Look where I’m going today ….

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• Prins Polo says:

  5 Apr5 April 06:32

  Nice!

• Neil says:

  5 Apr5 April 06:52

  So saving money in Club World to piss away on PR events! Excellent work BA. Enjoy it though Rob, looking forward to seeing the photos

  • TripRep says:

    5 Apr5 April 06:59

    Neil – Rob is in HKG, this is Anika’s perk of the job.

  • Barry cutters says:

    5 Apr5 April 07:00

    It is common practice to spend money on pr events when launching a new product . Every airline and major company does it .
    It annoys me that even when Ba does something compleatly normal , they are automatically criticised on here.

    • Mr(s) Entitled says:

      5 Apr5 April 07:10

      Agreed. BA are a company. They owe us nothing just as we owe them nothing. Dont like their product? Dont use them. Get over it.

      • TripRep says:

        5 Apr5 April 07:12

        To be fair, they owe us the advertised service.

        But yes people should vote with their feet/mouse clicks

      • paul says:

        5 Apr5 April 07:17

        I don’t use them anyone more for long haul but its rather difficult to avoid them for short haul and impossible on a route like LHR GLA. The abuse of their monopoly is what really grates with me and that is what they are doing at fortress Heathrow. Their products are 20 years old, out of date, filthy and at every turn something else gets cut.
        There is no other FFQTV programme to compete with them as the other candidates, QR AA AY JL for example are in revenue sharing agreements and consequently don’t/wont compete. The other carriers cannot offer the route network and so the competition is fragmented and pretty useless to the average man in the street.

        But it is not about getting over it, people need to complain loudly and impact their business to bring about change.

        • Catalan says:

          5 Apr5 April 09:50

          Don’t Lufthansa have a near monopoly at Frankfurt and Munich? Don’t Air France/KLM have near monopolies at Paris/Amsterdam?
          We have to put things into perspective here.
          As the others have pointed out, voting with your feet works if you don’t like something. And if you no longer by a product how can you still provide constructive criticism!

        • RussellH says:

          5 Apr5 April 14:53

          Making the initial assumption that few people actually want to travel between northwest Paisley and Hillingdon, you are a lot more comfortable and not that much slower travelling between central Glasgow and the northern edge of the middle of London by train, as well as contributing far less to air pollution.

        • Callum says:

          6 Apr6 April 03:59

          Your expectations for a 90 minute flight are absurdly high – no wonder so many people in this hobby can come across as being so pretentious! As to the “man on the street” (you?) – the route networks of the other carriers clearly aren’t useless to them given they carry vastly more passengers between them than BA does.

          And the rest of the OneWorld alliance refuse to improve their frequent flyer programs because they’re in revenue sharing agreements with BA – what are you smoking!? I know the British tend to have an exaggerated view of our global status but that’s a whole new level! American Airlines, the biggest airline on the planet, has hobbled its frequent flyer programme because they don’t want to compete with BA!? And that is somehow BA’s fault for being too good?

          I’m also not too sure the incessant ranting on here does anything whatsoever, given its been happening for God knows how long now. As the person before me said, STOP GIVING THEM YOUR MONEY! While they may have a monopoly on LHR-GLA, they most definitely do not on London to Glasgow so that’s no excuse. If a company raised so much irrational anger within me there’s no way I’d be using them, convenient or not…

      • the real harry1 says:

        5 Apr5 April 08:14

        they owe me the food & beverages I paid for when I bought my tickets T-355

        • Concerto says:

          5 Apr5 April 08:56

          Yes, it’s so bloody British isn’t it, all this “get over it”, “accept it” and “don’t complain about it” rubbish. I note the comment above about it being a monopoly on the LHR-GLA, though. Otherwise, I simply don’t use them (easy, being based in GVA and DUS) and don’t post much about them. But it’s very interesting reading about it and how utterly crap they’ve become. As I said before, I expect nothing else from the de facto monopoly that it’s always wanted to be.

        • Mr Dee says:

          5 Apr5 April 17:22

          What is the progress of your pursuit to food and beverage reclaiming?

    • TripRep says:

      5 Apr5 April 07:10

      Hi BC,

      Agree the new LGW lounges are superb improvements, it’s a shame my experience of them is sadly tainted with dealing with the unnecessary hassle of being downgraded and fobbed off with falsehoods.

      I’d love to experience the LHR First Wing, CCR and it’s secret door, might do one day.

      • Save East Coast Rewards says:

        5 Apr5 April 08:00

        The not so secret door (there’s a sign as soon as you come out of south security fast track that says Concorde Room right pointing towards the door, all other lounges left) is rumoured to be closing with the opening of the new first wing, we’ll see in the next few days.

        Even if it stays open you’d either use this door or the wing, using them both would make no sense as it’d involve lots of extra walking to use a door that’s only purpose was to save time.

        If you have concorde room access and the door remains open the quickest route to the CCR would probably be the current one (via south security fast track), but if you go via the first wing then you’d approach the CCR from the other side so would enter through the main entrance.

        The first wing is great for us golds, but if they close that door it’s a step back for CCR card holders and genuine first class passengers (many may not realise that the lounge that the first wing ends up in isn’t the CCR).

        • BlueThroughCrimp says:

          5 Apr5 April 11:28

          How does closing the door work for transferring passengers?

      • Will says:

        5 Apr5 April 08:31

        CCR is the most over rated lounge anywhere I’ve been.

        You could eat better food in prezzo and several times I’ve asked the staff for something only to be forgotten.

        Get out to HK to cathays wing or pier 1st lounges if you want a real treat. You can have a bath in “the wing” as well as proper a la carte dining.

        • Rob says:

          5 Apr5 April 12:09

          Tempted to agree, really nothing about it I rate.

        • CV3V says:

          5 Apr5 April 12:52

          Completely agree, on last visit the food was pretty good, but the service is completely random. On last visit i didnt bother with CCR and used the First lounge instead where i didnt have to wait on the service and could help myself.

          If Rob gets a visit to the CX First lounges in HKIA he will see the difference in quality and attitude.

        • Gflyer says:

          5 Apr5 April 13:03

          Totally agree, I just passed through Cathay’s Wing 1st Lounge at HKG. I was blown away by how good it was!

          But the staff attitude was the single biggest differtiator compared to BA. Arrive at BA’s First Lounge or CCR at T5 and you are often greeted with an indifferent sneer from the Lounge Dragons. They often excel at making you feel like you’re troubling them by having the audacity to enter the lounge you’re completely entitled to. Whereas all Cathay staff were happy, walking around greeting passengers and making them feel welcome and valued!

        • Mike says:

          5 Apr5 April 17:34

          I was in it yesterday and it was fine but very quiet. Service was good but BA burger was underdone and tasteless tbh. However, the Bollinger Rose’ was very nice indeed. Currently sitting in the Atlanta admirals club delayed by huge thunderstorms in the area at the moment – waiting on Miami flight.

        • James67 says:

          5 Apr5 April 18:45

          Or relax in a bath and enjoy something fizzy in Thai Airways spa at BKK!

        • the real harry1 says:

          5 Apr5 April 18:48

          as long as your something fizzy is a drink 🙂

        • Sam says:

          6 Apr6 April 17:02

          On the contrary, the CCR has huge chairs to match the size of the egos!

    • paul says:

      5 Apr5 April 07:19

      might have something to do with how they actually make people feel as opposed to the marketing & PR output that given their size and finances, they are able to spin. Is PR not simply FAKE NEWS?

      • TripRep says:

        5 Apr5 April 07:34

        Sadly, its fairly standard practice, whilst I feel Virgin aren’t as bad I’ve seen similar.

        Majority of public are easily lured by sale fares and glossy marketing.

        The suspicion I have that 241 pax have been ruthlessly targeted for downgrades doesn’t exactly tally with the advertised product.

        • Callum says:

          6 Apr6 April 04:03

          Indeed. It couldn’t possibly be that the public don’t actually care about the majority of stuff people won’t stop whinging about on here? The first class toilet doesn’t have a flower any more? Cry me a river…

    • Leo says:

      5 Apr5 April 08:00

      Thank God for a bit of sanity. Bored senseless by constant bashing of BA. We all know the score.

  • Mr Dee says:

    5 Apr5 April 17:32

    I don’t know why they don’t just charge more rather than cut things from BA business class as it is usually overpriced and plenty of empty seats in Club Europe most of the time

• TripRep says:

  5 Apr5 April 06:57

  Sounds a good gig, while the boss is away…, enjoy! 😉

  Dare you to ask reps if BA on a recent CPT flight on the day of departure at checkin did the following…

  1) Actively selling upgrades to First cabin
  2) Whilst simultaneously trying to downgrade elderly couple on 241 checking in to First on the same flight.

  • Lady London says:

    5 Apr5 April 08:04

    Oh, do tell! More info about what you’re seeking to confirm please?

    Would be great Daily Mail material….

    • TripRep says:

      5 Apr5 April 08:15

      Just rumours, hence the question…

      BA do need to be called out if such practices are deliberately being engaged in.. (as opposed to a mix up)

      • danl69 says:

        5 Apr5 April 09:30

        I was on a 241 return club – LHR-HKG in February. having seen the posts here I became concerned when our flight appeared full but even up to 45 minutes before the flight they were still selling tickets at huge prices.
        At check in and again at the gate they were looking for volunteers to fly the next day for £600.

        nice deal – sell a club ticket for £3850 (one way) then pay back only £600 to someone who may have booked smart and paid £1400.

        Luckily we were not downgraded, maybe being GOLD card helped that – or maybe its isn’t in fact their policy?

        however – I did screen shots of the available tickets. if we were downgraded I would have claimed £3850 each as that was the cost if we wanted to travel Club at that time. its irrelevant what I paid – its about the time the downgrade took part.

        I have spoken to a very clever legal mind who thinks that would in fact stand up if you pursued it.

        interesting tact for anyone in that situation.

        • TripRep says:

          5 Apr5 April 12:00

          Also claim for the companion voucher to be reinstated as it hasn’t been used as booked.

        • Mr Dee says:

          5 Apr5 April 17:26

          Agree, even faceless corporations aren’t above the law, they would like to be taken seriously and you to obey their rules but it doesn’t mean that big business is always right.

  • Sam says:

    5 Apr5 April 10:07

    Is the elderly couple a genuine case of it happening again or is it a fishing exercise? If it’s the former then it adds to the number of people we know of that it’s happened to.

    • Anon says:

      5 Apr5 April 10:19

      Story I read is… following the intervention of a kind BA Gold card holder checking in for F on that flight, they did still get to travel in F along with the pax who’d paid to be upgraded.

      • Rob says:

        5 Apr5 April 12:11

        This is a Flyertalk story but I actually know the person involved and would trust what he wrote.

• TripRep says:

  5 Apr5 April 07:06

  To lighten the mood..

  Is this a new Tier Point run ? 😀

• paul says:

  5 Apr5 April 07:12

  Given the lack of slots at LHR one wonders what service they have cancelled to secure the slot. In light of the impending charges for diesel cars you also have to wonder how much pollution such a stunt will add to the environment. At the end of the day we are opening a corridor, and dimly lit corridor at that and so its hard to get excited.
  Enjoy your day Rob, it might just mean that the lounge food will be a bit better today and the place clean. As I will be there at lunch time I suppose I ought to be grateful for that

  • TripRep says:

    5 Apr5 April 07:14

    Paul, the Author of this article is Anika.

    This is Anika’s gig.

    Rob is in HKG.

  • Howard says:

    5 Apr5 April 10:37

    It makes sense that the aircraft they are using is a new 787, they are therefore not wasting a slot, since the aircraft needs to be delivered anyway.

• Derek says:

  5 Apr5 April 07:40

  I wonder if mention of “the future of ClubWorld” also means an insight into the next generation seat there have been so many rumours about?

• Nick says:

  5 Apr5 April 07:47

  Enjoy. If you get the chance to ask AC questions the I would encourage you to focus on the deterioration on all products. I would be interested to hear what AC’s rationale is for charging more than the competition (which is now Norwegian and Ryanair) on short haul economy- can he name a tangible benefit of flying BA over the rest? I would also want to make him know that the recent trend of 241 downgrades has not gone unnoticed- do Amex agree that the voucher is worthless? I might be inclined to ask him about his fetish for bread in CE. I might even ask if there are any more costs he plans to cut. If not, surely the obvious action is for BA to cut the costs relating to him? I would ask why the implementation of BoB was such a shambles, and ask him how many sandwiches he would expect to be loaded on a full A321. Is it more than 2? I would ask him who conducted the research to conclude that we had asked to pay for a G&T in ET. I would be interested to hear his views on the glassdoor stats which show him to be an incredibly unpopular CEO amongst staff. I would ask him how often he flies the competition. And perhaps most importantly of all, I would want to understand why BA have effectively stopped provided compensation for when things go wrong. I might be tempted to know when he last requested a refund from any merchant, and how long it took.

  • Craig says:

    5 Apr5 April 07:56

    Maybe Nick should go instead, Although I guess it would be the last time HfP get invited anywhere.

    Just as an aside, is i360 actually BA operated or just BA sponsored? If it is just BA sponsored they would be unlikely to control who is invited to the press launch.

    • Rob says:

      5 Apr5 April 12:12

      Business Traveller went 🙂

  • TripRep says:

    5 Apr5 April 08:02

    It’s being charged for water and a cuppa Tea that really grates.

  • Rashad says:

    5 Apr5 April 08:33

    I really dont see any fascination with BA Amex 2-4-1 companion vouchers any longer. the availability of flights for when i need them is really poor, plus BA uses really warn planes to the destinations I want to fly. My preferred destinations are Caribbean, Far East and Australia. Luckily I have discovered through HPF a new taste for much more quality flights with Qatar, that flies to majority of my preferred destinations.
    I have decided to cancel my 3 booked flights using BAPP 2-4-1 vouchers, re booking them on Qatar or Finnair or Etihad and using these vouchers for connecting flights to Oslo or Helsink or wherever. I know its not best value some might say, but on high season club flights to these destinations is quite steep.

    • Leo says:

      5 Apr5 April 08:41

      I agree and am not chasing any more either but the 241 do offer a way into premium cabins for people who find the cost of ex-EU flights on other carriers prohibitive and there is an absolute obligation for BA to adhere to it’s contractual rights and not purposively try and sell further tickets from under the backsides of redemption passengers. I was really surprised to get the tickets in F to California for pretty much the exact dates I wanted last week with no difficulty whatsoever. I am slightly concerned that karma will result in a downgrade experience….

    • TripRep says:

      5 Apr5 April 08:47

      Inclinded to agree, I wonder if Amex will see a dip in applications?

      Interesting you’ve cancelled yours, I assume you booked sale fares with QR?

      I’ve been considering burning Avios with them despite the higher amount needed..

      Found this enlightening..
      http://www.turningleftforless.com/reader-question-redeeming-avios-qatar-airways-airlines/

  • Catalan says:

    5 Apr5 April 09:59

    +1

• CV3V says:

  5 Apr5 April 08:57

  For the short hop will it be Buy on Board?

  Interesting to see what the future of Club World is. #airasia X

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