Brunchgate hits the national press

[danimal]

Both the Mail and Sun carrying the Brunchgate saga, interestingly both fail to make it clear what time of the day these changes apply to. A huge PR mess for BA as readers will assumwe the cuts are on ALL flights.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14009107/British-Airways-scraps-business-class-three-course-meals-disgust-loyal-heeled-jet-setters.html

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/31342006/british-airways-major-change-flight-meals-fury/

Both describe Business Class passengers as “well-heeled”!

[Blair Waldorf Salad]

Odd cos ON and Hoka trainers don’t really have heels that need to be maintained.

[Richie]

It’s the photo choices that are highly inaccurate.
Both are showing external views of short haul aircraft, mail is showing a WTP seat and the sun what looks like a cradle seat.

[JDB]

Well, one does need to be relatively “well heeled” to travel in business class, but those people may feel rather less well off by the end of the week.

[Alex G]

Sad what passes as journalism these days.

[NorthernLass]

I’m sure they have lifted the comments from the FT thread!

@JDB, what do you consider acceptable heels for travelling in? Obviously not a nice pair of Louboutins because of that whole risk of puncturing the escape chute 🤷‍♀️👠

[redlilly]

Won’t click on either link, as boycotting both. However, laughable to call BC passengers “well heeled”. What does that make Y, and seperately F passengers?

[NorthernLass]

I think most readers of those publications would consider a family of 4 paying £10k or more for J seats to be well-heeled!

[Garethgerry]

Yes but if in J are they working people.

It’s the same when papers talk about cruises, they are always luxury cruises. Never mind that on some ships may cost less than a package holiday .

[Richie]

Garethgerry wrote:

Yes but if in J are they working people… .

BA will have to do Dinnergate if their NIC bill goes up even by 1%.

[davefl]

@NorthernLass Come on dear, you fly often enough to know the rules, Loubs are to be taken off before using the slide 😉

[redlilly]

NorthernLass wrote:

I think most readers of those publications would consider a family of 4 paying £10k or more for J seats to be well-heeled!

I would have said they’re more than well heeled, but guess it depends on what heels 😂

[Ihar]

I remember being in F when they said “The plane is on a collision course for a mountain. And by the way, we’re also out of cheese”….. 😁

I imagine given Club Suite that those who don’t want dinner are not affected. Just load fewer meals

[Rob]

Times piece on the way ….

[freckles]

Rob Burgess wrote:

Times piece on the way ….

Presume with commentary from HfP?
Only downside will be it’ll no doubt be behind their paywall 🤔😢

[ed_fly]

Rob Burgess wrote:

Times piece on the way ….

be interesting to see how long the BA line – ‘these changes are what the customers requested’ – holds. As someone suggested the other day, there may be a silent majority in favour of these changes, but there is a lot of noise being made by people who are unhappy. Already suggestions at least a partial u-turn is on the way.

[TGLoyalty]

These articles are the same drivel regurgitated from the original article from PYOK.

While brunch timings might be poor no where actually has stories of actual customers complaining about their lack of food or it tasting like dirt.

Not even much on flyertalk in the grand scheme of things same few complaining they don’t want brunch at 1-2 (fair) or supper at midnight (bizarre)

Thread on someone losing 300k Avios is more active.

[Garethgerry]

It’s about choice.

It also depends on who and what they asked about brunch.

Many like me love a good brunch, with the emphasis on good.

However I also know I haven’t in hundreds of CW and half as many first flights, never never had a good breakfast on BA , only 10% of time eggs come out edible. So if asked would never say yes to brunch on planes.

[NorthernLass]

I agree – breakfast and brunch are my favourite meals, so in theory this should suit me down to the ground. However, I just can’t envisage it being possible to produce perfectly-poached eggs on a plane. How do they poach eggs on board anyway? Some sort of boil in the bag affair?

[TGLoyalty]

“It’s about choice”

Well it’s not infinite choice unless you’re on a private plane you get what the airline offers. Which still is and always has been a limited choice of dishes on BA

@nothernlass perhaps but that’s not what the articles are “moaning about” it’s not if they can deliver a tasty meal it’s how much of it there is and it’s perceived quantities

The CW meals have been hit and miss for years.

[mef13]

I think BA are missing the point. First is a luxury product. If the customer is happy, the price tag is almost irrelevant. An extra £100 on the ticket price makes no difference, so don’t even think about cost savings.

Club is more stratified. Leisure travellers want to feel pampered. When I fly club for business, I want to work and/or sleep, and as long as there’s something to stop me starving, I’m happy.

mef

[Garethgerry]

mef13 wrote:

Club is more stratified. Leisure travellers want to feel pampered. When I fly club for business, I want to work and/or sleep, and as long as there’s something to stop me starving, I’m happy.

mef

Exactly right when working I was Sleep is every thing, now leisure I want more , perhaps because it’s now my money .

[Wiseoldman]

arrived

https://www.thetimes.com/uk/transport/article/british-airways-great-british-brunch-club-world-first-qpcqhzndm

Rob Burgess, the editor of Head for Points, a website for frequent flyers, called the brunch decision “crackpot”.

He said: “After all the talk of £7 billion of investment — which mainly turns out to be replacement capital investment — BA seems to be reverting to type.

“Expecting business class passengers on £10,000 flexible tickets to be happy with a panini on a night flight or a 1.30pm breakfast — with cheeseboard, coffee and liqueurs — on a day flight, purely to save under £5 on food, is all you need to know that the old BA is alive and well.”

[TGLoyalty]

mef13 wrote:

I think BA are missing the point. First is a luxury product. If the customer is happy, the price tag is almost irrelevant. An extra £100 on the ticket price makes no difference, so don’t even think about cost savings.

On the face of it I don’t disagree and it’s not clear what the actual changes are to F looking at menus posted recently but If that was actually true about the amount of people willing to pay an extra £100 they wouldn’t have trimmed cabins from 14+ to 8

It’s not as if they have 0 data.

I think the concept of offering brunch is probably correct but the execution is confused and the take off timing cut off too late. So tweaks will happen there.

Not sure there’s actually an issue for post 9:30pm flights

[masaccio]

If brunch is genuinely popular with some travelers, which this thread suggests it is, then why not offer a brunch choice rather than replacing the entire menu? That way, those of us that think brunch is one of the most overrated dining concepts can choose some different food instead.

I retire next year so all work ties to OneWorld disappear, which I am looking forward to. I don’t know which airlines we will pick flying west, but there is very little chance we will pick BA flying east. And it’s for nonsense like this we’ll do that. I only fly business for leisure so £2k+ of my own money for 10 hours deserves the very best service and food possible.