What can I expect on BA?

[Flock1]

Believe it or not, I've never flown BA before. But I'm booked to fly with them from Manchester - Heathrow, then onto Stockholm in economy. Will I get some food on board, or has it gone the way of the low-costs, and I'll have to buy it if I want it?


And out of interest, I'm flying on Swiss from Manchester to Zurich a couple of times soon. What can I expect from them?

Regards

Flock1

[groundbum]

just did this trip the other day, and it was operated by helvetica in a Fokker 100. All very nice and on time and so forth, food was a cheese roll and a drink. Nice enough on 1 hour 20/50 minute flight. Captain was very young, looked 20! But nicely flown so no complaints at all. Chattered on the PA the entire taxi from terminal to the runway, not sure how he was helping the FO prepare etc.

[flybywire]

Will I get some food on board, or has it gone the way of the low-costs, and I'll have to buy it if I want it?

Sorry I am not familiar with the product to and out of LHR, as I fly out of LGW and it's a time for changes over there and I do not want to tell you something that might not be true on the day. I know though that it will be different depending on the time of the day. On the MAN-LHR do not expect a lot as it's only a 30min flight, however they should offer a full hot/cold bar service with at least something to munch on.
As for the other two legs, it will be something more substantial (a sandwich at least) and again a full hot/cold bar service. You do not have to pay for anything on BA mainline.

If you like coffee I suggest you try a coffee as, provided they know how to make it on the day :E , it is not the soluble one but it's made with real ground coffee and it is quite nice :ok:

Enjoy your flight!!

FBW

[SXB]

Flock
I always find BA to be a pleasant experience, staff very professional. FBW is right about the coffee, as airline coffee goes it's pretty good. I was on a flight last week with another (eastern european) airline and they gave me a cup of hot water with a sachet of Nescafé. I may be a coffee snob but Nescafé is not coffee....

Swiss is a different animal, they've reduced their food service significantly on short haul european routes. That said, my experience with them (mainly from Zurich) is that they are a first class airline offering almost LCC fares with, approaching, legacy standards of service. I often use Swiss when paying out of my own pocket. I'd rate their coffee as fairly average though:)

[Flock1]

Thanks for the info. So I'll expect some decent coffee, and anything else will be a bonus.

Flock1

[silverelise]

Believe it or not, I've never flown BA before. But I'm booked to fly with them from Manchester - Heathrow, then onto Stockholm in economy. Will I get some food on board, or has it gone the way of the low-costs, and I'll have to buy it if I want it?
Flock this isn't a personal swipe at you but your post did touch upon something that makes me :ugh: :* :rolleyes:
Why are we as passengers unable to go the shortest flights without expecting some sort of food? Are we not adults? Are we seriously incapable of lasting an hour or so without shovelling food down our necks? I don't see people eating every hour in normal life so why is it as soon as we get on a plane we expect to be fed?

[Globaliser]

Why are we as passengers unable to go the shortest flights without expecting some sort of food? Are we not adults? Are we seriously incapable of lasting an hour or so without shovelling food down our necks? I don't see people eating every hour in normal life so why is it as soon as we get on a plane we expect to be fed?Many reasons.

Whether you're travelling for business or pleasure, the "down time" of the flight may be the only time that you have to get some food.

It can easily take two or three hours or more to get to the airport, go through check-in and security, and get to your gate just in time to board the aircraft - even if it's a one hour flight. So we're not talking about not eating every hour. We're talking about eating after quite some time - perhaps tiring time - after the last meal.

And it can often be the case that there has been a lot of time since the last meal. Even a leisure passenger on a Friday evening flight for a weekend away may find that they had breakfast, but have then had to work through lunch without a break because they have to leave the office early to get to the airport in time. So some food on that one-hour flight may be the first opportunity to eat since breakfast time.

And it goes without saying that one's timetable may mean that if you leave it until after the flight, you may be back into a maelstrom of things to do that leave you no time to eat, either.

So airlines would do well to remember that meals only at normal mealtimes are not what their passengers may be experiencing, or suffering, precisely because they are travelling that day.

Further, the offer of food and drink is a worldwide gesture of hospitality whose value goes well beyond the hard cost of the consumable items being presented. This is why the first thing that happens when you arrive in someone's home is that you're offered a coffee, a whisky, or whatever. The first question you're asked by an Oriental host is, "Have you eaten yet?"

Any airline that is serious about trying to treat its customers as guests as well as revenue-paying fodder would be well-advised to remember this, too. And it goes a long way towards explaining why food and drink is so welcomed by passengers.

Finally, many - possibly most - passengers are stressed and anxious to some degree about flying. Food and drink are a welcome and comforting distraction. The value of that should also not be underestimated.

[flybywire]

Globaliser I agree with you!

Silverelise, my feelings regarding this, as a cabin crew, are that my aeroplane is my home (believe me, when you spend 10 hours on it every day it feels like it) and passengers are my guests. If I had guests at my "home on the ground" and I didn't have anything to offer them, I would feel really uneasy. To me the cabin service plays a substantial part in the hospitailty I offer my passengers. It is also an occasion to chat with the passengers in a relaxed manner. If we had no drinks/food most of them would probably talk to me just to inform me of problems with their connections/baggage/health status!!! ;)

I do have exceptions to this situation though, on the early LGW-MAN-LGW route (usually about 35 minutes take off to touchdown) we offer a full english breakfast with tea&coffee...........a bit pushed when the cabin is full and there are only 4 of us!! Well, we still have this service as it's very popular with our customers, but it's such hard work for us, especially when the weather isn't good or we get ATC short-cuts!!!
I believe a snack service would probably be more appropriate in this case, as it is not nice to see hosties running around in sweat all the time!!! :E

FBW

[10secondsurvey]

So agree with the above two posts. Many times, it has been an absolute heaven sent joy to get on a plane, and finally get a chance to relax, and eat. Many, many people fail to understand why it can be (as globaliser explained very well above) that frequent flyers or business travellers eat on planes.

In addition, there have been times (such as leaving an allegedly four star hotel at LHR before breakfast service starts) when getting just a bowl of cornflakes and coffee in the terraces, has been a god-send, before dashing to the gate. I've almost felt like kissing the staff.

I emphasise the word 'almost'!

For less frequent travellers, I guess it's a mix of the above, and also the excitement of going on a trip by plane (not everyone flies every week).

[SXB]

Agree with the three preceeding posts.

I do a lot a travel with quite short but multiple sectors, I may take three sectors none lasting more than 90-180 mins with quite short connection times normally either starting or ending in eastern Europe. On these occasions the food served on the plane is often the only sustenance I receive for most of the day. Some may say eat when you arrive at the airport but, as an example, over the last few weeks I've started journeys from airports at tbilisi (3am), Baku (5am) and Kiev (9am) and none of these airports appear to actually have a restaurant (at least airside) which serves food, if you want to drink yourself stupid on vodka then no problem but none of them seem to have restaurants serving hot food. On all of those flights (LH, Austrian and LH) I've been served a substantial breakfast which was not only welcome but very necessary !

As far as breakfast is concerned BA are still the best, there is nothing to beat their hot english breakfast. That said I can understand FBWs concerns about serving it on a 35 minute flight, there isn't actually time to eat it let alone serve it !

[Gonzo]

Playing devil's advocate here, would you expect free food and drink on a train journey from Manchester to London? Would you expect free food and drink on a ferry journey from Portsmouth to Caen?

Why not? What's different?

[A2QFI]

I think that I might expect food on a long train journey because the fare is so high!

[SXB]

With regard to the comments on trains it isn't true to say that food is not, sometimes, provided. Last year I took a train from Paris to London and I was provided with a meal. The following day I took a train from London Euston where a full english breakfast was provided.

I also recently took an overnight train (CityNightLine) from Berlin to Zurich where Breakfast was provided without added charge. For info CityNightLine is an excellent service, I had a private cabin with almost a full size bed. The cabin also had had private bathroom with toilet and even a shower. Cost was about €250 oneway, a good option for getting from Berlin to Zurich.

To conclude it isn't true to say that trains never provide food. Also, the ones that don't provide it free of charge often offer full restaurant facilities on board.

As for the Caen to Portsmouth ferry I did take that route a few years ago, I went overnight and had a cabin and I did have breakfast served in the cabin, to be fair I can't remember if I had to pay extra for it....

[Flock1]

My main reason for wanting to know about food on board is because I want to know whether to get anything at the airport beforehand. Simple as that.

[flybywire]

would you expect free food and drink on a train journey from Manchester to London?

Depending on the company I choose to travel with, and the cost of the ticket, definitely yes.
I too had a similar experience to SXB with a Swiss train from Zurich to Genova and was very pleased with it. That is what I call travelling by train (as opposed to surviving a cattle ride on a Southern service).

It's the same for BA, LH, AF, SR etc. in a way. You can choose to pay a bit less and fly with LCC who don't serve anything or who would make you pay for a sandwich, or fly with the above and get your meal/wine/tea&coffee included.

It's a bit like booking an all-inclusive holiday from home, you pay in advance for everything (including meals, accomodation, excursions) or book the flight and then think of all the rest when you get to your destination.

Nothing wrong with expecting food/drinks on a flight, thank god there are still airlines that try their best to make you feel comfortable when you're onboard with little things as drinks and hot food. And if you do not want to eat after all, you can always refuse it!!

FBW