BA short haul product vs. the LCCs
 

I've been doing some thinking about the short haul "enhancements" that BA have made over recent years.

I'm sure most people would agree that there is very little to differentiate BA's short haul product with that offered by easyJet and Ryanair, for example. Indeed, it seems to me that apart from a free drink and snack, BA offer little more than charging a premium for flying from Heathrow.

However, I'm struggling to think of how he short haul product has been "enhanced". There have been changes to the food provision, the introduction of the new short haul cabin and the optional HBO fares, but what else? If I'm not mistaken, easyJet and Ryanair also now have allocated seating and have made themselves more traveller friendly.

So is it a case of the LCCs improving or BA "enhancing away" that has made the short haul experience so similar across the board? Do any of you think that BA could make changes or proper improvements to short haul to improve the customer experience and still make a profit at the end of the day (though I do know that BA short haul isn't profit making...)?

I'd be interested to hear your thoughts....

Jamie

I'd say for non-frequent flyers there's no longer much difference. Frequent flyers get the benefits of BAEC. My gold membership make flying shorthaul a much more pleasurable experience.

But for the occasional price concious flyer they must come out about equal. BA and the LCCs both give discounts for not checking in bags, most LCCs now allow you to select a seat for a fee (like BA, but BA allows you to select for free at the 24 hour mark, I believe EZY allocates at random). BA has complimentary catering (but can amount to an individually wrapped crisp on shorthaul) and a fairly decent bar selection but the LCCs have better variety and selection because they need to encourage you to pay for it.

If you want lounge access and are flying from T5 you need status or business class. Most other terminals and airports (including the ones the LCCs fly from) have option of a paid lounge.

Some people may find LHR/LCY most convenient, so BA wins. Others may be closer to LGW (so BA may be an option but more likely EZY will fly where you want to go) or LTN, STN or one of the regional airports where the LCC may fly direct.

For me personally: I prefer BA and I prefer LHR in general. However, EZY generally also have good crews and when it makes sense to I actually enjoy flying them. I've always paid for the front row, fast track and speedy boarding, bought something decent to eat and a few beers and it's not bad at all. These days I will look at EZY whenever the BA price drifts into crazy territory, that's only been a couple of times at most.

Ryanair have tried this year to be more passenger friendly and finally started aiming at business passengers. Not sure how well it's going because they don't fly to/from anywhere I want to go. But if they did I'd now consider them.

If you have any concerns about punctuality, then flying Eazyjet makes sense, particularly if you can access Gatwick, and particularly on Domestic sectors, which are the first to get binned by BA when there are problems.
Cityflyer stopping ABZ flights was bad news for me and my BAEC tier points.

Pre-purchase of an over wing exit seat on EZY secures leg-room AND priority boarding... And a choice of hot (ok warm) catering if required on board.
The paid lounge at Gatwick is way ahead of GC at T5

Looking forward to comparing Ryanair business plus out and BA CE back to Warsaw in a couple of weeks. Got front row on Ryanair.

I live closer to LTN, making Easyjet an obvious option for domestic and short haul at the expense of TP/Avios (although my majority come from CW TATL flights. )

A bit of a game changer for me is the Easyjet allow moving to earlier same day flights if space allows. Great if I turn up at GLA early if meetings end early or traffic is light.

Low cost airlines are great but only if you live near one of their bases. They're no use to me when wanting to get to GLA from MAD. So with their vastly superior network and schedules it's BA all the way.

The bulk of the flying just care about getting from A to B and not about the flying experience. Price is the driving factor behind their choice.
What is a mainline airline going to do? Follow LCC on price or see planes flying empty?

People do weird things to save a few pounds. Leaving home a 4am to get a flight, travelling across town etc which I think is mad. Mind you I will drive a couple of miles out of my way to save a penny on petrol so…...

- It's still cheaper for London dwellers to get out to LHR via Tube than any of the expensive train journeys to the LCC hubs (e.g. Stansted at a ridiculous £30, LHR by tube is about £6 rtn).

- BA service short haul service is better than Ryanair which usually involve tired crews who sometimes aren't very friendly. I remember a flight a year or so ago in which I was flying to Krakow with Ryanair from STN. The CC at the front of the plane looked shattered and it was only 08:40 (I was on row 1). One of them had a convo with his counterpart at the back of the plane via phone and clearly didn't understand what they were saying, and had to call back to confirm. In an emergency I can't say I would be that confident in them.

- If you are left stranded in a remote Spanish airport (Like I was in Almeria by Ryanair), BA are more likely to look after you. I was told by Ryanair to rebook my flight online (didn't fancy standing at the back of a queue of 180 people at the Swissport desk). The next flight with availability was 3 weeks away. When I recently had a problem at Granada, BA got an an engineer from Malaga to fix the plane and laid on food, rather than cancel the service. Despite BA's recent obsession with cost cutting, on the balance of probabilities, BA are more likely to provide you with overnight accommodation than some of their LCC competitors, apart from maybe easy jet.

MAD-EDI on easyJet and take a tram/train (or indeed the direct bus to Buchanan Bus Station?). Can't take any longer in total than the LHR transfer?

BA wins for me

choice of 3 London airports LHR&LCY most importantly

Yes but that means hanging about MAD for 10 hours.

I refused to fly LCC after a couple of experiences with the Ryanair scrum and easy speedy boarding. It truly was a horrible experience. But now with allocated seating and some better catering and extra leg room seats (especially the Monarch model) I think the LCC offering can actually be better then BA Y.

I leave home at around 4am to get to Heathrow for early morning BA flights, and sometimes I save a few pounds by travelling across town to fly from LCY :D

As someone who flies from there regions, there's very little to differentiate between the cabin comfort on BA shorthaul/domestic and the LCCs, so my choice is based purely on destination availability, overall travel time, and price. Only if I particularly need the TPs would I also consider enduring connecting through London.

For me LGW has to be £30 cheaper and STN £80 cheaper even to consider them. But BA rarely gets my business because LH is usually significantly cheaper (I'm usually flying to Germany or the US), and its offering is very similar to BA's and the lounge much better.