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## Lostandfound

Video: 'Filth class': TV presenter captures 'disgusting' conditions in British Airways first class - Telegraph

A TV presenter has published footage of filthy conditions inside a first class cabin of a British Airways flight.

Owen Thomas, an anchor who has worked for Bloomberg, BBC World News and CNN International, says he saved for a trip of a lifetime to St Lucia. Rates to the Caribbean island in BA's priciest cabin start at £2,700 per person.

But his 30-second video  uploaded to YouTube and Twitter on Sunday, the day after his flight  shows marked and grubby surfaces, and dust and dirt in the foot well.
It is absolutely filthy, he says in the clip. You see marks here which you can scrape of with your finger. You can see the stains down here.

Clearly livid, he continues: Its when you open your seat, the real horror begins. This is first class. This is British Airways first class. Its disgusting.

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## Luigi

Perhaps they hire British Indians to do the cleaning and they do it to their own standard. You have to be multi-cultural.

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## oxyjohn

My first trip in years, last November, with BA, never again. Appalling food, terrible service, no control over drunken yobs on the flight (cabin crew hid in the back until I told them I was going to deal with the situation) and they lost our pushchair.

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## Bettyboo

> My first trip in years, last November, with BA, never again.


I stopped flying BA more than 15 years ago due to consistent bad service and rudeness from their customer complaints department, false promises when problems occurred, etc. I found most of the actual onboard time fine, so if that's gone downhill too then there really isn't a lot left going for them...

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## Davis Knowlton

UK version of Delta.

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## Lostandfound

Bastard BA left me for dead as a human shield hostage in Iraq on a flight fro London to KL. - 131 days.

Zero compo.  Uk government used BA as a quasi military transport, landng several hours after Iraq invasion of Kuwait  to insert a military recon team. All other sitlines diverted

The plane was later blown to pieces (presumably by the coalition) and all evidence/black box destroyed or missing

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## harrybarracuda

They have a horrible configuration of Business class seats facing alternately forward and backwards.

I think it's supposed to improve privacy but it's shit.

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## Hans Mann

Anyone who has seen a British pub with all the lights switched on, or with the windows open during daytime, won't be the least surprised at this report.

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## Davis Knowlton

^But you don't pay thousands of dollars to sit in a pub for 8 hours.

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## Luigi

> Bastard BA left me for dead as a human shield hostage in Iraq on a flight fro London to KL. - 131 days.
> 
> Zero compo.  Uk government used BA as a quasi military transport, landng several hours after Iraq invasion of Kuwait  to insert a military recon team. All other sitlines diverted
> 
> The plane was later blown to pieces (presumably by the coalition) and all evidence/black box destroyed or missing


There's a good doco on that.

Perhaps BBC. It was good, so wasn't Nat Geo or any American production where they need to repeat the previous 10 minutes every 15 minutes in case you've forgotten.

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## terry57

I have a free flight to Dodger land using frequent flyer points.

Fuk it,  I'll never go to that shit pit. 

The place is fuked EH.   :Sorry1:

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## thaimeme

> UK version of Delta.


Only difference being that Delta has always sucked.....not even a part of world-class carriers, as BA/BOAC once was.

Sad, a once proud and reputed airline [like many] that has fallen into dismay.

Sign of economic times - no one can afford to maintain their fleets to class standards any more. That, doubled with the fact that there is no de facto wealth in the UK [or anywhere in the West] - all the phony baloney riches and influence shifted to Asia a generation ago.

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## Lostandfound

> Sign of economic times - no one can afford to maintain their fleets to class standards any more. That, doubled with the fact that there is no de facto wealth in the UK [or anywhere in the West] - all the phony baloney riches and influence shifted to Asia a generation ago.


BA is more an underfunded employee pension scheme with a side line in old planes than a world class airline.

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## Cujo

> I have a free flight to Dodger land using frequent flyer points.
> 
> Fuk it,  I'll never go to that shit pit. 
> 
> The place is fuked EH.


So you have a free flight to England but you won't take advantage of it because depite never having been there you've decided it's a "shit pit".
WTF? That's a pretty sad attitude.

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## BobR

> Originally Posted by oxyjohn
> 
> My first trip in years, last November, with BA, never again.
> 
> 
> I stopped flying BA more than 15 years ago due to consistent bad service and rudeness from their customer complaints department, false promises when problems occurred, etc. I found most of the actual onboard time fine, so if that's gone downhill too then there really isn't a lot left going for them...


My only trip on British Airways was around 2002, and when I got home I received a letter from the Los Angeles County Health Department warning me I had been exposed to Tuberculosis on the flight.  I don't blame the airline for the exposure, but thought they could have contacted me directly and included such information as how far I was sitting from the infected person instead of snitching me off to the health department.  Even if they are legally required to notify the health department they could have at least had the courtesy of sending me a letter personally.

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## Seekingasylum

I flew with them a couple of years ago from Bkk to Lhr and they were fine. Food was edible, the seats comfortable, staff efficient and pleasant in that human way as opposed to the facile, hypocritical and utterly false manner adopted by Thai. The entertainment console worked and the movie selection more than met most needs. The trip was uneventful and we arrived on time.

Sure, I've had shit experiences with them before but then, that happens with most airlines some time or other. 

Had a huge barney once with cabin crew on a Singapore Airlines flight when I raised the thinggy over the window to look outside and let streamimg sunshine into my bit of the cabin. A demented, sink trolley dolly hurtled up and slammed it closed without so much as a by or leave. I raised it again and she came back with flared nostrils and much yammering and tried to reach over me to close it again. I stopped her and demanded an explanation for her conduct. She told me I was disturbing Singapore airline trainees in the row behind me who were trying to sleep. I love raising my voice when I'm angry and feeling self righteous but that time I rather excelled myself - got the purser in the end who eventually conceded that a fare paying passenger took priority and wrung an apology out of the little fucker. The mad sink bitch remained elsewhere for the remainder of the flight.

Never happened on a BA flight. In fact, I have always found them to be good fun and quite intelligent.

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## nigelandjan

> ^But you don't pay thousands of dollars to sit in a pub for 8 hours.


You do in the UK    :Smile:  :St George:

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## BaitongBoy

> I love raising my voice when I'm angry and feeling self righteous but that time I rather excelled myself


Face it, thegent...You're a right little pest...And lucky you didn't see jail time...Or a public caning...Heh...

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## Neverna

I flew business class with them about 10 years ago. The flight was good and the food was excellent. No complaints about that flight.

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## Jesus Jones

Makes you wonder what maintenance is like!

Been on BA twice and the quality was piss poor.  Said it all along.

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## Hans Mann

> ^But you don't pay thousands of dollars to sit in a pub for 8 hours.


My local's taken me to places BA couldn't ever reach.

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## terry57

> So you have a free flight to England but you won't take advantage of it because depite never having been there you've decided it's a "shit pit".
> WTF? That's a pretty sad attitude.


Yes, my cousin will agree with you on that one, but anyway, nothing will change.

I have no desire at all to go anywhere near Pomgolia.

Shit weather, full of Immigrants, expensive as fuk and most smart Poms have left. 

My points will take me to many more places .  Might go hang out in New York for a while.

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## Tassini

No such thing as a free flight, Still have to pay the taxes.

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## MartinChuzz

> Originally Posted by oxyjohn
> 
> My first trip in years, last November, with BA, never again.
> 
> 
> I stopped flying BA more than 15 years ago due to consistent bad service and rudeness from their customer complaints department, false promises when problems occurred, etc. I found most of the actual onboard time fine, so if that's gone downhill too then there really isn't a lot left going for them...



Yep, me too, they are very bad, broken promises down the line and supercilious staff (what for, nothing to be "cilious" about)

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## Necron99

> Originally Posted by Koojo
> 
> 
> 
> 
> So you have a free flight to England but you won't take advantage of it because depite never having been there you've decided it's a "shit pit".
> WTF? That's a pretty sad attitude.
> 
> 
> ...




Pretty ignorant Tez, London and England (bits of it) are terrific places to visit.
Sights there would knock your socks off, puts Oz to shame as a tourist destination.

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## thaimeme

> No such thing as a free flight, Still have to pay the taxes.


Which usually come out of the frequent flyer accounts.
Outta sight, outta mind.

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## Dillinger

> Pretty ignorant Tez, London and England (bits of it) are terrific places to visit.


I reckon he'd love it, great the way he has a knack of knowing all about a place before he even touches down. 

I'd love to see tezza take in the UK and Ireland in a travel thread,he'd love the booze too if he enjoys beer lao, we have some great posters from lands End to John o Groats on here also.\

Get it on tel :Smile:

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## Seekingasylum

> Shit weather, full of Immigrants, expensive as fuk and most smart Poms have left. 
> 
> My points will take me to many more places .  Might go hang out in New York for a while.


Terry, do you understand the meaning of " irony "?

Actually, it's quite amusing that an Antipodean would eschew the UK because of a perceived lack of intelligence when one considers that over 400,000 of the fuckers live in the UK.

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## taxexile

Terry gets his intellectual fix from the hawkers, cabbies and noodle slurpers on silom road. 

One can only imagine how the exchanges might go.

Somchai
"You, you, falang, where you go, 50 baht, give me 50 baht, fuckee fuckee dvd, speshun price for me my friend you, where you come yellermanee? Yellermannee dii maak maak  peepun number one."

Terry
" excuse me, wheres the nearest fokkin dunnee, that fokkin noodle piss has gone straight through me fokkin guts and and it feels like ive got a fokkin bomb in me fokking blurter."


Conversation then interrupted by as the porn vendo erups into a 15 second 200 decibel throat clearing cacophony before gobbing out a slimy green oyster that terry only manages to avoid by some nimble footwork before rushing off to a shitter before he soils himsef whilst musing to self about the wonderful unpretentious salt of the earth characters he lives amongst

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## danno5

BA sucks...after using them for 3 years in a row to get from BKK to the US in business class, and having problems ranging from minor to major, I finally got wise and refuse to travel on them any more. been using JAL lately, with great service.

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## taxexile

The one time we used BA longhaul we were  surprisingly upgraded to business class much to our delight, that was about 6 years go, Heathrow to BKK,  but have never used them since.

That may change within the next week or so as I will have to rush back to the UK at short notice and BA fares are reasonable compared to the rest of the airlines.

Ive had enough of 3am stopovers amongst the bad mannered officials and sweaty rabbles in the middle east, and would rather risk the dubious inconvenience of a dusty cabin floor with BA than the rather more unpleasant experience of being processed at abu dhabi or dohar by garlic breathed jobsworths in the middle of the night.

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## Cujo

> Originally Posted by Koojo
> 
> 
> 
> 
> So you have a free flight to England but you won't take advantage of it because depite never having been there you've decided it's a "shit pit".
> WTF? That's a pretty sad attitude.
> 
> 
> ...


Yeah, New York's cheap as fuck, hardly any immigrants and great weather.  :Roll Eyes (Sarcastic):

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## taxexile

Fukk british airways, and fukk em good.

I bookmarked a deal with them yesterday to fly to manchester next week, a two month return, 2 people, economy plus seat on the way there, for 78,000 baht all incl.

This morning their automated e mail service informed me that the price is now 113,000 baht for the same deal.

How can it change so much in 24 hours ??????? 

Cheapest deal now for next week is air france, (no thanks) at 64,000.

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## terry57

^

They would of only had a few seats at that price and once they were gone they jack it.

Normal sort of stuff, Ive learned over the years when these deals pop up just book it.

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## terry57

> I reckon he'd love it, great the way he has a knack of knowing all about a place before he even touches down.




Yes, I realize my attitude sucks . 

Oh well,  I'm still not going     :Smile:

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## taxexile

> Ive learned over the years when these deals pop up just book it.


Thing is, I wont know for sure until a couple of days before, that I have to go.

And as for visiting the motherland terry, pick the right time of year, i.e. not november through until  april, and you will love it.

Just avoid London. Stick to the wide open spaces, the coastline, you wont be disappointed. And thats a promise.

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## terry57

^

Yes, I've been told that many times. 

Maybe I should go,  hire a car and cruise around the place. 

Give London a miss.   Never Know. Could do it one day.

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## thaimeme

> ^
> 
> Yes, I've been told that many times. 
> 
> Maybe I should go, hire a car and cruise around the place. 
> 
> Give London a miss. Never Know. Could do it one day.


If you do decide to take the plunge, Ter - be sure to have a decent English/Oz dictionary at your ready.

Foreign languages can be trying at times.

 :Wink:

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## terry57

^

Yes you are quite correct Jeff.

I'm still working on my Septic dictionary.  :Smile:

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## Smug Farang Bore

> ^But you don't pay thousands of dollars to sit in a pub for 8 hours.


Has been known.... :Smile:

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## Seekingasylum

Ridiculous stuff being said here. London is one of the great cities and, unlike many, is a place to live in and enjoy.

Jesus, if you just confined yourself to concerts, exhibitions and galleries you could spend a month there without going over the same ground twice.

Hit the main sites like everyone else and it stil thrills if you have even half a brain and a little imagination but the joy is to unearth all those little nuggets of history that exist in every corner of the city. Simply walking around the City on a Sunday morning is one of life's pleasures.

Eating there is a feast of opportunity with the best on offer from every cuisine in the world.

Negotiating a pub crawl to places more than a hundred years old is a delight and no one will bother you along the way. And you can get drunk, be an arsehole and no one will kill you for it.
Anyone who visits the UK and avoids London is either a cretin, recently had a stroke or is suffering from some disturbance of the mind.

Greatest place in the world. Hampstead, Belsize, Chalk Farm, Primrose Hill And Highgafe alone would take you a week to enjoy. By the river from Blackheath to Hampton Court traces a thousand years of history you could only scratch in a month of a Sundays.
South of the river is another city and yields all sorts of curious pleasures from Putney, Dulwich, to Sydenham Woods and Forest Hill. 

London isn't a city as such , it's a conglomeration of individual villages, manors and districts each with their distinct character, style and narrative tracing a history that created much of the world as it is now.

What fucking idiot wouldn't go there?

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## taxexile

> Anyone who visits the UK and avoids London is either a cretin, recently had a stroke or is suffering from some disturbance of the mind.


Some tourists may prefer the countryside, the villages, the market towns and the spectacular coastline to London.

Not everyone needs museums, theatres and the buzz of London, to say nothing of the expense of even a short stay in london.

A week in and around say Bristol or York will give you a far better picture of and feel for England than a week in London, where you are unlikely to meet many brits anyway.

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## Seekingasylum

Utter tosh!

Bristol, as a wonderful trace of our slave trade roots, walking down from Blackboy Hill along Whiteladies Road says it all, is fine but is a mere footnote to the literary piece that is London.

London features more parks than any other city in the world. Advancing down from Hampstead Heath one could track a route to Dulwich through parkland the entire length with a little bit of planning. 

And that's the wonder of the city: it can be explored in so many ways and by differing themes. Christ, you could spend just a week traversing the bridges along the river from Blackfriars to Borough High Street and fill your boots with history, terrific beer in public houses aching with history and eating food from anywhere in the world without breaking the bank.

Tax, you're being an arse.

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## taxexile

I lived in london for 30 years and know it well, nothing you say about the place is wrong, but not every visitor to england is interested in the theatre, the museums or the buildings.

Not every visitor wants to experience the delights of being pickpockered by rumanian vagrants, not every visitor wants to fight with fat arabs and their ugly broods for shoulder room on the pavements, not every visitor wants to be ripped off by the exhobitant prices charged for transportation, accommodation and food and just about everything else that they will encounter on their first trip to london, and not every foreign visitor wants to deal with the turks, the greeks, the moroccans, and the middle easterners who run most of the central london tourist businesses when they come to visit england

Far better to experience england by seeing the market towns, the coastline, the countryside and the villages where they can enjoy the country at a slower pace and with a warmer welcome and pay a fairer price. And the accommodation and food is so much better too.for the first time visitor, the further from london the better. England is so much more than london, save london for the second or third trip.

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## sabang

> Maybe I should go, hire a car and cruise around the place.


That's the way to do it. You'll be surprised at the beauty of the English countryside, the picture postcard villages etc. Not to mention Wales & Scotland. I'll make no excuses for the expensive, somewhat substandard accomodation- but heck, you come for aussie right? You're well used to that.



> Give London a miss.


I'm no fan of London, but.... well to go to the UK (for the first time) and not spend a day or two there is criminal. It's London, innit?

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## taxexile

The accommodation can be  excellent, especiall b and b and small friendly family run guest houses.  

The days of dragon like landladies, cold baths and exhorbitant extra charges for unauthorised use of the condiments are long gone.

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## OhOh

Plenty of camp sites he could stay in. Use off peak trains, get some walking along the coastal paths and smell the roses. June and July are the best months. June is cheaper though.

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## Seekingasylum

And I understand recent court rulings ensure they remain gay friendly which will doubtless reassure Terry.

Brighton might be his best bet.

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## Seekingasylum

> The accommodation can be  excellent, especiall b and b and small friendly family run guest houses.  
> 
> The days of dragon like landladies, cold baths and exhorbitant extra charges for unauthorised use of the condiments are long gone.


A weird sort of cartel is now working in the UK when one uses these B&B. Many are quite splendid and beat hotels hands down and their breakfasts usually knock spots off those in corporate places. But, wherever you might go, the price remains the same, about £82 per night for double room occupation. Whether it's in Cornwall, West Sussex, Dorset or up in the Lake District, the median price is always around the £80 mark.

London of course is a killer of budgets but the savvy now pitch themselves around the M25 on mainline rail routes where more sensible rates can be found.

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## taxexile

..... and exactly how much is a return rail ticket every day into central london for a first time tourist.

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## Bettyboo

> South of the river is another city and yields all sorts of curious pleasures from Putney, Dulwich, to Sydenham Woods and Forest Hill.


Ideal for Tezza. I'd suggest he starts at Streatham and just wanders around from their until into the wee hours...  :Smile:

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## Bogon

> ..... and exactly how much is a return rail ticket every day into central london for a first time tourist.


Just under 9 quid (450 baht) and 3.60 (180 baht) for the kids if you go after 9:30am. This allows unlimited travel on all the underground, DLR, buses and trams (wherever they are?) for the day.

The travelcard is good from zones 1-6, which means you can base yourself in places like Harrow, Wembley or even as far out as Northwood and be in the centre of town within 30 minutes.

Source - http://www.londontravelpass.com/prices.html

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## Seekingasylum

> ..... and exactly how much is a return rail ticket every day into central london for a first time tourist.


There are terrific off peak deals incorporating unlimited travel within London by tube and bus. It's all so coordinated now and quite effortless. An Oyster card used off peak times for all zones encompassing most of London costs less than a packet of fags or thereabouts.
Find a gaff in Ricksmanworth or somewhere else pleasant and you'll be down the Bakerloo line in no time. 

Are you always this negative, Tax?

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## Lostandfound

There are also often London hotels available on late deals. I recently paid £99 to stay at the Park Lane Sheraton. Not the best hotel in the world but bang opposite Green Park can hardly complain.

Book train tickets in advance on line and stay even further out of town. Just 25 miles from London and you can be in totally unspoiled countryside in the Home Counties.

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## patsycat

I've heard good things about Airbnb, where you stay with people and they show you around.  Much cheaper than a hotel.

Terry doesn't like to be in a plane for more than four hours.

I haven't been to London in years, but i would chose it over New York any day.  But then, i've never been to New York - so can't really say much!!

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## Cujo

> Anyone who visits the UK and avoids London is either a cretin, recently had a stroke or is suffering from some disturbance of the mind.


2 out of three, not bad.


> What fucking idiot wouldn't go there?


Umm, Terry?

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## Bower

I know a few people who use www.airbnb.co.uk they are full of its praises,

I am no defender of BA but the video clip sounds like a disgruntled steward/ess to me.

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