In my experience typically BA have sold out of most of the fresh food items before they even get to the front third of the cabin; in many cases there's stuff that's sold out completely before they even start the service on inbound legs.
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British Airways
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TravelDream
Member
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- 7 Aug 2016
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My thought was that Ryanair serves a greater 'variety' of customers with some very likely to purchase onboard and others much less likely and this mix varies dramatically by route and time of year.
BA likely has a more consistent spread of customers. Not uniform of course, but far less variable than Ryanair.
So for BA, it is likely not a massive part of thinking in route planning. Whilst for Ryanair it likely is.
BA isn't alone with that. Ryanair only restocks galleys overnight so the last flight of the day back to base can be 'sparse'. Also common with aircraft swaps as each aircraft is stocked overnight based on expected demand.
I did wonder about that! In the same vein as GWRs champagne sales on the specials to Cheltenham.
TheHSRailFan
Member
- Joined
- 16 Jun 2018
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- 285
It's been an entire month since I made this so I'll make a quick review.Hey everyone,
Thanks for the reply to my query from yesterday. I will admit it was 2:30 in the morning when I wrote that post and looking at it now... it's not the greatest to understand so I'm sorry if I confused you all... especially on the last one. For me, this is my first time on a flag carrier and an airline like BA and I've asked people things that I should know before flying (I'm only taking a small suitcase and a backpack).
(Also I prefer Stansted to Luton haha)
to be fair, I might as well cross that one out as looking at it now, I don't know what I was asking here
Boarding was pretty ok and standard for something not like the ultra-low cost airlines. I was group 4 and 5 (1 for each flight) so it was a little quicker on the outbound than the return flight at Copenhagen. The seats were... ULC standard, I started to feel uncomfortable after a while sitting in it both ways. A stupid mistake was taking the "window seat" on row 30 on the outbound flight forgetting there was no window. So I confined myself to the IAG 'texting only' standard wifi which is a bit iffy with sending telegram messages to people (it took a while to send a message). With stuff like Discord, it was also difficult sending a message so there was no real point. While the Freebies were appreciated, I didn't really appreciate how on the outbound it was water and nuts... then on the return, it was water and chocolate digestives. I'm not fond of nuts (not allergic, just not a fan on their own) but a bit silly to allow only 1 item that not many people will like but on another flight have another item that almost everyone likes. There should be variety. The water was highly appreciated though, especially on the return flight where I was coming home while heavily ill.
Overall there are certain points I liked but a bit disappointed that this is the standard British Airways will do for European flights. IAG have made it on standard with Vueling. I get it is done to compete with the ULCAs But I guess the comfort is only reserved for the long-distance routes. The image below is the only image i have of one of my 2 planes, this being at Copenhagen getting off my outbound.
Butts
Veteran Member
BAH come up trumps again -it really is the best part of the organisation.
Had a trip booked from Edinburgh to Stuttgart via LHR with a couple of nights in Deutschland.
My flight to Stuttgart was cancelled and I wouldn't be able to get down from EDI in time to catch the extant earlier departure.
So a very nice lady rang me up and offered to fly me down from EDI the night before and put me up in a Hotel and then I could get the earlier flight the next day.
So I actually get a longer break at BA'S expense in September.
Considering I paid less than a third of a bag for the whole trip this is exemplary customer service.
Had a trip booked from Edinburgh to Stuttgart via LHR with a couple of nights in Deutschland.
My flight to Stuttgart was cancelled and I wouldn't be able to get down from EDI in time to catch the extant earlier departure.
So a very nice lady rang me up and offered to fly me down from EDI the night before and put me up in a Hotel and then I could get the earlier flight the next day.
So I actually get a longer break at BA'S expense in September.
Considering I paid less than a third of a bag for the whole trip this is exemplary customer service.
What’s a third of a bag?
A bag = £1000, I think.
BAH can be pretty good because, in addition to following the law as it applies generally to air passengers, for example in the form of the Consumer Rights Act and UK261, they're also bound by the Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations 2018. Sometimes these rights can really come into their own when one part of a trip is disrupted but others aren't, as the whole thing is protected. BAH would be on the hook for the full value of the holiday if the consumer tried to rely on their right to cancellation in reaction to the changes being made after they've paid. The extra rights if you're covered under the Package section are decent.
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telstarbox
Established Member
On BA longhaul will they typically allocate 2 passengers on the same booking into adjacent seats (without doing seat selection), rather than doing a Ryanair and splitting them up?
Yes, they try their best to seats groups together. Initially this is done through the "Theoretical Seating" system blocking seats together for groups; this kicks in starting from 72 hours (and 40 mins) before the scheduled departure time of each flight.
If at that point there aren't enough adjacent seats left for all groups to be sat together (e.g. if it's a status-heavy flight), groups might end up split up when checking in. NB you can't change your seat for free at check-in if you're on an Economy Basic fare (unless you have status).
However the check-in desks are generally very helpful with this kind of thing and will usually try to move individual travellers around to allow groups to be sat together. Otherwise it is down to the cabin crew and asking them.
But in summary, yes.
telstarbox
Established Member
Thank you 
My second experience of boarding at LHR and it was even worse than last time!
Announced at the gate that all passengers in groups 4 and 5 would be required to check in their full size cabin bag. They are escorted through to the holding pen whilst groups 0-3 are held at the gate. The gate opens and the majority of group 4 and 5 are allowed onboard whilst groups 0-3 are still waiting for checks at the gate.
I’m in row 2 (club Europe) but the overhead bins were so full, I had to put my bag in row 10 (economy).
Is it worth complaining?
Announced at the gate that all passengers in groups 4 and 5 would be required to check in their full size cabin bag. They are escorted through to the holding pen whilst groups 0-3 are held at the gate. The gate opens and the majority of group 4 and 5 are allowed onboard whilst groups 0-3 are still waiting for checks at the gate.
I’m in row 2 (club Europe) but the overhead bins were so full, I had to put my bag in row 10 (economy).
Is it worth complaining?
Butts
Veteran Member
Did you notice if the luggage in rows 1/2/3 was extant when you disembarked?
Chances are it belonged to one of your fellow Group 1 passengers sat in close proximity to you.
The bag blaggers are supposed to board with G3, but what you described happens all the time.
How many rows of CE were there ?
Absolutely worth complaining, that is not at all the correct procedure. Group 4 and above passengers who gate-check a bag should have the bag tagged and taken off them, and then be directed to return to the waiting area around the gate. They do not get preboarding.
Unfortunately BA management seems to have no interest in getting their gate staff to follow the procedures correctly. In a way, it's rather reminiscent of how Avanti and GWR seem to exercise no control over their rogue gateline staff at Euston and Paddington!
A complaint should yield a voucher which you can use on a future cash flight-only booking, or some Avios. If you get a voucher you can request Avios instead; they'll usually oblige and give you effectively twice the value of the voucher in Avios (assuming the typical 1p/Avios valuation).
Thanks - I’ve submitted a complaint so we shall see what they come back with.
eoff
Member
On many many fllights I have taken from T5 in the last 2 years the process has been that the gate staff say the flight is "full" and ask for people to check in bags at the gate with the enticement of pre-boarding, people who do that get to wait behind the gate.
Yes, they seem to say this as soon as the flight is more than about 75% full. In fairness it is often necessary to gate check some bags, since BA's cabin baggage allowance is generous and only a few of their short haul aircraft have the new, larger overhead lockers.
However those who gate check a bag should only be offered group 3 boarding. Preboarding is reserved for PRMs and group 0 passengers only.
eoff
Member
Generous?
BAs cabin bag policy used to be generous but as soon as they introduced charges (or ticket pricing that made it look like that) for hold baggage this meant many people took a larger bag in the cabin resulting in the issues we now have.
Their cabin bag policy is just as generous as it always was. Most airlines don't allow you to take 46kg of cabin baggage, let alone two items, for free on the cheapest economy fare.
As you say, it's removing the free checked bag that causes the issues with overhead bin capacity. People quite understandably want to make use of the generous cabin bag allowance when a checked bag costs extra.
Butts
Veteran Member
It's also a hangover from post-pandemic travel when staff shortages led to hold baggage taking an inordinate time to appear at your destination.
If you have it with you on arrival no delays at the other end.
If you have it with you on arrival no delays at the other end.
eoff
Member
I beg to differ...
Current allowance:
one bag Up to 56 x 45 x 25cm
small bag 40 x 30 x 15cm
Previous allowance (2015):
one bag up to 56 x 45 x 25cm
persoanl bag up to 45 x 36 x 20cm
Previous allowance (2002):
medium bag 55 x 40 x 20 cm
laptop/hand 45 x 35 x 20 cm
The small second bag stops you taking a case and a reasonable sized backpack, something I used to do from time to time with short transfers.
Ok, I am mistaken then. But nobody is ever going to start measuring the exact size. I have never once seen it happen, in around 150 BA flights. Provided you can fit it in your seat area, it will be absolutely fine.
Very good points and why I prefer to use BAH if having a simple “fly+hotel” trip. It was also very good at rerouting us at no extra cost (actually to Milan where we would have preferred to fly into!) when our outbound trip to Verona was changed to a silly o’clock departure from 5pm. (We hadn’t booked the original route as it was £300 one way instead of £100.)
And of course the double tier points was very handy too in the “good old days”.
How do prices compare if you book a holiday package with BA compared to booking it separately ? I find you have to be really flexible to get a good price via LHR.
If you are talking about the same flights with or without a car/hotel, generally there is a small-ish saving by buying it as a holiday package. The bigger benefits of buying it as a BAH are that you earn additional Avios & TPs, that you only need to pay a deposit upfront and the remainder 4 or 7 weeks before departure, and that you have additional support and legal rights if things go wrong.
RailWonderer
Established Member
A 5pm departure isn't silly o'clock, 7am or 9pm is. For many destinations on BA that aren't the most popular you get an early morning or late evening depature for cheap, or a mid morning, midday flight for more than double the cost of the other two.
You misread. It was changed from 5pm to 6am. As I explained to the BAH representative, that was a tad inconvenient for us living near Bristol, and she agreed and promptly rerouted us to a midday flight to Milan from Heathrow, and changed our hotel from Verona to Milan.
TravelDream
Member
- Joined
- 7 Aug 2016
- Messages
- 841
I'd much rather a 6am departure than a 5pm one when going on holiday. I thought that was normal.
Land, head to the hotel with bags (to store the bags though occasionally you can check in that early), and then head out for lunch and a wander before heading back to the hotel for a little rest and to freshen up for the evening. Perfect start to the holiday.
I always think 5pm is a lost day of the holiday. Can't work more than half a day (or at all getting from Bristol) and arrive at the hotel late. At least a 9pm flight you could work that day.
Very easy to get from Bristol at that hour too. National Express and Flixbus run basically hourly through the night from midnight on between them. They take about 2 hours to get there. Obviously not possible by rail.
Well that’s obviously your opinion, but I didn’t fancy the extra cost of an overnight hotel and a 4am start or travelling through the night. We don’t actually live in Bristol, so any public transport option would have been difficult. Besides, it’s irrelevant to the message I was making which was that BAH agreed the 11hr time change was unreasonable and put in place a very acceptable alternative including switching hotel bookings without any quibble.