Originally Posted by
Raffles
My gut feeling (from a business perspective, since I don't do dom flights) is that this is not a crazy move. I am probably one of the last people in Britain whose job perks include 'J anywhere' travel. Most people are forced to use Y, even if J is cheaper, because of travel policy.
Correct (though thankfully, we are near strict cheapest fare albeit with some flexibility, so J is still possible on occasion).
Originally Posted by
Raffles
The price differential between Flex Y and Infex Y is a red herring. Few corporates bother working out that buying Inflex Y and chucking the ones you don't use is cheaper. There is no point posting about the differential because it is meaningless to most travel bookers.
We simply book the cheapest and worry about the onward consequences later. In reality, even with mid trip changes to travel arrangements, this approach is usually more cost effective than buying flexible Y.
Originally Posted by
Raffles
The Full Y flyer gets lounge access, free food and a seat at the front, plus some miles. It's probably as good as you could expect for a 50 minute hop to EDI and is still a substantially better package than EasyJet etc. BMI gets to cut its fare (or increase its margin) because of the APD saving. Life could be worse.
In general, I'm not too bothered. The Meal Deal was nice while it lasted. Now that I can no longer get my breakfast or lunch for free, I will simply pass those charges back to my employer, who will get shirty but will grudgingly accept that no complimentary catering means they will foot the bill.
When I'm travelling myself, I've already decided to make this the year of the train when travelling around the UK and there are more civilised options than BMI for my none domestic travel (come to think of it, BMI doesn't fly to any international destination I frequently go to any more).