FlyerTalk Evangelist and Ambassador: The British Airways Club
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Somewhere between 0 and 13,000 metres high
Programs: AF/KL Life Plat, BA GGL+GfL, ALL Diam, Hilton Diam, Marriott Gold, blablablah, etc
Posts: 33,120
I'm one of those 'like and dislike some things in both' type person.
LGW < LHR:
- Don't like the need to take additional transit from train station while at LHR you arrive direct in the terminal
- Essentially one single train route going through LGW meaning that if you have a problem at the 'wrong' place (after Croydon) which affects both the Victoria and London Bridge trains, there is simply no easy public transport way to go to/from there from/to central London as opposed to LHR which has multiple options.
- Even most short haul flights arrive at relatively distant gates (e.g. over the bridge) which means much longer walk to immigration etc than from A gates at T5A.
- Inferior F lounge compared to LHR
- Cheapest public transport far more expensive than to/from LHR and taxis ridiculously expensive and taking ages to central London.
- The ex-BMI 319s - worst birds in BA's fleet.
- Sub-par service in both Y and C for band 4.
LGW > LHR
- I typically prefer smaller operations. You occasionally recognise people when you are 'weekly' type frequent which is not the case at LHR (except some lounge staff there)
- HEX is one of the most idiotic form of 'premium' public transportation in existence in part because Paddington is effectively not central London by my book, plus essentially, only one major station served nonstop from LHR (Paddington yikes yikes) as opposed to multiple from LGW (Victoria, London Bridge, St Pancras all in 30-40 minutes and same platform connection to Charing X in about 40 minutes total)
- And I must admit I much prefer 40 minutes in trains than 40 minutes in tube!
- While few gates are as close to immigration as LHR A gates, no gates are as far from immigration as C/B gates. You can at least walk, no silly transit system with its ski slopes between levels or overcrowded lifts where there is always someone preventing you to go up/down by reopening the doors for the nth time.
- Fewer delays than at LHR
- Long live low cost competition. Several of the routes I use from LHR used to have BMI competition, and while some people will scream and shout, fact is that on those routes, prices have typically gone through the roof on BA and even the recent introduction of 'hand luggage only' fares does not allow you to get the same fares you used to a couple of years ago.