Our first F is spoiled

Old Jul 27, 2009, 7:35 am
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Our first F is spoiled

As mentioned in my trip report here
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-...-ba-first.html
"WHY BRITISH AIR CANNOT COMPARE TO LUFTHANSA
At least when it comes to the treatment of it’s premium cabin customers.

We asked the receptionist about our departure and asked how much time we would need to get the B gates from which our plane was departing. He told us it would be best to head over presently and we wait for our plane in the lounge over in B terminal.
We take the train to B, check in with the lounge receptionist who informs us that the plane will now be departing from A10.
Dash back to A terminal-and we have to go through security once more! Make it to A10 to find a total scrum of people-total chaos. ONE person in BA uniform surrounded by security(they made it quit clear that they did not work for BA)no premium boarding line-in fact no queue at all. Finally the woman kind of waves her hand and folks charge the stands, No boarding calls are made so all the crowd is in mass confusion. Turns out we were all being shoved onto busses and driven to a very far off remote boarding station. The bus drops us off, we are standing in the rain(a summer shower)waiting to climb the stairs to the 747.No staff is offering assistance of any kind to any passengers. In fact-no BA personnel has been present during any of this fiasco, I have contacted some folks a BA and will report back to this thread upon receipt of an explanation.

I have to compare this to my trip last year on Lufthansa first. Upon deplaning my flight from BCN I am met on the tarmac by a car and driver who drives both Letsgonow (who was traveling with me-but in Y) who drives us to the terminal and asks us if we need assistance with our bags inside the terminal. We are then driven from the main terminal to the F terminal(again we never touch our bags) where all is wonderful. When our flight is ready we are collected and taken to a private area for passport control and are then driven to the plane again-we do not need to touch our bags till we are at the door of the plane. That was first class treatment!

So My main questions are this:
1)Why did the receptionist at the CCR not check on his computer(or call someone)to check on our flight status before sending us of to B gates?While it is possible that the status did change in the 15 min's it took us to get over to the B lounge it suprises me that there was no alert issued.
2)Upon our arrival at B lounge why wasn't an escort offerd to help us back to A10?
3)If they were going to bus us to a remote terminal why make us schlep back to A10 anyway?
4)Why was there not more BA staff present at A10?I am told 5 BA staff members are needed to open a gate for boarding(?)I saw the one very harried lady, who finally pretty much gave up on the situation,and five BAA security folks.
5)Why no marked premium boarding lane and no boarding calls for F passengers?And premium pasengers shoved into trams(really crammed)with every one else?
6)Why no tarp from the bus to the covered steps?This IS London and rain is a not a suprise here.

Anyway-when I get my response from BA I will post here.

Last edited by bigguyinpasadena; Jul 27, 2009 at 7:55 am
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Old Jul 27, 2009, 8:19 am
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I'm not a fan of the way BA treats it's F passengers on the ground but your experience was probably a one off exception.
Our last F departure from LHR was actually pretty smooth - leisurely stroll from the lounges to the B gates short wait then priority boarding took place. Apart from a bit of a wait on the jetty till they sorted out a wheelchair passenger there was no real problem.
Even Lufthansa get it wrong. My last flight with them in J from FRA ended up with the boarding process being a total shambles due to staff cutbacks. One boarding pass checker for a well loaded 747 with no priority boarding.
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Old Jul 27, 2009, 8:21 am
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Far be it from me to prejudge any response from BA, but I would expect something along the lines of how much they value their premium customers and always welcome their feed back, blah, blah and then blame BAA. Simple fact of the matter is that yours is not an isolated incident as searching through this forum will show.
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Old Jul 27, 2009, 8:29 am
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Because LH is about E3000 more expensive on the EUR-LAX route in F?
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Old Jul 27, 2009, 8:34 am
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Having done two LH F outbounds from Europe this year, I cannot agree more that the ground service and on-board food is exceptional (when did BA last do caviar?). My friends were lost for words last month when a Mercedes pulled up on the tarmac to collect us from our LHR-FRA feeder flight and it just got better from there.

That said, the seating on the 747's is a mess if you are travelling solo (all 2 x 2 with no real privacy screen between the seats). LH is also now charging a 10,000 mile 'surcharge' for redeeming BMI miles on LH F rather than any other airlines F.

However, of course, it is swings and roundabouts. The LH business class lounges are not great, especially compared to the LHR Galleries, and of course the LH J seat slopes. I am genuinely surprised that LH keeps increasing the gap between F and J whereas most other airlines are reducing it, none more so than BA.

(And don't get me started on Emirates A380 F, which I did in January and which genuinely redefines what F travel should be, at least on-board.)
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Old Jul 27, 2009, 8:37 am
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Originally Posted by Raffles
I'd be very surprised if it was.
I checked. It is. More than E3000 in most cases.

EDIT: For the route FRA - NRT the difference is almost 100%. E6500 vs E12500.

EDIT 2: Raffles, don't change your posts

Last edited by henkybaby; Jul 27, 2009 at 8:45 am
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Old Jul 27, 2009, 8:48 am
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One should never go to the B terminal until your flight shows as such in the A terminal, even if the checkin staff says otherwise. The B terminal lounge is also not the CCR, which you flying in F should have had access to in the A terminal south end.

The standing in the rain portion is just terrible... very poor

*edit* ah, didn't realise that it wasn't the checkin staff that told you to go to B terminal, but the receptionist in the CCR... oh well.
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Old Jul 27, 2009, 8:55 am
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Originally Posted by johnaalex
Far be it from me to prejudge any response from BA, but I would expect something along the lines of how much they value their premium customers and always welcome their feed back, blah, blah and then blame BAA. Simple fact of the matter is that yours is not an isolated incident as searching through this forum will show.
They will show they have read the letter by repeating back various bits of it in the second person, each followed by the phrase "this must have been very frustrating".
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Old Jul 27, 2009, 9:05 am
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British Air
it's
deplaning
The horror, the horror. Surely this is some kind of joke?
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Old Jul 27, 2009, 9:44 am
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Originally Posted by mad_rich
The horror, the horror. Surely this is some kind of joke?
What is your problem with "deplaning"?
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Old Jul 27, 2009, 9:54 am
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My experience in FIRST SEA - LHR BA52 outbound & BA53 inbound was less than stellar. Lots of poor marks. My experience in NGCW Feb. 09 BA48 outbound BA49 inbound was excellent. It seems BA does long haul biz excellently & FIRST long haul tends to suck out loud.
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Old Jul 27, 2009, 10:20 am
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Originally Posted by BA5211A
It seems BA does long haul biz excellently & FIRST long haul tends to suck out loud.
I disagree. First is often very good in the air, just let down by indifference ground handling (LHR CCR aside).
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Old Jul 27, 2009, 10:28 am
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I can sympathize with your disappointment about the poor quality of BA's ground service for this flight, but I'm having a hard time seeing how that experience "spoiled" your F flight. Spoiled your departure experience, maybe, but I don't see anything in your description on this thread of how the quality of your in-flight experience (i.e. the "flight" part of your flight) was adversely affected.
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Old Jul 27, 2009, 10:29 am
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I think that it is unfair to compare two products that are miles apart in price.

BA has a very good price/quality ratio. If you want the car and whatever else, please pay at least 50% more at LH. My guess is that tickets were not paid for from own pocket?
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Old Jul 27, 2009, 10:31 am
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Originally Posted by Cheetah_SA
What is your problem with "deplaning"?
It is a ghastly word. It implies that the speaker has previously planed, or perhaps even enplaned, which doesn't sound like a particularly pleasant experience. I've just planed my bathroom door, and even that isn't likely to become deplaned in the near future.

I've never heard of anyone debus, decar debicycle or for that matter deseat.

I suspect the kind of people who 'deplane' also 'breakfast' and watch as their garden 'greens'.

I'm afraid I'm not the kind of person who appreciates his noun being verbed.
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