Travel agents: BA "destroying its brand"

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Viewing 15 posts - 1 through 15 (of 18 total)

  • TheLion
    Participant

    A survey of travel agents agreed that BA is becoming just another LCC and destroying its own brand thanks to its new BoB policy and (by implication) continual cuts:

    http://www.travelmole.com/news_feature.php?news_id=2024194&c=setreg&region=2&cat=7

    It’s not just the passengers that think this now then. Willie Walsh & Alex Cruz are you listening? Stirring that increasingly hot cooking pot now… 😉


    Stratocruiser
    Participant

    Can someone therefore please explain why every flight I’ve taken with BA over the past 12 months, both long and short haul, have been full or near enough full ?
    I’m not a BA lover (far from it) – just curious.
    Dave


    TheLion
    Participant

    Because people are sheep. A direct flight also trumps other options, even if it is more expensive. The high PDI of what is a large O&D market in London means BA will have to fall very far until their load factors take a major tumble. Lastly, your experience was anecdotal; some routes are full on a given day. That doesn’t mean that they will be in future, given the continual product and service decline.


    FDOS_UK
    Participant

    [quote quote=771097]Can someone therefore please explain why every flight I’ve taken with BA over the past 12 months, both long and short haul, have been full or near enough full ?
    I’m not a BA lover (far from it) – just curious.
    Dave

    [/quote]

    I suspect because BA has reduced margins to keep bums on seats.


    flyba16
    Participant

    Agree with all of what the TheLion has said. In response to Stratocruiser, you seem to imply there is a relationship between the current load and future adjustment to services on BA flights? High or low load probably has little to do with BoB now, but once it is introduced it may make the service less distinguishable from easyJet ryanair ect.

    What I think a lot of people are arguing, is that whilst the BoB move by BA won’t immediately people walking over to other airlines for the reasons TheLion mentioned, it nonetheless degrades the BA brand. It’s happened across the US and Canada where the once full service airlines like Delta and AA offered food/baggage as part of your ticket but now charge for them, on top of reducing seat sizes. These companies have become increasingly loathed, but passengers don’t have much other choice.

    Soon BA might charge £30 for a short haul bag, but people will have nowhere to go so will spitefully continue to use BA. So whilst BA might not loose custombers from BoB, it will incur their ever growing displeasure, and I’ve no doubt that Cabin Crew will be the one’s to suffer, not Alex Cruz.


    MrMichael
    Participant

    Apologies to MrFitzgerald, but frankly who gives a dam what travel agents think. My last few experiences of travel agents were worse than terrible, just low paid automotrons who basically go online and book from there, basically how the vast majority of people do already themselves. I think there are very few travel agents these days worthy of the name.

    I won’t get in to the debate about BA & BOB, race to the bottom, servic enhancements etc etc, all been said before and no doubt will again.


    Edski777
    Participant

    My true fear is that BA is still a very expensive operation with expensive personnel, investors that are looking a high return on investment and a requirement to invest heavily in new equipment.
    Investors won’t budge, they would go for replacement of the management in order to get to their ROI goals. Airplane manufacturers have orderbooks that are filled beyond belief. They won’t give deep discounts as they would in the “low season”.
    There must also be a fear at the directors level to take on the high cost of personnel given the history Britain has with workers unrest and resulting, and most damaging, strikes. Something major competitors have already experienced.
    So in the end: take it out on the customer. Competition has driven the cost of a ticket down tremendously. BA has to find ways to remain profitable and a top brand.
    Not an easy task.

    The warning from the travel agents no doubt stems from remarks made by customers. If the only reason to fly BA is the price of a ticket BA might ultimately lose this battle.
    It better take the warning seriously.


    esselle
    Participant

    I tend to agree that travel agents are becoming increasingly irrelevant for simple point to point bookings, but still have an important role to play where multi-sector plus other stuff is being sought. They may, however, be asked their opinion about a particular airline, and if their reply is “sadly they have gone to the dogs over the last few years” then that might influence the buying decision.

    I haven’t had the same experience as MrMichael, but then I have used the same travel agent for the last 20 years so I know that I can trust them.


    planegeek
    Participant

    esselle +1. Agreed – TMC’s (which I would distinguish from travel agents) really add value to more complex itineraries, and that should be where any decent TMC’s business is focused, and why the market is still thriving. Perhaps MrMichael has worked with the wrong agency or is booking simple itineraries that could be booked online, hence the agent is order-taking and appears to be an ‘automatron’


    Defcon5
    Participant

    @mrmichael that is a fairly sweeping statement and quite inaccurate and to some people, offensive.

    Any good travel agent will understand what an airline offers and should be able to give informed opinions to their customers to help them make the right choice. They have a right to express balanced views and I am sure they are disappointed that BA is taking this BOB model to market.

    You say there are “very few agencies worthy of the name” then let me ask you this – Why do you BA persevere with a consumer sales team who invests millions of pounds into working with leisure travel agencies each year?

    I imagine you are a seasoned traveller who has taken many flights over time but there are travel experts out there who book hundreds of tickets each month and travel just as much as you. They are without doubt entitled to their informed opinion.


    Doogs
    Participant

    BA are destroying the brand with BoB – it is not just about how you make your choice based on price but whether you feel valued by that brand or is it just a transactional relationship so no loyalty exists and you will go wherever is right at the time.
    The response or complete lack of it from the senior management shows how low regard they view customers and the fact that they cannot even be bothered to reply ( standard off sheet script from a customer service agent) meas that if they feel that they waste time with me I will not waste my time with them by not booking with them.
    This does make them just like all the LCC and so making a choice is now easier as you have many alternatives.
    Flown with BA loyally for 40 odd years and do not want trolley dollies ( male or female) selling goods – where will it end – farewell and goodbye Ba and hello to all other airlines.


    Doogs
    Participant

    Agree that it is the brand that is being destroyed and that they have removed themselves out of the bracket just above the LCC and are now fully entrenched with them – sad as I thought they were much more professional than this and it was always another reason to choose BA as it felt as if they wanted to attract a different type of passenger – obviously not.
    Also Alex Cruz, Troy Warfield and Denize McGregor’s lack of response has been appalling but they still get thier millions in pay and benefits ( even more now that they will have food revenues)


    MrMichael
    Participant

    @Defcon5, I did say there are exceptions. I don’t think TMC,s are the same as travel agents, it was certainly noy intent to suggest they were. There are clearly some travel agents that know the business and are well travelled. Specialist travel agency’s can be worth their weight in gold. However go in to a high street travel agent and half of them have not been anywhere more exotic than Benidorm. Very few independent travel agents exist, now they tend to be part of large corporations that are also tour operators. Try going in to a Thomas Cook nowadays and booking a complex itinerary. So to clarify, my comments were directed at high street travel agents, not those specialist and generics that one can find in the Sunday Times or TMC,s. If I have offended a good travel agent then I apologise, I did in my original post say there were exceptions.


    TimFitzgeraldTC
    Participant

    Hi MrMichael

    No offence taken. Generally the high street agency offers little value. Whilst some know there stuff the quality is generally very poor and most have little airline product knowledge if you look at that particular facet of travel. There is certainly a difference between high street agents and TMC’s. I certainly don’t consider myself a “Travel Agent”. I’d consider myself a Trusted Travel Adviser and a Professional Service provider. But I’d disagree – BA still need to listen to High street agents and especially TMC’s as over half there Business comes from them. And the average ticket values of TMC’s are 4 times higher than direct bookings on ba.com for example. So they have every reason to listen to the trade. I’ve already made clear I think BoB is the right way to go compared to what the current offering is for short haul (as current offering is just terrible) and I accept it isn’t going to go back to full catering for short haul flights being included in ticket prices. Times move on. I think why people would say the Brand is being devalued (and rightly so) is the constant erosion of the BA offering especially when you compare to the improvements other carriers are making to hard/soft products which are often considerably better value.


    Derek1948
    Participant

    The places I fly to are generally served by BA on a direct route. I dislike the silly seating in Club World and the general tardiness of things, but I don’t want to have to wait in another airport for hours just to save a few pounds. I want to get there as quickly as possible, so I’m stuck with BA. And I use a well known TA to book my tickets for me.

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