lilyjosh0

Have been a member here for years but haven't posted for a long time now as unfortunately I have had only negative comments about the deteriorating service from BA on the BDA route. I fly this route 6 or 7 times a year in CW but have decided enough is enough and in future am going to fly AA via the USA. Read this letter today in the newspaper which sums up very well people's frustration as do the comments underneath. I wonder if BA know or care how badly their reputation in Bermuda has been damaged?

http://www.royalgazette.com/article/...NT03/130829914

Skipcool3

Well there was an option a few years back ZOOM..... but that wasn't popular either.

What is sooo bad? Is it not just a standard BA flight, similar to East Coast USA in terms of catering?

Globaliser

The letter seems to be written by a founder member of the "I want to have my cake and eat it" crowd. For example:-Clearly the author's complaints about BA are not actually substantial enough to cause them to get off their backside and do something else.

I notice another choice whinge:-Anyone would think that the air travel market had the characteristics of a socialist command economy.

Well, at least one of the commenters does, at any rate:-Yup, as if Bermuda could simply summon an alternative service provider to replace BA.

BahrainLad

Isn't Bermuda part of The Regions? I am sure Virgin will be there like a shot.

lilyjosh0

Globaliser - why so defensive? The BDA flight fills up from the front back, gold card holders are two a penny and I believe in terms of cost per mile it is one of the most expensive routes BA operate. I have always been very loyal to BA and trust me the service has greatly deteriorated over the last 2 years. Plenty of passengers especially in the business community are finding that it is now preferable to fly via the US which is a sad reflection on BA.

TravellerFrequently

Sorry to read of your concerns.

Have you or anyone you know raised these concerns with BA and if so, what has been the response?

Globaliser

Not defensive, just bemused that such a load of patent rubbish could be cited as summing up people's frustrations. The author of that letter doesn't seem to be someone who's decided that it's better to fly via the US, even if there are other people who have.

HIDDY

Is it such a high yielding route? Considering BA have a monopoly on it prices aren't that high on what I imagine will be an expensive route to operate.

After reading the article it seems to confirm what I heard about wealthy people who live on small islands.....they're always moaning about something because they've got bugger all else to do.

Crampedin13A

But isn't Bermuda generally grouped in with N.A

Swiss Tony

What a load of tosh.

I had a look at fares from Sept 17-24, BDA-LON

Nonstop it's $1299r/t (£840) with a travel time of around 7hrs

or you can cut that down to $1099 (£700) with a travel time of a cool 16hrs plus the US immigration & customs experience.

That puts a very small premium on your time if you can 'afford' the alternative route.

If you compare it with GCM-LON, the fares are pretty much identical - $1275 on BA but the cheapest via the US is $1108 - and that requires two stops.

I'm no BA apologist but to the people of Bermuda - drop the paranoia.

IAMORGAN

A lot of people on here are very quick to jump to BA's defence. Having said that, what you describe is normal for a route without competition. All you can really do is complain to BA or move your business elsewhere.

lilyjosh0

TF - thank you. Yes have written to BA but just get standard reply full of copy and pastes from my original letter and a bunch of avios

Hiddy - silly me that explains it then. Wealthy people moaning for no good reason. Phew!

Swiss Tony - you clear US customs and immigration in BDA but of course it takes longer to go via the US. However it is much quicker if the BA flight is cancelled/delayed yet again.

Out of my last 6 flights only 1 has had no issues and I'm not talking about trivial things such as poor catering. However much you may want to blame the passengers and their paranoia the London Gatwick 777's have reliability issues and offer a substandard level of service but the price does not reflect this. The BA flight is the only one available to the whole of Europe from BDA many passengers are from other European countries It also carries many Americans and Canadians. It's such a shame that their experience does not show them the best BA can offer and I've lost count of the number of times I have explained that BA can be great to fly with.

lilyjosh0

IANMORGAN - yes sadly having tried the first option am now trying the second

Betteronacamel

Well that's what happens when you have an effective monopoly - there's no real incentive to improve service. As you state, the flights fill up from the front (I work for a Premier Card holder who regularly uses the route) - most of these folk don't really give a t@ss about the onboard service as they are either working or sleeping, and their fares are paid for by someone else. They're only really interested in convenience. (City of) London, with its insurance/banking/legal etc links to Bermuda, is key for the island so a lot of that premium traffic naturally lands on BA's plate. I don't know how much tourist traffic genuinely goes to BDA (cruises?) as it's not exactly a cheap destination and winters in BDA are somewhat 'bracing'.

I have no idea why nobody else flies direct to BDA - I'm sure that if there was competition this flight would soon be flying from LHR and BA would pull its socks up. 7 hours direct or 16 hours via JFK....

Swiss Tony

Well look at the comments about Canadian flights. You can put good money on the fact it's a supply and demand situation.

Perhaps there's an analogy to be had with the Isle of Man here - apparently whenever they get a second operator on a route, fares do tumble but quite quickly one player backs out and the prices shoot up again.

Oh, and I wonder what the reaction of the locals would be if Thomson, Virgin and Monarch all started heading in two or three times a week? I'm sure the minor hassles with BA from time to time would pale into insignificance when compared to the shift in tourist profile.

And whilst I appreciate you clear CBP in BDA on departure if flying via the US, on the way back you still have to clear in JFK or wherever. It still doesn't mitigate the 10hrs extra travel time.