British Airways is updating first class amenities, bedding, and dining across its fleet, but are these changes enough to call it a true overhaul?
Highly doubt anyone's booking a +$5K/way TATL F ticket based on... the amenity kit. That said, some F/J kits are better than others. (For instance, I like what LATAM has going on currently with their Altitude Collection themed bags.)
When are these changes rolling out?
@ TopBoffinNYC -- They all roll out effective immediately (they were implemented October 1-6), except the service training, which is still happening.
With regards to AF not losing any sleep, perhaps this should be cause for concern. BA previously appealed to the price conscious F passenger and AF F to the product conscious passenger. With BA improving the hard product and improving the soft product and positioning it closer to (albeit not up the the standards of) AF F perhaps they may take a section of their market who weigh up the toss between product quality and price.
A quick look at AMS-LAX (not fare to compare O&D traffic) on random dates in Feb shows BA to be £5400 rtn and AF to be £14,500 rtn. BA also comes with the added benefit of: More seats per plane and significantly more F routes so that in the event of IRROPs or even voluntary date changes, that F passenger is likely to keep an F seat rather than have to accept a downgrade. This is the biggest issue I find with airlines switching to 3-4 seat F cabins... F passengers usually want to retain an element of flexibility.
@ pogonation -- I hear you, but I think the Air France first class customer profile is a little more specific. It's for people where price is no object, and where having as close to a private jet experience as possible is the priority.
A new amenity kit and the option to pair lamb and broccoli is a nice improvement, but you're still connecting at Heathrow, and the ground experience is still more like a good business class than a good first class.
When we're talking about a $7K vs. $21K price tag, I think that's a crowd that just thinks "I want the best regardless of the cost," rather than "well, that amenity kit doesn't look very nice, I'll spend an extra $14K for Air France instead.
But like I said, I think BA has the right strategy. It doesn't need to be the best, it just needs to be a well rounded, mass market first class.
For that matter, the other thing about AF first class is that most passengers are starting in or terminating in Paris. It's another major, lucrative market, and the people willing to pay for Air France first class value the convenience of a nonstop flight. So when they are traveling to London, they may very well fly BA so they can travel nonstop.
These changes aren’t going to get peoole to switch from another airline to BA, but they could ne nice touches those flying BA will appreciate.
Of course, we’ll still have to see how some of the changes, like the menu, are executed.
The food pictures look like nicely plated business class food. When your marketing materials look like business class food, you know the actual product is usually a notch or two lower.
That is the problem with BA First. You have to keep reminding yourself that you are in First class.
@ BBT -- Yeah, I've gotta say, when I saw the food pictures, I was wondering if that was actually the new first class food, or what. Because if that's what the food looks like in marketing materials, it's not exactly impressive.