travelled BA - report

[MichaelJackson]

From a recent post, I decided in the end to fly BA direct to London. I have used Eva many times but thought I would give BA a try.

Service arrived on time in Bkk, 777 jet seemed fine, seats ok, quite comfortable really for cattle class.

The flight was uneventful, just the way I like it, but a few observations.

The cabin crew were the oldest I have ever seen for flight crew. The "matron" was full of her own importance and had a real attitude about her.

The Aircaraft itself seemed really noisy, lots of rattles and vibrations and just felt " loud".

The entertainmdnt was just awful, limited and very poor selection. I tried 4 sets of headphones before finding one that actually gave a good audio level due to the aircraft noise.

I noticed at one stage that less than 10% of the passengers in my cabin were actually using the entertainment, it was that bad. Without a decent entertainment choice the trip felt much much longer.

The food although edible (just), again seemed poor and probably the cheapest that they could find and poorly presented.

The overall impression was one of "cheap & nasty" and very tired, get the absolute most use out of the absolute cheapest available option.

I do unfortunately have the return booked, BA would not be a consideration in future.

They could learn alot from EVA, which is where my next direct flight will be booked.

Edited July 6, 2014 by MichaelJackson

[transam]

The plane got you there, that for me is the main thing, I rely on my country and it's planes service staff......

[chiang mai]

I think you've nailed it, nothing much has changed in many years, particularly the attitude of the crew.

[robertthebruce]

BA have always been fine when I fly with them, but I am easy pleased as long as I get to my destination in one piece and on time, that's good for me,..

As for Airline food, I normally have my diner before boarding that works for me..

[smokie36]

EVA have MORE food I noticed....quality is not much different.

Take a book on any long flight and the entertainment isn't an issue.

I too found the seating in economy to be acceptable...however I will was fortunate to have a middle seat free next to me in the row of 3.

That I think made a huge difference.

[SantiSuk]

I went right off BA a few years ago. Recently they have been very cheap (about 600 quid) so I've flown them four times in the last 6 weeks.

I couldn't disagree with you more - I found the staff more competent and pleasant than the polyglot younger crews you get on the 'big 3 Arabs', the food ok and the modern 777s they use are fine. I missed the wide audio CD choice of Emirates, the seat back power on Etihad and the proper cutlery on the arabia to Bangkok legs of all these arab-hoppers. BAs movie choice (recent releases) was very good. LHR Terminal 5 is a pleasure to use whereas T3 is a zoo! You might be right about the audio, but I always take my own earphones on any flight.

Most of all I loved going back to direct flights. I have always adopted a policy of attributing a 150 quid penalty to an indirect flight, so that if the direct flight is no more than 150 quid more expensive than an indirect flight I'll take the direct flight. This summer has been the first time in about 4 years that my policy 'allowed me' to take a direct flight.

Used to fly direct on EVA as well. They were fine, but I couldn't see why some people seem to dote on them.

All IMO of course. We all have one of those!

[tw25rw]

Their economy seats are too tight for more than a couple of hours and their premium economy is overpriced. So for me it's Thai in economy or EVA in PE. My one experience in BA business class was better that Thai or EVA's offering at the time (2007)

[loppylugs1]

Used Aeroflot last time,filled with dread,surprisingly it was a joy,good food heaps of it,comfortable seats etc.

Coming back a little less joyous but OK

[NanLaew]

I gotta hand it to the good old Brits that live in LOS and hate BA for everything they despise about their homeland. They seem to hate BA almost as much as they hate TG for everything they despise in their new home.

I guess EVA just hope and pray these guys never, ever relocate to Taiwan.

[chiang mai]

I gotta hand it to the good old Brits that live in LOS and hate BA for everything they despise about their homeland. They seem to hate BA almost as much as they hate TG for everything they despise in their new home.

I guess EVA just hope and pray these guys never, ever relocate to Taiwan.

You know that's just not true. Many of us have spent much of our adult lives flying around the world via different airlines, consequently we are able to make comparisons about many aspects of an airline.

The home country of an airline is really of little importance to me when considering travel using a tier one carrier, Gulf, Emirates, Etihad, Malaysian, Singapore, Cathay and Thai, they all seem to have advantages over their Western competitors be it food, service, comfort, entertainment or friendliness of staff.

In the past ten years I've flown with each of those airlines at least once and on the factors that I mentioned, in economy class, BA simply doesn't compete. And I wish it did since it's not my idea of fun to sit in Abu Dhabi or Dubai for six hours whilst waiting for a connection, although cost plus those factors make it all right for me to do that. BA being a British airline is not a part of the picture.

[irishsmile]

There is only one way to fly and that's with emirates business class! Pure unadulterated luxury ...... Love it!

[OMGImInPattaya]

Informative report. As some others have mentioned, my main concer whey flying is getting to my destination safety and on time. Most airlines are good at this. For long-haul flights from Asia to Europe/USA, it's too bad that powerful unions make it almost impossible for home country carriers in these markets to provide a quality product at a price most people can afford. It's kinda funny when people complain about e food and service n economy in one breath and in the other how cheap the prices are.

As for food and IFE, I don't think either one is important to me when choosing an airline. With my iPad loaded up with podcasts, books, and TV/movies, I'm good to good. As for food, I eat before the flight and pack my own food for the flight or eat during transfer stops. I mean, even in business/first, it's just re-heated cafereria quality food.

[NoshowJones]

The plane got you there, that for me is the main thing, I rely on my country and it's planes service staff......

I am flying to the UK early next month, and the OP has given me a bit cause for concern, though entertainment does not matter, I will have my own, films on my Ipad, music on my smartphone.

I don't see how the OP even mentions how old the cabin crew are as long as they do their job, and of the many flights I have made to and from the UK, I have never had an issue with any cabin crew.

[dddave]

Where you sit in an airplane has a huge effect on noise and movement...it's no accident the expensive seats are in the front. It you are in the tail section, well behind the engines and have a window seat, the noise can be near deafening...better to sit in the rear center section if there are no mid-section seats.

Also, bumps and sways, especially during landings are accentuated in the rear of the plane. Some airlines reportedly use narrower seats in the rear to accommodate the narrowing of the fuselage.

You can easily buy an adaptor that will allow you to use your own single jack headphones in the dual jack audio outlet used in many plane systems.

Decent, well fitting "in the ear" earphones not only provide much better fidelity, but also greatly reduce engine roar and most important; the earsplitting shrieks of an unhappy 2 year old.

[chiang mai]

The best seats for movement are neither in front or back, they are over wing.

[Baerboxer]

There is only one way to fly and that's with emirates business class! Pure unadulterated luxury ...... Love it!

It's all in the eye of the beholder. I much prefer Qatar or Etihad to Emirates in any class! Yet 10-12 years ago Emirates were streaks ahead IMO.

BA used to be great in Business, but like 20-25 years ago! So did Cathay Pacific. Flew on with them in May, first time in years. Really disappointed with just about everything on their business class now.

I found EVA very functional, even in business. They were not young children friendly either.

But, each to their own.

[Baerboxer]

The plane got you there, that for me is the main thing, I rely on my country and it's planes service staff......

I am flying to the UK early next month, and the OP has given me a bit cause for concern, though entertainment does not matter, I will have my own, films on my Ipad, music on my smartphone.

I don't see how the OP even mentions how old the cabin crew are as long as they do their job, and of the many flights I have made to and from the UK, I have never had an issue with any cabin crew.

I agree. Gulf Air have some mature cabin crew. I was really surprised at how excellent their service was. Fast, efficient and effective. It was actually better than some of the young ladies employed by Qatar and Etihad who seem to be untrained and inexperienced.

The Gulf team had older aircraft, lower food and beverage quality, but more than made up for it.

[SantiSuk]

Where you sit in an airplane has a huge effect on noise and movement...it's no accident the expensive seats are in the front. It you are in the tail section, well behind the engines and have a window seat, the noise can be near deafening...better to sit in the rear center section if there are no mid-section seats.

Also, bumps and sways, especially during landings are accentuated in the rear of the plane. Some airlines reportedly use narrower seats in the rear to accommodate the narrowing of the fuselage.

You can easily buy an adaptor that will allow you to use your own single jack headphones in the dual jack audio outlet used in many plane systems.

Decent, well fitting "in the ear" earphones not only provide much better fidelity, but also greatly reduce engine roar and most important; the earsplitting shrieks of an unhappy 2 year old.

I agree (except that I don't think I have ever seen narrower seats at the back).

I also bought a one into two adaptor, as most planes (and all the big 3 Arabs + Gulf) use two holes. That way you can buy a pair of earphones with their single 3.5mm plug by someone like Sure or Denon and get very portable and hi quality listening, which will also blank out plane noise and are also more sensitive (some IFE systems seem to provide a signal that is not sufficiently audible on maximum volume when watching a quiet scene in a movie). The one into two adaptor is only about 50 baht form memory - at a larger Big C or a Panthip type mall for sure.

You should always book a seat, even if using the online check-in 24 hours before take-off. I have never been stuck at the back section of the plane if I remember to do that. I do however favour aisle seats over window seats - you are unlikely to get a window seat late in the process as all the tourists like to look out of windows.

[SantiSuk]

The plane got you there, that for me is the main thing, I rely on my country and it's planes service staff......

I am flying to the UK early next month, and the OP has given me a bit cause for concern, though entertainment does not matter, I will have my own, films on my Ipad, music on my smartphone.

I don't see how the OP even mentions how old the cabin crew are as long as they do their job, and of the many flights I have made to and from the UK, I have never had an issue with any cabin crew.

Don't worry - you'll be fine on BA. My purpose in posting was not to ramp them as an excellent choice but to dilute the effect of someone saying they are a terrible

choice. I agree that BA sometimes have an issue with reliability of their IFE btw (but not now their content). I flew them around the world regularly for 20 years up until 4 years ago and one in ten trips even in business had issues - I clocked that a couple of passengers near me had issues in the last 6 weeks and thought - no improvement there then!

Ideally, when flying economy, I would fly direct with Emirates or Etihad from LHR T5 to Bangkok. Unfortunately you can't do that!

Even more ideally someone would give me an upgrade so that I flew in business class on Emirates. I'm certainly not gonna pay a thousand quid myself to do so even though I could easily afford it. Not a cheap charlie but I believe in value and the higher class seats do not offer value IMO and should be reserved for the junket business walllahs on expenses or those with bad backs or obesity issues. I was one of those myself once (an expenses junkie!).

If people want to boast about how good the expensive seats are let's discuss our past trips on 'the rocket' (Concorde)

[NoshowJones]

The plane got you there, that for me is the main thing, I rely on my country and it's planes service staff......

I am flying to the UK early next month, and the OP has given me a bit cause for concern, though entertainment does not matter, I will have my own, films on my Ipad, music on my smartphone.

I don't see how the OP even mentions how old the cabin crew are as long as they do their job, and of the many flights I have made to and from the UK, I have never had an issue with any cabin crew.

Don't worry - you'll be fine on BA. My purpose in posting was not to ramp them as an excellent choice but to dilute the effect of someone saying they are a terrible

choice. I agree that BA sometimes have an issue with reliability of their IFE btw (but not now their content). I flew them around the world regularly for 20 years up until 4 years ago and one in ten trips even in business had issues - I clocked that a couple of passengers near me had issues in the last 6 weeks and thought - no improvement there then!

Ideally, when flying economy, I would fly direct with Emirates or Etihad from LHR T5 to Bangkok. Unfortunately you can't do that!

Even more ideally someone would give me an upgrade so that I flew in business class on Emirates. I'm certainly not gonna pay a thousand quid myself to do so even though I could easily afford it. Not a cheap charlie but I believe in value and the higher class seats do not offer value IMO and should be reserved for the junket business walllahs on expenses or those with bad backs or obesity issues. I was one of those myself once (an expenses junkie!).

If people want to boast about how good the expensive seats are let's discuss our past trips on 'the rocket' (Concorde)

Thanks, that's a big help.

[MichaelJackson]

The plane got you there, that for me is the main thing, I rely on my country and it's planes service staff......

I am flying to the UK early next month, and the OP has given me a bit cause for concern, though entertainment does not matter, I will have my own, films on my Ipad, music on my smartphone.

I don't see how the OP even mentions how old the cabin crew are as long as they do their job, and of the many flights I have made to and from the UK, I have never had an issue with any cabin crew.

I never had any issues either, if you care to actually READ the OP it states "observations" and excuse me for observing the age of the cabin crew! In 35 years of flying I rarely encountered cabin crew over age 35, so yes I am going to observe and notice if not one or two but ALL the cabin crew around me were around age 50! It does tend to be "noticeable". Anything else you want to "nit pick" about MY experience and opinion ?

[NoshowJones]

The plane got you there, that for me is the main thing, I rely on my country and it's planes service staff......

I am flying to the UK early next month, and the OP has given me a bit cause for concern, though entertainment does not matter, I will have my own, films on my Ipad, music on my smartphone.

I don't see how the OP even mentions how old the cabin crew are as long as they do their job, and of the many flights I have made to and from the UK, I have never had an issue with any cabin crew.

I never had any issues either, if you care to actually READ the OP it states "observations" and excuse me for observing the age of the cabin crew! In 35 years of flying I rarely encountered cabin crew over age 35, so yes I am going to observe and notice if not one or two but ALL the cabin crew around me were around age 50! It does tend to be "noticeable". Anything else you want to "nit pick" about MY experience and opinion ?

I think my point is valid, no one likes looking at "hotties" more than me, but it is wrong to sack people from jobs, any jobs, because they are too "old". If I get a good flight, and am well looked after, I don't care how old the cabin crew are. Cabin crew have still got a lot of their life ahead of them once they reach thirty five, and being a cabin crew member may be all they are qualified for.

I was a professional musician, and I would have hated it if I could not work at that once I reached thirty five.

[transam]

The plane got you there, that for me is the main thing, I rely on my country and it's planes service staff......

I am flying to the UK early next month, and the OP has given me a bit cause for concern, though entertainment does not matter, I will have my own, films on my Ipad, music on my smartphone.

I don't see how the OP even mentions how old the cabin crew are as long as they do their job, and of the many flights I have made to and from the UK, I have never had an issue with any cabin crew.

I never had any issues either, if you care to actually READ the OP it states "observations" and excuse me for observing the age of the cabin crew! In 35 years of flying I rarely encountered cabin crew over age 35, so yes I am going to observe and notice if not one or two but ALL the cabin crew around me were around age 50! It does tend to be "noticeable". Anything else you want to "nit pick" about MY experience and opinion ?

I think my point is valid, no one likes looking at "hotties" more than me, but it is wrong to sack people from jobs, any jobs, because they are too "old". If I get a good flight, and am well looked after, I don't care how old the cabin crew are. Cabin crew have still got a lot of their life ahead of them once they reach thirty five, and being a cabin crew member may be all they are qualified for.

I was a professional musician, and I would have hated it if I could not work at that once I reached thirty five.

They keep telling me I am soooooooooo hansum and I am near double that age....... .......

[chiang mai]

That's the other thing, they lie a lot.

[lumply]

Although I don't fly BA any longer, one thing is for sure, the cockpit crew are the best trained in the World. The Arab trio take a lot of beating all round, and having done part of my pilot training at DXB I feel pretty safe with Emirates.

[MichaelJackson]

The plane got you there, that for me is the main thing, I rely on my country and it's planes service staff......

I am flying to the UK early next month, and the OP has given me a bit cause for concern, though entertainment does not matter, I will have my own, films on my Ipad, music on my smartphone.

I don't see how the OP even mentions how old the cabin crew are as long as they do their job, and of the many flights I have made to and from the UK, I have never had an issue with any cabin crew.

I never had any issues either, if you care to actually READ the OP it states "observations" and excuse me for observing the age of the cabin crew! In 35 years of flying I rarely encountered cabin crew over age 35, so yes I am going to observe and notice if not one or two but ALL the cabin crew around me were around age 50! It does tend to be "noticeable". Anything else you want to "nit pick" about MY experience and opinion ?

I think my point is valid, no one likes looking at "hotties" more than me, but it is wrong to sack people from jobs, any jobs, because they are too "old". If I get a good flight, and am well looked after, I don't care how old the cabin crew are. Cabin crew have still got a lot of their life ahead of them once they reach thirty five, and being a cabin crew member may be all they are qualified for.

I was a professional musician, and I would have hated it if I could not work at that once I reached thirty five.

Do you not know the difference between an "observation" and a "complaint" or "critism" clearly you dont, an

obseration is just that, something you observe, Had I made a complaint or critised the age then yes your pathetic nit pick would have been valid and even possibly age descrimination, but as it wasnt you are argukng over something that doesnt exist, except in your mind.

Who said anything about sacking onyone from jobs ? You really need to calm down and think about what you are focusing on , because it isnt and wasnt what has been said, you are going off on your own tangent.

Edited July 7, 2014 by MichaelJackson

[CharlieH]

Off topic remark removed.

[tw25rw]

I gotta hand it to the good old Brits that live in LOS and hate BA for everything they despise about their homeland. They seem to hate BA almost as much as they hate TG for everything they despise in their new home.

I guess EVA just hope and pray these guys never, ever relocate to Taiwan.

BA was famously bad in the past when it was government controlled, but that was years ago. I think people still remember it. My only real gripe is the cramped seats.

[smokie36]

I would fly them again in economy....but not in biz class as Qatar are better for the price....same in Premium economy where EVA are better value.

That reminds me I got 30k avios to use up...hmmm.....

[tw25rw]

Having read how Qatar treat their staff, I won't touch them.

Now that I can't afford business, EVA Elite is my most realistic option. I used to go EVA business until they upgraded the cabin.