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Vital HfP reader news – new champagne coming to Club World next week (and new cutlery)

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Here at Head for Points we understand what really matters to our readers.  That is why this story had to be the lead one today.

From 27th March, British Airways will be serving a new champagne in its Club World cabins – Henriot Brut Souverain NV.

This did apparently win a blind taste test.  You may be cynically thinking that it is also cheap, but Jancis Robinson recommended it at Christmas so I am quietly confident.  I will see if the crew will bring me a glass into First Class in early April ….

Virgin Atlantic 747 champagne

de Castelnau Rose and de Castelnau Brut Reserve NV will also continue to be available.

And new champagne in Club Europe too …..

If you’ve not flown Club Europe so far this year, you won’t know that de Castlenau Brut Reserve NV has replaced the Heidsieck Monopole.  Monopole has been the CE champgne since, well, the dawn of time, or at least as far back as I can remember.  Reports on Flyertalk are mixed so far.

And new cutlery ……

There will be even more excitement on board from Tuesday (long-haul) and a week on Tuesday (short-haul) as new cutlery is introduced in all cabins except First.

Coming rather late to the party, given the current oil price, this new cutlery will be noticeably lighter than the current version which apparently leads to fuel savings.


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Comments (43)

This article is closed to new posts. Discussion continues in the HfP Forums.

  • David says:

    Had the Castlenau yesterday and I prefer it on the Monopole.

  • Janice Edgar says:

    Worse still, they’ve replaced Coke with Pepsi. #nastybrownmuck

    • Roger says:

      Not quite.

      In LHR lounges, yes. I had Diet Coke onboard LHR-CPT last week (having declined P*psi in T3 F lounge.

    • Fenny says:

      It’s all nasty brown muck. I wouldn’t drink either of them!

      • Worzel says:

        No doubt a disappointing response(so far) for Rob-the brown stuff more important than Champers!
        However, we’ve used a Nigella Lawson recipe a few times(boiling a Ham in Coke-or was it Pepsi?!) and the results have been very good 🙂 .

    • Brian says:

      Is your nastybrownmuck hashtag referring to Coke or Pepsi or both? Presumably the latter… :))

    • James67 says:

      Worse to come…knowing BA, the sugar tax will likely appear as a surcharge on our fare breakdowns from 2018.

  • Deb says:

    I much prefer pepsi on the rare occasion I have it, Coke gives me indigestion.
    OT do all flights to San Francisco from LHR have the new First cabin, I am very close to being able to have 2 return tickets in First to North America?

    Deb

  • Daniel says:

    Monopole has not been in CE since the dawn of time. It was only a few years ago that BA served that awful Pommery filth.

  • James67 says:

    I hoped you were going to say something meaningful like they had abolished seat selection fees or they were going to give the cabins a much needed spring clean.

  • Anon says:

    Like the spork rumour, should have saved it til 12 days time… 🙂

    Nice to hear CW is being tweaked for the better, feeling rather tired (+ a bit hungover) this am, as I stayed up til midnight to secure a CW redemption last night.

    After last years fabulous trip, I’m intending returning back to the Maldives next March…
    https://headforpoints.com/2015/12/11/conrad-rangali-maldives-review/

    • Dynamo says:

      What are the best methods for generating Hhonor points other than stays?

      • Alex W says:

        Probably an Amex Gold or Plat card sign up bonus – MR points convert to HH at 2:1 I think. The Hhonors barclaycard gives you a free night certificate plus 2500 bonus points for each of the first 4 stays (total 10000 points) paid for with the card. But the return isn’t great for long term spend. 2 points per pound or 3 at Hilton. Gold status for a year if you spend £10K I think. But the Amex Plat gives you Hilton gold with 0 spend for a year even if you cancel.

      • Rob says:

        Remember Virgin convert to Hilton at 1:1.5 too.

  • Cheshire Pete says:

    Not sure the Coke thing is permanent! Was in T5 1st lounge the other week chatting to a manager. They’ve been having supply chain problems with their mixers. Also the Draught Heineken which appeared in the 1st lounge a few months ago then has now vanished is because they ran out of the tubes they have to replace weekly! It will be returning when new stocks arrive! Although I prefer the champagne bar to Draught beer anyhow!

    • Jonathan says:

      Ran out of the tubes? The beer lines!?

      From my uni pub work days, draft beer doesn’t have anything replaced apart from the barrel. Everything else just need cleaning weekly.

  • AliC says:

    Oh no.
    That’s the nasty fizz they serve in the Joburg lounge.

This article is closed to new posts. Discussion continues in the HfP Forums.