BA First - Inconsistent Service

Old Nov 28, 2019, 12:41 pm
  #1  
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BA First - Inconsistent Service

I flew LHR-AUH-LHR last week in BA First. I usually use EK/EY to DXB/AUH but wanted to give BA a try, as I use them a lot for flights within Europe.

I had a quite mixed experience in total, and was wondering if frequent BA First flyers also experience such inconsistent service.

BA73 - LHR to AUH - the FAs were not rude, but it felt more like a WTP service, with them rushing through the cabin and keeping the conversation with all the passengers to a minimum. I certainly dont need to have a lengthy chit-chat with the crew, but I had the feeling the FAs were trying to avoid any kind of interaction with the passengers and it was at times difficult to get their attention. The CSM was nowhere to be seen, and didnt greet PAX in F.

BA72 - the service couldnt have been more different! Friendly and warm welcome as we boarded. After everyone settled down, the CSM personally greeted all passengers and I had a pleasant chat with him. He came back shortly before landing to chat with some passengers and gathering feedback. The FAs were fantastic - genuinely friendly, pleasant to speak to and very attentive.

It was almost as if I flew with two completely different airlines when it comes to service.

Overall, I would be happy to use BA First again if there is a good deal, but would never pay full price for it as it feels more like a Premium Business class than a proper First Class (I was lucky enough to fly F in QR and EK before - a different world).
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Old Nov 28, 2019, 1:00 pm
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Welcome to Flyertalk and welcome to the BA forum CanaryWharf, thanks for posting and I hope your experiences will allow you to pitch any future travel plans you have.

I think it is fair to say that your report isn't the first one to complain about inconsistent service (though this is a point that is not necessarily restricted to BA). Equally there are those on this forum who travel in First quite often and typically don't experience WTP levels of service in First. I certainly can't recall an example, though I have had services where staff are so busy that the chit-chat goes out of the window. For example on one service when one of the ovens broke down. That service is also quite a heavy one for CSMs, given the short flight.
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Old Nov 28, 2019, 2:03 pm
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I am flying first regularly and generally the service is good. However on my last flight from JFK to LHR I was served my starter and then nothing for a very, very long time. I tried the call button, to no avail. When I finally extracted myself from under the table and went to the galley I was either ignored, or not seen, for over a minute. I was starting to wonder if I had become a ghost, but after putting myself in front of a member of crew I was acknowledged and it transpired they had completely forgotten me in a full cabin (Seat 1K on a 744). My dinner service finally finished 2:27 before landing, by which time there didn't seem much point in trying to get any sleep. The crew did the best they could at service recovery from there, but it was a bit late by then...
In balance I remember 4 of the 5 previous flights in first being very good and one so-so.
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Old Nov 28, 2019, 4:42 pm
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AFAIK "FIRST" stands for Fairly Inconsistent (Reason Seldom Taken)
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Old Nov 28, 2019, 5:12 pm
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Surprised noone's claimed such a username yet on this forum (I bet many of us work in this area)!

Never found BA F to particularly stand out either, having flown on F in many other carriers, doubt you're alone in believing so in that respect.
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Old Nov 28, 2019, 11:27 pm
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My last F LHR- LAX, they wouldn’t get the blankets and pillow out because it was a ‘day flight’ after belling them 6 times I gave up and fished a set out from under the stairs myself. They also served rock hard stale CW rolls and the flight attendant was in his own words ‘Really tired from last night.... So totally bored, had flown to LA six times this month and was over it’

In fairness, the ones on JFK-LHR are usallly good, on top of things. I’ve never had a bad JFK run.
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Old Nov 29, 2019, 1:41 am
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Originally Posted by elwe
it transpired they had completely forgotten me in a full cabin
Complain, this is not ok. Similar happened to me on LHR-LAX in J. Totally ignored for second meal service. Eventually got something from WT menu with 50-minutes to land after going and having a word - call bell had done nothing. It was a bigger shame that prior to this the crew had been really good.
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Old Nov 29, 2019, 2:01 am
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Inconsistent service

I'm afraid this is the norm on BA. They seem to be unable to train staff to the level they would like and indeed publish for first class. You will get a few diehards on here who will "defend" BA at whatever costs, but it's a sad situation on what was once "the world's favourite airline". Unlikely to change anytime soon...
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Old Nov 29, 2019, 2:31 am
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Originally Posted by wemyss
I'm afraid this is the norm on BA. They seem to be unable to train staff to the level they would like and indeed publish for first class. You will get a few diehards on here who will "defend" BA at whatever costs, but it's a sad situation on what was once "the world's favourite airline". Unlikely to change anytime soon...
I have to agree with you. I was on a short trip to LAX and back in F this week. I had the same crew in F on both flights. No greeting, no welcome from CSD. Bedding was not taken away before landing on outbound. No check that seat was in landing position before landing on inbound.
Some other issues (not crew related) experienced on this trip : wifi was not working properly on both flights; I travel HBO but the agent checking the BP in the First Wing did not want to verify my passport, I had to get in line with the people checking bags to get my passport verified in the First Wing; only one train operating to get from A gates to B gates; the boarding procedure in LHR required everyone to be in one line to get the passport checked and only then I could go into the group 1 line to get my BP scanned by a machine : this makes group boarding completely useless.
On the positive side : in LAX, I got premium boarding as I was escorted to my seat by a LAX SS agent.
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Old Nov 29, 2019, 4:34 am
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I had my first first last year to and from Mumbai and the staff were excellent. Only hiccup was on the journey out when one of the breakfast choices had not been loaded: the staff were hugely embarrassed but were really apologetic and all the passengers were sympathetic. Likewise excellent staff on the way back too.
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Old Nov 29, 2019, 11:06 am
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Originally Posted by CanaryWharf
...and was wondering if frequent BA First flyers also experience such inconsistent service.
...
Yes.

However, I have never had F service I would compare to WTP (and I used to travel in WTP or even WT - eeep! - all the time) but I have experienced a fairly wide range. Fortunately, the vast majority have been good or better, with only a couple being in the fair range. I think I've only had one that would even come close to poor.

rb211.
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Old Nov 29, 2019, 2:26 pm
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Just had a roundtrip in F over the past couple of weeks. Both mixed fleet. One out from LHR was excellent. One of the best FAs I've ever had. The return trip was only pretty good. But I think a good bit of that was that all of us passengers woke up with roughly an hour to go in the flight and the FA needed to get breakfast out to all of us. She did a good job, but it was a little bit rushed. I have had one mediocre in the past, but usually it's been pretty good. Worldwide fleet has always been perfect in F. With mixed fleet, even the mediocre flight's FA was very enthusiastic.

All of these were way, way better than AA in domestic F, where I got glared at for calling the Prosecco what it was instead of calling it Champagne.
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Old Nov 29, 2019, 2:47 pm
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Originally Posted by greg5
...
All of these were way, way better than AA in domestic F...
Not sure I'd even try comparing BA F and AA domestic F, unless it's AA's Transcon First service (on the A321T - which I have found to be really rather good!)

rb211.
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Old Nov 29, 2019, 4:10 pm
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I don't think I ever really had a bad flight in F. Some of them were not great, most were not up to the promises of the marketing department, but pretty much all of them were a lot better than economy...
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Old Nov 29, 2019, 5:31 pm
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BA First isn't bad. But there can be a big difference. Some crew are very good and others are little inexperienced. It was awkward after dining when they told my partner she couldn't sleep on the foot end. Really? Who would even think to do that. And in readying for landing they slammed the screens shut without warning. Not what one expects in first. But yeah, different experiences for everyone. Pleased to see people here have better experience. These days it's just CX F or JAL F and going the other way, it's rarely F as I think cross atlantic, there isn't much difference. I would point out that flying VS earlier this year, they aren't as good as people make out either. Obviously they have no F.
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