LTN Phobia

I think JL do OK and put more effort into things (including food) on European or longer routes in Y.

However, if try their "short" long haul Y and you might feel differently. The seat width don't tend to bother me much as I'm very 'narrow-bodied' so to speak, so I might have a different perspective from most people though. Legroom and food tend to bother me most on rare occasions when I fly Y. On the JL flights there was nowhere for my feet (despite my feet being international size 36 - probably some of the smallest 'standard' adult sizes) because of the IFE box, and the legroom was very poor and felt like I was eating my knees.

But it was the silly food that got me most on shorter JL long haul flights in Y I've seen the BA food down the back despite not flying down the back on them and at least they looked like food.

Not to mention the complete lack thereof, on domestics. Not even BoB.

I also heard that they still have the dreaded slopes for a 'bed' in long haul J on some shorter leisure ones.

Anyway, my point being that there are some airlines with night and day service gap between F and Y but works OK with that (extreme case being the gap between domestic Y and F on JL - effectively zero service in Y, vs very nice seat and a nice hot meal in F, even on a 1-hour sector).

sunshinebob

Lexus is a premium brand which sporned from a humble beginning as a Toyota offshoot in the 1980's. At the time Toyota was producing many cheap as chips pretty boring cars and many felt that they were moving away from their core business and would crash n burn.

Financial data of Lexus operations are not disclosed publicly. However, automotive analysts estimate that the Lexus division contributes a disproportionately larger share of Toyota's profits, relative to its limited production and sales volume. Interviews with retired division officials indicate that depending on sales volume, vehicle product development cycles, and exchange rates, Lexus sales have accounted for as much as half of Toyota's annual U.S. profit in certain years.

However whilst this model does prove companies can run in two different markets at the same time doing it successfully on one airplane will take a whole new level of thinking I just dont see at Waterside.

orbitmic

I agree the regional routes are much less good, though arguably that's true of both Y and J! I was talking about the long (Europe, America, Oceania). Regional is very hit and miss.

MiraculousM

I havent gone through all the posts yet but i stand by the following, as someone that travels in economy with no status. I am very much aware that i am not his target audience and i do not get him all the revenue.

- There is very rarely any "cheap" flights on BA. I am very well versed at booking things and there has NEVER been a flight i have been on that has been cheaper than the LCCs. £21 to alicante? Lets be real. This exists as one ticket on the flight and you end up paying way more (and this factors in getting to stansted etc).
- BA is not a LCC- for a while, i would avoid air france / KLM because of their terrible reputation but i have now started booking with them because my theory is "at least it isnt as bad as BA".
- The thing that will make me stop flying with them? when they get rid of the "personal item" which i truly believe will be next. They have taken so much away from us as economy passengers that i actually dont want to go on their planes anymore.

FlyerTalker688786

I am seen as a BA critic. But to be fair, BA had a sale in late Spring (can not remember when but if you need I can give you the date from my old emails and posts), that London Gatwick to Alicante, Malaga, PMI and Gran Canaria for £24-25 to match Ryanair and others from Gatwick. And it was widely available through out the year (2017) and flights when it was on sale. No limit on per flight basis. Definitely more than 1 seats per flight. I am just saying that £21 could happen if the competition is so heavy. But I would say BA is stupid not to charge £45 as they can get away with £45 per ticket with their 'premium' feel. But to be forced to match LCC price to compete is not very good business strategy.

1010101

I probably should have said there is nothing wrong with it, if you can do it, but i don't think BA can.

They will never match the cost base of the LCCs and in their attempts they have cut the premium end so much they are driving customers away there too. The yields say it all.


Most Lexus drivers have no idea they actually bought a Toyota. I have no idea how BA expect to create two separate brands on the same aircraft.

corporate-wage-slave

I must admit I can't find a £21 to ALC, but AGP (Málaga) is £27.10. BA doesn't do the "one ticket" only trick, when it is doing very cheap tickets there will be initially at least 9 for sale, as this screenshot demonstrates.




What you will notice is a £1 base fare, and from LGW this isn't unusual, and nor just confined to AGP either.

And though I fully accept you have never been on a flight where BA is cheaper than easyJet, I most certainly have. Moreover, have a look at this:



The above is the easyJet services to AGP on the same day (middle column is Saturday, left is Friday, right is Sunday). The cheapest fare is £50, the next cheapest, on Sunday, is £38. Now there is a time of day issue here, the BA service departs later, but still this suggests that BA is successfully competing. If selecting for 9 passengers, the easyJet total fare is £364, the cost per passenger goes down in this case, but still the cheapest option that day is BA at £243 total.

Now this is one handpicked example, and there will be plenty of examples going the other way, but where BA and easyJet directly compete on service then BA is fairly aggressive in competing on price too.

T8191

Thanks for taking the time to illustrate that, C-W-S ... very interesting. ^

Whilst you obviously compare HBO fares, in accordance with your usual travel pattern, I guess a family on easyJet could pick up some hold baggage fees on top.

MiraculousM

thank you for illustrating. I am actually glad to be proved wrong. Unfortunately my destinations are to there so it still doesnt benefit me as the cost of places i want to go are considerably more than ryanair/easyjet.

Also, BA have that awful "if you dont use the outbound you cannot use the return" clause in their return flights. They need to address this in economy if they are planning on actually being a LCC.

As i said before and previously on this board.. i have lost all hope with the airline and hold terrible resentment to walsh and cruz for essentially ruining what i used to view as the best airline to travel with

srbrenna

Agreed. The thing about these articles is it is continually highlighting the issues at BA so that even infrequent travellers will be on the lookout. What they are creating is a lot more pax, who otherwise would not have noticed service reductions, that either notice or complain to others about BA.

But anyway, who cares about that when the bottom line is good. Just look at the numbers, Guv. Personally, I don't want a sarnie on a flight so therefore nobody else can possibly want one. I can even point out some days when BA are cheaper than one of their LCC competitors.

Here's another article. It is t saying that BA is great either..

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/briti...-costs-jackson

seat 13a

Good - and informed - article in the link... worrying that BA isn't listening to its own focus groups...

LTN Phobia

You could book two one-ways though?
Doing that with CE tends to push the fares up very high but with ET it doesn't seem to affect the fare hugely?

(Long haul is a different matter but the range of LCC long haul options are rather limited from the UK anyway.)

Cap'n Benj

Hahaha

I take your point there was no disputing it, I was trying to put a value, to you, onto that wifi and live TV. I will assume that your obtuse avoidance of the question weakens your point as the reason you don't want to answer the question!

MiraculousM

But this is for unexpected changes- For example.. last May i had a return flight to brussels booked- a dear friend from Belgium passed away close to the trip and i wanted to attend his funeral.

I was told that because i purchased a return flight, i could not go a couple of days early and use the flight back, resulting in me having to buy new tickets.

This would not have happened with a LCC and i do not plan on paying even more money to buy two seperate flights everytime i use BA.

There is nothing about this airline any longer that makes me want to use it over a LCC or tell my friends to use it either.

LTN Phobia

You could have brought the outbound flight forward with a change fee though?

I guess it's all about what suits the individual consumer and BA no longer works for you and perhaps many other people.