Originally Posted by
Often1
The BA website is excellent, makes full disclosure, and shows the fare delta between the two types of tickets. If BE is available, when one clicks on "Economy" it will display the HBO fare, display the fact that there is no baggage allowance, and that one is last to board. Below, it will disclose the standard WT product, along with baggage allowance.
There is no need of a regulatory nanny to step in. Third-party opaque websites are just that. Lovely to use as price-shopping comparisons and perhaps useful for sophisticated travelers who may have the luxury of time. But, nothing excuses a failure to do business with a merchant, including BA, without consulting the merchant, in this case by reviewing its website.
The notion that the "full fare" must show the cost of bags is nonsense. As a significant number of travelers choose to travel without checked luggage, even when it is included, forcing them to pay for a service they do not want, is the kind of anti-consumer effort cloaked in disclosure language which works to increase prices. Why on earth would someone who not only can but prefers to travel with the standard cabin allowance, not save whatever it is that he can save, so long as he appreciates the differences. The same can be said of flexibility and many other features of air travel.
Beyond that, 24-hour cancellation provides even a further backstop for the careless.
I don't mind it being available*, I simply want to exclude it from my search results on BA. If I see a weekly overview of prices from BA, in order to establish the cheapest, I need to click on every single day, and then click on every single economy button. If I was only interested in business I have the option to remove economy prices and see a weekly overview of business prices.
*Actually I think there should be limits to incremental pricing, so some people are happy with it for baggage, but are they also happy with it for on-demand video, food, drinks, toilet use etc.? All of these are costs that not all passengers use. My experience with Ryanair is that it makes the whole business of flying more unpleasant as there is never any room in the overhead lockers and people fight to get on first to be able to store their bag near them.