Business Class meal availability

[i-want-a-gold-card]

Last night I was in the unusual position of having a Club Europe ticket coming back from a day trip to Oslo and had the opportunity to get an earlier flight.,i rang my travel agent and changed to the 17.10 flight from the 20.00 flight origionally booked.

Not long after boarding I was informed by the ground staff that due to the change of flght that there was no meal loaded for me.

Normally as I travel the other side of the curtain, I have no expectation in the way of food other than a cup of tea as i have given up on the same sandwiches on every flight and usually if hungry buy something in the terminal. Ididnt do this on this occasion due to the expectation that a club ticket would have a meal associated with it.

On this occasion my ticket was over £800 and as such I expected that for a premium cabin that there would be an oversupply on the catering side.

At the end of the day I did get a meal as someone else refused their meal.

Is this standard practice to only load exactly meals matching the passenger count.?


Mike

[Avman]

They should really warn you before boarding so that you may always change your mind. However, what normally happens is that they will endeavour to obtain any extra meals before departure if possible. It's just a case of whether catering can deliver on time or not. In these days of cost cutting, spare meals are a thing of the past.

[radeng]

I guess that I was lucky on Wednesday, then. I booked a Club Europe return to Nice, out Sunday, back Wednesday, on BA.com, with diabetic meals. Go to check in on Wednesday at Nice, and the system won't accept me. It has me down to travel back on March 24 instead of February 24! However, my itinerary and 'manage my booking' on BA.com have it right.......

Fortunately, there was room, but obviously. no diabetic meal, (but a meal - no choice, either, but I got the one I would have had anyway)and not the seat I wanted. BA Exec Club subsequently told me that this has happened a few times recently and there is a computer glitch which they hope has been fixed......

All of which added to an hour late arrival caused by the French ATC strike really made my day. Not as much as some colleagues on easyJet who left Nice 2-1/2 hours late and then had a long wait at Gatwick for a 'bus to take them into the terminal - one of them got home at 4am!

[Final 3 Greens]

In these days of cost cutting, spare meals are a thing of the past.

So is using airlines that behave like this.

BA has cut the short haul servioce back to the bones.

Combined with the company's propensity to drop s/h like a not cake in times of stress, best avoided IHMO.

BA long haul is better,although the cut backs are noticeable.

[Anansis]

Seems a bit short sighted to me. Do airlines not load one of two extra meals before leaving their home base in anticipation of picking up a highly lucrative walkup fare? Personally I would be livid if I bought an expensive business class ticket at the airport desk only to be told they had no meal once onboard.