I had flown out to Tenerife with BA’s Gatwick subsidiary Euroflyer and been decidedly unimpressed. So, I was hoping that the return couldn’t be any worse. Sadly, I was wrong!
In this post:
Check-in
BA, unfortunately, has a bit of a logistical nightmare for its passengers with everything being set up with the maximum walking distance. The check-in is to the far left of the terminal at the opposite end to security. I arrived around 100 minutes prior to departure, and there was not much queue for the Club Europe line.
The check-in agent was rather disinterested, and there was no mention of the lounge or fast-track security.
You do get fast-track security, although there was not much queue for regular security despite being a busy Sunday afternoon. Fast track was quiet, and I was through within a few minutes.
The Lounge
There is only one lounge at the terminal, which is the Sala VIP Montana Roja. It is, of course, at completely the opposite end of the terminal to where you need to be for the BA flight since you need to go through to the non-Schengen area and pass through passport control, so allow plenty of time.
Luckily the lounge is huge, although you may not think so when you first enter. I did not visit this time but went last year. There are several rooms, a terrace where you can smoke as well, plus a food area. The decor is dated, and it often feels quite crowded. There is a decent selection of soft drinks, wine and beer you can help yourself to. There was Cava, a choice of white, red and rose wines. The food selection is OK but nothing special.
Instead, I indulged in some quality people-watching at Tenerife, which can put on quite a show on a busy weekend. My eyes are still scarred from the young lady who must have lost her luggage on the way out as she appeared to be wearing men’s underpants, a sports bra and nothing else!
Boarding
I’d managed to avoid the dreaded bus gate on the way out but was not so lucky on the way back. There was no bus but you did have to walk downstairs and then out to the aircraft rather than using a jet bridge.
The aircraft had arrived a bit late, so they were obviously keen to get people boarding. Unfortunately, this meant that they called group 1, and we were then all left standing in the hot stairwell for about 10 minutes as they carried on calling all the groups. However, it was good to see that some airports are actually capable of doing group boarding properly. Each group was called with sufficient time in between for people to actually get to the gate before they called the next group.
Then they let us out onto the tarmac, where we were left waiting for another 5-10 minutes, but at least I got a last bit of Tenerife sunshine mingled with the jet fumes!
When I finally got on board with some trepidation about what would greet me, I was dismayed to see a very miserable-looking IFL who was not exactly welcoming. This is never a good sign as I am firmly of the belief that the IFL (in-flight lead) sets the tone for the service. There was one young male member of the crew who was quite new from what I overheard, but he was lovely, friendly and welcoming.
Seat and cabin
The flight was the same out on an A321. I was in row 1 again in 1C, which I would usually avoid as it sticks out into the aisle more than 1D. It was a full flight, and this was the only front-row seat available. As usual, I spent the boarding process trying to dodge being smacked round the head by people’s bags as they walked past!
When I flew to Tenerife and on other longer short-haul flights last year, we were given a blanket and a pillow, but that has all gone now. I have heard that they do still have some on request.
There was no seat power on this one, but the Wi-Fi did work for some of the flight. Because Tenerife flights go over large stretches of water, the wi-fi doesn’t work until you get back over land again, as it is designed for short-haul routes that don’t normally spend so long over water. I bought a browse and stream package for £4.99 for an hour, which I think is quite pricey, but the speed was pretty decent. There is a cheaper package for messaging as well.
Food and drink
The crew were better organised on this flight, but the IFL was unfriendly and bordering on rude with some of her interactions that I witnessed. By the end of the flight, I’d nicknamed her Miserable Mavis! Funnily enough, when she was busy gossiping in the galley, where the crew spent most of the time, she was positively perky…
Menus were handed out by the more enthusiastic crew member, which we did not get on the outbound. I suspect that was because they did not have the full catering loaded.
Here is the food menu:
Before the meal we were served a round of drinks with nuts. Although I may have taken the Michael out of BA’s Castel-no champagne in the past, this Millesime version is excellent and the best champagne they have had on short haul. Well done to Tim Jackson, their master of wine for securing this lovely vintage fizz. I would have happily had a few more glasses given the chance.
However, on this flight, we had possibly the laziest crew I have ever encountered. In 4 hours, we had one offer of a drink. Nothing with dinner, no tea or coffee made, no other interactions from the crew after they had delivered the food. In fact, they took so long to collect the trays people were walking them up to the galley, adding to the general melee of people around row 1 with the queue for the toilet as well.
I did manage to grab one of the crew when they took my tray again and got a second glass, but that was it. In some ways, it was lucky that they had run out of glasses and were using plastic, as at least we got a large glass of water! I did start to question exactly what I had paid business class for as it appeared to certainly not be for the level of service! If you did not read my outbound review, this was a Belfast-London-Tenerife that was booked as part of a BA Holiday package to get the extra tier points and cost around £700 for the flights, which is not exactly low cost, unlike the service.
I wasn’t really that taken with any of the options, so I thought I’d try the Ploughmans since I had not seen that on the menu for a while.
The starter was not very nice as it was quite bland and wet. The coriander yoghurt was the best bit. I find the BA starters very repetitive on short-haul as they are all minor variations of the same thing!
The Ploughmans was not bad, with a picnic egg and a tasty coleslaw despite its slightly unappetising look. I enjoyed the ploughman’s pickle as I’m not keen on the one that comes with the cheese, as it’s a bit sweet for me. The fail on the dish was the anaemic quiche, which was awful, so bland I’m not actually sure if it had eggs or cheese in it! The nearest any feta seems to have been near it must have been when it was wafted in its general direction. Plus, it definitely had a soggy bottom to cap it all off.
The cheese course was the highlight, with a delicious Shropshire blue that was a bit crumbly and like a Blacksticks blue.
There was also another teeny tiny dessert but this one was better than the outbound, being a bit like a Rolo dessert.
Conclusion
This was a very disappointing flight. Other than wanting the tier points, I honestly don’t know if I would bother with BA from Gatwick again, which is a shame as the lounges there are very good. I could have spent less recreating the experience on Easyjet with two seats and Upfront/speedy boarding.
BA urgently needs to ensure that its Gatwick crew are trained to deliver the service correctly. Heathrow’s short-haul has been much better recently, and I have been treated very well on all my flights in the last few months.
It may be a bit cheaper than Gatwick, but many of the prices are not cheap in any sense of the word. Looking at the prices in the next few months, there are only a couple of dates just under £500 return, but most dates are £500-700, with some going up to as much as £1300! I personally think that although Euroflyer is a subsidiary, most people don’t know that and see BA, so it is detrimental to the brand’s reputation to have such poor service.
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24 comments
I have just read your TP run to TNS reviews and hope that my upcoming TP to ACE will not be so bad. I’m afraid that I have a habit of using the call button if there is no cabin service, so I shall have to wait to find out if they can be bothered to bring another drink.
Fingers crossed that service is better to RHO in April.
Hopefully you get lucky. I could have used the call bell but I did manage to grab one of them when they were passing. I could have fought through the toilet queue as well. And I’d recommend people are pro active.
Have to ask…
Did you complain to BA about the IFL and rest of the crew?
Could not agree more. Similar experience earlier this year. Booked BA holiday to Marrakesh. Aircraft late, no priority boarding, cabin dirty. Cabin crew pleasant enough but not pro active. Drinks not replenished, tea and coffee not offered.
Return trip just as bad. No priority boarding and very basic cabin service. No comparison to Club Europe service out of LHR.
BA need to retrain their LGW cabin crew and up their game
Complained to BA and eventually received a response over 3 months later!
I came back Economy from ALC which was dreadful, what with chaotic check in and running out of food and milk before they got to Row 23! I complained and got 5,000 Avios. Dreading the flight to Sharm in February!
My experience of BA matches yours but also on longhauls…
BA appear to habe simply given up on delivering the advertised service entirely on many routes…
#BestAvoided
I agree the service lgw to tfs both outbound and inbound is very poor, never use it and only use Heathrow on the odd occasion this service is poor.
If I cant get club out of Heathrow then will use charter or easy jet
I also meant to say they apologised before take off for there being no curtain between Club and Economy! Luckily I had a bargain at £65 one way with luggage.
I did the same flight from Heathrow a month or so ago and it was very different. The crew to TFS were first class and those on the way back very good. I always avoid row 1 as nothing worse getting on with cabin baggage and there is no room and you have to put a little further back (particularly if bussed and not first on) . I tend to opt for not forward or row 3 in A320/1. You are certainly correct on the lounge at TFS. I always struggle to find it as the signposting starts off well then just seems to tail off. It’s then quite a walk.
That’s one thing that was easy on these flights finding room above the seat. I only had a rucksack and few had wheelie bags which meant I got the bag in row 2 both ways.
This mirrors almost exactly our experience to Gran Canaria earlier this year. The outward leg was completed with a white painted tail and staff who spoke little english, there was one BA staff on board who had to try (and fail) to get the staff out from behind the curtain. Incidentally an earlier flight to mainland spain with vueling, was exactly the same, the staff never appeared from the crew area , I was travelling economy because there is no real benefit to paying BA prices for extra shoulder room
the last two short haul flights in business were a disgrace, there was no choice of meals, even in row 5.
My Exec. club nembership (Silver) needs to be renewed in April/May and iI am seriously considering, not to bpther, because BA do not bother..
I have tried to use their ‘fly to buy’ duty free on board but it was not offered on any of 5 short haul flights, and was not available on 2 business class and 3 first class flights this year.
I am a leisure retired customer, so no boss to pay for my flights, and BA do not cater very well for any class of leisure travel, it is 95% geared to the business market and free booze, as a non drinker I think I deserve better service on everything else for the price .
So difficult decision to make.
Certainly business class on short haul is out, just not worth the money. Also I have to travel to London from South Wales to fly BA. NOT WORTH IT.
So I shall go ‘a la carte’ with a bigger choice of airlines and ignore the tier run in April.,
My big hope is that the rumored QATAR SERVICE RETUNS TO CWL in Feb. IRONICALLY THAT COULD BE THE REASON I MAKE THAT TIER RUN. WHAT A WAY TO RUN AN AIRLINE !!!!!!
Many of the Gatwick based crew are very disillusioned and don’t stay very long.
Yes I’ve heard there is a big turnover which I’m sure is a big part of the problem.
Oh dear! Have LGWTFS booked for Jan. Not looking good. Only upside is that we’re on RFS flights at £45/ sector.
BA website expectation offer for CE clearly says “a range of hot, cold and alcoholic drinks alongside your meals” and “the same impeccable standard….premium service by our attentive crew”.
Clearly the majority perception here is that this isn’t happening.
But the cabins are often packed back to row 12 so I doubt much will change.
Yes both my flights were very busy in Club back to the exit rows so no incentive to bother.
Well written by a BA hater by the sounds of it. We have recently had 2 flights to ACE with euro traveller and couldn’t really fault them. Lots better than ryanair or un easyJet and cheaper. Also with a hefty baggage allowance. This is after all the budget arm of BA so what do you expect ?
Hardly. You are obviously new here. If you read my other reviews, rather than trolling straight away, where I had a great flight, you will see that I state that. Reporting facts is not being a BA hater. I fly BA at least twice a month, usually more. As I have stated my recent flights in Club Europe from Heathrow have been great. So should I say everything is wonderful if it’s not? How is that of any use? I did in fact praise serveral aspects of the flight but don’t let that spoil your criticism.
You do realise this is a business class product I am talking about here? You are talking about something completely different with Eurotraveller. BA don’t advertise Club as being low cost as at £500-1300 for a 4 hour flight it’s not. They advertise it as being exactly the same as Heathrow. Which it is not a lot of the time due to poor crew. So I expect to get the same service as I would from Heathrow! Yes I’d agree that Eurotraveller is probably better than Easy or Ryanair as you get luggage and free water/snack. But I was not reviewing that!
Dear Marc,
Tell us you’re new without saying the words. Considering the amount of BA Presser events Michele attends, her being anti BA is highly unlikely.
I am glad you had a good flight to ACE however the wait of evidence clearly suggests that current service levels are not what they should be.
Further I have just returned from ACE and the flight was so bad, neigh dangerous, that I’ve only shared some of the details privately with Michele as we are considering legal action due to more than one law being broken that are in place precisely to uphold pax safety – and as some one who has jumped out of planes numerous times and looks forward to turbulence I’m not one who is easy to use the terms “dangerous” or “life endangering”. Bad service is one thing. Doing completely wrong, or not doing, legally required functions is a whole different ball park and an experience you were lucky enough to avoid. The fact that you didn’t doesn’t mean that it doesn’t happen or that those pointing out such things are “haters” or any other ( factually wrong) term you want to throw around.
* Marv – auto correct
Sounds about right. These people with first world problems lol Did the plane take off and did the plane land? No story.
So why are you bothering to read it then?
We couldn’t have had such a different experience, with the same type of aircraft, on our return from Paphos yesterday The crew were excellent and we were given a drink only 10 mins after take off (OK, we were in 1A & C0, and our meal 25 mins after take off. Throughout the journey the staff were attentive, bringing more drinks with the meal, coming round with tea & coffee. offering more drinks (on 3 occasions) and giving a choc of snacks . Towards the end they even came round to ask if we would like anything else. So, you had a rotten crew (as we have usually got on LHR flights. We were lucky to have a superb one on both directions
We flew to TFE in August and our experience in Club was different from yours, Michelle. Perhaps, we were lucky! This was a tier points run via BA Holidays and the return journey was via Madrid (IB on both return sectors). IB were great but my disappointment was that the return leg yielded only 120 points (2×60) as the MAD-LHR sector was only 20 points, against 160 points for the outward run. Having avoided IB on my frequent business trips to Spain some 20 years ago for their lacklustre service compared to BA, I was pleasantly surprised.Thanks as ever for your stream of helpful write ups.
One drink offer on a TFS, wow that’s awful! Flew biz to LGW from PMI the other week and managed 4 glasses of champagne – each top up being offered unprompted by the crew. They even offered refills in plastic cups once approaching LGW when glassware had to be secured. New contract mainline BA cabin crew are already paid less than easyJet CC, and the whole concept of EuroFlyer was to employ crew on even cheaper contracts – a short term saving but naturally a high turnover of staff and many left feeling disengaged sadly.
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