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Verified Review | Naples to Gatwick. I used to admire and love BA. I now no longer admire it but dislike it and am soon likely to hate it. I think that one is entitled to have pleasant expectations when paying the not inconsiderable supplement for flying Club Europe. My wife and I have noticed a constant deterioration over the last two years, have complained (and received some Avios in compensation) but, this time, the cup overfloweth, unfortunately not with blessings. We had, once again (!) been allocated aisle seats in separate rows even though my wife’s preference states that she likes a window seat – and there were plenty of seats adjacent to each other available when we were permitted to make online changes so we did manage to get seats next to each other – but why does BA have to keep doing this? The trip as such started well enough in the new BA South Terminal Lounge, which was spacious and had a good selection of drinks, food and magazines. When time came for boarding and, amongst others, Club Europe passengers were invited to board first, there was no check made at all, which resulted in an almighty scrum as just anybody pushed forward immediately, exacerbated by then having to stand cooped up in the stifling bridge for over 10 minutes as the cleaning of the aircraft had not finished. Once boarded, we were – unlike the other Club Europe passengers – not offered a glass of water but, worst of all (and unforgivable) found food debris and other dirt in between our seats (so much for having to wait for the cleaning to be finished). When I opened my meal tray, it clearly had not been cleaned as there were crumbs and stains on it. We took photographs and also pointed our findings out to the very pleasant stewardess, who seemed utterly appalled when she looked. The meal was pleasant but we were not offered coffee or tea afterwards. And whilst I do not object to being served wine from a large bottle, it means one gets only a (smallish) glassful so has to ask for a refill, something not everybody likes to do. This practice of pouring from a large bottle is clearly a cost-cutting exercise. On previous occasions we had been disappointed to find that no lounge facilities for Club Europe passengers are available in airports like Corfu, Rhodes, Heraklion, even Seville (contrary to BA’s website at the time – we were told at all these airports ‘ BA no longer pays for its passengers to have access’) so, this time, my wife enquired well in advance whether we would have lounge access in Naples. She was told No; but at least, we knew beforehand – or so we thought, but when we got the holding area prior to the gate opening, we were joined by some rather merry Club Europe passengers who told us that there was a lounge (though not exclusively for BA use) that they had been able to access and enjoy! Why could the check-in staff not have told us? The waiting area did not have sufficient seats but we were lucky and found some. However, when a young lady arrived to deal with checking boarding cards, passengers who were sitting beyond where she stood, were forced to get up and move all the way back to the other side. Club Europe passengers were amongst the first to be called, so that did not look too bad. Know what? We showed our boarding pass, then had to stand (no seats available) in a very cramped area for 14 minutes before the gate was opened. In other words, we had the doubtful privilege of having to stand for longer than other passengers.