Akbar Al Baker: “Marks out of ten for British Airways? Two.”
Apr 19, 2021, 5:58 am
#46
Join Date: Apr 2015
Programs: Some
Posts: 5,252
Yes and no, a pretty sizeable percentage of BA's passengers are O&D - what percentage of QR's passengers are flying to DOH and not connecting? <5%? In any case, I made no comparison to BA.
Apr 19, 2021, 7:04 am
#47
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: London, UK
Programs: BA Gold, SQ Gold, KQ Platinum, IHG Diamond Ambassador, Hilton Gold, Marriott Silver, Accor Silver
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Firstly, QR J passengers do get lounge access depending on the fare they have booked. But I do agree it’s wrong to not include lounge access for J class passengers. BA even during ‘normal’ times will not pay for lounge access in different places around the world or kept closing down lounges with all sorts of excuses. A good example is Tegel airport. BA closed the lounge 6 months before they moved to the new airport while keep asking on average 80 euros for the J experience...! ( talking about online upgrade offer)
The Berlin example is a dubious one - the lounge at TXL closed in March when all other BA lounges did as the world went into lockdown. Travel was only possible from the UK from June / July for most people, so there was a limited window of 3-4 months with no lounge access - and this was the case at most airports over the summer as passenger numbers remained low. In normal times, and by normal I mean pre-pandemic, very few BA destinations didn't offer a lounge. We will see third party and oneworld lounges come back as passenger numbers pick up.
Apr 19, 2021, 9:12 am
#48
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Argentina
Posts: 40,211
Is he dead? He seems to have been very quiet of late...more's the pity.
His ''Nobody wants to sit beside a really fat b****** on board. We have been frankly astonished at the number of customers who don’t only want to tax fat people but torture them.” was a cracker!!
His ''Nobody wants to sit beside a really fat b****** on board. We have been frankly astonished at the number of customers who don’t only want to tax fat people but torture them.” was a cracker!!
Apr 19, 2021, 10:52 am
#49
Join Date: Oct 2019
Programs: BAEC Silver, Volare Executive / Skyteam Elite+
Posts: 672
Yes, I'm aware that it's 'only' the cheaper QR Business Class fares that exclude lounge access, and that's exactly my point - BA don't limit lounge access based on fare paid.
The Berlin example is a dubious one - the lounge at TXL closed in March when all other BA lounges did as the world went into lockdown. Travel was only possible from the UK from June / July for most people, so there was a limited window of 3-4 months with no lounge access - and this was the case at most airports over the summer as passenger numbers remained low. In normal times, and by normal I mean pre-pandemic, very few BA destinations didn't offer a lounge. We will see third party and oneworld lounges come back as passenger numbers pick up.
The Berlin example is a dubious one - the lounge at TXL closed in March when all other BA lounges did as the world went into lockdown. Travel was only possible from the UK from June / July for most people, so there was a limited window of 3-4 months with no lounge access - and this was the case at most airports over the summer as passenger numbers remained low. In normal times, and by normal I mean pre-pandemic, very few BA destinations didn't offer a lounge. We will see third party and oneworld lounges come back as passenger numbers pick up.
Apr 19, 2021, 2:40 pm
#51
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: LHR, LGW
Programs: BAEC
Posts: 3,436
Apr 19, 2021, 5:09 pm
#52
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: London
Programs: Hilton, IHG - BA, GA, LH, QR, SV, TK
Posts: 17,008
Al Baker was set on installing premium economy, but the plans got stalled/shelved. Instead he opted for the whacko idea of business-lite - unbundling business-class fares to offer cheaper versions sans lounge and seat reservations. They duly stripped out the frills but forgot to reduce the fares.
....in his interview he talks about his competitors ripping off passengers with premium economy
....in his interview he talks about his competitors ripping off passengers with premium economy
Apr 21, 2021, 7:07 am
#54
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: UK
Programs: BAEC GGL/Gold, Flying Blue Silver, All Accor Gold, Hilton Honours Diamond,
Posts: 527
AAB's comments are always good for a laugh.
BA customer service is far from perfect but has dealt with all my Covid19 flight cancellation refunds and changes fairly & promptly.
QR Covid19 customer service by comparison have been the worst I've encountered. Only airline where (after numerous promises to action refunds followed by nothing over months) I have been forced to claim credit card charge backs with even the credit card company failing to get a response from QR.
QR customer service is 1 out of 10. Their business product used to be good but the removal of lounge access on restricted fares has made the product uncompetitive in many instances.
BA customer service is far from perfect but has dealt with all my Covid19 flight cancellation refunds and changes fairly & promptly.
QR Covid19 customer service by comparison have been the worst I've encountered. Only airline where (after numerous promises to action refunds followed by nothing over months) I have been forced to claim credit card charge backs with even the credit card company failing to get a response from QR.
QR customer service is 1 out of 10. Their business product used to be good but the removal of lounge access on restricted fares has made the product uncompetitive in many instances.
Apr 21, 2021, 7:27 am
#55
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: UK
Programs: BA Gold, HHonours, SPG, AVIS
Posts: 526
AAB's comments are always good for a laugh.
BA customer service is far from perfect but has dealt with all my Covid19 flight cancellation refunds and changes fairly & promptly.
QR Covid19 customer service by comparison have been the worst I've encountered. Only airline where (after numerous promises to action refunds followed by nothing over months) I have been forced to claim credit card charge backs with even the credit card company failing to get a response from QR.
QR customer service is 1 out of 10. Their business product used to be good but the removal of lounge access on restricted fares has made the product uncompetitive in many instances.
BA customer service is far from perfect but has dealt with all my Covid19 flight cancellation refunds and changes fairly & promptly.
QR Covid19 customer service by comparison have been the worst I've encountered. Only airline where (after numerous promises to action refunds followed by nothing over months) I have been forced to claim credit card charge backs with even the credit card company failing to get a response from QR.
QR customer service is 1 out of 10. Their business product used to be good but the removal of lounge access on restricted fares has made the product uncompetitive in many instances.
If ABB's comments are are marker for Sean Doyle and the BA service is improved, we all benefit
Apr 24, 2021, 2:48 pm
#56
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Glasgow or London or elsewhere
Programs: BA Gold, Hilton Diamond, IHG Rewards Spire Ambassador
Posts: 142
It's not just short haul IMO. Look at BA's most important market UK-US.
Club Suite is merely levelling the playing field hardware-wise. The US legacies have had a similar product for years. (Not in 100% of aircraft, sure. Nevertheless, BA is late to the party.) And if you look at other cabin classes, I'd say US legacies are clearly ahead of BA.
There are good reasons for this. US legacies make profits in the billions by partnering up with banks. That is simply not possible in Europe due to capped interchange fees on credit-card transactions. Furthermore, they have fewer domestic competitors and enjoy higher margins on long-haul corporate travel.
I'm not saying BA is the only euro carrier in a tough spot. For instance, I consider LH's current J product a joke. Be that as it may. There may be reasons why European airlines including BA are not the quality leaders. Whatever the reasons, though, they aren't the quality leaders. Al Baker is right insofar.
Club Suite is merely levelling the playing field hardware-wise. The US legacies have had a similar product for years. (Not in 100% of aircraft, sure. Nevertheless, BA is late to the party.) And if you look at other cabin classes, I'd say US legacies are clearly ahead of BA.
There are good reasons for this. US legacies make profits in the billions by partnering up with banks. That is simply not possible in Europe due to capped interchange fees on credit-card transactions. Furthermore, they have fewer domestic competitors and enjoy higher margins on long-haul corporate travel.
I'm not saying BA is the only euro carrier in a tough spot. For instance, I consider LH's current J product a joke. Be that as it may. There may be reasons why European airlines including BA are not the quality leaders. Whatever the reasons, though, they aren't the quality leaders. Al Baker is right insofar.
I (normally) fly both BA and QR regularly on long haul and QR is obviously a better experience - but from the UK QR is only an option if you're going east or south. IAG is (normally) one of the few consistently profitable airline groups in the world and has (Covid excepted) maintained that without state subsidy for years - not like the US big 3 or the gulf carriers.
Apr 25, 2021, 2:58 am
#57
Suspended
Join Date: Oct 2019
Posts: 569
I'm not sure why you suggest there isn't lots of competition in Europe - whilst there are 30+ countries, any significant route tends to have a couple of carriers on it (one from each end) and then with EasyJet, Ryanair, Wizzair and others there is an additional layer of competition. As far as I can tell there are only 3 choices across the USA, with others (like Southwest and JetBlue) providing additional competition in certain areas.
Last edited by FlyerTalker324193; Apr 25, 2021 at 5:17 am