ikwia

No, I got it...just in a somewhat cranky and pedantic mood today

ikwia

"BA F is the greatest J in the world"

SteveinA2

Considering UA don't have First (nor do Delta or Jet Blue) its pretty easy to be "better" than UA, DL or B6.

I don't buy the only goal of First is to be better/equal to AA. There have competition from many Airlines on TransAtlantic (Air France, Lufthansa, Swiss)

Cap'n Benj

When did UA bin their first off? Wasn't before time. Talk about uncompetitive products

I've taken LH and LX (although was 10 years back now) TATL, they're both better obviously, they're in no way better enough to justify an extra 3-4 hours transferring. For a one off its nice, if I was a frequent flyer once a month or more, I'd have taken UA F over LX rather than transfer in ZRH! Indeed I'd take BA J now.

So basically BA is only competing with AA for LHR-USA and they're not even competing. There is no reason for them to be better than they are.

Obv there are some other routes where F is flown direct from LHR too, with competing F products - DXB, SIN HKG, where the competition is obviously better. Its clearly not worth them raising their game just for these handful of routes though and a quick look at LHR-SIN for one day next March and BA comes in GBP 5,400 cheaper than SQ, less than half the price and GBP 4000 cheaper than LX (if you were happy to transfer for the better product*).

BA is not competing with those products.


*EK is only 2200 more if you're happy to spend an extra 12 hours travelling over the return trip

LondonCapeTownAnyday

Not a justification, but I suspect BA’s response in this case was due to a large number of issues reported being not worthy of compensation in and of themselves in BA’s CR guidelines, and the issue which they do class as worthy of compensation - a seat recline issue - not being reported onboard.

This does not make the OP’s complaint any less valid though.

Side note - I do not know whether CR take into account what the customer paid for a flight. I suspect they do not (even though from a customer’s perspective this is at the forefront of their mind in the context of compensation for performance or non delivery).

A P Yu

Apols we were talking about BA and we all know BAs outstations catering isnt up to standard. Never has been never will be.
People play a lot more for F flights on CX

A P Yu

Oh BA First - how we will miss it when it finally goes.

PGberkshire

Id take ANA's new Business suite over BA F

wilko1

I do get rather bored of the BA apologists who question why this is being written about, or just dont acknowledge that the service provided in the article is utterly unacceptable, regardless of the reasons for writing it.

I was fortunate enough to fly QR J in Q Suite the other day, and it was far superior in both soft and hard product to BA F, and far cheaper. Where there are options, I would choose this over BA any day. Apart from one last-minute avios ticket, I have not flown BA for 5 years. And for that one flight, I had to take BA to CEDR to get the re-routing I was due for their cancelled flight. BA really needs to improve, something I want and hope it does. But it is things like this which will drive the improvements.

BahrainLad

And yet Club World food still comes on a single tray, and has smaller portions than a Band 4 CE meal from a few years back.

Again, BA are extracting normal premium ticket prices from passengers and providing a distinctly non-premium service.

Ladyfliestheredwhiteandblues

I “liked” this post even though I do think the word “scam” is a little strong. It is, however, very misleading advertising to promise one thing and then frequently deliver far below that standard. Not just on First but, as we see from the mega cabin thread, also on CE. Something has to give and hopefully it is BA management upping their game but I won’t hold my breath.

D3Kingg

People are overworked and tired due to the pandemic labor shortage. So sometimes planes aren’t fully cleaned and FAs are not in a great mood. The catering was from Mexico City. Not Heathrow. Despite a poor customer experience comparing BA to Emirates is unrealistic expectations. The influencer should be pleased he got covered in the news. Never heard of him.

I flew BA first SFO LHR on the a380 in February 2020 and it was fabulous. Here’s my breakfast.

Cap'n Benj

The point of the OPs official review was of a bad F experience, not necessarily a bad F.

As now extensively covered, we (on here) all know what we're going to get with BA F. Set your expectations right and flying BA F is a very pleasant way to fly.

Sometimes as with the OP's experience, expectations (even those correctly set) aren't met.

I think its fair to call out a sub par performance, as its the only thing that will hopefully lessen the chances of it occurring again

Ladyfliestheredwhiteandblues

You had a very good experience, OP quoted Jermyn’s experience which was a very bad one. Other than the fact you have never heard of him I don’t get your point. I’ve never heard of you but think your opinion, given the photos, is valid.
Jermyn’s opinion, given his photographic evidence in the quoted article , is also valid.
BA’s consistent inconsistency strikes again.

BESTEDIFLYER

Some of us are quite happy to use our own money and fly BA F, if given the opportunity. Had a few bookings cancelled now but have others in the pipeline.
Nearly all our long haul travel involves connections and Heathrow has its advantages plus the CCR which Mrs B loves, though not had the chance to test the new seating.
Other airlines can be good/great but their pricing, even for business class, has crept up over the years to the point the difference in price and possible service are not worth considering. Also remembering that other airlines have bad reviews as well so it’s not all good out there.