British Airways has done a great job selectively investing in its passenger experience, especially in premium cabins. For example, in business class, the Club Suites product is a huge upgrade over the old Club World experience.
Continue reading: British Airways Expands Brunch & Supper In Latest Cost Cutting Move
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
I’m OWE (BA Exec Club Gold) and often get survey forms. The last one was a few weeks ago and, once again, I complained that the quality of business class food had markedly deteriorated since those far-off sunny days when Do&Co was first awarded the catering contract. The quality is already pretty dismal.
Of the three carriers I use most frequently — BA, Iberia and KLM — BA is in a league below the other two. I have cut back flying with them so much that KLM is now easily my most frequent choice, the other two equal second. When I fly east BA never gets my business: it’s usually Qatar. Again, it’s the excellent quality of the food, on top of everything else.
BA has a near-monopoly on Heathrow, but it forgets that the majority of the British don’t live in London. For most of us, KLM provides more shuttle service to AMS from more UK airports than BA does to LHR. BA is in danger of creating a burning platform for itself.
But don’t forget, folks, this is due to customer feedback.
Comms/PR people are so stupid, they expect gaslighting of this severity will be accepted by the rest of us. If you have a college aged son or daughter, and they major in communications, stop paying their tuition bill. Unless they agree to go to law school immediately afterward with the intent of becoming an associate at a top firm such as Paul, Weiss.
I can just shrug my shoulders. Saving in premium cabins in long-haul...
I would really like to see customer feedback-forms that suggested this.
Well, if it proves to be a bad idea in the long-term, those manager geniuses that introduced this will be on some other positions anyway.
Just when I thought BA was becoming more customer focused after the previous penny pinching it seems BA are up to their old tricks.. and it's a trick they never learn....'why spoil the ship for a h'penny of tar'
looking at my old First Class and business class menus, and the timing of the service, this is a badly thought through policy. Maybe Jo Public is paying for their Rolls Royce/Boeing issues.
Much as I want to stay loyal, I think the time has come to fly with a code share/One World member other than BA.
What is annoying is that they are marketing themselves as being a premium airline while doing many things like this. Like I'm not mad at Ryanair for being extremely cheap because it market's itself that's way.
"It’s also worth pointing out just how many breakfasts some passengers will have."
I bet some hobbit got hired to do this job at BA. "Yes, we had one breakfast. How about second breakfast?"
I’ve recently been affected by the cancellation of the LHR-KUL resumption. Out First back Club originally, but now rebooked on Qatar. Although downgraded to business on the outbound, it appears to have been an upgrade with these changes! As has been mentioned, BA doesn’t have to try too hard with its dominance at LHR. If BA really wants to be recognised as a leader it should simply ask itself, what would Singapore Airlines do?
I can kind of understand the supper tbh. Even if a flight is 10 hours+, chances are that most people have eaten in the lounge and are not really interested in a full meal that late in the evening. And many prefer to get the lights out ASAP on late evening flights to maximise sleep. BA is not known for the swiftest meal service (unlike AA!).
The brunch is a total joke though. Even with a 10am departure, no one wants pancakes/omelette coming up on midday. Granted, it is a bit early for lunch, but it's still a better option than brunch. Personally, I'd prefer the light meal (usually served at the end of the flight) to be served at the beginning of the flight, and then have a full dinner before landing.
Agreed. I like the supper change. It's for flights departing after 9pm, which means you're eating at 10pm at the earliest. Most people don't want a large extended meal at that time, and having an extended service disturbs those trying to sleep.
The "brunch" change really sucks, though.
I actually like the supper concept for a late evening flight. Not all of us need to be stuffed at 10pm. Business class passengers have access to lounges and are likely eating a first dinner then.
Yeah I also like the supper change but BA are following VS on the brunch concept which is receiving mixed reviews, have noticed a deterioration in the hot breakfast offerings though over the last few months, they have gone cheap on the sausages for sure.
I would like to have the option, and let me decide if I want an extended meal, I tend to fly LHR-GRU which is a 12hs flight that leaves at 21:15 and I’m really not interested in a cheese plate as a main course
The supper is ridiculous, you can use it for an intro Europe flight, but long haul? How can you serve a sandwich or a cheese plate as the only meal before a 12hs flight. Besides if some customers want that, then you can have the supper option between the dinner ones, like a normal and serious airline would, not force all your customers to a quick meal.
Not every airport has a lounge which offers dinner options. Try flying out of ATL on a late departure. The non Delta lounge "The Club" offers mediocre cheese cubes..that's it.
That is another self-fulfilling prophecy by BA.
Provides poor quality food + mostly 5-8h flights + slow service -> passengers choose just to eat on the ground -> customer relations concluding that people don’t want to eat on board -> cut cost again on catering. Not a big fan of onboard food, but some airline’s plane food is clearly more appetizing than others.
British Air is a bar in the sky. They should focus on booze, as it's their strong suit.
How can we dispute customer feedback if we haven't seen the data? BA must be lying.
This is the same as Southwest reporting that customers prefer assigned seating. Like I'm gonna believe an airline that is eventually going to go bankrupt smh.
I am reminded of my last BA trip, where I read BA's bragging about their superior DO&CO catering. I would dub them Don't and CO. The current bit is just BA notching down again and calling it an improvement.
My experience on the BA flight from IAD - LHR that departs after 9pm is that nearly everyone in business class ate in the lounge and goes to sleep as soon as possible. Most skip breakfast, too.
We just flew to Chicago yesterday - what a hot mess.
They ran out of chicken by the time they got to us (£ paid business ticket!) so offered the omelette … that we’d just had coming in from Dublin !
At least differentiate between long haul and short haul if you’re going to do this.
I’ll be avoiding BA long haul now, wish we’d chosen the schlep round to T3 to go on American (never something I thought I’d say!)
Take this as a REAL customer feedback.
I was giving this exact feedback for the last decade to BA.
I just want to pre select my meal option.
End this bull**** feedback from customer that doesn't even exist.
As a very regular paying BA customer, my feedback was freely given along with many of my friends, colleagues, etc.
The changes were requested by passengers and our opinions have been duly noted.
Talk about “Bull**** feedback” is inappropriate, inaccurate and sounds very much like sour grapes from someone who has probably never set foot inside a BA aircraft.
Agreed especially cause LHR cuts a solid an hour or so of most transatlantic flights coming from North America
It’s called the great British Brunch but it offers pancakes.
Unless I’m missing something when werepancakes a great British brunch item?
Granted they are in USA but UK …….
Try flying Manchester (uk) on a first class ticket with a connecting flight to jfk. There is no BA lounge just an escape lounge which BA contract to. Their hot food option last week was chicken wings.
Great value
@Ben Ive been told they are not replacing the dinner with supper but its an additional option for those who want a quick meal then goto sleep or dont fancy a full dinner service very much what VS do on overnight flights with the express options.
BA did introduce pre order in CW and First then the pandemic hit and they stopped, it was supposed to be starting again early last year but BA keep pushing back the date due to IT issues.
Thanks for the warning! I’m flying BA YVR to LHR next month. Guess I’ll eat before I board, though it’s not clear if I’ll have lounge access through my ticket OR Priority Pass. Maybe a restaurant?
Interestingly KW, according to SKYTRAX your rating of BA is somewhat at odds with their world rankings.
BA was actually rated 13th out of 100 in the world.
As a matter of further interest, no North American airline achieved a higher ranking than BA.
Bleeding Amazing I hear you say, yes?
One of the major selling points of business class used to be flexibility...if you want a full meal at midnight there might be very good reasons why and BA shouldn't be choosing for you based on some arbitrary time.
The repeated breakfasts problem is already pretty bad, frequently occurring while flying West regardless of airline. With these changes it's practically guaranteed on BA. If plane eggs and omelets weren't so universally terrible I'd not mind it, but there are rarely any truly good breakfasts regardless of airline. Unfortunately I suspect it'll stick as price and time dictate which route many companys allow their employees to fly.
Give customers the choice then. Let those who want the full meal to have it, and let those who want the express dinner to have that.
I would love to meet these people who provide the feedback. Reminds of a few years ago when Lufthansa said customer feedback was why they wanted to start charging people for sodas in economy class ("Sure, I would love to pay for a cup of Coca-Cola when flying!").
JAL has a "no meal" option when booking, and for shorter overnight sectors like TATL where almost everyone sleeps the whole way that sounds like a good idea. It must surely reduce food waste.
I regularly fly BA in First or Business. I always decline the hot breakfast going east to LHR. There is Concorde Dining at the arrivals lounge after all.
But offering that as my main on a lunchtime westbound flight?
I saw this much earlier on Oct 8 from a late night departure from BOM to LHR in CW. Didn’t make much of a difference as I’d loaded up in the GVK lounge before
We flew Economy from Austin, TX to LHR, 3 weeks ago. Our flight took off at 615 PM Local. We were served a lousy dinner upon takeoff....and 9h later as we came in to land at LHR, a tiny cup of lousy "coffee". No breakfast.
We were famished, and made a dash for the M&S Food store at LHR and got ourselves yummy M&S sandwiches, a carton of mango juice and a bag of delicious chips.
We won't make the same mistake on our flight back next week. This time, We'll stock up on M&S sandwiches, a carton of mango juice and a bag of delicious chips for the return journey. BA can keep it's crappy "food".
The BA meal promises to be yucky!
Most of the comments here seem to be referencing North America-LHR late evening flights, where many people do indeed prefer to eat in the lounge and maximize sleep. However, 14+-hour westbound flights from HKG or SIN to LHR, that leave between 10PM and midnight, are a totally different story - are they really going to offer a sandwich as the main meal? I kind of doubt it, but if they will, the blowback will be swift and hard, given the better alternatives on those routes.
I always order a meal, regardless if the menu has something I want or not. A flight attendent or airline employee flying on a pass may get it. Better them then nobody.
Upon reading some of the posts herein, one could easily conclude that some people are simply BA bashing, with little or no knowledge of the airline or services they offer.
They appear to have little or no knowledge of east/west transcontinental air travel in any cabin class.
Furthermore, have no respect for a world renowned airline rating organisation.
Many of the comments posted are worthless to anyone expecting a common sense opinion from supposedly seasoned travellers.
In essence, one appears to be reading occasional coach class comments from some who are unlikely to have travelled beyond their national borders.
Yes, you are correct, I read the SKYTRAX reviews and annual airline ratings, doesn’t everyone?
Are you seriously discounting the SKYTRAX customer surveys?
If that is the case then perhaps you might enlighten the readers with your reasons why?
Pete, if you wish to be taken seriously you really do need to be more forthcoming with your statements.
Do try to explain to those who read the comments exactly why you posted such trivia?
"Then again, when you dominate Heathrow, you don’t actually have to compete that much." - Don't you though? First of all, you're usually competing with airlines from the destination country (e.g. SQ on SIN), but more importantly, BA still has a huge share of connecting traffic and these people can easily switch to AF for example. LHR O&D traffic is just a part of BA's business model.
My apologies, that was supposed to be posted in its own thread, not as a reaction.
its sounds very very weird to me....
I ask if this is all long haul flights affected from all London Airports ? or just London Heathrow. We fly in middle November at 10.50, so we will be 'brunched'?
Thanks! 🙂
BA obviously subscribing to the Lufthansa method of "passenger enhancements". They tried this 20 years ago with their "sleeper service", it was a disaster and hastily rolled back. Expect the same here.
Everyone is thinking of this from just a hub-LHR, direct flight, with business class lounge access, POV. What if you're connecting and a tight connection means no pre-flight dinner in the lounge? What if your departure airport doesn't offer a lounge with food worthy of being a dinner before a long-haul flight? What about late evening departures that aren't short transatlantic hops, but rather 10-14 hours long?
This is the final straw for us in terms of previously being long-term loyal BA passengers taking 4-5 long haul flights a year. Ever since they put the dreadful Alex Cruz in charge it’s been cut after cut, whilst the fares have continued to rise. Those cuts in service offering have continued post his departure.
We are now charged premium fares for a service offering that would embarrass even some low cost operators.
I recently paid £900 to upgrade from WTP to CW on a late night flight from ATL to LHR on the basis that we would be able to get a proper meal on the plane (the BA shared lounge at ATL is the worst I’ve ever been in & it’s impossible to get any proper food in there). Next step is to write to BA complaining and requesting a refund for the advertised service that they will no longer be offering.
Sorry but that is nonsense. I have been flying BA long haul 4-5 times a year for the past 20 years. I therefore am fully aware of their service offering. I’ve also experienced first hand how the likes of Cruz implemented cut after cut in a penny-pinching approach to the service offering, whilst prices have continued to increase.
BA fully deserve every bit of criticism that they’re getting for this disgraceful move.
They already off the tray option (starter and desert) for those who don’t want a full meal and just want something quick before sleeping. Rest assured, this is yet another penny-pinching cut.
Sorry but that is nonsense. I have been flying BA long haul 4-5 times a year for the past 20 years. I therefore am fully aware of their service offering. I’ve also experienced first hand how the likes of Cruz implemented cut after cut in a penny-pinching approach to the service offering, whilst prices have continued to increase.
BA fully deserve every bit of criticism that they’re getting for this disgraceful move.
Nowadays British Airways equals B***s**t Airways, They're constantly cancel the flight without liability or always delay due to out of their control.......I have stopped flying with them since last year.
Have you ever tried to eat at the BA shared Club Atlanta Lounge in Atlanta Hartsfield? You’re lucky if you can find a plate and cutlery, let alone a proper meal. If you don’t want to eat then fine, just let the cabin crew know but that’s no reason for making other paying customers go without. BA really are taking the proverbial with this cost cutting measure.
BA = Bad as Always - taking us for a ride - Rip off Britain - BA epitomises it
This is just awful, even flying premium cabin on long-haul I would only sleep one ore two hours, lunch and dinner were parte of the entertainment. Thanks God there are alternative to BA within One World!
I’d love to meet them too. Because I have filled feedback forms and have slammed them for their declining services . I cannot imagine in my wildest dreams that 1000s of business class long haul customers have written saying I don’t want three courses after 9pm.
This is utter nonsense - based on customer feedback !! Nonsense!
I cannot imagine in my wildest dreams that 1000s of business class long haul customers have written saying I don’t want three courses after 9pm. A three course dinner with wine etc is part of the fun of going business class. It’s just reflects the British disease of making everything smaller, reducing things down like the size of Mr Kipling cakes. BA are doing this in the same manner. Terrible and I will now look for alternatives much more aggressively
I am crew at BA. I joined from Qantas when I moved from Australia but I didn't want to work for Qantas in the UK as only flying to Australia wasn't why I moved to Europe. What shocks me still is how many opinions and ideas cabin crew have and how there is so little, sometimes none at all, discipline to do the job properly all the time. That is relevant to this conversation because there all kinds of secondments that become available because it's cheaper to use (cabin crew) to fill slots than to launch a proper and educated hiring plan to get the right person in control of the right part of the business. This brunch menu is very exaggerated but is just one example of someone in a position to look innovative and save a few pennies. We are getting a new cabin crew director sometime soon. IF BA steps back and looks carefully they'll realise that they need to poach someone high up in a really well thought out airline.
Anyone know, if you have a business ticket from Seattle to Taiwan flying on the new one world Starlux airline can you use the BA lounge in SeaTec ? thank you
Sorry but you’re wrong. We flew business class from Heathrow to J’burg the day the new ‘offerings’ were introduced. There is no choice, it’s supper only. No starters. Main courses were soup & sandwich, OR 3 tiny pieces of cheese with crackers OR a small salad with 3 prawns OR tiny chicken & leek pie (pork pie style). To make matters worse by the time they got to us there were no pies left and only one cheese portion so it was soup & sandwich or 3 prawn salad. It was a disgrace, purely cost cutting.
The BA lounge at SEA sucks - over crowded even with a dozen people there, minimal food offerings, decent wine (and, I assume, hard liquor as well). If you have Priority Pass, use it next door at the Club. Food is again pretty minimal, but there's lots of room and drinks are okay.
I'm flying BA from Seattle to Vancouver to LHR in less than 2 weeks. At YVR, there seem to be very few, if any, lounges that will be available, either One World or Priority Pass. BA leaves at 21:20, so... "Business class" or whatever they call it. I'm thinking I'll either need to pack a dinner or hit a restaurant. But thanks for thinking about the folks actually adversely affected, dear.
US to LHR includes west coast, which is generally 9-10+ hours. In SEA and YVR, at least, lounge choices are pretty minimal. Don't write us all off.
You are so right. Club ATL at Atlanta Hartsfield is the worst lounge I have ever visited. You're lucky if you can even find a clean plate and cutlery. If you do find something to eat with, the chances of getting anything resembling a proper meal are absolutely zero. We fly to/from Atlanta at least four times a year. Up until now it has always been with BA but we were starting to look at Virgin Atlantic. This ludicrous cost cutting measure by BA has been the final push we needed to make that chance. Even if fares are slightly more expensive the service offering will still be far better than BA's.
I started flying BA in the 1980's when it was "the world's favourite airline". Fast forward. BA is a Spanish airline and if I am traveling BA, I bring my own food. Smoked salmon sandwiches with capers. Roast beef sandwiches with creme fraiche. Cheesecake. Croissants. Some biscuits and presliced cheese. I don't even let them set the tray down in front of me. I tell them "No thank you" and then tuck into my own treats and goodies. I wouldn't let my dog eat this. This sounds like the typical focus group results: "Focus groups have shown us that people want to pay more money for less product".
Brunchgate deserves more airtime. First Class flyers have a choice of poached eggs, omlette, bacon roll or a cold plate. Bacon roll consisted of a singular piece of bacon in a brioche. When you are paying 5 figures for a ticket, you would expect a decent meal.
Welcome champers is the Club one and they frequently run out of the First Class one. British Airways has cut service to the bone. Truly archaic am sure its the only major airline that does not offer ANY OPTION OF PREORDERING.
Qatar on the other hand offers a full breakfast menu or a lunch menu for those that want with a decent selection of pre ordering.
British Airways truly sucks, its a shame because the staff are 99% awesome. Having finally achieved GGL, makes you wonder sometimes if loyalty is worth it.
Flew in early December. Departure time was "brunch" but got served full Christmas dinner. As in what would be a big lunch.