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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.

  • Crafty says:

    OT: Finally got a Curve. Done some reading. Still don’t really get it. If I do a transaction at say a Holiday Inn and recharge it to my IHG Credit Card, will I still receive the underlying extra points for paying at an IHG hotel with an IHG card? i.e. is the transaction for all rewards purposes treated as one made using the underlying card?

    • Anna says:

      It works that way with my HH visa so don’t see why it shouldn’t with the IHG.

    • Rob says:

      No you don’t, it is treated as a Curve transaction.

      • Peter K says:

        I concur with Rob. No bonus points as it goes on your card as “curve – ihg” or similar.

      • Crafty says:

        Thank you. So the “only carry one card” aspect is instantly negated.

    • Louise says:

      Main thing is you can withdraw £200 a month and also make payments to things that you may normally do with your bank account

  • Jamesay says:

    Anyone travelling in flip flops deserves their feet trodden on or worse. As for shorts, let me know how a spilled hot beverage goes !

    • Lady London says:

      You’ll hear 🙂

    • Callum says:

      In the hundred odd flights I’ve worn shorts on, I’ve never spilt a hot drink over my legs… Perhaps you’re just particularly clumsy?

      • the real harry1 says:

        it’s not the legs! 🙂

        • Callum says:

          Haha ouch. Though in that scenario im not sure trousers would offer much more protection than shorts!

        • the real harry1 says:

          About 17 years ago my little toddler son managed to spill a 100C (or so it felt) bowl of boiling soup into my lap just at the painful bit – seizing the moment I grabbed the mineral water bottle and sprayed it onto my frazzled parts, ah, relief! 🙂

      • David says:

        it doesn’t need to be you doing the spilling!

        Oh, and if you ever take a look at the bottom edge of an evacuation slide, you will never wear shorts again.

      • Rob says:

        Don’t think I have ever worn shorts on a flight! It would be rather unfair on any fellow passengers for a start … although not as bad as exposing my feet to them.

        Washington will be 37 degrees on Monday but I am doing my bit to keep up the British reputation for style with a full jacket / shirt / trousers combo 🙂

        • flyforfun says:

          I’ve worn shorts intra-Australia as it’s too hot to wear trousers. Also done it coming back from Greece after a day of travelling to get to the airport. Will be considering it for my holiday there next month if the weather both ways is right.

          Having been a kingon with my friend’s staff benefits on Qantas, they relaxed their requirements a few years ago whereby clean and tidy jeans were permitted. Didn’t matter if you scored J travel as you’d strip down to their pajamas for the flight anyway.

  • signol says:

    I’ll be flying from Norwich in the summer, albeit in Y with my family. The old lounge had a window onto the departure lounge – if it still does I’ll see if I can get a picture from the outside.

    • Tim W says:

      The new lounge is in exactly the same place as the old one. It’s just not called “Multiyork” any more, and has allegedly been refurbished!

  • Nick says:

    I’ll be going through Norwich on July 10th. Happy to discuss a review. Cheers. Nick

  • Mike says:

    I have noticed increasingly that Priority Pass is being turned away at busy airports like Manchester and Birmingham, with lounges like Aspire and No 1 Traveller preferring to take private bookings and more money eg stag and hen parties. This year have been refused access 3 times at Birmingham and twice at Manchester.

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

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