New Club World food service photos …. with Bollinger?

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• Tim Millea says:

  23 Aug23 August 06:12

  Champagne is another of those classic North-South divide issues. I like champagne and caviar but I am happier with cava or prosecco and a dollop of taramasalata. I suspect the nearness of France and the propensity to be pretentious corrupts the South. I never understood why we were taught French at school when Spanish is more spoken and Spain several hours nearer to the North of England.

  • the real harry1 says:

    23 Aug23 August 06:55

    Spain closer than France? pray tell…

    • Clive says:

      23 Aug23 August 06:59

      Harry, I think he’s implying that people in the north know how to fly to Spain but can’t find France except by road.

      • Cate says:

        23 Aug23 August 09:03

        🙂

      • Anna says:

        23 Aug23 August 13:01

        Except that you can now get a RFS from Manchester to Nice, so the roof box can go into storage!

    • Genghis says:

      23 Aug23 August 07:02

      Perhaps if all you can fly to from your local airport is a Spanish bucket and spade route?

      Not all people are the same. Perhaps I’ve been in the south too long. “More LPGS sir?” Saying that, still love a chip butty!

  • Clive says:

    23 Aug23 August 06:57

    If someone from elsewhere in England is going to pretend to be from the north and write something which makes fun of us, you’ll have to be more subtle than this. We don’t really have chips this big on our shoulders and do travel worldwide, thanks.

  • Gavin says:

    23 Aug23 August 06:59

    They probably taught French in place of geography

    • the real harry1 says:

      23 Aug23 August 07:11

      ha ha! at my school they got round the problem by making you study both French & Spanish (well, or German tbh)

      • Gavin says:

        23 Aug23 August 08:17

        Laughing and Grief in addition to French for us

        • the real harry1 says:

          23 Aug23 August 08:28

          I sadly wasn’t ‘good enough’ at languages @ age 11 to get into those sets – so I guess all my A grade MFL A-levels were flukes 🙂

          as it happens, I had to teach my middle son Latin in a crash course 2 yrs ago as he’d missed out on Y7 – he/we caught up in about a week or 10 days and he finished Y8 in the top – there’s a really good free Latin course online if anybody’s interested

  • Nick says:

    23 Aug23 August 08:54

    I remember my first go at trolling too.

    • Billy Buzzjet says:

      23 Aug23 August 10:16

      Please sir! Any courses in bilge and drivel ?

• Our_Kid says:

  23 Aug23 August 07:11

  Maybe some decent non alcoholic drinks wouldn’t go amiss too. Not everyone is into the booze….

  • Sandgrounder says:

    23 Aug23 August 07:24

    +1. Having been on the wagon for several years now, some fancy soft drinks would be appreciated in premium classes.

    • Andrew says:

      23 Aug23 August 07:39

      The QR non-alcoholic champagne is very good (and £27 off the shelf).

      • Trent says:

        23 Aug23 August 09:00

        It’s really nice. The mocktails on QR are also really tasty. When I fly QR I actually drink a bunch of non-alcoholic drinks in between the usual Champagne as they’re so good. BA would be good to offer more tasty non-alcoholic drinks. The So Jennie on QR is nice too!

        • K says:

          23 Aug23 August 10:43

          I spent the past two weeks flying around asia and was a big fan of CX’s mocktail! – they also had a special cocktail too which wasn’t bad at all in J

• Andrew says:

  23 Aug23 August 07:38

  I still don’t understand why they need to serve from a trolley rather than restaurant style, as many airlines do.

  • Clive says:

    23 Aug23 August 07:58

    Probably because they fit more seats into a J cabin than some other airlines and want the meal service to be over with more quickly and with fewer (or at least not more) staff.

    • Andrew says:

      23 Aug23 August 08:01

      It’s a shame they don’t charge less than other airlines then, if they are operating such a low-cost model!

      • Clive says:

        23 Aug23 August 09:07

        Remember that BA’s business class is called First and CW is the world’s best premium economy and the service makes sense. That they get people to pay the fares of the next category up each time just shows what Heathrow slots are worth and why they don’t want a 3rd runway 🙂

        • Will says:

          23 Aug23 August 10:42

          I love trolley service, you get it on Cathay Pacific into china, really nice touch.

          I’m possibly the only one who thinks it but CW for me is already superior to virgin upper class.

          I still cannot get over any business class seat which needs to flip over to become a bed, as such it’s impossible to lounge half way.

          Imho CW with better catering would be an excellent product. (As long as you get a refurb 747, A380,787. Not sure about 773’s but 772’s are a disgrace)

  • N. Ford says:

    23 Aug23 August 08:05

    It’s because the WOW! factor of what’s coming to a halt next to each to each passenger is enough to make them pause their movie or whatever and give the crew their full attention for a couple of minutes. And believe me; I did my new CW course recently and there’s no doubt whatsoever that the whole new offering – from cutlery, crockery, glasses, food, presentation, service style – is going to be a game-changer for BA. There were eighteen Worldwide crew (the oldsters!) per course and not one of us could muster anything but high praise for what has been designed & executed. It will force you to take your headphones off when it pulls up alongside your seat. And they’re just the starters!

    • Rob says:

      23 Aug23 August 08:55

      I have seen this in Lufty First and I agree it works well. We need to be honest though, it is only papering over the cracks in Club World. Most people would take the new Qatar QSuite with a bag of crisps for a meal rather than CW with this new food service.

      • Neil says:

        23 Aug23 August 10:29

        True, but strong rumours on the FT thread that BA have ditched their enhanced version of the current CW setup and are launching a similar version of the QR Q suite.

        • Rob says:

          23 Aug23 August 10:34

          That is …. the old QR seat which QR is now ditching for the QSuite!

    • Andrew says:

      23 Aug23 August 14:05

      Why would you want to be forced to take of your headphones and give the crew your full attention. I want my crew to be attentive but discrete – I don’t need anymore friends so am happy to have my ordered food, presented to me, I give a nod of thanks and continue watching the movie!

    • Paul says:

      23 Aug23 August 16:11

      “A game changer” sorry but it will take a great deal more than an improvement in catering to get me back on board. BA is simply “bloody awful” and its anyone except BA.
      Currently in the middle of a 4 sector CX trip and the difference between BA and CX is chalk and cheese. BA can’t hold s candle to them. I also did a 6 sector trip on AA in July both international and domestic and again BA left well behind.
      My one and only experience of Qatar is one of my stand out flight experiences ever. From departure to arrival simply superb. Happy to pay a premium over BA to fly with them again.

• JP says:

  23 Aug23 August 08:21

  Let’s wait and see as to whether the quality improves or this is just another poorly disguised efficiency drive by BA.

  Meantime, the big issues remain – almost every BA flight I have taken recently has had delays, it continues to be hugely obvious as to when you have a mixed fleet cabin crew versus old school long haul (way better), premium boarding lines are longer than economy at the gate, gate area is often just a huge disorganised crowd of people etc.

  Oh and on a small note, where did the cheese go on my latest Club Europe flight?! It came…for a few months…then mysteriously vanished! Surely not a rapid u turn to save money after changing the food offering so recently…BA? Couldn’t be…

  • Nick_C says:

    23 Aug23 August 12:15

    Flight delays can sometimes be great! Our flight back from LA last month was delayed by 5 hours. We knew about the delay (to the incoming flight) when we woke up in the morning, so we were not inconvenienced in any way. And the £1076 compensation (more than we paid in fees and charges for this Avios redemption flight) was paid 4 weeks later. Cheap champagne never tasted so good!

    Having commented unfavourably about CW in the past, I was also really impressed with the flights. The food was excellent, and sitting facing each other with the divider down during the meal made the experience so much more enjoyable. The abundance of empty seats also helped.

    I would still choose AA if I was paying cash, but for a 241 exemption, Avios collection is a worthwhile hobby.

    Thanks Rob (and everyone else who posts advice here). This site made it all possible.

  • Rupert S says:

    25 Aug25 August 09:01

    Flew yesterday – there was cheese, quince and a soft cracker…

    But we didn’t get our pre lunch drink service – band 4 flight

• Cate says:

  23 Aug23 August 09:10

  The first picture looks like they’ve just plated the meals in the galley then brought them through for dispersion on the trolley. Not the same as Luft first.

  • N. Ford says:

    23 Aug23 August 09:29

    Cate, they’re starters. And dispersing them from a trolley is exactly what happens now! But this is slightly different. And better. Much better…

• James says:

  23 Aug23 August 09:35

  Spot on re: Club Europe mugs – look like they belong in a motorway service station rather than at the front of a ‘premium’ airline! Also, the coffee stinks. I’m a coffee snob but the pervious instant was better than the fresh bags they currently use. A very nice crew member poped two in the pot for me last time and it was still horribly weak!

• Diydegsy says:

  23 Aug23 August 09:47

  Hi slightly o/t but can anyone tell me if I can use two 241 vouchers to book flights for the four of us 2 adults and 2 children and if so how? I phoned BA this morning and they said I can’t as each voucher must be used by the person who owns them. I would appreciate any help on how to book using the 241 for four people or maybe it’s not possible. My husband is due to get his own voucher soon when he hits the spend limit so maybe I have to wait until he gets his and then book if the seats are still available? Thanks

  • Rob says:

    23 Aug23 August 10:15

    You can do it, but you will end up with 2 separate bookings. You + 1 kid and hubby + 1 kid.

    This makes absolutely no difference to anything EXCEPT seat selection. If your husband is Silver or Gold with BA then he will be able to select seats for free for himself and the child on his booking whilst you cannot.

    Apart from that, having the four of you across 2 separate tickets makes no difference.

  • Genghis says:

    23 Aug23 August 10:20

    You can book for four but you will have two separate PNRs. Each of you and your husband need the vouchers (you can’t add a voucher to a booking at a later date). If Gold can then link the PNRs.

  • AVM says:

    23 Aug23 August 10:37

    Have I not read somewhere that if in Household account then you can use 2 vouchers for 1 booking for 4 passengers? Having 2 different PNRs is not only about seating but also about keeping you as one group in case of re-routing, overbooking etc (I know that it is unlikely, but if it happens then consequence can be quite serious – let’s say there is an overbooking and BA wants to remove 2 passengers and here you are with your child while your spouse and another child on separate PNR are allowed to board…).

    • CP says:

      23 Aug23 August 10:44

      Yes, did this last year – household account and used one 241 of mine and one of my wife’s to book 4 people (+ one infant) on the one PNR. Had to call to do it, but no problem.

    • Rob says:

      23 Aug23 August 10:56

      Don’t think so. You can use 2 x 241’s in one booking if they are both in the same name. These can happen with the BAPP card because the voucher lasts 2 years and so you can easily have 2 of them.

• Mark says:

  23 Aug23 August 10:17

  The Gardet has gone! I can’t remember the name of the new brand but it was miles better than the Gardet!

  • Scallder says:

    23 Aug23 August 16:58

    Pretty sure it’s Perrier-Jouet now. Had to move seats on a flight back from Atlanta in UC so wife and I were split up – cabin crew gave us a bottle along with some boxes of chocolates from the duty free as an apology for the hassle. Very decent of them and very decent stuff to drink!

    • David says:

      23 Aug23 August 19:31

      I think it’s currently Canard Duchene

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