Tag Archives for british airways.
A roundup of the most important stories of the day. I keep you up to date on the most interesting writings I find on other sites – the latest news and tips.
A roundup of the most important stories of the day. I keep you up to date on the most interesting writings I find on other sites – the latest news and tips.
British Airways pioneered lie flat seats in long haul business class. The seats weren’t wide or private, but they were classy with blue fabric and brown leather. I actually liked the old lie flat business class seat that I flew a decade ago (‘New Club World’) more than the current iteration that feels like a sea of impersonal corporate cubes (‘Next Generation Club World’).
The current seat is well overdue for a refresh. The basics of the current seat began rolling out in 2006.
A roundup of the most important stories of the day. I keep you up to date on the most interesting writings I find on other sites – the latest news and tips.
Two British Airways flights were cancelled at the same time on St. Lucia. Crew were sent to hotels. Some passengers were sent to what could technically be called hotels, while others were left overnight at the airport without information or assistance. British Airways apparently even sent several passengers to a brothel for the night.
The passengers sent to the brothel were presumably offered additional premium services for an upcharge. The increasingly ancillary fee-minded British Airways may get new ideas to bring home to London Heathrow, already one of the most commercialized airports in the world.
At American Airlines cleaners frequently board an aircraft and start cleaning before passengers are off the plane. That’s not a great experience, but the airline frequently tries to turn planes around with unrealistic schedules. At least they’re getting cleaned.
British Airways in contrast has trialed ways to reduce cleaning to see if passengers complain. Now they’re taking a new approach — testing the elimination of cleaning altogether on some flights.
British Airways really should invest in re-doing their first class lounge. Recognize that British Airways is never going to provide exceptional service, but they offer decent booze. It seems to me the lounge would be better with more cabanas, and a better process to manage them, at a bare minimum.
My wife and I just flew British Airways first class. This was our daughter’s first international flight.
British Airways offers two types of seats for lap infants. They call bassinets “carrycots” and they also have “child seats.” Only the child seat was an option in first.
When you fly domestically in “first class” you get a bigger seat usually it’s two seats next to each other versus three in coach. You get something that passes for a meal, free drinks, and a checked baggage allowance. You get early boarding so you aren’t forced to get check your carry on bag when overhead bins fill up. But as a general matter there’s not a whole lot that’s special about the experience.
Many Americans are surprised – shocked even – at what passes for business class in Europe, though. And the remarkable thing is that over the past five or six years it’s generally gotten worse.
Six or seven years ago Lucky from One Mile at a Time and I debated whether British Airways first class was ‘the world’s best business class.’ At the time I still felt like BA’s first offered something approximating a first class product, even if it wasn’t one of the better or flashier ones.
Now that same product, which BA is still flying, doesn’t even qualify as the best business class out there.
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
