Originally Posted by
cosmo74
BA are going to have to do something about their fares if they do. I've been looking at flights to basically anywhere in the Med in June, and BA are consistently at least 50% more expensive than Easyjet. When you factor in all the Easyjet charges, that difference comes down, although BA are still generally more expensive. But if BA are going to be adding extra charges on top, then they become even more uncompetitive, they need to keep something that makes them worth booking over the LCC's, charging for hand baggage means there's very little to differentiate between them.
Agree. I've actually had several trips recently where the 2 items of hand baggage has been the reason I booked BA rather than quEasyjet. For ski trips I have my rucksack and my ski boot bag as my larger item, and for short trips to Europe I usually use HBO fares with a roll on suitcase. Because of this it usually works out that despite Easyjet having lower base fares, BA is a similar price (or sometimes even cheaper) as Easyjet once baggage is factored in, and given the choice of Easyjet or BA at the same cost I'd always opt for BA given the marginally better service and BAEC benefits.
If BA scrap the free larger hand luggage item while keeping the same fares then these trips would work out substantially cheaper on Easyjet, and the small benefits of flying BA wouldn't outweigh that.