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British Airways relaxes the dress code for non-rev (staff ticket) passengers

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According to cabin crew website paddleyourownkanoo, British Airways has decided to let staff chillax when travelling on a non-rev (ie free or heavily discounted staff travel) ticket.  This is in response to the more casual dress codes being adopted by fare-paying passengers.

In every cabin, including First Class, it is now acceptable for off-duty staff to wear:

  • jeans
  • t-shirts
  • casual shoes

BA staff travel uniform

For good or bad, you will NOT be seeing:

  • jeans that are frayed or have holes
  • “overly revealing” clothing
  • sportswear
  • beach clothing (including flip flops)
  • any kind of shorts or sportswear

The internal memo apparently suggests that off-duty staff on a freebie think of “fare paying customers and show sensitivity towards them.”

Of course you MAY want to consider wearing sportswear or flip-flops yourself in order that you are clearly identifiable as a fare-paying customer …..


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Comments (96)

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

  • David says:

    Staff passengers cannot wear any kind of shorts?!

  • Bagoly says:

    I would have thought that LCY-WAW twice daily would generally require one ‘plane rather than four?
    So perhaps they will be announcing other routes, or retiring some of their existing Embraer.

    Interestingly enough, their seat maps show that on all their 2-2 seating, Business involves aisle seats being left free, and they have a few rows labelled Premium Economy (which from pricing and a review seems to mean Business but without the adjacent seat free – perhaps aiming at corporate market with policy to fly Economy?)
    https://www.lot.com/pl/en/embraer-195-description

    • Lumma says:

      I think there’s a couple of European airlines that give you no seatmate in 2-2 euro business

  • Nick says:

    Looking up the dress codes for some of the U.S. carriers in the case of staff, most seem to be pretty similar to BA, but, maybe surprisingly, Hawaiian seem to be stricter than most. They’re able to wear slippers, jeans, shorts, and leggings in the main cabin, though the rules differ for first and business class passengers. Men traveling in first or business class must wear collared shirts and long pants or jeans, while women must wear business-appropriate long or short-sleeve blouses, skirts, slack or jeans, or dresses.

  • Avidsaver says:

    O/T If you have the old Black MBNA Virgin Credit card it may be worth waiting before applying for the new Virgin Money replacement. I’ve just received this:
    As you’ve heard from MBNA, it’s almost time to say goodbye to your Virgin Atlantic Black Credit Card. But don’t be sad – you can apply for our brand new Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Credit Card!
    As well as earning 1.5 miles for every £1 you spend when you take out the Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Credit Card, we’ve got an exclusive offer to get you off to a flying start:
    A welcome bonus of 15,000 miles,
    Plus, a bespoke offer for you – an extra 6,000 miles a month for the first three months your account is open. You just need to spend a minimum of £1,000 each month on your card to qualify.
    That’s up to 33,000 bonus miles in your first three months….

    • the real harry1 says:

      Some people are getting 15K + 3x £15K for £1500 spend 🙂 – 60K total lol

      You’ve been done!

    • Gumshoe says:

      This was discussed on Thursday. Rob said everyone who still has a VS MBNA card will get some form of the bonus offer, whether they’ve signed up for the new cards yet or not.

      Emails are being staggered over 2 weeks though, so not everyone will have had one yet.

      There seem to be three versions of the offer: spend £1.5k and earn 15,000 miles per month for 3 months, spend £1k and earn 6,000 miles and spend £500 and earn 2,000 miles (that last one reported by someone who applied for the new card but hadn’t held the old one for years). It’s not immediately clear what criteria are being used to determine who gets which offer.

      • Chelseafifi says:

        I’ve just seen my email with same offer as Avidsaver but I don’t spend much on non Amex, so currently hold the old free Virgin card, this offer is only for the new Virgin + card with annual fee, is there a bonus offer for the free card for those that currently hold that card? Thanks

        • Chelseafifi says:

          Found the answer on hitting apply on email link, it gives you the 2 card options, the free card is offering the 5k bonus plus 2k per month for £500 spend for first 3 months.

        • Rob says:

          Yes, you will get an email soon.

    • Catalan says:

      I’ve received no such communication 🙁

      • gumshoe says:

        As mentioned above, emails are being staggered over 2 weeks. So not all MBNA cardholders have had one yet.

        • Rob says:

          It comes from VA. They are going out over a 2 week period. MBNA has sent you 2 postal letters.

    • Tariq says:

      Ha, knew there would be an offer.

  • mradey says:

    Maybe they should all wear a badge identifying themselves as BA staff

  • Premier01 says:

    I’ve been to this lounge a few times- first visit think was about 5 years back. Annoyingly didn’t used to let you in with a Flybe/Loganair fully flexible ticket… First time lounge dragon let me in for £ 5 as ‘it was quiet’.. had good self-pour bar. Following that went up to £ 15 a beer/wine only.

    Great views of planes… though not much interesting too see other than prop planes and helicopters tbf!

  • Premier01 says:

    why the moderation?

  • the real harry1 says:

    HT DD98 on the deals site: Return flights London Heathrow – New York (EWR/JFK) with Virgin Atlantic £289 available most of September until mid October. Multiple flight options each day.

    That’s be Virgin lite, ie meals & 10kg hand luggage – £45 extra for checked bag.

    • the real harry1 says:

      you had to be an early bird, now up to £379

    • Rob says:

      ….. which is pointless. Get Delight because the extra miles cover much of the extra cost and the legroom etc is almost free.

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