BA long-haul baggage fees
Aug 14, 2018, 2:25 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2013
Posts: 17
BA long-haul baggage fees
Apologies if this has been discussed before. It seems that since April BA has introduced hand-luggage only fares in economy to some long-haul destinations e.g. London to Mauritius. The result of this is that the advertised economy fare then jumps by £30 to £75 when you add a bag. Does anyone know of a way to search for prices excluding the hand luggage only option ("economy basic") to establish the real price? I can't find an option on BA and Kayak hasn't added this yet.
Aug 14, 2018, 3:43 am
#2
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: AMS
Programs: BAEC Silver, Flying Blue Gold, TK M&S Nobody
Posts: 2,471
Apologies if this has been discussed before. It seems that since April BA has introduced hand-luggage only fares in economy to some long-haul destinations e.g. London to Mauritius. The result of this is that the advertised economy fare then jumps by £30 to £75 when you add a bag. Does anyone know of a way to search for prices excluding the hand luggage only option ("economy basic") to establish the real price? I can't find an option on BA and Kayak hasn't added this yet.
Aug 14, 2018, 3:51 am
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2013
Posts: 17
Aug 14, 2018, 3:56 am
#4
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: AMS
Programs: BAEC Silver, Flying Blue Gold, TK M&S Nobody
Posts: 2,471
Aug 14, 2018, 4:02 am
#5
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2013
Posts: 17
Sadly not because the first bag is randomly priced (same flight and same destination is anywhere from £30 to £75 depending on the day) whereas the second bag is a standard amount that applies to all flights. It would give me a closer figure though, and it is quite a cunning idea.
Aug 14, 2018, 4:20 am
#7
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: AMS
Programs: BAEC Silver, Flying Blue Gold, TK M&S Nobody
Posts: 2,471
Sadly not because the first bag is randomly priced (same flight and same destination is anywhere from £30 to £75 depending on the day) whereas the second bag is a standard amount that applies to all flights. It would give me a closer figure though, and it is quite a cunning idea.
Aug 14, 2018, 4:35 am
#9
Moderator, Iberia Airlines, Airport Lounges, and Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Feb 2010
Programs: BA Lifetime Gold; Flying Blue Life Platinum; LH Sen.; Hilton Diamond; Kemal Kebabs Prized Customer
Posts: 63,791
I'm quite amused by this in a way: the reason for these Basic fares is precisely so they show up in search engine results! I see them as loss-leaders, I don't honestly think BA covers their marginal costs on a £281 return fare from LHR-BOS, so I don't think anyone is actually supposed to fly on these fares - but they are amazing value if you can do so. Put against that - specifically via a search engine - some outfit like WOW air (sic) which charges around £275 return, where you are only allowed a single "Personal Item" bag - admittedly this is bigger than BA's size limits for their second bag. So the BA equivalent to someone with status is a reasonable cabin baggage allowance and free seat selection.
If you use Find Our Cheapest Flights (or Cheapest Fares on some BA.com variants) then you can get a feel for what the final price will be, even if you have to add £60 or whatever to the final fare. If you have access to ExpertFlyer or similar tools, the Basic longhaul fares - e.g. OLN2Z8B4 - often end "B4" ( with a note in the fare rules saying something like "SPECIAL ECONOMY HAND BAGGAGE ONLY FARES"), whereas the next fare up, ending "M4" will have a baggage allowance. This is a massive simplification, it's a complex area.
The other thing you can do is that if you look at Find Our Cheapest Flights you will notice some routes don't have these fares at all, so there is no LCC competition on that route. So you can look at their fares and dates, the nearby city will often be there or there abouts.
If you use Find Our Cheapest Flights (or Cheapest Fares on some BA.com variants) then you can get a feel for what the final price will be, even if you have to add £60 or whatever to the final fare. If you have access to ExpertFlyer or similar tools, the Basic longhaul fares - e.g. OLN2Z8B4 - often end "B4" ( with a note in the fare rules saying something like "SPECIAL ECONOMY HAND BAGGAGE ONLY FARES"), whereas the next fare up, ending "M4" will have a baggage allowance. This is a massive simplification, it's a complex area.
The other thing you can do is that if you look at Find Our Cheapest Flights you will notice some routes don't have these fares at all, so there is no LCC competition on that route. So you can look at their fares and dates, the nearby city will often be there or there abouts.
Aug 14, 2018, 5:09 am
#10
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2013
Posts: 17
I completely get that, but it is not all that useful when it is not something I am looking to buy. It is even less useful when the pricing seems to vary so much.
Aug 14, 2018, 5:29 am
#12
Join Date: Feb 2011
Posts: 5,797
I'm quite amused by this in a way: the reason for these Basic fares is precisely so they show up in search engine results! I see them as loss-leaders, I don't honestly think BA covers their marginal costs on a £281 return fare from LHR-BOS, so I don't think anyone is actually supposed to fly on these fares - but they are amazing value if you can do so. Put against that - specifically via a search engine - some outfit like WOW air (sic) which charges around £275 return, where you are only allowed a single "Personal Item" bag - admittedly this is bigger than BA's size limits for their second bag. So the BA equivalent to someone with status is a reasonable cabin baggage allowance and free seat selection.
If you use Find Our Cheapest Flights (or Cheapest Fares on some BA.com variants) then you can get a feel for what the final price will be, even if you have to add £60 or whatever to the final fare. If you have access to ExpertFlyer or similar tools, the Basic longhaul fares - e.g. OLN2Z8B4 - often end "B4" ( with a note in the fare rules saying something like "SPECIAL ECONOMY HAND BAGGAGE ONLY FARES"), whereas the next fare up, ending "M4" will have a baggage allowance. This is a massive simplification, it's a complex area.
The other thing you can do is that if you look at Find Our Cheapest Flights you will notice some routes don't have these fares at all, so there is no LCC competition on that route. So you can look at their fares and dates, the nearby city will often be there or there abouts.
If you use Find Our Cheapest Flights (or Cheapest Fares on some BA.com variants) then you can get a feel for what the final price will be, even if you have to add £60 or whatever to the final fare. If you have access to ExpertFlyer or similar tools, the Basic longhaul fares - e.g. OLN2Z8B4 - often end "B4" ( with a note in the fare rules saying something like "SPECIAL ECONOMY HAND BAGGAGE ONLY FARES"), whereas the next fare up, ending "M4" will have a baggage allowance. This is a massive simplification, it's a complex area.
The other thing you can do is that if you look at Find Our Cheapest Flights you will notice some routes don't have these fares at all, so there is no LCC competition on that route. So you can look at their fares and dates, the nearby city will often be there or there abouts.
Aug 14, 2018, 6:04 am
#13
Moderator, Iberia Airlines, Airport Lounges, and Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Feb 2010
Programs: BA Lifetime Gold; Flying Blue Life Platinum; LH Sen.; Hilton Diamond; Kemal Kebabs Prized Customer
Posts: 63,791
Aug 14, 2018, 6:06 am
#14
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: Newcastle (NCL)
Programs: BA Silver
Posts: 70
Aug 14, 2018, 6:06 am
#15
Suspended
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: DCA
Programs: UA US CO AA DL FL
Posts: 50,262
Frankly it's about time the regulator stepped in to put a stop to it. The total price is supposed to be shown from the start of the booking and twisting it with long haul HBO fares is exactly what the law is supposed to prevent. The budget airlines have fallen foul of it in the past but that seems to have been forgotten.
There is no need of a regulatory nanny to step in. Third-party opaque websites are just that. Lovely to use as price-shopping comparisons and perhaps useful for sophisticated travelers who may have the luxury of time. But, nothing excuses a failure to do business with a merchant, including BA, without consulting the merchant, in this case by reviewing its website.
The notion that the "full fare" must show the cost of bags is nonsense. As a significant number of travelers choose to travel without checked luggage, even when it is included, forcing them to pay for a service they do not want, is the kind of anti-consumer effort cloaked in disclosure language which works to increase prices. Why on earth would someone who not only can but prefers to travel with the standard cabin allowance, not save whatever it is that he can save, so long as he appreciates the differences. The same can be said of flexibility and many other features of air travel.
Beyond that, 24-hour cancellation provides even a further backstop for the careless.