shifting my allegiance...your suggestions

[bizflyer]

OK so last straw with BA, 2 consecutive weeks 4 consecutive flights and just more dissapointment.

LHR-MIA food dreadful MIA-LHR no meal choice forced to eat a 'pasta dish' had my whole family with me and the kids meals looked revolting (I kid you not), then yesterday MAD-LGW - I needed to change flight but had non-flex ticket so thought "I'll call and buy another one" grumpy little &^@T bag in customer services tells me 'we don't normally do a one way ticket from MAD to LGW but quotes me £487 (down the back) for the flight, I think sod that and book online a return ticket (same flight as above quote) for 291EU's. Plane was an hour late, OK so that's life, but it also took an hour to check in because their booking system had issued my e-ticket as a paper ticket and the guy couldn't check me in until his pal finished his fag break and fiddled with the computer, in the mean time I'm left standing like a spare &rick for an hour!! OK so not the most serious of frequent flyers in their punishment, sorry - reward - scheme at a mere 25-30 sectors a year but this is getting worse and worse so......ramble finished spleen vented;

Can anyone suggest airline/alliance with comparable routes and timetables to BA in Europe and across the pond? I like earning miles but don't book the business fares so tier points are neither here nor there, I like to check-in online, I like PTV on medium to long haul and of course the small matter of arriving safely at the other end...who gives BA a run for their money?

[strake]

You sound as though you are where I was a year ago. After so many years with BA I really did not want to change but they drove me out with their "don't care attitude".

I went to Virgin and I just have to say they are the opposite.

The rewards for flying with them are excellent and they really care about you as a customer especially when you go Gold. I fly a lot of trips in a year and have "gone Gold" a couple of times over. Whenever I phone Virgin, they mention this and basically make you feel a bit spesh!

To be fair, all of my flying with BA was long-haul so I had no real experience of European travel with them. I did do a flight back from Moscow a couple of months ago which was excellent. So, maybe things are changing.....

I was a Gold card member with BA for over ten years. Apart from the Moscow trip, I have not flown with them for 9 months. You would have thought a computer somewhere would have noticed this and flagged something to the marketing team. A quick read of these boards will show I am not the only one to have defected. So, obviously, they still don't care.

[bealine]

So, obviously, they still don't care.

That's the "company", not the staff! Unfortunately, I do care but my hands (and those of my colleagues) are tied by pettyfogging stupid IATA, DeTR, FAA and CAA regulations (and BA seems to be the only airline that actually sticks to them). The one-way fares are a classic example of this stupidity!!!

The FAA, for example, tells us that a passenger for the USA accepted between 60mins and 40mins before departure time MUST have their person and their baggage thoroughly hand-searched by security before being allowed to board. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES can any passenger be accepted for a flight below 40 mins prior to departure.

Why, then, can Continental Airline Inc regularly accept US passengers up to 10 mins before departure - and without any security screening, as long as they're in Business First class??? This disobedience of regulations gives CO a commercial advantage which BA cannot shout about too loudly, otherwise the "Dirty Tricks" accusations would begin all over again!!! Similarly, most other Gatwick airlines and handling agents force staff to break EU legislation regarding working hours yet they get away with it! Because BA treats its staff properly and allocates breaks, it is left at a commercial disadvantage!

[PAXboy]

bealine: As always, our sympathy and appreciation for your honesty.

bizflyer: It all depends if you want Short/Medium/Long haul advice and the airports that you can/are willing to use.

[Final 3 Greens]

Bizflyer

I would look at Skyteam. AF/AZ/KL/OK etc.

15 segments per year gets you a silver (elite) card and 30 a gold (elite plus) version. Regardless of ticket price.

Why is this worth it? Well, my "native" airline, CSA Czech has upgraded me from Y to C on virtually every flight with them from originally achieving silver status a couple of years ago.

Now I have gold, I have received upgrades from Y to C with AZ and KL too. Gold also brings worldwide lounge access, well worth having.

Yesterday, I flew with DL from LGW to ATL, on an award ticket, could check in at the Business Elite desk, thus avoiding a long queue and was also rewarded with an emergency exit seat (as I am able bodied) specifically because " we like to look after our partners regular travellers." That makes a big difference on a 9 hour flight.

I have nothing against BA, all airlines have bad hair days and BA are more consistently good than their competitors in my opinion, but on the other hand the exec club is skewed very much in favour of the long haul, premium class, traveller.

Of course, they have very good business reasons for making that choice, but my travelling pattern is mainly short/medium haul and Skyteam looks after me much better than Oneworld/BA.

Just my tuppence and. as always, Bealine demonstrates that BA do have quality people working for them, but without discretion their hands are tied. Rules are for the guidance of wise men and the obedience of fools.

On the other hand, BA are a commercially successful airline in a hard market.

[bizflyer]

Thank you for the replies, I half expected some incoming along the lines of being a picky plonker who should shut up, so it's good to know I am not alone in forming my opinion.

It's a bit like changing your bank or accountant, even though you get a bit miffed at the ever increasing charges and the odd let down, sometimes moving your account seems like treachery, better the devil you know and all that, but there does come a time for change.

Bealine - I am sorry, it's good to know you care and I know you're not alone, but in my opinion the service offering/product your Company offers has slipped, this may be in exchange for profit and that's great for the airline but I'm afraid it's not acceptable to me, what can I say? Other posters would say they always have a great experience with BA, maybe they do, maybe they don't take as many flights as me, or maybe they're just easier to please. I don't know and I also know it sounds pathetic, but it does bother me that I am going to switch to another 'service provider'. I'd love to stay with a British airline, but each time I get the dirty end of the stick at check-in or when I need to change flights or when I am staring down at my lap table at one of those awful pizza strips and blueberry muffins I'll just get grumpy again, so I'm afraid that's it, I'm off to see if the grass is any greener.

Final 3 Greens - Thanks for the advice, I'll give skyteam a go and have registered as a flying dutchman today, you are right it does seem like a more equitable reward scheme, the quality of the in-flight experience remains to be seen but I can't think it can be any worse than BA, not because BA is really really bad, but because BA frankly is mediocre, so I'm guessing the skyteam airlines will either be similar or slightly better.

[Omaha]

no meal choice forced to eat a 'pasta dish'
Ah so you've been forced to join the 'BA pasta: 'like it, lump it or leave' it brigade too'. Were you flying cattle class too mate?

Here's a thread by me on the subject whilst in one of my alter egos.

http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=147440&highlight=choice

Glad I'm not alone. :D

Can't wait to see what the food will be like on Singapore Airlines, loads of Oriental fare I hope. :ok:

[rsoman]

OK so that's life, but it also took an hour to check in because their booking system had issued my e-ticket as a paper ticket and the guy couldn't check me in until his pal finished his fag break and fiddled with the computer, in the mean time I'm left standing like a spare &rick for an hour!!
**********


Is this also being due to
but my hands (and those of my colleagues) are tied by pettyfogging stupid IATA, DeTR, FAA and CAA regulations (and BA seems to be the only airline that actually sticks to them).

Sorry but blaming the management for each and everything seems to be getting more fashionable than ever nowadays. And I have just finished reading a report (not on the airline's website) where one airline has been forced to pull out of some new routes due to the less than helpful attitude of its cabin crew!


Just wondering aloud !!!

[wiggy]

rsoman

I understand your scepticism but bealine is not sloping shoulders, he/she is right right - this isn't a case of it being fashionable to blame the management, it's simply that in BA, as in other large organisations, the management have produced so many layers of regulation that it is damn near impossible for the person you deal with on the day , be it flightcrew, cabincrew, or check in staff to be really flexible.

[spiney]

Sorry to hear about your poor experiences with BA Bizflyer, but presumably by having an 'allegiance' in the first place you want to collect and, by definition, spend Airmiles? Because of where I live and the routes I travel, I split my flights between One World and Sky Team companies. Recently I've found it increasingly difficult, on several occasions, to get Airmiles Tickets on KLM longhaul from Europe to SE Asia, even by booking months ahead and being flexible on travel dates. BA and CX on the other hand have not proven to be a problem.

It's quite interesting to see on some of these threads how little it takes for customers to change their allegiance. If a person has a good experience with an airline they'll tell a 2 or 3 of their friends. If they have a bad experience - they'll tell 10... or in the case of Pprune 10,000.. tough business indeed.

[sixmilehighclub]

BIZFLYER -

Who did you complain to about your difficulties and what replies did you get?

[ExSimGuy]

Not much use to you, Biz, but I'm going to stick with GF (flights around the Mid-East and between there and Blighty!) They may not be perfect, but they're good enough for me.

(Now if only they could give you a choice other than "chx & rice or Mutton & rice ;) )