"The Dark Side"" aka BA"

Not sure which forum to put this in, but anyway...

When I first joined v-flyer, referring to BA as "The Dark Side" was common-place. Now, you rarely, if ever, see anyone continuing this practice. Has anyone else noticed this?[:?]

I guess our loyalty to VS has waned somewhat in the past couple years.

45.

[RichardMannion]

Well spotted. I will now treat this like an AA meeting.... (like that will ever happen for me!)

Yes my name is Richard, and I am beginning to see the light.

Seriously though, product and service has slipped to the point where it is inconsistent. When it is good, it is class leading, when it is bad, it is a downright embarrassment. At first it was just me getting old (yes Ben I know I am nearly ancient given that I'll be 27 soon) and me expecting a consistent professional service, but then speaking to others from the forum (including the dinosaurs and grey-tops) it is a general consensus and perception.

Sarah and I will be BA Silver by the end of the year, and I think it will be interesting times ahead as my loyalty to VS is being tested. Put it in context, when was the last time you (as an Au or Ag) were greeted by a member of cabin crew and thanked for your continued custom? How many times have BA done it to me as Blue EC member? It's little things like that.

Thanks,
Richard

An astute observation VS045.

I recently got a BA Prem Plus AMEX and our household shopping is done at Tesco - this really is a dynamite combination for the non (transatlantic) business traveller and has steered me towards the "dark side". That said, having also recently travelled in BA NNCW & NGCW I still think VA UCS is the better product.

Only prob is that I almost have enough miles for a BA FIRST experience PLUS a companion ticket thanks to the BAMEX so after that I will be far too spoiled!!

Regards

John

[Scrooge]

Here is the problem I have (something I have said many times before)

When VS started up, they offered a better product, they were different and they were cheaper to fly.

Now they are BA, they are no different.Sure the clubhouse is nice, but I prefer to consider the airborne part of my trip as that will be longer than anytime I spend in a lounge.

The food sucks.
The crews, at least on the flights I have taken with VS in the last year have been great.
The IFE ranges from great to horrible.
Seat pitch in the back is a joke.
Reward seats from the left coast (the one I care about) are hard to get..even 330 days out.
The cost compared to other airlines is well...for the most part more.
The lack of a branded CC over here has me beating my head against a wall, sure being able to transfer MR points from AMEX is nice, but when the UK had the 2 miles per pound card I was not happy..not to mention the hoops I had to jump through to get one.

I don't know..there is nothing setting the world on fire for me to try VS.

[preiffer]

... the conversion on Amex is only fair Dave - after all, you DO have to spend $2 to get £1 now anyway [:w]

[Scrooge]

Originally posted by preiffer
... the conversion on Amex is only fair Dave - after all, you DO have to spend $2 to get £1 now anyway [:w]

Well true...however BA offers me a CC...why can't VS [?]

[honey lamb]

Originally posted by Scrooge

Originally posted by preiffer
... the conversion on Amex is only fair Dave - after all, you DO have to spend $2 to get £1 now anyway [:w]

Well true...however BA offers me a CC...why can't VS [?]

Or me? [V]

I am going to be VERY interested to try BA First in December. My only other experience of them was in Y back in 1999 and I thought that fine, although I wasn't as fussy - or as old - then. In First I'm seriously worried that I'll be spoilt for life if its a good and polished as I'm hoping. We will see.

Then again I thought that about VS when I did my first UC flight.

On the whole I still find the crew a great merit on Virgin and of course the clubhouse is great (although not much benifit if you're on the VS03) but I agree on the randomness of this greatness at times - especially as the randomness is often directed at Au's.

Maybe we all need to become Jordan and Peter, they seemed to get gushing service when I last saw them in the CH, despite us being on a table of 6 Au's.

cheers!

Dean

Also, for those of us who fly the B & S routes from Gatwick and Manchester, we feel that VS has been treating us like second class V flyers.
No IFBT, No decent IFE and no sign of that changing, awful clubhouse access (at Manchester and Orlando) newest 747's but the tattiest interiors, and without doubt a terrible on time performance, this is in addition to the already mentioned standard Virgin problems of service inconsistancy, horrible food, no priority boarding, Ameinity packs etc, etc.

Whne even charter airlines are providing a better overall service for less money, then customer loyalty wanes.

[fozzyo]

But with passenger numbers up is there much motivation for VS to actively put these small problems right? If they just took some time and effort to get them right, and its not stuff that costs a lot - consistent service, welcoming FC members appropriately, sorting out Priority Boarding, choosing decent food onboard etc - then they will be the airline to beat!

Intersting observations on BA and the service. Just to add my 2cents worth we flew back on Monday in Club Europe. Terraces is ok, but the purser on board used our names each and every time she spoke to Irina or myself. I have never had that on VS in UC.

Also what I found was very interesting, was that the captain gave his pre flight speach standing at the cockpit door adressing the entire plane face to face[y]. I have never seen that before except on Loganair where he sits beside you:D

Iain

[HighFlyer]

Originally posted by iforres1
Also what I found was very interesting, was that the captain gave his pre flight speach standing at the cockpit door adressing the entire plane face to face[y]. I have never seen that before except on Loganair where he sits beside you:D

Had that on Wednesday when i flew BA to NCL. Was quite impressed to see the Captain actively conversing with the passengers.

Thanks,
Sarah

As someone who doesn't really have much choice of who to fly with most of the time as BA is the only acceptable airline to fly into Ghana direct from London i must praise them for their service. Although they don't have the quirkyness of VS, they are consistently reliable.

VS seem to have lost that sparkle that made them attractive in the first place. BA has never done anything even vaguely exciting but i have always got what i have paid for and sometimes something more. VS need to decide if they are going to be the movers and the shakers or just part of the in crowd.

Stuart

Originally posted by iforres1
Also what I found was very interesting, was that the captain gave his pre flight speach standing at the cockpit door adressing the entire plane face to face

Had that (in three languages of course) on Swiss from ZRH to ATH this afternoon.

Plenty of information provided about the flight - weather and ride conditions, time en-route, ATH weather, routing, etc. We also changed routing somewhere along the Dalmatian Coast, and this was advised, as well as pointing out nice sights out of the windows from time to time.

At the end of the flight, he was stood by the flight deck door as well, and shook many of us by the hand.

Had a similar experience on UA from SFO to SEA a few months back - the Captain was stood at the L1 door welcoming everyone aboard, giving the kids the airplane equivalent of baseball cards (each one with a different UA aircraft), and even helped serve the pre-takeoff drinks in the F cabin while we were still at the gate! During the flight, again plenty of routing information, interesting views, information about deviating from course for weather, and a good dose of good humour.

A couple of years ago, on a UA 744 from SFO to ORD, the Captain came around during boarding and personally introduced himself to every pax in the F and C cabins before we pushed back.

A long time ago, on a BA long haul flight, I remember the Captain walked the entire 747 from front to back doing the same thing.

On VS19 or VS7, where they fly a 3-person flightdeck, a couple of Captains have come and sat at the bar with me and chatted... of course, they were drinking tea or coffee!

It's a really small gesture - but it's one which counts. We get to see who's pushing the buttons today, and they get to reach out beyond that locked door up front.

On the topic of flying other airlines when I could have flown VS, I'm on NZ to LAX in October for six reasons: a) want to try out NZ Premium Economy, b) convenient late departure time from LHR, c) need to clock the qualifying miles on my UA card, d) NZ1/2 is a B744 (upper deck PE, and I just like the 744 over the 340s or 777s, so I'll take it when I can), e) better food and drink in NZ PE compared to VS, f) NZ cheaper than VS.

Mike

Originally posted by mike-smashing

On VS19 or VS7, where they fly a 3-person flightdeck, a couple of Captains have come and sat at the bar with me and chatted... of course, they were drinking tea or coffee!

It's a really small gesture - but it's one which counts.

I had a similar experience in May flying DXB-LHR. Although not sitting enjoying drink, the Capatin/FO was happy to chat to UC passengers and answer questions.

This part of 'service' costs nothing....

Originally posted by NS

I had a similar experience in May flying DXB-LHR. Although not sitting enjoying drink, the Capatin/FO was happy to chat to UC passengers and answer questions.

This part of 'service' costs nothing....

Exactly, apart from the food (which does need a major overhaul) the lack of consistency isn't really a bean counter issue. Like our mother's always said. manners cost nothing.

Like Fozzyo has just mentioned to me, when us six Au's and one Ag checked in for the NRT flight, why didn't the checkin staff acknowledge this and get a member of staff (of whom there always seems several milling about the back) to escourt through departures to the clubhouse. The CH could have been notified and a table made ready for brekkie. We all know our way obviously but it would have made us feel appreciated and would have cost VS very little in man hours.

Cheers!

Dean

Originally posted by Wolves27
Like Fozzyo has just mentioned to me, when us six Au's and one Ag checked in for the NRT flight, why didn't the checkin staff acknowledge this and get a member of staff (of whom there always seems several milling about the back) to escourt through departures to the clubhouse. The CH could have been notified and a table made ready for brekkie. We all know our way obviously but it would have made us feel appreciated and would have cost VS very little in man hours.

Ah, but you weren't a bunch of surgically enhanced celebs. Remember that those staff milling around seem to be there to fawn over and escort said celebs only. Such is the British celeb culture: our own lives are apparently so worthless and unfulfilling that we need to live them vicariously through celebrities and "reality" TV.

I'm slightly surprised that such a gaggle of Golds wasn't recognised properly. I'm guessing you weren't on the same PNR, but were the PNRs linked to show you were a group?

Interesting exercise might be to work out collectively how much annual revenue was represented by the "Tokyo Bitches", if that hasn't been done already.

Mike

[mitchja]

Mike

You are spot on with your above post. There where 'celebs' in the CH that day and the CH staff where falling over themselves to look after them.

In complete comparision, I remember checking in for a VS J flight at YYZ shortly after VS launched that route back in 2001 (at that time I was only Ag as well), but despite this I was still escorted from check-in, though security all the way to the lounge, once the flight was called, I was again escorted to the departure gate [y]. This also happened to be my very first ever VS J flight (in fact my very first long-haul J flight).

The service I received at YYZ simply blew me away. VS also got a very nice letter on my return complimenting the ground staff at YYZ. Not sure if this was because it was a new route and everything was been done by the book, but that flight changed my travel habits. Because of that flight VS started receiving more revenue out of me.

My, how things have changed in 6 years.

(edit to add - very spooky as it's exactly 6 years to the day today I took that VS048 YYZ>LGW flight on 18th August 2001 [:w])

Regards