As a consumer I'd like to add my two cents worth. We had no intention of taking a holiday this year but got sucked in by an email from FCH boasting of the new Star Premier Class. As I cannot bear to cross The Pond without a reasonable amount of leg room, we decided to give it a try and chose Aruba as our destination.
Should any members of crew wish to identify themselves with the following comments our dates were 12 June LGW/AUA and 26 June return.
In a nutshell the new layout, decor and facilities in Star Class Premier were absolutely superb. The cabin crew whilst attentive were not overly so and I just wish there was a beauty therapist like Lindsay on every flight I took. Both the choice and quality of the meals served were superb (seriously) and these were complemented with an excellent drinks service.
Crew PAs from the cabin and flight deck were spot on, in particular on the sleeper service return where they were kept to a minimum. The IFE was very comprehensive and worked perfectly. In particular I found the video on demand service a brilliant way to avoid the usual problems about trying to watch a video whilst balancing a tray of food. During meal service I switched from viddy to Skymap and then picked up the video from where it was left once the trays had been removed.
You'll have noticed the comment, "balancing a tray of food." Herein lies the only problem though I haven't a clue what the answer is. The meal tray was far too large for the table and despite warnings from the CC, 5 people on the outbound dumped their lunch onto their feet when the tray tipped over the back of the table. The temporary answer is to rearrange the tray setting with heavier items nearest you and the lighter ones to the back of the tray.
The only problem overall with the holiday related to the poor services of the FCH reps. On the outbound they were not at AUA to meet us as they claimed they did not know that we were landing 35 minutes ahead of schedule. On the return they messed up totally with handling a 6 hour delay by advising us of incorrect hotel pick-up times and not advising some pax at all. A delay caused by some idiot passenger on the outbound putting something they shouldn't down the loo causing the plane to turn back when already 90 minutes out over the Atlantic. Thanks!
The only losers in all of this will be BA. Thanks to the 6 hour delay we missed our connection at LGW to Malaga. BA refused to reschedule us and instead demanded £338 + taxes each for new tickets. Well thanks BA but my custom that day and from now on goes to Monarch.
I will certainly consider FCA Star Premier Class again and am now looking forward to my next email telling me that the 787 has been rolled out.