All good discussion points. After all, we come to work to earn money at the end of the day. I only wish BA management realised this.

LH from Paris to London. £600-£800 per month.

Wow...that’s double what I pay from Southern Europe to LHR about 3-4 times a month. Return hotlines can be a good deal. Not as good as EZ concessions sadly.

If you are just looking at the airfares then hunterboy’s figures sound reasonable...

OTOH if you start factoring in transport and perhaps parking costs at the “home” end, plus, perhaps (being mindful of BAs views on “commuting” ) adding in some hotel/B&B costs at the LHR end into the mix I can how you could start getting up towards the sort numbers eckard has come with.

Sorry; should have been more clear. As wiggy says I have included accommodation as well as transportation. Hotlines are generally 90EUR return but sometimes more. Rail return to CDG about 36EUR. Accommodation between 30 and 80 depending on how posh I want to be. Say 50 average. So each return commute is about 180EUR. Multiply by 3, 4 or 5 gives 540, 720 or 900EUR. I try to create back-to-back trips if I can.

My Short Haul commute which involved flight to Gatwick and National Express Coach to Heathrow (including hotels at LHR) used to average out at circa £600pcm. Surprises me greatly that a long haul commute could be in excess of that figure or even close to it given the greater requirement for nights on the Bath Road prior to an early duty on SH plus daytrips in a block.

How are the “above” posts unbalanced ? The poster has worked for both BA and Ryanair. I suspect you haven’t but I could be wrong.

You are wrong :ok:

I’ll second eckhard (again)

..I’m at the end of a European commute and by the time I’ve paid for the flights (over a year you are looking at at least £100 return,) factored in a £400’ish plus annual car park pass at the home end (no free car parking at the airport for us) and two/three/four nights a month accommodation in a B&B or one of the Purple Palaces @£35 - £50+ per night I reckon £600 p.c.m. is easily achievable on many months, even for a Long Hauler...

(I’ve ignored getting to the starting airport ‘cos you’ll be paying that regardless of whether that is LHR or somewhere more exotic..:bored:)

Fair enough Wiggy in my crown dependency we benefit from free parking at the home end, although the airport are keen to close this loophole (out of pure spite and vindictiveness as none of us will be using the long stay car park instead if they force us out) and a return ticket to Gatwick mixed between easyJet staff travel and BA staff travel usually averages £50, skewed towards the easyJet side of things as that’s what I usually use. I had absolutely horrific months in my first year as a Heathrow Short hauler where I had pre assignments and daytrips that I couldn’t get rid of where the cost was nudging up towards £1000! Something for any potential short hauler commuters to bear in mind. The latest inexplicable JSS twist where 2/3 day trips have been inhibited will not help commuters either.

Ah yes, I read about that and was suitably confused ..(easily done I know)...the ”world leading rostering system” strikes again....

JSS inhibitors appear to be pure trial and error at the moment, but it does seem as though they are aiming for, “You can create your own roster which is tailored to your particular needs, just as long as it looks just like this one!”

Thanks for the replies. I’ve budgeted for £1000 a month commuting from elsewhere in the UK. A car park pass at my ‘home’ airport is £53/month and as people have mentioned, hotels are on average £50 a night. I don’t know Hotline prices but standby tickets are around £80-90 return. As SH I’m assuming I’ll be down there 5-6 times a month. Does that sound realistic to those in the know?

Are folk commuting on ID90’s or hotline tickets? Is there much difference in price and thinking within UK would availability of a seat be an issue if only on a standby ticket? Thanks

ID90 v Hotline pros and cons:

ID90 fully flexible and cancellable.
Hotline possible to change after midnight UK time on the day of travel. Such change can be free but may also incur a fee.
Hotline cancellation only refunds the APD.

Sometimes Hotlines are cheaper than ID90s. Even if the particular flight that you want is more expensive, you can book the cheapest flight and then change it on the day to a better time, normally for free.

Hotline tickets give you full commercial passenger rights. Your seat is confirmed and you can normally choose a seat for free in advance. You can check in 24 hours before departure. You also gain avios points and Club tier points (not many on LHR-CDG!). You can clear through departures and security as soon as you like.
ID90s are issued on a “standby” basis; i.e. if space is available. No remote check-in. You must physically check in at LHR by STD-45 at the latest and then it’s a lottery whether or not you’ll be allocated a seat or whether you’ll remain on standby. Sometimes you have to plead with staff to get an “airside indicator” so that you can get to the departure gate. LHR departures security-gate cut-off is STD-35 which can be a bit stressful. Contact with the operating crew is useful as they can authorise a jump-seat which gets you over these hurdles.

In summary, I try to use Hotlines as often as possible as the experience is altogether more pleasant. The only time I would use ID90s is if I’m unsure of my plans and chances of changes/cancellations are high. Also, sometimes there just aren’t any cheap deals on Hotline, normally because I’ve left it too late.

Ibis can be as low as £39

rare as hens teeth those rates nowadays (and you’ll only get it in the depths of winter) but technically correct.

Hey guys, was looking for some thoughts from guys who have applied and been unsuccessful but kept going and eventually got in. Tempted to apply again this year but not entirely sure what I would do differently. For reference I’m a 30 year old current short haul FO with long haul experience also and have around 3500h tt.

Basically I got to stage 1 first time and last year got through to stage 2. I didn’t feel the group ex went that well, but we worked together okay and the rest of the group thought it went fine. When it came to the interview I’d go as far as to say I left the room thinking it was the best interview I’d ever had, had answers to all their questions etc and was confident, one thing I didn’t really do was push the whole ‘BA is my dream’ etc etc. That said, everyone seemed to leave their interviews feeling it went well. But I really felt I’d done enough to get to the sim.

Anyway, a week or so later got a PFO and somewhat decided after that, that maybe BA just wasn’t the airline for me but now almost 12 months has passed I am tempted once again to have another go.

I suppose what I want to know is, what would the guys who have failed then subsequently passed say the main reason was? Is it luck of the draw as to who is interviewing you? I really struggle to see what it exactly is they are looking for, which is why I am a bit cautious about applying again.

Thoughts appreciated.

What do we have here?

An approach was flown into a known difficult airfield.

The approach became unstable.

A go around was flown and a diversion was made to another airfield.

A successful landing was carried out, as I understand it, at the diversion airfield.

I think that was what I was paid to do for 30+ years.

Thank goodness I retired before I had to justify my decisions to social media.

Well done to the crew.

My post seems to be in the wrong thread, probably my finger trouble, I am old!!

Can someone move it to the BA 492 thread please.

Thank you.

Apologies if this has been answered before ; what are the requirements at BA for command upgrade ? Obviously seniority based but what about min hours, experience on type etc etc ?

Thanks.

Out of interest, presuming bids are once a year, do you need the prerequisites to bid? In the example above could you bid for a LGW Command at 10 months in and say 2800 hrs on jets on the assumption you’ll be eligible some time in the next year?

Over on the wannabes forum they are saying the charge is now £18 grand for a type rating 😖

Madness if it’s correct. O’Leary is only about €5,000 these days 🙈

Probably because a lot of people are now leaving early on, which never happened in the past. I’m reliably informed of 20 or so heading elsewhere (to the same place in fact - no, not telling on here) in the next couple of months.

Makes you wonder why...?

coloursheme of where too