coolflyer

Does anyone have any idea of how the Oakland route is performing? Has 4 daily services to the SF Bay (SFO x2, SJC and OAK) created a surplus in capacity or are all the routes performing well?

I know the OAK route was a direct response to Norwegian however there always seems to be award availability (in all cabins) and fares in Y are extremely competitive (although often more than Norwegian who advertise their 'basic' fare as the headline figure).

On a side note, do you think we'll see BA test the water with 'basic' long haul fares from Gatwick soon? I notice IAG have just done this with Aer Lingus from Dublin? This would seem to put BA at a more level playing field with Norwegian when people are searching online by price.

craigthemif

I think the point of OAK is to make it painful for Norwegian, not for BA to make much money. Makes perfect sense to let members burn their Avios on this "throw-away" route to get some Avios liability off the books...

gw76

Anectdotal tales of empty cabins and low loads. Havent looked at official CAA figures (though would be hard to tease out the split between each carrier). Any 'dirty tricks' wont be sustainable for too long I would guess.

710 77345

It's being dropped one day a week next year, so can't be a roaring success.

tedcruz

It is for those wanting to go to SFO on a cheaper option, from LGW. Or it is for those who connect through LGW.

vectismanpaul

Just checked for July 2018 and shown to be operating 3 weekly. I do not think it would ever be maintained at weekly.

madfish

They meant one flight has been dropped each week rather than now only weekly. Other routes have taken its place.

puchong

Well, Norwegian has just announced LGW-LAX service; so they might well have the last laugh on the West Coast routes.

fozziedoggie

Of course, have you looked at the BA co-pay for an award ticket...

Crampedin13A

I think you are correct. The same way BA/AC made Vancouver to London in biz ridiculously cheap to drive Virgin out and they succeeded

cpdc1030

I've only flown the route once in late June, and it was totally full in all cabins. Doesn't mean it's making money though. I almost felt bad for flying BA rather than Norwegian as this route really is quite cynical...

I have also flow Norwegian on the route and was very happy with the service provided. At times, the overall airfare on DY is similar to the taxes/fees charged by BA for economy Avios redemptions.

Still somewhat amazed at the ability of the Bay Area to absorb so much UK traffic...up to nine flights daily now for SFO OAK and SJC when you count BA, VS, UA and DY.

enzian

The Bay Area can absorb this much traffic, in part due to the Google and Apple employees who fly to London on business, and also because some of us on the West Coast find more success with Avios bookings in CW in the Bay Area. We are in the lounge at SJC now, flying Club World to LHR fro here because I was for the first time unable to get the two seats in CW from Seattle the moment they were released, 355 days ahead. My husband was happy with this as he wants to fly a 787.

As for the Oakland route, it would be a viable option for us the next time we fly to Venice. Most BA flights from the West Coast do not arrive at LHR in time to make the morning flight to Venice from LHR. So one must do the dreaded LHR to LGW transfer. We won't do that again, so we fly into a different airport like Zurich and spend some time getting to Venice by a scenic route on the train. But with the Oakland flight, we could fly into LGW with no worries about the transfer between airports.

dnajockey

Have flown the route once and my wife twice this year with two further trips planned. Loads have been light each time, especially in J. Next spring one of the rotations is dropped and next summer a second leaving two flights a week from I think the end of May.

dqtvsound

We were booked on an OAK to LGW on Tuesday 5th June next year, Club World on a 2 for 1 Avios redemption, and were arbitrarily moved to the 4th. Phoned call centre and they moved us to a SFO to LHR flight on the 5th. All good so far. We had paid to reserve seats both ways, which is GLA to London return and outgoing leg to EWR. The call centre and Twitter between them have now managed to cancel the seat reservations on both transatlantic legs. Need to speak to someone other than the call centre to get this sorted, is there a good number to call? Any help much appreciated.

KARFA

I am afraid your choices are call centre or twitter.