British Airways announces its in-flight service cuts for August ….

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It is hard to believe, but British Airways has now started making a regular monthly anouncement of the latest cuts to its in-flight service.

From early July, as you may remember, we saw:

First Class

Amuse bouche removed from the meal service

Blanket removed from day flights, provided only on request

British Airways A380

Club World

Changes to Club Kitchen stocking with more ambient – ie chocolate bar – and fewer fresh items

World Traveller Plus

The second meal removed on shorter routes, to be replaced by the opportunity to take something from a basket of ambient snacks passed around by the crew

Pretzels, cheese and biscuits removed entirely

World Traveller

The second meal removed on shorter and medium length routes, to be replaced by the opportunity to take something from a basket of ambient snacks passed around by the crew

The bottle of water replaced by a small plastic cup of water

Pretzels, cheese and biscuits removed entirely

Toothbrushes and toothpaste no longer be provided but they will be available on request

According to cabin crew reports on Flyertalk, which I clearly cannot verify, this is what we will see from early August:

First and Club World

Invitations to the arrivals lounge will no longer be given to passengers on flights arriving after noon. Whilst the lounge stops serving food at 12.30, it has always been open until 2pm – but perhaps no longer?

Club World

Passengers will no longer receive a choice of starter. From London, you will receive a compulsory tomato, mozzarella and avocado salad

(This is apparently a trial for one month only and will be retained if successful)

Ice cream removed from the Club Kitchen

World Traveller Plus and World Traveller

Tuck boxes removed – these are the boxes of small snacks which are loaded on the longer long-haul routes and kept in the galley for passengers to come and take as they wish

On the upside, Fever Tree tonic water will now apparently be available on all aircraft, long and short haul.

Don’t forget to check back here towards the end of August when I should have the list of September service cuts available ……

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British Airways and Avios

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

Boris says:

23 Jul23 July 14:18

OT slightly.

I need a flight and return to Istanbul (ideally Sabiha) to bookend my Etihad Sydney break.

Given current turmoil, can anyone recommend the best way to tackle that? Is it just out and return economy from Heathrow or Brum if I choose not to travel South. Will last minute tickets be a better option here? (Not tried that before)

Cheers
- Rob says:
  
  23 Jul23 July 15:09
  
  You won’t get a deal very last minute as there are always desperate business travellers who will pay whatever. Didn’t BA have IST at £99 return in the last sale?
  - Boris says:
    
    23 Jul23 July 17:33
    
    Cheers
- Lady London says:
  
  24 Jul24 July 06:50
  
  TK can do some good prices especially on open jaw
- Genghis says:
  
  24 Jul24 July 10:04
  
  You really want to fly direct to SAW, not into IST as its quite far between the airports (and across Istanbul so probably best avoided currently). Turkish fly direct from Gatwick or Pegasus from Stansted. I flew Pegasus to Izmir at Easter (only direct flight available from London) and they weren’t too bad actually
Kyanvi Lee says:

23 Jul23 July 15:22

Being an ex-frequent LHR-HKG flyer for past 10 years, I am guttered by the cut because getting on more than 6 times a year, the key thing I like about BA is their small bottle of water and the choice of snacks in the tuck box. It’s disappointing to see them go.
Paul says:

23 Jul23 July 15:25

Having recently flown a lot of transcon and transatlantic if there is an AA 777ER, or similar new business cabin, on the route then I probably would go with them vs BA. It’s a good hard product, and the extras feel generous in comparison. Air crew and lounge staff were far happier (if not flirtatious!) and more helpful vs the BA staff encountered. Plenty of fizz was made available for my disposal and I’m a sucker for the ice cream sundaes they have offer too.
- Alex says:
  
  24 Jul24 July 12:10
  
  Only problem is by flying AA we aren’t exactly encouraging BA to change. They have a profit sharing JV across the atlantic after all. Yeah, it does add some minute pressure to BA to improve, but it is not nearly as significant as switching JVs. Same applies to JAL and Japan. Unfortunately BA gets a cut of that as well…
Stephen says:

23 Jul23 July 16:32

At this rate BA will be asking for our credit cards to pay for the fuel before take off !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Darrel says:

23 Jul23 July 16:45

Depends on your status, what airline, which terminal or perhaps you have a lounge membership. Since you are asking about arrivals I assume you don’t have an onward flight. US airlines don’t provide lounge access without paying. However, AA is pretty good to BA Gold. I’ve used the Flagship lounge at JFK as an arrivals lounge (in another airport that I won’t mention I was in transit and AA created a phoney boarding pass for the person I was meeting to “check in ” so he could go past security and we had our meeting in the AA lounge – I will always fly AA when given a choice). SFO no. MIA no. Don’t know about LAS.
Tina says:

23 Jul23 July 16:45

While London trials the unichoice CW starter I assume the old (ie, choices!) menu will apply to flights originating from the rest of the world?
- Rob says:
  
  23 Jul23 July 18:47
  
  No, I think you will still get no choice but it will be a different item, ie whatever they can source locally.
  
  It doesn’t save any money unless choice (and thus overstocking) is removed.
Will says:

23 Jul23 July 20:04

Why didn’t they just make it “pre order your food or else you’ll get a salad”? Saves on waste and retains choice.
Riaz says:

23 Jul23 July 22:10

BA goes from barely acceptable business product to worse. AA far better with the new aircraft. I wish QR would fly to the US from the UK…
- Billyk says:
  
  23 Jul23 July 22:35
  
  Not QR but SQ are going to start MAN-IAH later this year
  - Rob says:
    
    23 Jul23 July 23:21
    
    Indeed they are. And, perhaps more importantly, this creates a direct MAN-SIN instead of the current diversion via Munich. I will look at this next week.