Having flown BA shorthaul many times, both in Euro Traveller and Club Europe I have found that the standard of catering and meals is not very exciting or filling. A little sandwich is all that is served on a 2 hour flight in Euro Traveller. Most people will get hungry during this period. Can anyone please suggest changes if they have contacts at BA.

Maybe a menu for Club Europe.
And a selection of hot and cold food in Club and Euro Traveller (buy on board maybe)

It needs to change !

Quoting TiktokJAKE (Thread starter): It needs to change !

Well, two hours no one will starve. A light snack is suffecient, I think.
Also bear in mind that BA often charges fares which are comparable to LCC's but you still receive points, lounge access, baggage allowance and onward connections. I have no problem with BoB, but BD tried that and it has been a disaster for them at LHR...Ba are cleverer than that.

Brian.

And can you just imagine the absolute OUTRAGE that BA would expect it's
cabin crew to offer a BoB product   

But her would be a great excuse for another strike I guess, but seriously, I can't
see BA going down the BoB route either, doesn't sit well with the brand or image.

I do agree that they could offer something a bit more sustantial for flights 2.5 hrs + though.

The current offering is completely sufficient. It makes me laugh how people can travel 4 hours + on a Northern England-South Coast train and not expect a thing but as soon as they step on a plane it's a whole new set of expectations. Why should you be wined and dined on a 2 hour flight?

As people have said, BoB doesn't feature in BA's brand image, especially ex LHR. It would divide cabin crew if it was. Some would hate it, others would love the associated commission.

I just flew a 1 hour flt LHR-EDI and back the same day
To EDI we got a sandwich and chocolate biscuit with t or coffee and on the way back
a very nice chicken salad.
It was perfect for such a short flight and very nicely presented.

Well this is part of the viral marketing and branding used by just about all the legacies really.

Fact is they sell the brand via imagery depicting the long haul business and high elite classes as a hook.

This leads to greater customer expectations and subsequent disappointment at the essentially economy service provided on short haul and domestic which is strictly utilitarian.

Done so for decades.

Better still, BA should withdraw free catering on all UK and European flights and have a trolley service which you pay for. Maybe they'll be able to chop the price of my ticket if they did. The quality of catering on the low cost airlines with the pay-for service is generally much better, anyway, than the bag of bird seed BA's been giving me LGW-EDI flights recently.

I still think its ridiculous how LHR-EDI passengers receive a full hot English breakfast while LHR-EUROPE passengers receive, a frankly rather pitiful 'Breakfast Brioche'.

BAguy

Perhaps an interested party could draft an equivalent version of this now well-known complaint letter (relating to VS long haul meal service)? 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/tr...st-passenger-complaint-letter.html

Quoting GT4EZY (Reply 3): The current offering is completely sufficient. It makes me laugh how people can travel 4 hours + on a Northern England-South Coast train and not expect a thing but as soon as they step on a plane it's a whole new set of expectations. Why should you be wined and dined on a 2 hour flight?

Because you have bought a double price plane ticket, and air standards are better than train. There is also VERY OFTEN a BoB feature on trains!

Quoting FCAFLYBOY (Reply 2): And can you just imagine the absolute OUTRAGE that BA would expect it's cabin crew to offer a BoB product

Not only would BoB affect the brand image, but there would also be crewing issues. I have heard rumours that it was once considered for Gatwick should haul routes, but was abandoned because of lack-of-crew. BA only have 3 crew on LGW short-haul flights. 1 of those would be dedicated to serving Club passengers, so that would only leave 2 to do BoB, which on short and busy European flights would be an absolute shambles.

Quoting Damian (Reply 6): Better still, BA should withdraw free catering on all UK and European flights and have a trolley service which you pay for. Maybe they'll be able to chop the price of my ticket if they did.

Well, if you want cheaper tickets why not fly with Easyjet or Ryanair? Some of us like the frills and are willing to pay extra for it. Furthermore, I've found that BA fares on many routes are often competitive with those of EasyJet or Ryanair, so how much cheaper are you expecting fares to get? On a recent European flight I saved £20 by flying with BA - which was a huge bonus because I was willing to pay up to £30 more for the pleasure of flying with BA.

Quoting Antonovman (Reply 4): To EDI we got a sandwich and chocolate biscuit with t or coffee and on the way back a very nice chicken salad. It was perfect for such a short flight and very nicely presented.

I agree. I think the food served is acceptable and appropriate for short-haul flights. Even better when there is a can of London Pride to wash it down with!

Quoting Damian (Reply 6):

Quoting Baguy (Reply 7):

It's all about yield at the end of the day.....a hot breakfast domestic shuttle flight will have the bulk of the passengers paying the fully flexible "UK Business" fares, same goes for the evening light meal/salad offering. With the fares much lower & few paying for a fully flexible ticket outside of the peak busness flows & mealtimes it makes sense yield wise to adjust the on board service accordingly. As for the "Breakfast Brioche" the reasoning is the same....yield
 

I feel the food is fine, I don't need a 3 course meal on a flight between London and Amsterdam, there simply isn't enough time. And the longer sectors, such as to WAW or OTP then a sandwich is perfectly sufficient - the Club passengers will get a decent meal and the Gold / Silver passengers can eat to their heart's content in the lounges which serve an excellent choice of food.

What I object to more if I'm honest is that I can pay an identical fare to fly LGW-AMS as I can to fly LHR-AMS on BA on an identical 319, and on the flight ex-LHR there's a full bar service and 6 cabin crew, and on the ex-LGW the only alcohol available is wine, and there's only 3 cabin crew! It's an outrage, where's my damn vodka?!

I have had the pleasure to try the bacon sandwich on BRU-LHR (early morning flight) back in march: AWFUL, and it smelled terrible in the whole cabin afterwards !!! We skipped it and preferred to eat a good English muffin at T4 !!

But that said, as long as I was on time in LHR, not a big matter for me. Moreover as stated above they sometimes have really cheap seats on BRU-LHR like BD, making the difference with a non-rev ticket quite marginal.

But the food served on some airlines is so crap, that I tend to prefer to have good food with BOB system. At least on short-hauls like BD offers.

Quoting Baguy (Reply 7): I still think its ridiculous how LHR-EDI passengers receive a full hot English breakfast while LHR-EUROPE passengers receive, a frankly rather pitiful 'Breakfast Brioche'.

Without doing any research I would say that the difference is due to the competition on the route, if other carriers are not offering a service and they are doing fine, why should you?
It is generally accepted that airlines will offer what the market will bear and tolerate, and price is the main determinant, you can offer the best service but if it comes at an increased price to your competitor your volume of business will not grown and at the end of the day, volume counts for a lot.

Quoting Antonovman (Reply 4): I just flew a 1 hour flt LHR-EDI and back the same day To EDI we got a sandwich and chocolate biscuit with t or coffee and on the way back a very nice chicken salad. It was perfect for such a short flight and very nicely presented.

Haha, i was just going to ask the very question you have answered. Im flying LHR-EDI tomorrow on BA and was wondering what we would get, now i know! Thanks.

Quoting B747-4U3 (Reply 10): Not only would BoB affect the brand image, but there would also be crewing issues. I have heard rumours that it was once considered for Gatwick should haul routes, but was abandoned because of lack-of-crew. BA only have 3 crew on LGW short-haul flights. 1 of those would be dedicated to serving Club passengers, so that would only leave 2 to do BoB, which on short and busy European flights would be an absolute shambles.

Funnily enough we manage at bmi with 3 crew on a 319 with 1 person managing business, and two crew operating in economy offering a b.o.b. service (which is free to diamond silver / gold / blue plus) passengers.

Quoting Flying Belgian (Reply 13): I have had the pleasure to try the bacon sandwich on BRU-LHR

The bacon brioche is awful. I used to get that when I used the 07:40 VIE-LHR flight.
BA should offer a simple and tasty croissant instead.

Does anyone now what kind of catering they have on the MLA-LGW flights. TUN-LGW which are almost 3 hours get the 2 small sandwishes when the comptetion (TU) offers the full meal.

I think the food is pretty decent and of a reasonable size to be honest, quite happy with the offerings.

In particular, the breakfast and late afternoon/evening offerings to/from EDI from LHR are superb!

You should be happy they serve meals. U.S. legacy carriers sell everything on their flights. The food tastes like plastic and it costs 8 bucks. I would much rather eat something at home or at the airport than on the plane. That food is really disgusting and it's wierd how people believe that they should get a full meal on a flight that lasts less than the time it takes in between meals (3-4 hrs between meals.)

Quoting FuturePilot16 (Reply 19): You should be happy they serve meals. U.S. legacy carriers sell everything on their flights.

Well we have CO that offers free meals!

Just to add a Canadian perspective, BA's Europe flights are generally cheaper than a corresponding flight in Canada, but you still get a snack, and they're quite edible I might add. All we get here is BOB (with the exception of Sunwing's summer charters).
That said, the BOB sandwiches are pretty good, and like FuturePilot said you don't really need it for flights under 4 hours.

Jon

Quoting GT4EZY (Reply 3): The current offering is completely sufficient. It makes me laugh how people can travel 4 hours + on a Northern England-South Coast train and not expect a thing but as soon as they step on a plane it's a whole new set of expectations. Why should you be wined and dined on a 2 hour flight?

Well put. If you want rock bottom prices, expect all the trimmings to be cut.

Quoting TiktokJAKE (Thread starter): Having flown BA shorthaul many times, both in Euro Traveller and Club Europe I have found that the standard of catering and meals is not very exciting or filling. A little sandwich is all that is served on a 2 hour flight in Euro Traveller. Most people will get hungry during this period. Can anyone please suggest changes if they have contacts at BA. Maybe a menu for Club Europe. And a selection of hot and cold food in Club and Euro Traveller (buy on board maybe)

Unless you are diabetic could you not go a couple of hours with eating?

Quoting Bwaflyer (Reply 16): Funnily enough we manage at bmi with 3 crew on a 319 with 1 person managing business, and two crew operating in economy offering a b.o.b. service (which is free to diamond silver / gold / blue plus) passengers.

Funnily enough many of us who do travel with you believe the service onboard bmi s/h is less than par. Quite often service in C can be quite shoddy, and for those travelling in Y, we can just leave it at that bmi by far is not worst in class and that service standards in Europe whilst travelling Y is rapidly coming close to that in the US.

The one thing to remember about meals on board is that you have to take into account the Whole journey time.
So for a trip from London to Amsterdam for a customer living in Milton Keynes would be a total of about 6 hours!!

Quoting Antonovman (Reply 4): I just flew a 1 hour flt LHR-EDI and back the same day To EDI we got a sandwich and chocolate biscuit with t or coffee and on the way back a very nice chicken salad. It was perfect for such a short flight and very nicely presented.

I would agree. I flew EDI-LGW and LHR-EDI on April 19th. On the southbound flight, we were presented with the full english breakfast, which I believe is better than some offerings on the ground. On the return, I took the coronation chicken sandwich with the chocolate bar and a vodka/coke. (I don't drink tea or coffee)

For such a short flight, it's a brilliant service. I would imagine it would be perfect for EU bound flights within 2.5hrs flying time, but longer sectors may need something more. Possibly a warm meal or another sandwich if passengers felt hungry enough?

JG  

I avoid flying BA because of LHR, not because of BA. When I have flown BA, in both business and economy class, I have found their food service fully competitive and often better than most of their competitors within Europe. Even the sandwiches they serve in Y class are better than what you get on LX, KL and several others.

Passengers aren't prepared to pay for the meals that were offered 20 years ago, before low-cost carriers changed the game.

Quoting Rdwootty (Reply 25):

So because Mr Smith lives in MK, and has to journey to LHR for his flight, a more substantial meal has to be served??

Thats why there are a lot of catering outlets are available in the UK to purchase food, as well as a good number in T5.

Quoting Rdwootty (Reply 25): So for a trip from London to Amsterdam for a customer living in Milton Keynes would be a total of about 6 hours!!

So correct me if I am wrong. You must eat every six (6) hours? How do you find sleeping? Whilst in the airport are there not any places to get a sandwich? There are places to eat between MK and LHR I know from living there. I still can't believe that you can't eat before you leave home and when one gets to Amsterdam I am sure they may have an outlet or two to purchase food.

I'd come and take a visit over the pond. I flew JFK-LAX on AA. I didn't get a meal at all! Almost no airlines in the US serve meals domestically unless it is first and/or its a transcon.
Blue

Quoting Damian (Reply 6): A should withdraw free catering on all UK and European flights and have a trolley service which you pay for. Maybe they'll be able to chop the price of my ticket if they did.

May I suggest...
www.ryanair.com
www.easyjet.com

Those who prefer real airlines stick with BA.  

Quoting TiktokJAKE (Thread starter): Having flown BA shorthaul many times, both in Euro Traveller and Club Europe I have found that the standard of catering and meals is not very exciting or filling. A little sandwich is all that is served on a 2 hour flight in Euro Traveller.

Fly easyJet then and buy what you want to eat on the plane. Otherwise quit moaning and come prepared in future! BA will offer as little as possible these days and even offer extremely competitive fares compared to the LCCs as BA include baggage, free booze, assigned seating all for pretty much the same price as an LCC!

Next time if ur still hungry ask for another sandwich. They end up throwing the left overs away (well the caterers do).

Quoting Rdwootty (Reply 25): The one thing to remember about meals on board is that you have to take into account the Whole journey time. So for a trip from London to Amsterdam for a customer living in Milton Keynes would be a total of about 6 hours!!

Eh? Sorry, but who has to take the whole journey time into account?
Are you seriously suggesting that an airline is responsible for a passengers meal arrangements from leaving home until they arrive at their final destination? Should they provide the pax food at the departure and arrival airport as well???

Quoting LHRjc (Reply 12): What I object to more if I'm honest is that I can pay an identical fare to fly LGW-AMS as I can to fly LHR-AMS on BA on an identical 319, and on the flight ex-LHR there's a full bar service and 6 cabin crew, and on the ex-LGW the only alcohol available is wine, and there's only 3 cabin crew! It's an outrage, where's my damn vodka?!

A bit off topic, but is the on-board service generally different on short-haul flights from LHR and LGW?

I am booked in Economy to fly LGW-VCE in August but I am tempted to upgrade myslef to Club for another £80 - is it worth it?

Quoting 8herveg (Reply 34): A bit off topic, but is the on-board service generally different on short-haul flights from LHR and LGW? I am booked in Economy to fly LGW-VCE in August but I am tempted to upgrade myslef to Club for another £80 - is it worth it?

Well the only difference I notice between LGW and LHR short haul is that LGW flights don't have a full bar service whereas LHR flights do, and LHR based 319's have twice the crew members as LGW. Other than that the service is pretty similar. So if you're not fussed about having a beer then it's not a big issue.

For £80 (we're talking each way right?) you're going to get a locked off B / E seat next to you, proper food and lounge access. For me, on a flight to VCE I wouldn't pay it, but then I get lounge access anyway so that's one less perk that I would get. To be honest I'd save your 80 quid and spend it when you get to VCE.

Quoting Jamotcx (Reply 32): Next time if ur still hungry ask for another sandwich. They end up throwing the left overs away (well the caterers do).

Thank you! I always encourage people to just ask! We usually end up with waste since the sandwiches come in boxes of 12 or 24, and If we don't have half boxes, so it's usually more sandwiches than customers by a few! Plus refusals, you're talking lots of left over food! All you have to do is ask politely for an extra one!  

Quoting TiktokJAKE (Thread starter): It needs to change !

Its only European flights, if people are hungry they can ask for more, or maybe take the other passengers food!   

I always find short haul catering pretty good, I flew MA from AMS-BUD, they gave out meals and it was too much. I prefer having a light snack like a sandwich or a salad. A meal would be too much for some people and could cost a bit of money (for the airline).

I think a BoB would be good for BA, financially, but would draw customers away. Its annoying how airlines like SK and BD have BoB.

[Edited 2009-05-10 05:12:22]

Quoting LHRjc (Reply 35): Well the only difference I notice between LGW and LHR short haul is that LGW flights don't have a full bar service whereas LHR flights do, and LHR based 319's have twice the crew members as LGW. Other than that the service is pretty similar. So if you're not fussed about having a beer then it's not a big issue.

Standard crewing level on an LHR based A319 is 4 cabin crew & not the 6 that you allude to. An extra 1-2 crew members are added on shorter flights e.g. MAN/NCL/CDG/AMS/BRU depending on Club loads, but a full GVA/ZRH with 45 C Class on an A319 will still only have 4 crew.

LGW flights (with the possible exception of JER) generally have much lower Club loads than LHR, which added to the simplified on board service in the main cabin means that less crew are required.

Quoting AlanUK (Reply 36): Thank you! I always encourage people to just ask! We usually end up with waste since the sandwiches come in boxes of 12 or 24, and If we don't have half boxes, so it's usually more sandwiches than customers by a few! Plus refusals, you're talking lots of left over food! All you have to do is ask politely for an extra one!

Quite often (on emptier flights) with BA, particularly on domestic sectors - I have actually been asked if I want extra food, or another soft drink by the crew! I have always admired the level of service and professionality that BA provide and for that reason I shall always (unless the price is significantly dearer - which it often isn't) try to get a seat on one of their planes, instead of another carrier.
Too bad they don't fly NQY-LGW anymore. The trains and Air Southwest are good (and probably more economically viable on that route at least!) but it's not the same as having almost a whole 737 to yourself; with free beverages, snacks and 3 members crew to keep you and six other passengers happy as was often the case. I miss those flights alot...

Quoting DavidkunzVIE (Reply 31): Those who prefer real airlines stick with BA.

My sentiment entirely

Quoting LHRjc (Reply 35): For £80 (we're talking each way right?) you're going to get a locked off B / E seat next to you, proper food and lounge access. For me, on a flight to VCE I wouldn't pay it, but then I get lounge access anyway so that's one less perk that I would get. To be honest I'd save your 80 quid and spend it when you get to VCE.

Yep, £80 each way, but we will only be going one-way as I am flying home from another airport with easyJet. I have never flown anything apart from Economy in my life (although I am only 22!), but it seems like a good opportunity to experience some sort of Business Class, instead of playing hundreds and hundreds of extra pounds to pay for long-haul Business Class.

Quoting Edina (Reply 38): LGW flights (with the possible exception of JER)

Correct. JER have 4 crew on the 737/319. Due to two reasons mainly - JER has relatively high C loads compared to a lot of the LGW network. And the short sector length, as little as 30 mins some days.

At least you guys in Europe get your meals for free. In US, Canada you will have to pay for your sandwich. So please no complaining.

Quoting Edina (Reply 38): An extra 1-2 crew members are added on shorter flights e.g. MAN/NCL/CDG/AMS/BRU

Quoting JER757 (Reply 41): Correct. JER have 4 crew on the 737/319. Due to two reasons mainly - JER has relatively high C loads compared to a lot of the LGW network. And the short sector length, as little as 30 mins some days.

Why do BA sometimes have more crew on shorter sectors? Surely they would have more crew on longer sectors if anything?

Quoting GT4EZY (Reply 3): 4 hours + on a Northern England-South Coast train

Hahahh.. Amtrak took away all food between ALB-NYC except of those trains that don't originate in ALB. Thats like 10. The other 15 trains to NYC don't offer food. In my opinion, put the damn cafe car back on the train!!

People shouldn't even be complaining about not offering food in short haul flights. Come to the US.

I wish they put free meals back on the US flights.

Quoting 8herveg (Reply 43): Why do BA sometimes have more crew on shorter sectors? Surely they would have more crew on longer sectors if anything?

On very short sectors they need that number of crew to serve the drinks/food to the pax in the time available. My record on LGW-JER is 26mins from take off to touchdown. 120+ teas/coffees/drinks/meals/birdseed takes time to serve!

Quoting JER757 (Reply 45): birdseed takes time to serve!

I must ask next time I am on BA about their birdseed. Is it any good?

Quoting 8herveg (Reply 34): I am booked in Economy to fly LGW-VCE in August but I am tempted to upgrade myslef to Club for another £80 - is it worth it?

Depends how much £80 is worth to you. Only you can answer that. I'd say most certainly, but then I'm not you...

Quoting 8herveg (Reply 40): I have never flown anything apart from Economy in my life (although I am only 22!), but it seems like a good opportunity to experience some sort of Business Class, instead of playing hundreds and hundreds of extra pounds to pay for long-haul Business Class.

But Club Europe and Club World are chalk and cheese. Inflight they are as incomparable as Ryanair and EK A380 F.

Quoting 8herveg (Reply 43): Why do BA sometimes have more crew on shorter sectors? Surely they would have more crew on longer sectors if anything?

I was on a flight three years ago in Club Europe that was a marvel to watch. 55 Club passengers on LGW-JER, everyone got a hot breakfast (I was in 1C and had mine in my lap about 2mins after we'd left the runway), hot drinks, cold drinks and bread.

Quoting LHRjc (Reply 35): Well the only difference I notice between LGW and LHR short haul is that LGW flights don't have a full bar service whereas LHR flights do,

LGW flights do offer a full bar service in EuroTraveller on most flights, including 4 varieties of wine, 2 types of beer, whisky, gin, malt whisky, vodka, brandy and soft drinks, orange juice and water, tea and coffee. The shortest flights (AMS, JER, LUX) offer the same as above except no spirits and fizzy drinks are limited to Coke and Diet Coke. I believe the logic here is that with only 2 crew serving up to 130 in ET on a short flight, there is no time to offer a wider selection. UK domestic flights also offer a full bar with choice of spirits.

In essence, the service is very similar to LHR, but as there are fewer crew the offering is simplified so crew won't have to pour drinks from large fruit juice cartons and water bottles.

Little off topic but;
I seem to remember that BA serves alcohol free of charge in Y.. Both wine and spirits.
My last BA flight in Y was OSL - LHR, and I think I had a few Gin & Tonics "on the house".. Correct?

Will the LGW shortest flights have a different service when the aircraft fleet is all A319?

What's BA offering on flights of 3h+ out of LGW : MLA, PFO, VRN, SKG, GIB?

Quoting LNv22 (Reply 49): My last BA flight in Y was OSL - LHR, and I think I had a few Gin & Tonics "on the house".. Correct?

Totally, BA doesn't charge for anything onboard (well, apart from Duty Free goods and Satelittle telephone calls)

Quoting Edina (Reply 38): but a full GVA/ZRH with 45 C Class on an A319 will still only have 4 crew.

The max Club Europe load on a BA 319 is now 36, and yes 4 crew is all you get!
The max Club Europe load on a BA 320 is now 52, and you would get a 5th crew with 22 Club customers or more.