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It’s the age old thing, as customers we assess the value of the complimentaries based on what it costs us to buy it, not on what it costs them to buy it.
Duty on a standard one litre bottle of 40% whiskey is about £13.50, on a 70cl bottle of sparkling wine it is about £2.75. Duty is based on the alcohol content, not the brand; cheap nasty Bell’s has the same duty as a lovely single malt.
The likes of BA (either directly or through Bidvest, etc) won’t be paying much more than cost price for that booze, even for the premium brands. Look at the Bottega prosecco they have on free pour, in Tesco it is £20 a bottle but I’d be amazed if BA pay much more than a fiver a bottle.
Same on the trains, a miniature 5cl Gordon’s and tonic costs them a couple of quid wholesale tops, but it’s something I’d happily pay a lot more than that for.
And if you commit to buying 1000 bottles and you commit to serving it as an exclusive treat to your business class passengers, you might find that Macallan will sell you that double cask for £18…
And if you commit to buying 1000 bottles and you commit to serving it as an exclusive treat to your business class passengers, you might find that Macallan will sell you that double cask for £18…
I still maintain that a decent whisky selection in a decent pub with a whisky-favouring clientele is a licence to print money. Buying single malts from a wholesaler at about 80% of supermarket prices, then knocking out drams at £9 a go, 40 drams per litre bottle. Bingo. There’s a reason why drams are so reasonable at the Sligachan on Skye, the volume they get through must be terrific!
(One of my best friends used to work for Diageo, and has now moved on to Pernod Ricard, he keeps me up to date on such things)
Completely off topic, but can you beg him to beg Pernod Ricard to bring back the two Bristolian/SW liqueurs Shrub and Lovage? I still mourn their loss.
Completely off topic, but can you beg him to beg Pernod Ricard to bring back the two Bristolian/SW liqueurs Shrub and Lovage? I still mourn their loss.
Good start to my 13 hour flight later today. Just had an email saying there will be no entertainment system, no power and no personal light. Just as well it’s a night flight.
Good start to my 13 hour flight later today. Just had an email saying there will be no entertainment system, no power and no personal light. Just as well it’s a night flight.
Good start to my 13 hour flight later today. Just had an email saying there will be no entertainment system, no power and no personal light. Just as well it’s a night flight.
Good start to my 13 hour flight later today. Just had an email saying there will be no entertainment system, no power and no personal light. Just as well it’s a night flight.
I've been lucky enough to sponge off the status of others to access the First Wing in T5 and the First Lounge in T3 a few times in the last few years. Never managed the CCR in T5 yet (should be changing next month) but have done the 1st Dining in T3 twice.
My thoughts are similar to others to be honest. It's not great, it's not terrible. The booze is top notch (though noting the pricing advantages that the likes of BA have) though and I've no doubt tried wines that I would never otherwise have managed to try.
I thought the 1st Dining in T3 however was very good. Small portion size for sure but I thought the quality was good. I mean it wasn't earth shattering by any stretch to be clear but it was definitely a step up.
My thoughts in T3 at least are for breakfast BA is your best bet (as I like a cooked breakfast) but after that Cathy is your best bet. That's far more what a premium lounge should feel like! Last time I was in the BA T3 1st class lounge there was water pouring out of the ceiling in multiple places from either a leaky roof or dodgy aircon. I mean come on...
Average to poor in the case of Galleries First. Breakfast is fine but it can be very hit and miss after that. Virgin Clubhouse, Qatar's J lounge, Cathay J, Qantas and now Air France are all of a similar standard despite just being "regular" business class lounges.
Booze is much better in GF but I very rarely bother with it.
So between checking in online and baggage drop there was an equipment change (I know because my seat row changed from 20 to 49) and I got a newly refurbished 787 instead of one of the knackered ones. Everything worked.
The new PE/WTP hard product is a big improvement, and I was able to get 7 hours sleep without any problem.
So between checking in online and baggage drop there was an equipment change (I know because my seat row changed from 20 to 49) and I got a newly refurbished 787 instead of one of the knackered ones. Everything worked.
The new PE/WTP hard product is a big improvement, and I was able to get 7 hours sleep without any problem.
Average to poor in the case of Galleries First. Breakfast is fine but it can be very hit and miss after that. Virgin Clubhouse, Qatar's J lounge, Cathay J, Qantas and now Air France are all of a similar standard despite just being "regular" business class lounges.
Booze is much better in GF but I very rarely bother with it.
Yes I was in the AF lounge a couple of weeks ago. I thought it was, overall, really good. Very nice food selection though some of the hot offer isn't there all day, very strong dessert selection and the airfield views are excellent. The bar is a bit sparse but Laurent Perrier champagne on offer. Exceeded my expectations and streets ahead of the horrible Plaza Premium lounge in T4.
Agree with Cathay F though I always enjoyed the VS Clubhouse.
I know this wasn't addressed to me, but I did it recently and was pretty impressed. Personally I don't find the food great at any of AF's standard lounges, so in a small way it's arguably a downgrade over the former Plaza Premium. But in every other way it's a huge upgrade, and for PP holders you can have the best of both if you really want a hot meal.
To be honest the LHR offering remains the best part of BA, still far better than most other carriers with short haul flights and better than BA in the 2000s. The gutting of BA Golds has been overstated, never has so much noise been made by so few people, and a demonstration that "loyalty program" enthusiasts are very odd people. I had this suspcion since the start and I feel it's been proven by the modest reduction in GF occupancy. It stands to reason that BA knew what they were doing since, unlike us, they had the data on what the new membership levels would be and had no interest in emptying out the GF. Ironically, the biggest loss was probably people who qualified without much thought, who would have continued to qualify, but thinking they wouldn't becuse of the furore and booking away from BA.
To be honest the LHR offering remains the best part of BA, still far better than most other carriers with short haul flights and better than BA in the 2000s.
If you're doing Galleries First before going to Newcastle I'd agree. It is still a great benefit. But the issue is the experience you get in T3 is superior because you can simply visit better lounges run by better airlines (not you, AA).
The gutting of BA Golds has been overstated, never has so much noise been made by so few people, and a demonstration that "loyalty program" enthusiasts are very odd people.
The real hard core are very odd. There was much wailing and gnashing of teeth because BA simply decided to remove people who were qualifying with not very much spend. A lot of people did go to Qatar - that's how I'm about to get my Oneworld Emerald back after my BA paternity extension lapses in March. If you fly AA a fair bit it will be easy to attain.
I had this suspcion since the start and I feel it's been proven by the modest reduction in GF occupancy. It stands to reason that BA knew what they were doing since, unlike us, they had the data on what the new membership levels would be and had no interest in emptying out the GF. Ironically, the biggest loss was probably people who qualified without much thought, who would have continued to qualify, but thinking they wouldn't becuse of the furore and booking away from BA.
The reason there's a modest reduction is because a lot of people who attained Gold were not actually flying BA very much in the first place because of better Oneworld alternatives. There were also the tier point runners who did one or two large trips a year, qualified and then barely used the benefits. Which I'd long found strange.
GF is definitely not a premium lounge and feels rather outdated as well as regularly too busy. One thing it definitely is, is too dark, and this doesn't help.
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