It’s extremely common for people to complain about airlines on Twitter, though this might just take the cake for being the pettiest airline complaint I’ve seen in my life.
In this post:
BA passenger angry he wasn’t served first
In a Tweet that has since been deleted, a British Airways passenger took to Twitter to share his great displeasure with the airline because… he was served second, rather than first, while seated in the first row. Here’s what the Tweet said:
Wow @british_airways your standards are seriously slipping. Gold exec club members sitting in 1A and 1AC on #BA1466 and your staff elected to serve 1F first.
No apology, just ‘oh he was closest’ (which he totally wasn’t)
The race to the bottom has broken your brand.
To recap, this passenger is angry because the flight attendant decided to (for whatever reason) serve from their left to right (while facing the cabin), rather than from passengers’ left to right. It’s not entirely clear how this is of any consequence whatsoever.
It’s one thing to think “wow, it’s weird I was served second rather than first,” but this passenger actually seemingly confronted the crew about it, and complained? How did that conversation go down, exactly? “How dare you serve someone else before me!”
Also, funny enough, there are claims online that the person seated in seat 1F had higher status than the couple in 1A and 1C, which might actually explain why that passenger was served first.
We won’t even get into the irony of this guy’s Twitter bio saying “ban billionaires,” while he’s complaining about being the second person to be served in business class on a flight…
In fairness, the passenger sort of apologized
After receiving widespread criticism on Twitter, the passenger posted an apology, claiming he made “an angry and alcohol fueled tweet that was ill advised & ill judged.” It is a bit of a half-hearted apology, as he apologizes “for any offence taken” and says that “[he] knew what [he] meant by it, many of [you] did not.”
He acknowledges the privilege he holds, and he says he would have also piled on if he saw someone else make similar Tweets. He even includes a screenshot of the Tweet.
I’d give the guy a lot of credit for apologizing, except…
This wasn’t the only reason he was furious
It’s one thing if this was an isolated Tweet, but it wasn’t. He acted nearly as ridiculously complaining about other things during his journey, and there has been no apology for that. He was “absolutely furious” in the British Airways Concorde Room, after “horrific England centric bias on show,” which left him “pretty disgusted,” and wondering whether Brexit means he needs to take his spending elswhere.
What did British Airways do? Well, the bartender allegedly refused to change the channel on the TV in the bar, and there were no charging ports on the terrace.
He is “so upset” about this, because they “REFUSED to change the channel.”
Then it took the staff five minutes to let him into another lounge because he was using an Apple Watch for his boarding pass. And then it took someone 20 minutes to find a remote to change the channel for him. But that’s not all. He also believes that the lounge is conspiring against him, not showing the match because England might lose.
“How utterly petty is this,” he asks. Well, I think that’s one thing we can agree on.
Bottom line
A British Airways premium cabin passenger and elite member was angry that he was served second rather than first while seated in the first row of business class. Not only did he confront the crew about this, but he took to Twitter to complain about the “race to the bottom” that this grave mistake so clearly represents.
In fairness, the guy (sort of) eventually apologized for this specific Tweet, claiming he was drunk, and that others didn’t understand his issue. What he hasn’t apologized for is all the other crap he wrote, like being furious that they wouldn’t change the channel in the lounge based on his exact preferences, and that the team in the lounge was conspiring against him to not show the game, just in case England lost.
I think the most embarrassing thing here for British Airways is that this guy wasn’t denied boarding or cut-off from consuming alcohol based on his behavior.
What do you make of this situation?
Perhaps the other passenger was of a higher status and perhaps there were insufficient meal choices so as is the norm the high tier pax would be offered his/her choice first - it happens all the time
Why do people insist on giving charlatans like this any sort of airtime?
Ben, I like your blog. But I have to laugh when you call out someone for having an entitled hissy fit when you've had plenty yourself, the Aegon Mykonos saga being a recent example where you viciously pursued the hotel publicly.
It's fine if you want to take that tone in your blog but you lose credibility when you shame someone else for also being entitled.
Owner lady, is that you?
Yes
Wow. Big fan. Really love your Photoshop skills and your service minded people skills.
You would be a great addition to US politicians. I suggest you look up to George Santos for inspirations.
In a way, I can understand why passengers complain about BA.
They simply do not live up to the standards that they project in their advertising, so the false impression of being the best is bound to be picked up when the expectations of passengers doesn’t materialise.
I regularly fly to Grand Cayman to visit family and as it’s the only direct flight from the UK, BA have the monopoly, which means they...
In a way, I can understand why passengers complain about BA.
They simply do not live up to the standards that they project in their advertising, so the false impression of being the best is bound to be picked up when the expectations of passengers doesn’t materialise.
I regularly fly to Grand Cayman to visit family and as it’s the only direct flight from the UK, BA have the monopoly, which means they don’t have to try hard to impress.
Broken seats, toilets out of order and crew swigging down bottled water in full view of passengers.
Yes, the crew in general are friendly, but professionalism simply isn’t there.
Many years ago I flew long haul with BOAC. The standards of then are now gone.
Hope he sent a personal apology to the crew who no doubt had to deal with this petty person.
If these are his biggest problems I envy him
This appears to be a lot less about alcohol and more about DYKWIA?
A self-entitled a-hole. No alcohol needed.
He was unable to watch the 6 Nations Rugby. I totally get it! ;-)
Well done Ireland for beating England and winning the Grand Slam!!!!! :-)
A few years back I was on an Aer Lingus flight from Dublin to JFK while England was playing Ireland in the 6 Nations. After takeoff, the pilot said he would announce the results of the match but he never did. Since Ireland lost handily, I guess he was afraid of a riot breaking out on board.
You are promoting this kind of behavior by having this article. Everyone knows how easy it is to complain and that is one reason why it is more difficult to receive compensation for truly bad behavior from the operator.
He would be wise to never ever ever fly United up front.
"He couldn't watch the rugby match", says it all really...
If he was intoxicated he should not have been allowed to board the flight. Simple as that.
“But I’m a diamond guest.”
Never gets old.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HvTDKgL4SnM
That's GOLD!
What he needs to do is Fly US airlines and he shall find out!
I may have seen this in a previous post, but my favorite is the man who complained that none of the flight attendants knew what the carb count was for his entrée.
Like sands in the hourglass, so are the Days of our this Blog....
Just travelled on a couple of long haul flights with BA.
The service was first class.
A delay because of the weather but many apologies and notifications to let us know.
The biggest problem was the pushing and shoving at the gate. At Heathrow, after the attendant explained how the plane was boarding by priority, a xenophobic guy said very loudly: “ if they can’t speak English, they shouldn’t be allowed in...
Just travelled on a couple of long haul flights with BA.
The service was first class.
A delay because of the weather but many apologies and notifications to let us know.
The biggest problem was the pushing and shoving at the gate. At Heathrow, after the attendant explained how the plane was boarding by priority, a xenophobic guy said very loudly: “ if they can’t speak English, they shouldn’t be allowed in this country “ Really. People were connecting from all over the world. Maybe they should have English lessons prior to boarding?
Can you imagine the outrage if they'd dared to start from the back of the cabin? Pathetic.
Typical behavior of an alcoholic.
More like typical behavior of your garden-variety asshole entitled drama queen.
Another self-entitled drunken idiot thinking the world revolves around him.
Wow, you're continuing the pile-on after the guy apologized. Would you do this to a black lady? I'm very seriously asking.
Why bring up race ?
Default answer to many.
Many also believe apologizing makes everything ok, like it never happened.
This guy's a tool.
America welcomes him. He would fit right in.
Quite frankly, my only reaction on reading of this man's quite atrocious behaviour was, goodness me, clearly Karens get everywhere.
Was this really worth writing about? Admittedly, I did read the most of the story but writing about some random guy’s twitter rant still feels like complete non-news.
ENGAGEMENT!
I think a good criterion to whether something is worth writing about (assuming it has something to do with travel) is whether people would read it (you did) and whether people would engage to a point of commenting about it (you did).
There's your answer right there.
You’re right. I guess that’s why that’s why trashy tabloids exist (and thrive)…
I am conflicted here as BA has truly gone downhill, and perhaps this fella just snapped, but these are indeed the pettiest of complaints. English, Irish, or otherwise, I suggest taking Aer Lingus next time as they've gone the other way and really stepped up their game!
He wanted to change the channel on a communal tv. He could watch it on his phone / laptop. Sounds like a typical elite DYKWIA.
And what if the passenger on the other side held a higher status ?
Who cares if he had to wait an extra minute.
Well, your complaints aren’t any better ;)
Caireann...
Irony not lost that you were moaning a couple of days ago about a BA cabin crew member not knowing how to hold a champagne bottle.
Grumbling is our national pastime, and rugby (ie, the 6 nations he was trying to watch in the other tweet) isn't too far behind, particularly a big game against the Irish.
He isn't a public figure, but he's getting eviscerated by all these blogs. He didn't hurt anybody, he just complained about a large corporation. Why won't everyone just lay off him?
Because he published his ENTITLED story for the world to see and publicly comment on. Your sympathies respected.
Sorry but Karen type behaviour deserves to be called out, particularly when it is so amazingly petty.
He may have complained about a large corp, but he also complained (by his own admission) to the flight attendant, probably earning close to minimum wage, and having to serve a bunch of entitled people.
I think he deserves to be condemned - the rest of humanity is not there to serve his every whim.
In fairness, I think we can all relate to this guy on the CCR charging port situation :D
All seats in the first row have equal status. In fact all seats in the same cabin have equal status, and I have been on planes where the service starts at the rear and works forward.
Seat 1A has a certain cachet but it really doesn't come with any benefits. And sometimes it is too close to the galley or toilets, so I choose one further back.
BA Gold here.
BA-Gold here as well. If he was in 1A and was allowed into the Concord Room, he wasn’t in Business Class on that flight he was in First. As a Gold you can only get into the CR if you are flying First. There are two tiers higher than Gold that have access to the Concord Room when flying any class of service. Of course none of that matters when someone is throwing a privilege...
BA-Gold here as well. If he was in 1A and was allowed into the Concord Room, he wasn’t in Business Class on that flight he was in First. As a Gold you can only get into the CR if you are flying First. There are two tiers higher than Gold that have access to the Concord Room when flying any class of service. Of course none of that matters when someone is throwing a privilege fit. BA First is pretty expensive and the polished service that one gets with competitors in that class tends to be much higher and more consistent. BA has let go of so many of their senior FAs in order to save money that all that is left are very junior FAs that don’t have the training for that position. I’ve seen BA FAs complaining about taking a First Class cabin assignment because “the passengers are so demanding and rude”. When someone is shelling out 10x the cost of a basic economy ticket to fly in First they expect the hard and soft products to be impeccable. Alcohol and a bad day and you get an entitled jerk that has probably spent 10’s of thousands on tickets over several years to reach his status and feels trapped in a frequent flyer program who’s actual value has plunged along with reliable premium flying experience. Do what I did and use the BA Gold status match that United offers. UA isn’t stellar but at least you can redeem your miles/points and they are keenly aware that the majority of the profits come from the premium cabins and they have your back when flights get mucked up.
@ Barbara -- This person was in the Concorde Room because they were connecting off British Airways first class from Mexico City.
GGL have access to Concorde room
As per his tweet, he was on BA1466, which is LHR-INV!
In the 21st century, the idea of any kind of brand loyalty, or expecting such loyalty to be recognized or appreciated is laughable.
Equally laughable is the thought of the English caring about anyone outside of the home counties. And that’s been for… a millenium.
I agree these complaints are quite petty and a bit over the top, but seriously, just days ago, also talking British Airways, you complained that:
1. The flight attendant poured champagne by holding the bottle by the neck, and suggested they needed training on how to properly pour champagne.
2. The flight attendants didn’t address you by name.
Are we actually going to pretend that the underlying things that are being complained about in a...
I agree these complaints are quite petty and a bit over the top, but seriously, just days ago, also talking British Airways, you complained that:
1. The flight attendant poured champagne by holding the bottle by the neck, and suggested they needed training on how to properly pour champagne.
2. The flight attendants didn’t address you by name.
Are we actually going to pretend that the underlying things that are being complained about in a public forum are vastly different? Or does one person just have a more polished way of writing (with a much much more visible platform)?
And yet those things are generally signature elements of the BA F experience, unlike service from port to starboard. Moreover, Ben expressly acknowledged that they were small things.
@ Charles -- There's absolutely nothing wrong with criticizing bad service. Yes, of course I had a pretty negative review of British Airways first class (reviewing airlines is what I do for a living), so I'm not going to judge someone else for having feedback on an experience.
The issue here -- as with many things in life -- is how he communicated this. He confronted the flight attendant about serving right to left rather...
@ Charles -- There's absolutely nothing wrong with criticizing bad service. Yes, of course I had a pretty negative review of British Airways first class (reviewing airlines is what I do for a living), so I'm not going to judge someone else for having feedback on an experience.
The issue here -- as with many things in life -- is how he communicated this. He confronted the flight attendant about serving right to left rather than left to right (in my millions of miles of flying, I can't say I've ever expected to be served first depending on which side of the cabin I'm seated on)?
Furthermore, he's "disgusted" and "furious" that British Airways didn't have his preferred show on the TV, and he's even accusing the airline of conspiring not to show something just because England could lose?
If you don't see the difference between that and my review then that's of course your prerogative, but...
This crass Irishman continually fly’s BA and likes nothing better than subsequently complaining about his experience, he needs to look in a mirror or better still attend the next AA meeting in Dublin!
I feel sorry for both the crew who he was so unpleasant with and his fellow passengers who had to listen to him being such an entitled and unpleasant drunk.