[Bruce98]

Wasborntotravel

“I don’t often post on here as lately it has become a slanging match between certain posters, however I will put my head above the parapet today as I’m finding the constant knocking of BA on this forum tiresome.”

Which part(s) of my post would you say are not fair comment?

Becky, with the greatest of respect, you are not a moderator on this forum and I will post whatever I wish to post and fly with whom I wish to fly.

Simon, I agree with your summary of airlines in general and middle eastern airlines in particular.

[BeckyBoop]

Bruce, fair comment. However my comment and was not meant to offend members. So if you or anyone else was hurt by what I said then I apologise. My reply was there to help people from view of both the passengers and the airline. How can an airline improve its products and services if their passengers don’t tell them more about how they feel and what they would like to see?

[LuganoPirate]

Becky, any airline the size of BA is bound to attract both good and bad comments from people who have had a wonderful service and those who felt let down.

The problem is a letter will most probably not be answered or at best be replied to with a standard “sorry we weren’t up to scratch this time” etc. and sometimes people just need to vent their frustrations in a forum such as this.

[esselle]

LP, you are right, the BA response to honest, constructive feedback is normally generalised pap which is evidently never going to go anywhere.

My original post was not to knock or whinge, but was intended as a lament.

Happy flying!

[BeckyBoop]

Surely BA do some kind of trend analysis on their feedback and a review on a weekly basis of stuff coming in?

esselle, i would thought you of all people would have some kind of direct line to the BA board and can get your voice heard over other people.

[esselle]

BB

I am flattered; I have a lot of experience, and very strong views, but absolutely no influence whatsoever!

[pomerol]

I very rarely post, but like Wasborntotravel I will do so now.

Bruce 98, you say that Easyjet offer a better product than BA, the reasons you gave for this outragious assertion were, that you could return on a earlier flight for free, not so, that is at a price, also if you have hold baggage to check in, then also at a price, you want to select a seat also at a price

I will concede, if you have no hold bagage, and willing to be herded into a cattle pen, then the scrum down for boarding, then it might be worth the few pounds you save, but i can absolutely assure you, not for me.

I would also like to point out, that I consider flying to be an experience that commences, when you arrive at the point of departure, and when you leave the point of your arrival, and on all counts their is absolutely no comparrison whatsoever in my oppinion, BA are light years in front.

Just to add to the above, I recently flew BA 0009 LHR – Bkk return BA0010 BKK – LHR, on the upper deck last month, the whole experience from start to finish was excellent, cabin crew, service,wine, champagne and YES food was excellent.

[Bruce98]

pomerol

If you are going to post, is it too much to ask for you to base your comments on the facts, rather than a set of prejudices?

Firstly, my comparison was easyJet v BA Eurotraveller. One cannot compare BA per se v easyJet.

Below is the link to easyJet’s terms and conditions that confirms the FREE transfer to an earlier return flight, the text is under point 9.1.5

http://www.easyjet.com/en/book/regulations.html

So your assertion that this involves a price is incorrect.

Talking of price, I think you miss the point. Ryanair is undoubtedly the airline with the cheapest seats, if one is prepared to put up with their way of doing things and book early, that’s not my preference.

easyJet is not a cheap airline these days and hasn’t been for a few years. easyJet is a viable alternative for business travellers and the free transfer to an earlier return flight on an inflexible ticket is worth it’s weight in gold to me, as I am often unsure when a meeting will end; so booking a later flight and then moving to an earlier flight is fab, I can get home on those occasions when I finish early. I’ve never yet been unable to find a seat on an earlier flight. Try changing your inflexible BA economy ticket and see how ‘free’ that is. I would hypothesise that the change fee alone would often be as much, if not more, than the original ticket cost for that sector.

There is no ‘ cattle pen’ or scrum on most routes (and all routes will allocate seats by the end of November), as easyJet allocates seats to all passengers, free. Like BA pax, easyjet passengers may elect to pay extra to reserve a particular seat at booking time. Whereas BA pax may build status to choose seats for free and also use premium check in desks, easyJet passengers may purchase a yearly easyJet Plus card for £149 per year that allows a free choice of seats and also give access to priority check in desks and priority boarding.

Hold luggage is ‘ unbundled’ and one only pays for it, if required. I prefer this, why should I subsidise other people’s luggage allowances? I prefer to pay for what I consume, the same for F&B. I am not a big drinker of alcohol, why should I subsidise people who down 2-3 G&Ts on a short flight, when I only have a coffee or a juice? If BA’s advert is right and a G&T costs £5.20 on easyjet, then some one who has two on a flight consumes £10.40 of ‘free’ drinks, whilst I have a £2.50 coffee. You know what? I prefer for each of us to pay for our own. and let the fares reflect that.

I note your preference for an end to end service, but if flying economy shorthaul, what differentiated service do you get with BA? Lounge access as a FF? One can buy a priority pass and enjoy the excellent No 1 lounges at LGW.

I am pleased that you had a good Club World flight on BA, frankly can’t see the relevance to my post as I specifically compared like for like, ET v U2.

As I take a reasonably impartial view, you will note that I said in an earlier post that BA is capable of providing a great experience on a good day; you were fortunate enough to experience a good day.

Final point. If another airline comes along with a better offer (including BA), then I will change to that. I have no allegiance to any airline and buy the best fit with my needs.

[Henkel.Trocken]

Bruce98 an excellent post. I’ve never used Easyjet and hadn’t realised that they have come so far in terms of product development. It seems that they are now a very viable option for shorthaul business travel. Perhaps a bit like Virgin Blue/Australia we will see further developments and possibly a C product on key routes before too long.

The title of this thread is so accurate and says it all.

It has however become a rallying point for VintageKrug’s little helpers who will argue that BA is best on the basis of no evidence and in the face of facts.

I see thread bumping is the tool in use this morning with threads about fog and delays – only affecting BA by the look of things and Ceefax of all things. What the latter has to do with business travel except that it is good for trying to move anti but realistic BA threads out of view I really don’t know.

[Bruce98]

Thanks Henkel Trocken, the easyJet of 2012 is different to that of 2002 and so are the prices.

Whether they will offer C or not, I don’t know, but the differential on shorthaul in Europe is so minimal (yet so expensive) these days, that I’m happy with the basic offer and the return flexibility.

It amazes me how people become emotionally attached to airlines, who rarely become emotionally attached to their passengers 😉

[Henkel.Trocken]

Wise words indeed Bruce98. Airlines are great at making people feel that they should be loyal but in reality, nothing but a few crumbs is offered back. Frequent flyer miles that are difficult to cash in, access to a lounge that may make life a bit nicer for a few minutes but that you would survive without and endless devaluation of the scheme which is a game they all play while at the same time telling us we are special.

Fools should open their eyes!

[BeckyBoop]

esselle, I dont understand what the problem is, you and Bullfrog are the only ones who run large multinational companies, you were at on time a Premier card holder not even VK has any of those credentials! So you have more chance of getting to speak to a BA or IAG exec to bring up these issues.

[Bruce98]

Becky

Big airline groups listen to relatively few customers, not just BA, but try to get any sense out of LH, EK etc

[esselle]

Cheeryguy

If you are going into rare and fine wines, tasting is essential as corking, oxidisation and the rest becomes a real possibility.

With most of the everyday type of wines one gets on a plane, tasting to check for quality is wholly redundant.

It is, in my view, however advisable to taste the stuff before it is poured………to see if you like it!

[christopheL]

essele

The tasting is not supposed to let you see if you like the wine. It’s just to check wether the wine is corked, oxidised… or not

But you’re right. In a plane, you can use it to see if you like the wine. This is one of the many things that make air travel magical !

[Author]

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