Recent BA experience in F?

[squawk7700]

Looking forward to flying F again on Sunday, LHR-MLE, for the first time in several years since our last trip in 1A. But then reading some horror story Trip Reports from the last few years with a drastically reduced service and product “due to Covid”.

Are things now back to normal-ish, or do I need to manage my expectations? The last time we did it, we very much enjoyed the LPGS in both the CCR and onboard. Hoping for more of the same!

[Boltonsam]

We really enjoyed the onboard. The food from lax wasn’t up to the outbound from lhr but overall a great experience.
The Concorde lounge on the return was quiet, but the food shocking- wife and I had sandwiches which were stale and probably bulk made in the morning. Dining staff seemed quite disinterested.

[ChrisC]

Flew F LHR-JFK in January

TBH I didn’t notice any downgrade over previous pre covid F trips in either the CCR or on board – other than the wearing of masks as was required then.

Drinks available and meal served as its usual courses. CC made their usual regular passes down the cabin.

[masaccio]

My experience was awful and I wished I had not been upgraded. Full details here in a different thread

[ANNE]

We had a decent trip DXB-LHR in March. If anything it felt like the crew service standards had slightly improved since our last F in 2018, food quality seemed similar and no complaints on availability or quantity of alcohol provided.

Only two notable downsides really. My partner got her first choice of meal but I didn’t, and the crew told us that they were very frustrated with failure to load sufficient quantities. Secondly, what is it with the Lindor balls! I’m not unappreciative of being offered one but they don’t really fit with the rest of the service….

I did think the A380 F cabin looked tired, especially vs our outbound in CS on the A350. It was our first time in CS and we were very impressed with the seat.

• This reply was modified 54 years, 4 months ago by .

[NorthernLass]

We had a lovely time at the end of March flying F to BOS. Son was very happy with Club Suite as he was slumming it in J – also F suite is a very nice upgrade on the old seats. F & B was excellent; though it would have been even better if they had brought back the option of choosing a meal in advance.

We passed through the CCR at lunchtime so decided to eat in the restaurant section which was very enjoyable, the food was very good and the server was extremely attentive and made sure our glasses were never empty!

After the lunch we didn’t need 2 meals on a 7 hr 40 mins flight, but going to MLE you’ll have time to enjoy everything that’s on offer, I would imagine!

[astra19]

I think people are more likely to complain than praise, so I can throw my hat in and say my last trip, LHR-EWR was great. The cabin was half full, and service was really attentive and friendly. I always think it’s one of BA’s strengths. The food was delicious, and they were more than happy for me to mix and match from the menu.
Looking forward to the next trip in a few weeks.

[NorthernLass]

@Anne – I thought the same about the Lindor balls, previously the chocs were a bit more exclusive! My son loves them though, so I saved them for him. They also had them in the Club Kitchen so maybe BA bought a job lot from Lindt?!

And this reminds me – has anyone else noticed the “value”-style biscuits in the jars in the Galleries lounges now 😱

[tiriavpo]

The CCR is pretty much back to normal. As ever, the onboard experience will depend on the crew on the day.

[squawk7700]

Thanks for the replies…so it sounds like they’re kind of back to the “old normal” which whilst nothing ground breaking was still good enough for us! I’d seen trip reports during Covid of people being served salads in plastic pots along with £20 champagne in F and was hoping they’d moved on from that.

Is LPGS still the standard in the CCR and onboard?

[NorthernLass]

They were serving LPGS in the CCR and I’m pretty sure it was on the menu on board, though I just had a couple of glasses of red with my lamb as the enthusiastic server in the CCR restaurant made me over-indulge somewhat at lunch 🤦‍♀️😂

[ANNE]

NorthernLass wrote:

@Anne – I thought the same about the Lindor balls, previously the chocs were a bit more exclusive! My son loves them though, so I saved them for him. They also had them in the Club Kitchen so maybe BA bought a job lot from Lindt?!

And this reminds me – has anyone else noticed the “value”-style biscuits in the jars in the Galleries lounges now 😱

I was a bit baffled by the offer of a Lindor ball after lunch to be honest – not that I turned it down!

And on the biscuit front, I confess we went straight for the alcohol when we last flew from LHR in March. But when we flew last June and all lounge offerings were on table service, I was especially amused by the single custard cream that was bought to me on a small plate with a cup of coffee. We were grateful to be flying anywhere at that stage but this was the moment that BA’s reduced service offering really hit home!!

[NorthernLass]

Yes – there were custard creams, chocolate creams and poor-quality shortbread in the jars, they looked like the supermarket versions which are about 40p per pack!

[dougzz99]

There’s a recent post on FT about a wonderful trip in F. There are also posts on really poor experiences. Given the tendency to post negative experiences I’d guess things are reasonably normal. I always try to remain neutral about the flight and just see how it goes.

Having said that a couple of really poor J flights with BA made me rebook on AA flights when the opportunity arose. That for me has been completely normal, I genuinely don’t mind the AA service, some dislike it greatly but for me it’s fine.

[Richie]

Anne wrote:

…I did think the A380 F cabin looked tired, especially vs our outbound in CS on the A350. It was our first time in CS and we were very impressed with the seat.

It’ll be interesting to see how they refurbish the A380s with the latest F and CS.

[jj]

Did F out and back LHR to JFK on December, and F return from Dallas in January with the outbound in F on AA.

Onboard with BA, all was great. We had fabulous crew each time, everything was clean and well maintained, and the food and drink were broadly on a par with pre-COVID. We had two trips on 777s and one on a brand new 787; to be honest, I preferred the 777 experience as the seat was slightly larger which allowed us to buddy dine or simply share a seat to chat. The new 787 seat is dominated by a huge entertainment system that is of no interest to me – I have the rest of my life to watch TV so don’t need one on an aircraft. Mask wearing was so loosely enforced that most people didn’t bother throughout the flight.

On the ground, both Concorde rooms were as good as could be expected with endless champagne and lovely food, and we had the Concorde dining area in the LHR arrivals lounge to ourselves; again, no complaints, although I would personally prefer the service in the LHR Concorde room to be more personal and less obsequious. The only real disappointment was the utterly rubbish AA lounge in DFW.

AA F wasn’t an experience that I intend to repeat, but that’s another matter altogether.

[Simonm]

jj wrote:

Did F out and back LHR to JFK on December, and F return from Dallas in January with the outbound in F on AA.

…. The only real disappointment was the utterly rubbish AA lounge in DFW.

AA F wasn’t an experience that I intend to repeat, but that’s another matter altogether.

@jj Was that the AA Flagship Lounge in DFW? I was there on Thursday and was actually really pleasantly surprised. Big step up from the Admirals Club lounge, pretty good food and drink selection, and Japanese style toilets! I didn’t bother with the Flagship Dining but that looked pretty good too….

[jj]

No, not the Flagship Lounge, as AA were too tight-fisted to open it until very recently. That meant they didn’t have to fund our alcohol beyond cheap house wine or low-cost beer, and they didn’t have to fund our food either. In most AA lounges, anything worth having costs extra, even if you are travelling in F.

[Simonm]

jj wrote:

No, not the Flagship Lounge, as AA were too tight-fisted to open it until very recently. That meant they didn’t have to fund our alcohol beyond cheap house wine or low-cost beer, and they didn’t have to fund our food either. In most AA lounges, anything worth having costs extra, even if you are travelling in F.

Ah yes – I had the same on a trip back in January – Admirals Club definitely not great!