a lot of people use the low fares airlines to get to London, and get onward connections to Europe/World with other carriers.
This can hardly be true, given that the only onward connections from STN and LTN are with other low cost airlines...hence no connection guarantees etc. And LGW is no match for LHR for global destinations and choice of carrier. Onward connections are BD's strength in Northern Ireland, not a weakness. The cost saving (if indeed there is any) has to be considered against transferring between London airports or the inconvenience of hanging about to make connections between separate tickets, re-checking baggage etc. Not much fun if you are headed to a different hemisphere, is it?
I've just booked a LHR-BHDvv next month for £28 plus taxes - lower than any easyJet fare I could find for the same dates, and offering me lounge access, frequent flyer mileage, free drink and a bite to eat. Of course, if the weather is bad enough I could still end up in BFS
