New release of ba.com (now partially deployed after long beta test period)
 

Visited ba.com and was invited to use a new beta version. Surprised it hasn't been discussed already.

Not sure how to post photos but here is the FAQs:




The new ba.com ‘beta’ experience

We are about to launch an exciting new design for our home page and flight booking experience and are giving you the chance to be one of the first people to try it out.

The new designs are all about making it easier for you to find the information you need, plan your next trip and manage your bookings. It’s easier to start a search for flights and holidays now and we’ve simplified the entire experience to guide you more naturally through the process of making a booking. In the near future, the home page will even anticipate your needs and provide you with more personal offers and information.

This is a beta trial, which means that it’s still in development. We think you’ll like the new features and designs but some things that you might be used to in the booking experience are not currently available in the beta version (see ‘What’s included?’, below).

If you get stuck, you’ll find a link at the top of the home page to the ‘original ba.com’, which will return you to our existing site and opt you out of the beta trial.

Please tell us what you think

The main reason for running a beta trial is to find out what you think. Do you like it? Does everything work? Is anything missing? That’s why we’d really appreciate you taking time to complete our feedback survey. You’ll find a link to ‘beta feedback’ at the top of the home page and throughout the booking experience.

Frequently asked questions

What is a beta trial?
A beta trial is when we make a new version of a page or service available for customers to try out while it’s still in development. It’s a great way for us to get customer feedback and it gives you a glimpse of what we have in store for ba.com. During the beta period, you may find that some things don’t work as you expect or some features are missing or moved. Please use our feedback survey to tell us about any issues you encounter.

What’s included?
You can search for any type of flight or holiday from the home page but, depending on your search criteria, you may be directed out of the beta version to complete your booking. Additionally, some features are not yet available in the new booking experience, for example the ability to:

Hold your flight price for up to 72 hours
Use the beta trial to complete a booking with young adults
Book with E-vouchers or promotional codes
Save new travel companions or payment cards
Make donations to Flying Start or Responsible Travel
Make a booking using Cash & Avios
We’ll bring you these features and more in future updates. In the meantime, to do anything not currently available in the beta version, you’ll find a link at the top of the home page to the ‘original ba.com’, which will return you to our existing site and opt you out of the beta trial.

How do I opt in?
To opt in, return to the home page and accept the invitation when it is shown to you again.

How do I opt out?
To opt out of the trial, use the link at the top of the home page to the ‘original ba.com’. You may not be able to opt in again at that point but will see the new designs again when we release them to all customers.

Are my bookings real?
Yes. Although this is a beta test, all bookings are real and payment will be taken where a confirmation is provided.

Is it secure?
Absolutely, the payment process is completely secure. Protecting your personal data is our highest priority within the ba.com booking process. Our newly designed payment pages offer the same level of security that you have come to expect from British Airways.

Is the trial accessible?
The accessibility of ba.com is important to us and we work with several organisations that help disabled people to use computers and the internet. The beta trial is not fully accessible yet and we advise you to opt out of the trial if you wish to use a fully accessible version of ba.com. Accessibility will become available in one of our future updates to the trial.

Welcome to FlyerTalk dyson. It's good to have you here. Thank you for bringing up this topic. Unfortunately your picture did not load.

I have seen a couple of designs for the new BA and I was underwhelmed. I am not sure if either design will be used of course, and I gave feedback when asked.

I think that the site has some inefficiencies at the moment but the new simplified interface I saw would not be so useful to the power user community we have here on FT.

Personally I would prefer the investment was directed at fixing the many problems in the backend.

I have had it from Thursday. Underwhelming would be a touch polite, a waste of time and money.

What does this actually mean ? How is the current process not simple ?? The mind boggles...

3 words - 'Captcha' and 'Log In' :D

I find the trend, not only from BA, to be towards obscuring as much as possible in the booking process. An example here being the exact rules and conditions for the fare you are about to purchase. Sure you can find it by clicking around before pulling the trigger but it's getting easier to be fooled if not careful. I'd also like the exact fare bucket to be clearly displayed. It's not at all obvious to the uninitiated where to see it.

I await the details with dread.

Like most BA 'improvements', they tend to be negative. With practice I can work my way through the various sub-menus and have learned to accept that any backward move deletes anything you had input previously.

I think it's rubbish, and has been for ages. [/rant]

I assumed that the current ba.com was still in Beta...

:D
It seems to me that every 'new and improved' website has fewer options for more complex tasks (for BA think multi city), just another company dumbing down their website even more - probably.
I can't comment on the beta as I am not booking anything . Just a generalised comment taking into account the last EC homepage 'improvement' ;)

Multi city looks as if it's unchanged since 2003 or so...

I would imagine 90% of customers have no interest in the fare bucket and more than a half wouldn't know what it was.

So the counter argument is simplicity is key.

I do agree the terms of your booking should be clear though.

I don't like the layout and find it confusing to find what I need.

I remember thinking "how can they have gotten away with this feature" (can't remember what it was) and swapped back to the old version.

So the only positive thing I can see so far about the beta site is that is doesn't dump me into captcha and "are you trying to sign into an onbusiness account" all the time.

Other than that, it seems to be a slightly prettier more screen-wasting layout to make basic choices, which then dumps you into the previous layout and system for actually choosing flights, booking and seeing your BAEC account.

Played a little just now and it's far more convuluted, at least on my phone.
Seems to take far longer to do a simple search such as LHR-MAN, and then you've the "scroll down for flight, car, car+hotel etc" before it even searches.

I need to play more with it and compare side by side to make a decision on it but at present, I find the old system more user friendly.