House

...how they are making this work. I am increasingly finding that BD are more expensive than BA (and just about anyone else) for leisure travel in particular.

For example I'm off to Naples in September for a long weekend. BD want £197.80 including taxes. BA not only want less (£114 including taxes), they have 3 flights a day meaning I can get a 10pm flight back at the end of the trip, giving me a whole extra day in NAP.

And then, for £30 more than BD's Tiny Fare I can travel in Club Europe on BA. Which is what I've decided to do.

I just don't get it. Even forgetting about the difference in service levels, BD are being consistently beaten on price, based on my booking pattern.

I appreciate that BD may be able to pick up some connection traffic at LHR, and that LHR will be more convenient for some. But I really do wonder how they expect to fill the plane charging double the price of their main competitor.

uk1

............ I've just bought two C BA tickets to Nice in three weeks time for £200 less than non-flex economy on the same flights. None of it makes any sense. Load factors is what they call it.

Strawb

Get this - today I decided to book a return ticket to Paris for this bank holiday weekend. bmi wanted a whopping £267.90, inc taxes, travelling out on Saturday at 13.10 and returning Monday evening. For £139.00 I booked Eurostar instead, travelling out at exactly the same time. And this is in First Class both ways with all the frills. Hmm, who in their right mind would want to fly?

Private Pyle

Cos on Good Friday BA announced they were slashing European fares?

BD obviously happy with their cut!

treadsoftly

Nope - I don't get it either!

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=549870

Fraser

And you can truly forget BD C class, even if the service was decent it is so expensive. Looking at BRU was over £400 compared to BA CE for £220. Madness.

As it happens I don't want to eat out of a box for my £400 thanks

House

I know about the recent cuts but I've been having the same sort of experiences for months now. BD works out well for last minute bookings but tries it on with bookings made any length of time in advance, at least on the routes I use.

I have no doubt there is some sort of revenue management strategy at work. I just don't understand how it is maximising their revenue - most airlines gouge the last minute business traveller, not the leisure traveller, and I cannot for the life of me see the reverse strategy working for them (especially on leisure-oriented routes like NAP and VCE).

Ventimiglia

My father frequently tries to end these type of discussions saying: "Mind your own business!" I realized that's not a bad idea...

jjpb3

I thought House raised an interesting question: BD's behavior was puzzling to him, and he sought input from others. I think trying to understand how the airline is seeking to compete is a relevant concern to those who, through membership in its FFP, have a stake in the airline's survival.

MAN Flyer

If your Father is always talking about the pricing difference between BA and BD, maybe he'd like to join in the discussion and give us the benefit of his wisdom ?.

Tall Bloke

This does makes some sense, since as you indicate in the OP BA have three times as many seats to fill on this route. Assuming that the anticipated demmand on the route as fixed then BD is choosing not to put the cheapest passengers on the planes.

To illustrate this we could simplify the maths and say if 370 passenger are flying on this route on the day, the first 300 will fly BA at 114 at which point BA puts it's price upto 300 so the next 70 fly with BD at 197. In this situation BD have a lighter loading than BA, but have broadly speaking both airline maximised their revenue. So in reality it is not as simple as above, as BA will incrementally step their fares up. However if BD were to match BA at this early stage then this may just drive BA lower.

It may be that BD haven't reacted to BA yet, it may be that they are planing a promotion in the forthcoming weeks. Not saying that BD havee got it right here but I hope that they have and justr trying to illustrate why this could be the correct pricing strategy.

bigbaldbairn

For what its worth I am DC Gold. I always buy the cheapest tickets avaialble (although I always choose BMI if prices are not too much more). Last year I retained Gold no problem, this year I have made 4 flights (sectors, not returns) and will have no chance of retaining Gold.

I share the same opinion as the original post, BMI are generally much less competitive than before and as such I am not travelling with them anything like as often.

I have flown 10 times with BA, 14 times with Flybe, 8 times with Easyjet and 4 times with Ryanair and 4 times with SAS (at least 2 of these flights qualified for DC miles) in the same period.

Some of the flights are booked well in advance, some at the last minute so overall they just seem less competitive.

StarAllianceGold

The fact that they are also cutting capacity might help explain it. Fewer seats means fewer cheap seats (and fewer empty middle seats ).

I think five of the A321s have now left the fleet to be replaced by A319s. You can take out 65 seats on each flight the A321s previously flew (if both are in economy only layout).