Originally Posted by
The Saint
Right. Let's have some facts and some perspective.
Here is the base fare hierarchy LHR-TLV (return) in Club on BA. YQ taxes etc. would be addtional.
D2BA £1,301.00 (£200 change fee)
C2BA £1,609.00 (£200 change fee)
CIF £1,972.00
J2BA £2,072.00
And here's the same hierarchy for LHR-MOW (Moscow) in Club on BA. Again, YQ, taxes etc would be additional
DFLBA £1,339.00
CFLBA £1,695.00
CIF £1,922.00
JFLBA £1,934.00
(
LeisureFirst note the CIF fares (IATA fares both of them)
)
So pretty comparable.
But with all respect, DME passengers have bought a short-haul product, including crappy seats, crappy IFE, disco lights, a basic meal etc etc.
TLV passengers have bought a long haul product and a major part of that product offering is a comfortable lie-flat seat in CW (or a comfortable seat in WT+). Substituting this CW or WT+ seat for a CE seat represents a significant (especially for J passengers) loss of the service expected.
Your fare comparison above doesn't show LCA fares (and LCA is the closest shorthaul destination to TLV). A D fare to LCA is around half the D fare to TLV.
I would expect at least 50% fare reimbursement. More importantly, they shouldn't routinely be putting unsuitable shorthaul aircraft on the TLV route (let alone DXB).