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British Airways relaxes the dress code for non-rev (staff ticket) passengers

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According to cabin crew website paddleyourownkanoo, British Airways has decided to let staff chillax when travelling on a non-rev (ie free or heavily discounted staff travel) ticket.  This is in response to the more casual dress codes being adopted by fare-paying passengers.

In every cabin, including First Class, it is now acceptable for off-duty staff to wear:

  • jeans
  • t-shirts
  • casual shoes

BA staff travel uniform

For good or bad, you will NOT be seeing:

  • jeans that are frayed or have holes
  • “overly revealing” clothing
  • sportswear
  • beach clothing (including flip flops)
  • any kind of shorts or sportswear

The internal memo apparently suggests that off-duty staff on a freebie think of “fare paying customers and show sensitivity towards them.”

Of course you MAY want to consider wearing sportswear or flip-flops yourself in order that you are clearly identifiable as a fare-paying customer …..


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Comments (93)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • Tim W says:

    Norwich Airport lounge was always a member of Priority Pass until the recent refurbishment. When passing through a couple of months ago the lounge was closed, and people flying eg KLM Business Class were given a voucher for free refreshments from the public cafe. However I was told that Priority Pass was no longer accepted. Glad to see it back there. I’ll be going through again in a couple of weeks, so will try and remember to make some notes!

  • CV3V says:

    I reminisce about the days of staff travel and being under orders not to let on to the paying passengers that i just travelled to the US in business for £65 (ish) return. At the end of a flight into Vegas i spoke to a very well dressed couple who were sat near me, turned out they were on staff tickets, then they told me there was 12 staff passengers on the flight!

  • Lumma says:

    I think there’s a couple of European airlines that give you no seatmate in 2-2 euro business

  • Stu N says:

    OT – just browsing Heathrow Rewards and noticed a free 1st upgrade on Hex for Premium members.

    “As a Premium member you can enjoy up to four upgrades to Business First with Heathrow Express trains each year.
    Find your upgrade code in your latest Heathrow Rewards quarterly statement. If you can’t locate your code contact Heathrow Rewards Customer Services.
    How to use your code;
    • Visit heathrowexpress.com or the Heathrow Express app
    • Input your code in the ‘Promotional Code’ box
    • Select a Business First ticket, which will display at the same price as the Express Saver ticket
    • Check out and pay
    • Enjoy your journey in Business First with Heathrow Express”

    Looks like it will only work for full fare tickets so not as good as it might initially appear, and I personally wouldn’t pay anything extra for Heathrow Express 1st anyway.

  • Paul Johnson says:

    I always wear short/flip flops when travelling, either First or Upper. Is that bad? I pay for most tickets but some are points. I’ve never even considered it until this article! Should I don my double breasted G&H next time? 🙂

    • the real harry1 says:

      When I flew out out to HK in CX business to start my first job after university, they sat me with an American new start counterpart – we’d both been given a generous clothing allowance for suits etc so not wanting to give a bad first impression we were both sat there like prize plums in our smart stuff – within a couple of hours various other travellers in the cabin had overheard us and introduced themselves as various senior officers in the bank, all dressed in track suits, shorts, T-shirts etc – first rule of travelling LH being to travel comfortably 🙂

      • Genghis says:

        +1. I wear PJs always now on LH, day or night. But bare feet in the cabin with a risk of cheesy feet? No thanks.

    • Nick says:

      I fail to understand why ANYONE would wear flipflops for a flight. If the worst happened and you had to jump out and run across the tarmac, ending up barefoot having lost a flipflop would inevitably slow you down and probably leave you with injuries.

      Ok it’s rare, but it does happen, and I wish more people thought about what they might potentially have to do in an emergency. The most serious injuries when GVIIO caught fire in Vegas a few years back were burnt and scratched feet from running across the hot tarmac.

      • Nick_C says:

        I thought you had to remove shoes anyway before going down the slides?

        • Nick says:

          “High heeled shoes must be taken off as they may tear the evacuation slides”
          Followed by Thandie visually demonstrating pink stilettoes and the creepy guy grooling. No mention of ordinary shoes… can you really see people having to wait to evacuate before they’ve unlaced their trainers?!

          For the record, I wouldn’t wear stilettoes or sandals on a flight either.

        • Lumma says:

          Not a fan of the BA safety video then? I think I’m on the new a320 with the slimline seats on the way back from Budapest on Wednesday. No TVs so won’t have to endure it

      • Callum says:

        Risk Vs Reward. The “reward” of wearing flip flops outweighs the miniscule chance of the plane crashing/catching fire for many people.

        I don’t doubt for a second you make similar, if not worse, risks with your life on a regular basis. Ever drive when the train would have been an option? CRAZY!!!!! Don’t you know you’re much more likely to die in a car crash than a train crash?

    • Lady London says:

      Yes it’s bad. Nearly as bad as shorts.

  • RussellH says:

    We grew up in a railway family and got rail tickets at 25% of the public price, plus at least one free first class ticket to anywhere in Great Britain plus British Railways ferries. Latterly I got quite adept at working out trips from London to Scotland, back to London and then onward to Hoek van Holland, Calais or Dieppe.

    We had friends who worked for BOAC; we were amazed to discover that they had been to the USA, Australia, South Africa, Kenya, but never set foot in France, Switzerland or Italy. Obvious, though, when you thought it through.

  • W says:

    OT: is the amex chat working for anyone at the moment?

    • The Original Nick says:

      Amex chat can be a nuisance quite honestly. I much preferred the email system.

  • Axel says:

    Im told by my teenage daughter Armani or Nike Sliders are di rigueur in Business LH.

    If you call sliders “flip-flops” you are really showing your age HFP readers ????

    • Tom1 says:

      Fully agree with your daughter, Axel.
      We should also differentiate between sliders and fluffy sliders please.
      I can fully accept sliders or flip flops (Havaianas), but sliders and socks is not a combo I can tolerate. ????

    • RussellH says:

      I have been told many times that Aussies call fli-flops ‘thongs’, which could conjour up a whole new concept of in-flight leisure-wear.

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