Whatever happened to the Y & W "improvements"?

Originally posted by buns4vs
Given the current price of oil, I suspect that there is little or no chance of seeing pre 9/11 "extras" in the foreseeable future[:(]

buns

Just how much do airlines make from the fuel surcharge I wonder? This quote from The Travel Insider might suggest some of them are doing very well:

I calculated, a few weeks back, that BA's $106 fuel surcharges were offset by a mere $20 in extra fuel costs. I came across an article this week that similarly analyzed Air New Zealand's fuel surcharges. The article estimated the airline raked in $46 million - $93 million in surcharges over a six month period, while its extra fuel costs were somewhere between $19 million and $27 million (depending on what you use as the baseline cost).

How can airlines continue to blame high fuel costs for their losses when they're shamelessly profiting from every extra dollar in fuel costs, multiplying it by as much as five fold before passing it on to us?

See Click here for the Web page.


{preffer - tidied link}

Originally posted by fozzyo

Originally posted by vscss
We used to do lots more services pre 9/11 in Y & W:
2) Brandy and Baileys service
3) Second wine round

I guess these two are still available, but are now By Request.

It is a shame the other stuff has gone, it would be nice to have them put back, but can't see it happening myself.

Foz xxx

I flew PE on VS22 on Wednesday night, we have the Brandy & Baileys service, they did a J style drinks round (came and asked individually about drinks after take off and didn't bring the trolley around), and then after the mean came around asking if we wanted a second glass of wine.

The PE cabing was quiet (about 60% full) so this probably helped, but it was the best PE service I've had in a coupe of years (although only my 3rd PE flight in that time so not too much to base it on).

Thanks for this Kryten,

I am hovering on booking a PE one way to save miles for an upgrade on the longer return route but haven't (!) flown PE for nearly two years--nor since the new seats were introduced. If your experience is anything to judge by, perhaps PE is once again considered a value added option rather than Y upstairs. It is certainly priced as one.

I would still heartily suggest that VS consider some sort of added plus--whether it is a dedicated drinks round, an additional meal choice, an upgraded amenities kit and/or (and to me this would be a huge plus)a fast track pass.

Nothing makes passengers more annoyed than paying for an advertised upgrade only to discover that it's a bit more leg room for a lot more money. The cheaper alternative, Y, should not be the reason for shelling out the large difference in fare to go PE simply in order to be able to retain leg circulation on deplaning.

Improvements could certainly be made to service long before they are reflected in refits.


RR

Originally posted by roadrunner
Thanks for this Kryten,

I am hovering on booking a PE one way to save miles for an upgrade on the longer return route but haven't (!) flown PE for nearly two years--nor since the new seats were introduced. If your experience is anything to judge by, perhaps PE is once again considered a value added option rather than Y upstairs. It is certainly priced as one.

I would still heartily suggest that VS consider some sort of added plus--whether it is a dedicated drinks round, an additional meal choice, an upgraded amenities kit and/or (and to me this would be a huge plus)a fast track pass.

Nothing makes passengers more annoyed than paying for an advertised upgrade only to discover that it's a bit more leg room for a lot more money. The cheaper alternative, Y, should not be the reason for shelling out the large difference in fare to go PE simply in order to be able to retain leg circulation on deplaning.

Improvements could certainly be made to service long before they are reflected in refits.


RR

Well having said that I flew to DEL on a 343 in W Saturday night and the service was basically back to Y service! It annoying that the service can be this different, again W was not full by any means (about the same load level as IAD-LHR on Wednesday) so there was no reason for the lack of service. I should have paid the 109GBP + 20k miles to upgrade to J (was on a K class ticket), but figured J2000 seats it was not worth it, boy was I wrong!

Kryten said "Well having said that I flew to DEL on a 343 in W Saturday night and the service was basically back to Y service!" If you were on a K fare, you must have paid a lot for a tad more legroom and Cattle-food!
Kryten do you know if the FA's (if there WERE any in PE!) were from the UC team or the Y team? Perhaps PE should be served by the UC team.
Also did the PE seats have proper legrests or just footrests? I've found the BA WTP seats to be much better than VS PE. Not only did they copy it but they improved it! If only VS could do something about PE when not on the upper deck of a B744. There is a lot more competition out there now, especially with discounted J class on other airlines. Perhaps the fact that PE was only about 60% full (also on the IAD flight) says a lot. I can remember when PE and UC used to be full on most flights.

Changes to the seats, cabins and services are underway for economy and premium.

I can not say any more for the moment as our competitors might see this!!

But trust me there is going to be some BIG changes for the better!!!

Originally posted by vscss
Changes to the seats, cabins and services are underway for economy and premium.

I can not say any more for the moment as our competitors might see this!!

But trust me there is going to be some BIG changes for the better!!!

Thanks for the inside info [y].

Originally posted by ColourPhil
Kryten said "Well having said that I flew to DEL on a 343 in W Saturday night and the service was basically back to Y service!" If you were on a K fare, you must have paid a lot for a tad more legroom and Cattle-food!
Kryten do you know if the FA's (if there WERE any in PE!) were from the UC team or the Y team? Perhaps PE should be served by the UC team.
Also did the PE seats have proper legrests or just footrests? I've found the BA WTP seats to be much better than VS PE. Not only did they copy it but they improved it! If only VS could do something about PE when not on the upper deck of a B744. There is a lot more competition out there now, especially with discounted J class on other airlines. Perhaps the fact that PE was only about 60% full (also on the IAD flight) says a lot. I can remember when PE and UC used to be full on most flights.

Well I am not sure how much the discounted Y fare was as I didn't look, but K is the cheap PE fare so was only 720GBP (pretty cheap really). The row I was on (18A - the bulkhead) had neither legrests or foot rests, I think (not nor sure as i didn't check on the way out) that the other rows had foot rests (I'll check on the way back unless someone else knows on the 343?).

W being only 60% full on the IAD flight was a suprise, but I guess there were no op-up's from Y as it was a 346 and not the usual 343 so more seats. Apparently W in the LHR-DEL route is usually pretty open and Y and J fill quickly (J was overbooked on my flight but there were some no-show's hence my being offered an upgrade for cost).

I've not flown BA WT+ yet, but my parents and sister both have and said its quire good, but neither of them have flown PE on VS yet so got nothing to compare it to for them.

I can't wait for the PE immprovements to come along (not too fussed on the Y but anything better can only help VS).