angatol

.....

HIDDY

An M&S cafe charged me £6 just for a tea and sandwiches last time I was in. So once you add on the scone jam cream sweet treat and a couple of Glenlivets I would say £15 of value isn't far off the mark.

I amended my post to include economy. In my case familiarity with what's included in your ticket is mostly why I book BA. I had looked at flying MAD-EDI with Easyjet however their time of departure nor the whole ticket price could in any way compete with BA/IB.

headingwest

Yeah, sorry, I jumped the gun a bit there as I was distracted!

So for me I can fly Ryanair from BTS which is about 20 minutes on the bus. Return flights with them can be as cheap as 80 EUR. The cheapest flights with BA from Vienna (which is 50 minutes by bus) are for 134 EUR. So it's about 54 EUR more for a return flight. But it's not much of a brainer is it? Ryanair or British Airways. Plus BA flies to LHR which is near my hometown, whereas STN is much further, so it cost more in travelling once in England.

Cymro

I'd value the Avios at 1p each and the TPs at £1 each, at least as long as I'm interested in a higher tier status.

In addition, simply flying ex-LHR rather than ex-LGW saves me £12 each way as well as a little time, and even on a short haul I'd suggest that the food, drink and lounge benefits are probably worth another £10 even when not planning to use them to the full.

So EasyJet would have to be at least £30 cheaper each way on an objective basis. Ex-LTN or STN and those numbers rise significantly.

louie-m

.....

louie-m

Nothing. Well, maybe £5, but no more for the same flight times. Am equidistant from LGW and STN and happy to fly from either, usually Easyjet. Mind you, tried the new Ryanair last year after a gap of about ten years (after a Ryanair employee called the Spanish police after hubby stood his ground when the employee was being a complete a**, said policeman apologising for his countryman's behaviour later), as no other airline flew anywhere near where we were going, and it was fine, perfectly fine. Both Easyjet and Ryanair are at least honest about what they are, not like BA who pretend to be a full service airline whilst generally providing a budget airline experience. I'm trying Norwegian to Spain in March to see what they are like.

binman

10 TPS would not swing it but it might just hit the 4 sectors on BA metal. Most long haul flights now are other one world so the 4 BA metal might make me think about £50 difference. If not an issue then price would win out if it ment flying LH to FRA rather than BA or even little red to Edinburgh. Most foreign ops at LHR are far more reliable than BA

+1

Fly Baby

With my own money? In Y? Nothing. Thats to say I'd simply look at the route I wanted to fly and choose the airline that best suits my needs.

If two airlines served the route and one was BA, I'd still almost certainly choose the most convenient and cheapest. It could end up being BA but it wouldn't be my default choice.

As a amatter of fact BMI Regional sent me an email about cheap flights to MUC from BRS. Will happily now try them as I've recently been told about an old family related war grave at Durnbach that has never been visited...

dc2447

what do you mean there is other carriers?

bigbaldbairn

For me flying out of EDI or GLA and paying for myself in ECON

Shorthaul / Europe - preference definitely LCC on direct flights if available, if indirect only option then would pay up to 50 quid more for BA due to Gold benefits (particularly lounge access when connecting in LHR)

Longhaul - due to very few longhaul directs from Scotland would probably pay up to 100 quid each more for connections in LHR with BA due to Gold benefits (luggage and lounge access main attractions)

Without Gold benefits I doubt I'd pay any more to fly with BA as the basic offering really is hard to distinguish from the better LCC like Easyjet on shorthaul or other national carriers on longhaul

HIDDY

That depends on your circumstances.

If you can fly direct at a time that suits you for less cost than BA all well and good. However most people in the UK don't have the advantage of living near an airport where you can fly to a large amount of destinations with a low cost airline so they have to connect. This is where a full service airline like BA comes into their own as they will check you and your bags straight through to your final destination and look after you should you miss-connect. Some low cost airlines refuse to fly unaccompanied children and even disabled people.
There's far more to being a full service airline than giving you a free ham and cheese sandwich and a beer.

jonas123

Flying shorthaul, I view flying as a commoditised product so generally cheapest overall package wins. I work for BA and as such can get some reasonably cheap tickets, but I often find myself booking easyJet or Ryanair shorthaul as they're a few quid cheaper. I live equidistance from LGW and LHR so if it's an after work flight, I'd pay more for LHR. Otherwise I'm indifferent and as long as the flight is at a sensible time, price wins.

However, I am careful to make sure I work out the full cost of the trip (cost of transport to airport, baggage, food etc.) unlike a lot of people!

Fly Baby

A good point. BA does at least make it transparent about what's included and what's not right at the start.

shorthauldad

For s/h, is this really true?

EDIT: just look at EZY's route map...

Flexible preferences

No flights from LHR though.