BA are full because of their reputation, safety record, security, good name...BMI...dont make me laugh :O

redfred, is that more complacency from BA?? Always a bad idea to underestimate one's opposition. "reputation, safety record, security and good name" is a given when selecting a transatlantic airline, and no longer good enough to differentiate. IMO

Based on recent past experince i'd go for Virgin. Better IFE and crew who go an extra two miles when they see you need help.

I have however flown BA Trans Atlantic less than I have Virgin so have fewer instances to base my views on however I have never enjoyed BA it quite as much as Virgin for some reason.

Don't take that as anti BA, this year they have been outstanding in customer service, in depth, on short haul in Europe.


Memetic

P.S. For check in, Continental have it sussed at Gatwick, the flights have been good too!

I fly Virgin because of convience from locations near me. BA is not there. I do still dream of that flight some time ago in BA Business. I actually felt like I owned the airline. Superb service and food.

You are now starting to annoy everyone on this forum. BA did not offload very many seats through the Daily Mail - these offers serve us well to generate an enormous enquiry response.

I get the impression you just want to slag off BA - after all, no serious business traveller would ever, ever consider BMI as a serious long-haul operator. Their financial situation is allegedly dodgy!

....And as for the allegations of complacency........just don't go there 'cos that's what people have said since the 1960's and there is still only one truly professional carrier out there!!!

I last flew BMI about 10 years ago. I was flying back from Paris on a Friday night in business. Obviously, the plane was packed full, and there's not a lot of time. The BMI crew were obviously running round like blue ar**d flies, handing out papers etc, but because of the large amounts of cabin baggage, they allowed people in the exit row to have brief cases between the seat and their legs.

Since then. I wil not touch BMI.

I find BA service superb, no matter what class I'm in. I did get offloaded earlier this week - taken ill on the taxi out, offloaded to hospital, and all the BA staff couldn't have been kinder.

bealine... perhaps if these types of threads always seem to turn into BA bashing that might tell you about the continued level of service BA pax endure?

Also the other points you make apply to all airlines surely?

And why should I pay for my own portable DVD player and disks -what 3 or 4 at £10+ each for LHR - LAX, when Virgin provide them within the ticket price, plus the games consule?

PW

Just to add my worth, I'm by no means a regular flyer (perhaps 6 or 7 flights a year) and I've never been longhaul.
However all my travel this year has been with BA in both classes of service and I could not fault any of BA's staff or service - even the deli box seems satisfactory on occasions!

radeng, sounds like quite a breach - how did BMI handle your complaint?

A note in their defence - I flew IAD-MAN-ORD with them last year (economy class) and was generally impressed. The IFE and catering were almost up to VS's standard - certainly above that of many transAtlantic operators.

Can't comment on BA longhaul but in general, they seem unfairly maligned.

Bealine,

I haven't slagged BA off once in this thread, what was that you were saying about BMI? As for annoying people, I cannot help that sometimes, I say what I think.

You want me to tell you what I think about BA (I think I have put over 500k miles on them - less than many but more than most) I will give good and bad stories, and not in equal amounts. But in general that would be another thread....

To this thread, if you are flying in the back and BA are the cheapest to LAX and you don't care about loyalty programmes then fly them. Fair enough?

If I was flying up front, I would pay a premium for BA over UA, CO, AA, US. I would not pay a premium for BA over VS or BD, I\'d fly the cheapest.

Both these are assuming departures from London, obviously if departing from MAN then BD has a huge advantage, but that is because LHR sucks and nothing to do with the airlines per se.

Bealine

I'm sorry to say this but I believe you are wrong.

For the last couple of years your honest and balanced opinions helped keep me flying with BA. I believed that if the majority were like you then there was hope for a return to the "good old days" of the mid to late nineties.

I think the problem is more with the company. Since 9/11, They appear to have put a message out to crew saying "security and safety first..accept no dissent, you are in charge". It seems, as you have noted, that message has pushed service down the list.

What BA appears to forget is that we were ALL affected by 9/11 and we are professional flyers too...I can't do my job unless I fly long-haul. As well as a premium passenger, I am also a human being. I do not like being treated in an off-hand manner or as a problem. Unfortunately, this is how I felt as a customer of BA on too many occasions.

One of the last straws? I wrote to BA to ask a question about a problem I had on a flight booking, they wrote back saying "....we are sorry you had a problem. Our department is really busy at the moment so we can't deal with your query as we would like to but please rest assured that you are important to us. Please find 500 miles added to your account as compensation". They missed the point. I don't want any BA Miles, I want to be treated like a customer who contributes £50K+ revenue a year...at least just listened and responded to.

The sad fact for BA dedicated and concerned staff like you, is that Virgin have handled these problems in a better way. Yes, security is important to them but they have also made a real effort to ensure customer service is not lost. The relative "products" can be compared until the cows come home but the biggest effect as far as I am concerned is that Virgin appears to care about me as a passenger. They write letters (not just impersonal e-mails) to tell me what's going on, they phone a few days after a flight to check everything was OK. In fact, from the driver who picks me up to the driver who drops me off and everything in between, they make me feel welcome.

The truth is that Virgin did not "seduce" me away. British Airways just seemed to lose interest in me.

Bealine

'There is still only one truly professional carrier out there.'

Wrong. There are many truly professional carriers out there. Do you not understand that this is precisely the attitude that makes people detest BA?

A small piece of advice to scameron77, the original poster.

If you do choose Virgin for your flights between LHR and LAX, which I hope you do, you will have the choice of the daily VS7 / VS8 as well as the daily VS23 / VS24.

Choose the earlier flight (VS7 / 8). This is operated by a 747-400, most of which have the excellent V Port entertainment system, and if applicable, the incredible Upper Class Suite (J class).

If you were to choose the later VS23 / 24, you will find yourself on an ageing A340-300, which does not have V Port, and does not have the Upper Class Suite.

Both flights will be full of Virgin Flair though!

Enjoy!

Crepello,

I wrote and got no reply. It was 1992 or 3.

These days, would I say anything? probably not, especially in the US, because you'll get labelled as a trouble maker and possibly thrown off. Maybe even prosecuted by the Total Stupidity Agency or whatever.

Whether the NTSB/FAA/CAA would take any notice of a written complaint after the event, I don't know. It would probably be best to bypass the airline completetly - possibly CHIRP might be the best way in the UK to maintain anonymity and prevent repercussions on future trips.

I fly BA across the pond when paying and Virgin when going with work. The differences IMHO are as follows:

Legroom - slighlty better on BA, the 340 seems to be a little less space for tall people.

IFE - Virgin is great, if it works!

CC = I've always found BA's very good, Virgins can be a bit rude, and I've even made written complaints in the past about them (and before anyone says it, I go out of my way to be nice to CC and say please/thanks, watch the brief and say thank you in person if I get good service).

Customer Service - BA isn't as good at responding to problems, Virgin handle things very well and make you feel like the problems been solved.

Rewards - The BA Exec Club is a joke, I've flown with BA 10 times this year including twice in WT+ and twice in J and have no chance of making Silver. At least Virgin give you a chance.

Upgrades - Having said that, I've been upgraded twice without asking for one by the gate and at check in by BA, and never by Virgin.

All in all, I'd go for BA, but if you can afford it go WT+, its a superb experience.

Virgin every time for me. I think their crew are more relaxed and friendly, plus the IFE is better than other airlines. I have travelled all 3 of their classes and think they are all very good.

BA are ok but a tad stuffy for my liking, and the IFE isn't up to the standard of VS.

I wouldn't recommend an American airline because I don't think their customer service is as good.

I am indeed sorry to hear that, strake, and without being patronising, I empathise, because I've just had exactly the same situation with Sainsburys. (a £10 voucher because my on-line shopping order was 45 mins late. However, it put us to a lot of inconvenience as it meant my daughter was late being picked up from school, late for her evening maths tuition and I was late for work).

Unfortunately, standard replies and standard "voucher" compensation is becoming the norm in British business and I fear this attitude will drive many British business under before too long!!!

That having been said, I was verbally and physically attacked only two days ago for daring to weigh an enormous cabin bag. Security issues are still there and these must take precedence over customer service for the safety, well-being and security of the majority!

A suggestion: Have a look at joining the Qantas Frequent Flyer scheme and putting all your BA flying into that. QF offers a Silver (= OW Ruby) tier (sitting between bog standard entry level and BA Silver = OW Sapphire) which has some benefits, though not as many as QF Gold (= BA Silver). But at the moment you also earn status credits towards that on all BA flying, even in deep discount economy.

However, there is rumoured to be an announcement on Friday of this week about changes, so it may be worth your while also checking what's going to happen then. This deep discount economy pax is a little bit nervous about what might happen.

Hello,

Quick question, instead of creating another topic, the new flights to SYD with virgin, will the A340-600 be used on that route?

Thank You

Yes, according to the advertising in HK (which is the intermediate stop).