British Airways "Best low cost Airline"

[toro]

I am suprised (or wrong !!) that no one else picked up on this survey from The Guardian on the 28th June. Sorry don't know how do do the "link" thingy............. But what do all the anti BA smart-a***s have to say ?



Best low-cost airline.....

In a year when the line between the budget, charter and scheduled airlines grew increasingly blurred, and - in advertising and strategy - airlines challenged their rivals' claims to be the cheapest, one company seems to have emerged as a clear winner in the minds of our readers. British Airways' price cuts seem to have propelled them to the top of this particular league. Meanwhile, the two best scoring no-frills brands, Buzz and Go, no longer exist.

1 British Airways (-) 174; 76.6
2 British Midland (8) 496; 74.1
3 Buzz* (6) 669; 71.2
4 Go* (1) 1519; 70.7
5 easyJet* (2) 3919; 67.2
6 Britannia (-) 78; 65.4
7 Monarch (7) 130; 62.7
8 My Travel Lite (-) 57; 62.6
9 Aer Lingus (-) 59; 62.1
10 Ryanair* (3) 3306; 61.4
11 JMC (4) 102; 61.2
12 Airtours (-) 93; 60.8
13 Air 2000 (5) 137; 58

[Foxy Flyer]

From a sample of Guardian readers? Could well be reflective of the travelling public, but the sample has to be more diverse. But you know that!

[Flip Flop Flyer]

Just did a quick check on the luverly internet.

Ryanair STN-SNN 06JUL03 0850 GBP 39.99
SNN-STN 11JUL03 1915 GBP 29.99
Total excl. taxes: 69.98

BA LHR-SNN 06JUL03 1120 GBP 130.00
SNN-LHR 11JUL03 1505 GBP 130.00
Total excl. taxes 260.00

Best of all, by travelling Ryanair one would avoid Heathrow :ok:
Timings with Ryan are better too, if you ask me.

So how much are you willing to pay for a cup of coffee and a bun? 190 GBP will keep you well fed and watered on Ryan, prob. even leave you with a little cash to spend on beers in SNN .....

[Postman Plod]

Not surprised, when I go can to Heathrow - Edinburgh return with BA at virtually no notice, at reasonable times, for less money than it would cost me to go from Gatwick or Stansted with a budget airline. I get a comfy seat, I get something to eat, I get treated with a wee bit of respect / like a human, etc etc. I'm not counting the extra costsof trying to get to or park at Gatwick / Stansted - frankly Heathrow is easier for me anyway.

I've got no reason to be loyal to BA, other than any time I have flown with them I have had a good experience, and I've had pretty poor experiences with budgets. BA does seem to be good value for your budget traveller who wants a few extra frills, which I was surprised at - they've always been able to beat the prices of the other major airlines for me whenever I've gone out of the UK.

[mrsmaryhinge]

I'm with postman plod on this one. Comparison of fares is never easy and there will always be the extremes like the one Flip Flop flyer identified. A different example:

LGW-DUB
Outbound 16th July
Return 23rd July

Ryanair: £98.52
BA: £83.30

Same airport, same route, same aircraft type even. Only you get to fly with a reliable company who you know will get you to your destination, regardless of aircraft going tech, adverse WX, delays, or any other excuse O'Leary uses to strand his customers once he has fleeced them of their cash.

Sure, somebody will probably quote a route where BA is more expensive. But my point is, BA are competing with the no-frills boys. Ask any passenger, particularly business passengers, which company they would choose if both were quoting a similar fare, and I guarantee 9 out of 10 would choose BA.

Watch your back O'Leary, your time's up.

[Flip Flop Flyer]

Didn't go for an extreme, just a randomly chosen route.

Here's another one:

Ryanair London to Milan
06JUL03 0640 STN-BGY 14.99
11JUL03 1900 BGY-STN 69.99
Total excl. taxes 84.98

BA London to Milan
06JUL03 0735 LHR-LIN 88.00
11JUL03 0810 LIN-LHR 87.00 (Note an evening departure is 242.00
Total excl. taxes 175.00

Again, this is just a randomly chosen route. I don't particular fancy LCC's. They're sort of ok if I'm paying myself, but when travelling for the company it's Business Class thank you very much. However, I'm no great fan of BA either so one could say I'm equally unimpressed by Ryanair and BA :8

[expedite_climb]

Hmm, don't forget the fare rules guys.

Ryan, easy etc, if you want to change to a later flight you just pay the difference and an admin charge.

BA - with the lowest fare off the web - no can do. You lose everything. They even get you if you don't fly outbound your return ticket is invalid !!

Used to think BA was better but having flown BA and ryan of late, have changed my mind. Last time I paid to fly LGW-DUB-LGW with BA we got a cuppa and a pack of pretzels on the way home. Wow.

I quite like the way it feels you are getting on a bus with the lcc's !

[mrsmaryhinge]

Fair point flip flop. I guess to be truly representative someone would have to spend a day trawling both web sites to get a more accurate fare comparison.

I think the LCC's will always beat BA on the very lowest fares, but I think nowadays people include BA.com when looking for cheap fares - something which probably would never have happened two years ago. All said and done, I guess it's good news for us punters and the industry as a whole!

I think Easy are positioning themselves into a tricky corner of the market - somewhere between the likes of BA and the likes of Ryanair. Consequently, I think they could find themselves in trouble. They are paying the higher costs of flying out of LGW, GVA, GLA, BCN etc, but are still beaten on price by Ryanair and often BA. Will be interesting to watch the industry develop over the coming 12 months.

[xyz_pilot]

If these are the BA fairs off the net think what the BIG BIG corporates are paying!!!

[PAXboy]

In making these comparisons, one can only compare the same departue and arrival points. Ideally, time of day too - because any flight departing 07:00/08:00 is going to be more expensive than at midday.

The subject of departure points has been covered on Pprune countless times. I live 36 miles from LHR, over 50 from STN and further still from LGW. I frequently choose to pay more for flight and parking and less time on motorways getting to the terminal.

As it happens, my closest is LTN at 15 miles but their car parking charges are now almost identical to LHR, so they have lost that advantage. All factors have to be considered.

On the subject of BA being an 'LCC', their current TV advertising promotes all the things that you get for the extra fare. Last year, they reduced the fares, this year they are justifying charging you more. I have no problem with that as I check prices each time.

What is clear is that, for many people, there is no longer a preferred airline. Each trip is considered afresh. Of course, corporates and those who do not choose their own carrier, live under different rules.

[Globaliser]

A bit unlucky picking SNN as a random route, because it's not even a BA route. This is operated by EI, and BA doesn't normally have its low fare fares on the EI codeshares.

[Desk Driver]

Flip Flop----------Price does not always maketh the Airline

On time record does

Good service does

Customer Care does!


Fares maybe cheaper but the
"We've had your money now **** off" attitude does go along way to alienating the public!

I bet MOL went as purple as his rugby shirt when he saw that!

:D

[AJ]

Well, I've flown Ryanair more times than I can count and certainly haven't come across any "**** off" attitudes at all....the odd delay here or there (never more than 1 hour, which because they're a LCC with multiple sectors, I'm willing to accept).

Cheap as chips, safe and great crew. I don't understand what the problem is really - neither it seems, do millions of others, who repeatedly fly with Ryanair.

As for BA, I happen to think they're also great. Their low fares are more than welcome, and obviously popular with the public - but buying tickets in advance (by at least 2 weeks), and I'm still finding that Ryanair are undercutting BA by a significant margin, so that's my choice made up really. I don't see why I should shell out more than 100 quid to fly to Norway when someone else will do the job for a quarter of that.

When BA really come into their own is when the alternative is dreadful or poor quality i.e. routes to Moscow, Riyadh, Delhi Kiev & Luanda. That's when I'm willing to shell out for BA service, but not if Ryanair flies the same route.

[Desk Driver]

AJ,

You make a fair point, but, you've obviously not been unluck as to had to try and find your lost baggage or get compensation for damaged baggage or had a lengthy delay.

Then you'll see the **** off attitude in full force!

[JW411]

Were any of you caught up in BA Terminal 1 disaster last night? If so did you take it on the chin and smile your way through the adversity?

[Desk Driver]

Were you told "were here to sell flights not deal with complaints"
or were you appologised to will your complaint be dealt with properely