BA Offer better Value than Ryanair
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BA Offer better Value than Ryanair
British Airways fares are frequently better value than those of Ryanair, says a study published by the official air passenger watchdog yesterday.
The report from the statutory Air Users' Council found that the difference in prices between full service carriers and their no-frills rivals was "often minimal" and more than compensated for by the older airlines' use of conveniently located airports.
Analysis of 1,500 fares on nine short-haul routes showed that operators such as BA and bmi British Midland sometimes offered the cheapest fares, especially when booked well in advance.
Between Glasgow and Paris, British Airways had lower prices than Ryanair for four of six booking periods assessed.
For departures on a Friday and return a week later, BA offered seats for £133 from Glasgow International compared with Ryanair's £178 from Prestwick, 32 miles out of the city centre.
For travel the week following the time of booking, the full-service operator charged £107 against the budget airline's £118. The pattern was the same for flights four weeks and 13 weeks after booking.
Ryanair came out on top only for travel the next day with a lowest fare of £171 against BA's £263.
The study found that in general the difference in fares tended to diminish the further in advance tickets were bought.
Unlike their low-cost competitors, BA and bmi would also offer bookings 26 or more weeks in advance, usually at cheaper rates than available 13 weeks before.
However, no-frills fares tended to rise less sharply as the travel date approached.
A London-Venice return cost only £2 more with Easyjet if booked for travel the next day rather than 13 weeks in advance. With Ryanair, the increase was £15 but £102 with British Airways.
The council report also urged consumers to take the cost and time of travel into account before making their choice.
It showed that while Ryanair's average London-Frankfurt fare (£86) was almost £50 cheaper than BA's, the traveller to Frankfurt would find the transfer journey from Hahn airport taking two hours and costing £8.
Meanwhile, after landing at Frankfurt Main, the BA passenger would pay £2 to reach the city centre in 11 minutes.
The study added that full-service carriers offered the additional benefits of free refreshments on board and "more comprehensive back-up" when flights were delayed or cancelled.
"It is not possible to conclude that one particular type of airline is better than the other - each has advantages and disadvantages.
"With no-frills operators, passengers now have more choice than ever before. Our advice is to book as early as possible, shop around and find out which airport the airline uses."
The report from the statutory Air Users' Council found that the difference in prices between full service carriers and their no-frills rivals was "often minimal" and more than compensated for by the older airlines' use of conveniently located airports.
Analysis of 1,500 fares on nine short-haul routes showed that operators such as BA and bmi British Midland sometimes offered the cheapest fares, especially when booked well in advance.
Between Glasgow and Paris, British Airways had lower prices than Ryanair for four of six booking periods assessed.
For departures on a Friday and return a week later, BA offered seats for £133 from Glasgow International compared with Ryanair's £178 from Prestwick, 32 miles out of the city centre.
For travel the week following the time of booking, the full-service operator charged £107 against the budget airline's £118. The pattern was the same for flights four weeks and 13 weeks after booking.
Ryanair came out on top only for travel the next day with a lowest fare of £171 against BA's £263.
The study found that in general the difference in fares tended to diminish the further in advance tickets were bought.
Unlike their low-cost competitors, BA and bmi would also offer bookings 26 or more weeks in advance, usually at cheaper rates than available 13 weeks before.
However, no-frills fares tended to rise less sharply as the travel date approached.
A London-Venice return cost only £2 more with Easyjet if booked for travel the next day rather than 13 weeks in advance. With Ryanair, the increase was £15 but £102 with British Airways.
The council report also urged consumers to take the cost and time of travel into account before making their choice.
It showed that while Ryanair's average London-Frankfurt fare (£86) was almost £50 cheaper than BA's, the traveller to Frankfurt would find the transfer journey from Hahn airport taking two hours and costing £8.
Meanwhile, after landing at Frankfurt Main, the BA passenger would pay £2 to reach the city centre in 11 minutes.
The study added that full-service carriers offered the additional benefits of free refreshments on board and "more comprehensive back-up" when flights were delayed or cancelled.
"It is not possible to conclude that one particular type of airline is better than the other - each has advantages and disadvantages.
"With no-frills operators, passengers now have more choice than ever before. Our advice is to book as early as possible, shop around and find out which airport the airline uses."
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This won't surprise those who buy their tickets intelligently, although I suspect such folks are not in the majority! I use "full-fare" and "no-frills" as and when appropriate and I've got few complaints about the service I've received from either type of company.
For the business traveller, a couple of other things affect my decision:
(a) It's not just the convenience of the destination airport, it's also the departure location. For me (and I'm not alone) in leafy S Bucks, getting to Stansted for 05:00 is a pain and a taxi costs £100 each way (cf £35 for LHR).
(b) I'm frequently prepared to pay extra ('cos I pass the cost on to my clients
) for flexibility. I can't always forecast the end of my working day, so on non-flexible tickets I've either got to book a late flight or risk having to rebook at the last minute - which not only loses the ticket already purchased, but (as the article points out) is likely to be much more expensive.
Final thought - does buying last minute inevitably increase the cost. If you're lucky (or the airline is unlucky) enough to get a lightly loaded flight, I would have thought last-minute tickets would be quite cheap?
PS I can't find the AUC info online, but The Times has an article based on it.
For the business traveller, a couple of other things affect my decision:
(a) It's not just the convenience of the destination airport, it's also the departure location. For me (and I'm not alone) in leafy S Bucks, getting to Stansted for 05:00 is a pain and a taxi costs £100 each way (cf £35 for LHR).
(b) I'm frequently prepared to pay extra ('cos I pass the cost on to my clients
) for flexibility. I can't always forecast the end of my working day, so on non-flexible tickets I've either got to book a late flight or risk having to rebook at the last minute - which not only loses the ticket already purchased, but (as the article points out) is likely to be much more expensive.Final thought - does buying last minute inevitably increase the cost. If you're lucky (or the airline is unlucky) enough to get a lightly loaded flight, I would have thought last-minute tickets would be quite cheap?
PS I can't find the AUC info online, but The Times has an article based on it.
Last edited by Pax Vobiscum; 1st Oct 2003 at 00:18.
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Its been like this for a while - Good to see the marketing folks at both ba and bmi are now shouting about it. The lowco's (but not always low fares) have had it their own way for too long !!
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I would quibble with the word 'frequently' in the phrase "British Airways fares are frequently better value than those of Ryanair". Perhaps the word 'sometimes' would have been better. I fly from Glasgow to London fairly often and never since RYR started up the PIK-STN service have I found BA, bmi or for that matter EZY prices any less.
True, for me PIK-STN is an ideal service living as I do near PIK and the mother-in-law living fairly close to STN (hmmm, thinking about it that way, RYR are b'stards
) but comparing just the airfares I can't remember the last time I paid more than thirty quid per skull on RYR for a return journey. Fifty quid seems to be the cheapest bmi or BA fare that you can possibly get which isn't bad and might just be worth it in certain instances but getting that fare is a lot more difficult than getting a RYR special.
I think the AUC are not great fans of RYR so perhaps the report is somewhat biased in its tone. Yes, BA can be cheaper but when it comes to low fares, it really isn't in the same league.
True, for me PIK-STN is an ideal service living as I do near PIK and the mother-in-law living fairly close to STN (hmmm, thinking about it that way, RYR are b'stards
) but comparing just the airfares I can't remember the last time I paid more than thirty quid per skull on RYR for a return journey. Fifty quid seems to be the cheapest bmi or BA fare that you can possibly get which isn't bad and might just be worth it in certain instances but getting that fare is a lot more difficult than getting a RYR special. I think the AUC are not great fans of RYR so perhaps the report is somewhat biased in its tone. Yes, BA can be cheaper but when it comes to low fares, it really isn't in the same league.
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The AUC were being very selective in their choice of routes. They drew considerable attention to the fact that some of Ryanair's airports are further from the destination but did not always make fare comparisons. One of the routes highlighted in the press today was Glasgow - Paris - apparently showing that BA from Glasgow to CDG was cheaper than Ryanair to Beauvais and drawing attention to the extra time that may be required in travelling to and from Ryanair's airports. What they failed to mention is that the Glasgow - CDG route on BA is not even non-stop - you have to go through Birmingham. Any time disadvantage in using Ryanair quickly disappears. Some biased reporting I'm afraid. I fly relatively frequently around Europe (about 30+ flights a year) and use both low cost and the regular full fare airlines. Only very rarely do I find a cheaper deal with BA or BMI. BA's charges and taxes alone on the London-Glasgow route are often more expensive than the Ryanair fare to PIK including taxes!! I too rarely pay more than £30 return on Ryanair - not only to PIK but also on many European flights. As I usuallly hire a car at my destination, the fact that Ryanair use quieter airports is usually a bonus. I can be out of the airport and on the road in less time than I would have to wait for my baggage at many major airports. A couple of months ago I flew up to PIK on Ryanair, retreived my baggage, picked up a car from Hertz and was in my accommodation (only a couple of miles from the airport) before the scheduled arrival time of the flight! Try doing that at many major airports.
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What they failed to mention is that the Glasgow - CDG route on BA is not even non-stop - you have to go through Birmingham
What is also involved, even though the same flight number is used, is a change of aircraft at BHX.
Come to think of it it MUST be better value flying with BA rather than Ryanair because you do get two flights for the price of one.
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some personal observations:
(a) early prices on low cost tend to be lower than premium airline economy.
(b) late prices on low cost can be far more expensive than premium. [I've seen Easy at over £400 for a London Geneva return.
]
(c) low cost can mean less restrictions than premium (e.g. Ryan & Easy flight times are changeable, with some differential cost attached. 'Premium' usually means throw your ticket in the bin. In fact, throw both legs in the bin, because if you don't fly your outward, you will be refused travel for the return
)
(a) early prices on low cost tend to be lower than premium airline economy.
(b) late prices on low cost can be far more expensive than premium. [I've seen Easy at over £400 for a London Geneva return.
](c) low cost can mean less restrictions than premium (e.g. Ryan & Easy flight times are changeable, with some differential cost attached. 'Premium' usually means throw your ticket in the bin. In fact, throw both legs in the bin, because if you don't fly your outward, you will be refused travel for the return
)
Paxing All Over The World
PaxVob (
) "Final thought - does buying last minute inevitably increase the cost. If you're lucky (or the airline is unlucky) enough to get a lightly loaded flight, I would have thought last-minute tickets would be quite cheap?"
AS far as I know, carriers persist with the view that if they discount in the last ten minutes, they will undercut their own market. People will plan on using the last ten minutes, rather than booking. At least, that is the argument that has been put up over the years. With the LCCs, that might change too. They might intorduce "If any seats are left, a max of ten seats in the last ten minutes will be sold at a certain low price." Of course, if you then get late shows ...
) "Final thought - does buying last minute inevitably increase the cost. If you're lucky (or the airline is unlucky) enough to get a lightly loaded flight, I would have thought last-minute tickets would be quite cheap?"AS far as I know, carriers persist with the view that if they discount in the last ten minutes, they will undercut their own market. People will plan on using the last ten minutes, rather than booking. At least, that is the argument that has been put up over the years. With the LCCs, that might change too. They might intorduce "If any seats are left, a max of ten seats in the last ten minutes will be sold at a certain low price." Of course, if you then get late shows ...
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I usually make bookings well in advance. Last May I had to travel to Scotland at very short notice due to family illness. It was a Friday - generally accepted to be the most expensive day to travel. I was returning on the Monday. I checked every airline and every route from the south of England to Scotland. EasyJet and Ryanair were both charging about £200 return. BA & BMI were £300+ on all flights. Eventually I settled for a drive to Birmingham where I got a return flight with FlyBe to Glasgow for £88 including tax.
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What the Airline Users Council fail to say is what was the BA fare before Ryanair and for the first 5 years of Ryanair operations and what is the equivalent fare on a sector where BA have no low cost competition ?
OK If you book last minute Ryanair can charge you full fare. I have spent decades paying BA and their subsidiaries over 300 pounds for a return trip to Southampton. Now Ryanair do Bournemouth for 2P return. Same happened on London services. Until Ryanair went up to 7, 8, 9 services a day BA kept their fares high now they are lower.
Good on you Ryanair. Keep your fares low and I'll fly with you rather than BA.
OK If you book last minute Ryanair can charge you full fare. I have spent decades paying BA and their subsidiaries over 300 pounds for a return trip to Southampton. Now Ryanair do Bournemouth for 2P return. Same happened on London services. Until Ryanair went up to 7, 8, 9 services a day BA kept their fares high now they are lower.
Good on you Ryanair. Keep your fares low and I'll fly with you rather than BA.
