccoli was like soup - indeed I had to use a spoon to eat it. Oh, and one small carrot and one small piece of broccoli! The inbound meal was no better. beef noodles - dry and inedible. No drinks served with the meal either. Return flight ran out of bottled water over Iraq (halfway). I've flown this route many times and always fly WT+ or PE and standards have significantly dropped. I have another BA trip to Singapore in Oct and if things don't improve, then is SA or CX in future. Sorry BA - I like the your staff, but if you cannot back it up with premium meals and drinks - sorry, others can.

lighting

You are obviously entitled to your opinion, but i cannot work out how you can hold this opinion. I sleep better when i'm relaxed and calm. Not pissed off, hungry and stressed.

The entire experience is completely different.

nufnuf77

I regularly take BA9 and BA12, it's a night and day difference in WTP. (772 vs 380)

I dont ever touch any food served in the riffraff class, put on my F pyjamas even in WTP and recline and sleep as much as i can ignoring everything and everyone. - best way to survive WTP ordeals.

IntVic

I suspect the OP will select future premium economy seats based on other airlines.

Prospero

i do sympathise. The 2010 WTP seat is substantially more comfortable than the 2000 version and I too would feel slightly miffed to discover the aircraft had switched from a 777-300 at the time of booking to a 777-200 on the day of travel, especially given the length of your flight.

lighting

Yeah, but with respect, the majoirty of people don't want to have to look up and know about aircraft types etc. I guess thats why this forum exists.

Being based in the North of England, BA is usally not the most convieninet airline anyway, so i'm going to start using other airlines and seeing how i get on. KLM, Virgin, Cathay and Emirates from now on !

corporate-wage-slave

Yes, and actually this is a very good idea: having a blind loyalty to BA - or any single airline - isn't the sort of thing which leads to improvements. Collective loss of passengers will drive that. I don't think the improvements that are being rolled out would have happened unless BA had already detected the tectonic plates were shifting. But in the case of A380s and B787s in particular I don't think the OP need have these concerns, these are good products in my opinion.

The gradual rollout of Do&Co catering into WTP makes quite a difference - see the relevant thread - the photos and experiences are largely positive.

corporate-wage-slave

There is no one more North of England than me! But yes, use this forum to get informed, and check the other forums too. Not all those airlines on your list offer a Premium Economy product and some like Cathay are rolling their product out on selected routes. But if you use mainland Chinese airlines in particular you may be able to get business class for quite a competitive price.

orbitmic

Me too, but it seems to me that the reasons you felt that way had to do with a lot more than the inferior old WT+. In other words, I had the impression that you were understandably pissed off, hungry, and stressed because your seat was broken (can happen with both old and new cabins), there was a catering problem (can happen with both), and the crew came across to you as pretty unresponsive to problems and trying to "bribe you" with an extra gin which was clearly not the resolution that you wanted (which can happen with both).

As I mentioned, I personally don't really sleep well in WT+ which is why that cabin does not really work for me, especially on night flights, though I am fully aware that many passengers do like it a lot better than Y. I think it makes sense that different passengers have different things that work for them. In my case, if I'm going to have a sleepless flight, I'd rather go Y and save my money to spend on J on another flight as that will make a big difference to me. I know some people who'd rather upgrade to PE as it works for them. And of course, as others mentioned, given your location, I would think that it makes perfect sense to also consider the competition rather than just go blindly for BA. Especially if you can fly from MAN, there is plenty of competition so it is worth it to shop around.

lighting

Shanghai is a route that we will be using frequently for the company from now on so i'm going to be busy looking for a good, well priced business class and rewards programme that makes sense.

I'm told the KLM business class is pretty good, but not sure about pricing, but have been warned about long waits in Amsterdam.

Crofton138

Checking aircraft types is just as important as the timing/route/price for me. I wouldn't dream of booking any flights without knowing what type of aircraft I'll be on and it doesn't take long to add that into the flight search process.

teemuflyer

Sorry to hear about the very substandard experience in BA PE. I have flown them a few times in PE and never had a similar experience.

Just as an FYI, if you want to preserve your OW status, you might want to check into options using AY (Finnair) to PVG..