British Airways announces its in-flight service cuts for August ….

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• Rob says:

  24 Jul24 July 11:03

  Jo’burg has unique dynamics. The flight goes at bedtime, is 12 hours and has minimal time difference. You can sleep a full 8 hours easily and all passengers want to do that. Giving decent bedding is the least they can do.

• Genghis says:

  24 Jul24 July 11:16

  Just read your TP run website. Did you ever finish it? Was it an OSL-SJU return with a nested SJU-KOA return?

• Bonoglobetrotter says:

  24 Jul24 July 12:17

  BA continues spiral downwards. It is ACUTELY aware that the Mid East airlines offer a much better service and price. It clearly can’t / won’t compete on service and has decided to milk BAEC loyalty base as much as possible – classic short termism but understandable given short tenure of management these days.

  I have been a loyal BAEC member for decades. I am seriously looking for an alternative programme. Any recommendations? I am UK based, considering QR at present to maintain access to installed base of OW lounges. Any thoughts? Pros and cons much appreciated. Thx.

  • Rob says:

    24 Jul24 July 13:09

    All ME3 airlines, in their latest planes (which London gets) beat BA easily. Etihad Business is probably the best on A380 but Qatar and Emirates can get you tier points and Avios and are not far behind.

    • bonoglobetrotter says:

      24 Jul24 July 19:27

      Thanks, have used QR and QF/EK for TP runs and BA is no comparison. Should I be swapping entirely out of BAEC (Gold) though as I dont typically earn Avios tier bonuses on OW partner flights?

      Q: have you or anyone done a recent comparison of FF programmes in “simple” tabular format eg QR vs AY vs BA? Some metrics would include points per mile flown, tier progress, expiry of points, and if even possible, range of cash miles required per redemption mile by making a few base assumptions? Would be tremendously helpful 😉

      • Rob says:

        25 Jul25 July 00:23

        No, partly because I think people would take it seriously when, actually, it is far more fluid than that. There are so many other things to consider, eg BA has peak and off peak, Iberia has its terrible ‘no refund’ rules on non-IB redemptions, airlines put different countries in different zones for redemptions, each has different redemption partners etc.

        For all BA’s faults, the Avios scheme remains (for London based people anyway) exceptionally good value for short haul redemptions and no other programme is going to match that. If you’ve got an Amex 241 then long haul looks OK as well, although Virgin is now much cheaper than BA if you don’t have a voucher. BA also has the route network though …

        • bonoglobetrotter says:

          25 Jul25 July 09:32

          Thanks Rob. Appreciate your thoughts.

• Marc says:

  24 Jul24 July 12:22

  Well done BA, or should I say London Airways, now being run by mean accountants who do not understand that people who pay huge amounts of money to fly first/business demand a bit more for their pound.
  Living in the wilds of Snowdonia our nearest airport is Manchester. About 10 years ago BA stuck two fingers up to anyone north of Watford and effectively pulled out of Manchester leaving just a shuttle to LHR. Very convenient.
  Since then Emirates now flies out of MCR thrice daily, 2 A380s and a 777, Etihad & Qatar twice daily (so far) and from next year Oman Air. Add in Singapore, Cathay Pacific and several other eastern airlines and you have thousands of people who potentially would fly BA spending their money elsewhere.
  In between the Emirates and Etihad aircraft on the ground you can see the feeble BA shuttle scuttling like a little mouse to whisk a few poor souls to LHR to connect to their ‘convenient’ connection. With lowering standards BA seems to be modelling itself on Aeroflot, circa 1978.
  BA deserve everything they get, it’s a competitive world out there.

  • Fenny says:

    24 Jul24 July 18:38

    Don’t blame the accountants for stupid decisions. Most accountants have far more sense than just slashing at the things that look like they make the best savings.

    • Genghis says:

      24 Jul24 July 18:44

      🙂 most of us have common sense. My wife seems to think otherwise.

• Mike says:

  24 Jul24 July 23:35

  BA and IAG (the parent company) are being taken over by employees of Vueling more and more (Vueling employees are the ones getting promoted within the group), particularly at a senior level. This means the focus is cost, cost and more cost reductions. Expect the service to keep getting worse. There is no consideration for passengers.

  • bonoglobetrotter says:

    25 Jul25 July 09:34

    I recall when the IB deal was announced we were concerned that BA will become more like IB than vice versa. So much for the reassurances of mgmt at the time ….

    • Mike says:

      25 Jul25 July 21:25

      It’s worse… It’s becoming more like Vueling!

• Rich. says:

  25 Jul25 July 12:55

  Not much else to cut back on is there?..?

• james says:

  27 Jul27 July 17:25

  Ahh well, the race to the bottom continues, nothing new there then.

• Kerry says:

  28 Jul28 July 10:33

  If anyone is interestyed, BA’s “The Club” magazine today states:

  “Premium travellers who feel peckish during their next long-haul flight will be able to help themselves to a wider range of onboard treats. Following customer feedback, those flying in Club World can enjoy a greater variety of both indulgent and healthy snacks from the Club Kitchen. Lemon drizzle cake, Cadbury’s chocolate and retro sweets, will all be available, as will cold salad pots and fresh yogurt. Flights to India will also feature Indian-specific snacks, including curry and naan wraps.”

  • Genghis says:

    28 Jul28 July 10:43

    Interesting. So healthy stuff is staying?

    But what’s a naan wrap or indeed a curry and naan wrap? A naan (with or without some curry sauce) inside a tortilla? Weird.

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