Jet2.com to the rescue – Low Cost Airline saves the day for BA Passengers

IMHO BA is a much better airline, LCCs are indeed for the traveller who is tight to be really honest, but still some have to use LCCs as Legacy’s do not serve the route required, but say I wanted to go London to Barcelona i’d use BA anyday over the LCC for the TWP (tight-wad person – in such a case).
After reading the Airliner World Article “Is low cost truly low cost” i have turned against LCCs completely

What the lowcost airlines have done not just for themselves, but their employees and the airports they fly to is fantastic. Let alone the travelling public. I’ve been on four holidays in the past year, 3 of those were because I got cheap flights with easyJet and Ryanair. The money I saved on flights (by flying direct aswell btw, remember from alot of regional airports you have to fly via somewhere with the likes of BA) got me an extra night or two away and in a better hotel with more drinking money.

OK…..

I’ve just spent a considerable amount of my time clearing the rubbish from out of this thread.

I’m not allowing a few individuals to spoil an interesting thread for everyone else.

One or two of you are now skating on very thin ice indeed.

If there’s any repetition of these silly arguments then I will close this thread and will I consider whether any further action is necessary against individuals.

Thank You

GA

ps….. your PM inbox is full, T5.

If i can just separate you lot for a bit whilst i chip in (back to your corners for a mo, chaps :))

I do travel reasonably extensively. Personally – i now just look for whatever airline fits my timetable. If the flight is only an hour or two, then i am not so bothered by the food aspect.

I would say that in my opinion BA are expensive, but if you have a booking problem or the aircraft goes U/S they will bend over backward in my experience to accomodate you and that includes an upgrade if neccesary to get you on another flight that day.

I know a lady who has worked for BMI for some years and she got drafted into the “Baby” service launch and she was appalled at the way they were instructed to handle complaint and problems – it all came down to not wasting time on passengers complaints and not doing anything which might cost the airline additional money. she said that such a situation would have been unthinkable on the premier BMI line.

For the record, the other airlines which have impressed me are:

Continental to the US

Quantas / BA (one world alliance?) to & from OZ on 2 separate occasions. The service was superb, even tho i flew cattle class both times

KLM for european hops – clean aircraft and pleasant staff – cheap too from manchester

Alitalia to/from Italy (if you like aircraft being taxied / flown “Allegro” :)) and can be cheap (tho pricing is random!!)

The less-favourable options for me are:

Air France – expensive yet rubbish – dirty aircraft and indifferent service

Easyjet / Ryanair – i have heard just tooooo many horror stories from others.(tho my cousin always flys Easyjet – he is able to book all his flights to business meetings some time in advance and has not got a bad word to say about the airline!!)

Markets boys…..markets!

T5 (Michael) – I agree completely – I don’t think you’ve said a word out of line here.

There are markets for both types of airlines, business travellers, leisure travellers etc. And, as a user of both types, I choose whichever airline fits my needs. There is nothing wrong with Lo-co airlines but a bad experience will put you off them, just like a bad experience with a mainline carrier. I’ve flown EZY and FR and had no problems with them.

Now whilst I haven’t had a ‘bad’ experience, the experience is less pleasant than those I’ve had with a full fare carrier; the fights to get on board, the unallocated seats etc. This doesn’t bother me in the slightest, because I know what I have paid for the flight. It is not a criticism of low cost travel, it can just be part of it sometimes. Generally, you don’t get this with full fare airlines, and if price is a discerning factor, and the difference isn’t big, I would choose a full fare airline because I’ve had better experiences with them. We are talking ‘extents’ though – if the price was £100 more expensive, I maybe wouldn’t do it; but £20-£30 – why not?

I’m looking at going to Budapest in May – the Easyjet flights aren’t out yet, but last year a weekend break from Newcastle cost me £140 with EZY. I can fly with KLM to Budapest for just over that – hardly any price difference. And that small price difference will more than cover the free drinks and food I get, as well as the Flying Blue miles I earn.

There is a market for both types of airlines and I don’t think any ‘generic’ type of person particularly flies on either type.

How can anyone compare BA and Low Cost Airline’s they are two different setups
When will the narrow sighted see this ,BA setup Go airlines and it was a success, but BA decided that it did not fit in with the company ,so sold it .now if BA had kept Go I think a lot of the other LCC would be either gone, or struggling Especially Ryanair, becasue at the end of it, Go would have had the backing of Britian’s Biggest Airline

Kevin

If I ever have business to see to to in Girona (very unlikely), Ryanair will get my custom. And in fact, if I ever fancy spending a week or two at one of Ryanair’s popular destinations, I’ll book with them. And I expect that when the day comes that I live a stones throw away from Stansted or any other low cost base, I’ll use low cost airlines more.

At the moment, I’ve no need to travel to unheard of places, I don’t want to travel with low cost airlines and I can’t either – getting to airports where these airlines operate from is not convenient and expensive. So, at the end of the day, getting a full-frills flight from Heathrow is actually a cheaper option and you get more for your money.

As I said in a very early post on this thread, if you can afford to fly with a low cost airline, its quite likely that you can afford a little bit extra to upgrade to a full-frills airline because the difference in price is minimal.

Yeah really…. :rolleyes:

Have you checked BA’s fares recently around europe compared with the grotty carriers?

Flex 35

Why would you use BA or whoever over a loco, because you aren’t paying? :rolleyes:

Me again. Just browsing through the posts I missed earlier this evening and replying to some of them.

I totally disagree that low cost airlines are for tight people.

I think you choose which airline to fly depending on what you want or what you can do without. For every luxury you take off of flying, you save yourself money. So a meal or snack isn’t really necessary for a short haul flight, but some people want one. The same applies with drinks. Some people like an all-inclusive bar service during the flight rather than paying over the odds for it when the trolley comes around.

There’s more to full-frills carriers than a bite to eat and a free can of Coke though. If you don’t want to get to the airport hours before the flight, but you want a decent seat, you can check in online. Not only that, technology nowadays allows you to print your own boarding card or just as good is the self check-in machines at airports. Just another way to beat the queues that build at the check-in desks.

Each to their own I say.

I think certain individuals just like looking down at people who fly LCCs

I still don’t get this?

Explain to me, why on earth would anybody look down on someone else because they choose to fly with easyJet or Ryanair instead of British Airways or any other full-frills carrier?

As I said in a very early post on this thread, if you can afford to fly with a low cost airline, its quite likely that you can afford a little bit extra to upgrade to a full-frills airline because the difference in price is minimal. But if you feel there are certain added extras that you could do without – for example; a meal or snack, beverages, assigned seating etc, you can save yourself a few pounds.

Nobody on this forum, I am sure, would be so stupid as to believe that because they are getting a sandwich and an alcoholic drink or two en-route to their destination, that they are better than anybody else.

I still do not understand what you don’t quite grasp about my reasons for not choosing low cost airlines over others. But I have explained it many times in many posts (and not just on this topic). I live just a few miles from Heathrow and the few experiences I have had with low cost airlines anyway, have been bad ones. So quite simply, I’m not going to travel miles further than I have to (incurring extra cost) to travel with an airline that I’ve probably tried already and not liked. The extra money spent on getting to another airline could quite easily be spent on upgrading to an airline from Heathrow (much closer to home). I’m also quite sure that I would enjoy this flight, too.

I’m sure that when the day comes that I have a bad flight with British Airways, I’ll stop using them. But so far, unlike other airlines, they always surprise me with their outstanding service every time I get to the airport, every time I board a flight and every time I disembark. Running to get the best seat isn’t my cup of tea and there is no fun in that (not for me, anyway).

I respect your opinions and everyone elses. All I ask is that you respect mine.

It’s nothing to do with being tight, just common sense. Especially when it comes to short haul flying. I’d be more willing to pay more for a long haul flight depending on the circumstances.

I think i’m in a postition to know if you have got what I am intending to put across, no more posts from me

No I am saying where there is a choice of Full frills or not and the full frills is merely £40 more then the frills is better,

I am speaking hypothertically RIPconcorde

I’m gonna not post in this thread again – people are getting the wrong end of the stick with what I have said and I don’t want no trouble or fall outs with anyone,

Wozza

LCCs, are not for tightwads, I am not a tightwad, indeed I spend money on things I really dont need to (I.E – CDs), and without the LCCs offering low prices, I couldnt travel no where near as much as I can. You say about travelling from London to Barcelona, would you pay (Just an example), £250 for BA, over £80 for (lets say) easyJet?

IMHO BA is a much better airline, LCCs are indeed for the traveller who is tight to be really honest

LOL! Way to go to gain some peace. Are you calling me tight?! 😡 Ok, so you may have a point, but still…. 😉 Why would you use BA or whoever over a loco, because you aren’t paying? :rolleyes:

IMHO BA is a much better airline, LCCs are indeed for the traveller who is tight to be really honest, but still some have to use LCCs as Legacy’s do not serve the route required, but say I wanted to go London to Barcelona i’d use BA anyday over the LCC for the TWP (tight-wad person – in such a case).
After reading the Airliner World Article “Is low cost truly low cost” i have turned against LCCs completely

I’m sorry Michael, but I think I have to agree with Dan here, you do seem to have a hatred of airlines that don’t serve ‘all the frills’, judging by what I have seen of the snacks on BA, I would hardly call them ‘classy!’. Maybe its just because the low costs dont serve LHR, I dont know.

I have flown on Jet2, Ryanair and FlyBe, (Lowcost wise), and have found all 3 to be excellent. Indeed my most disappointing experience just lately was bmi, although of course, they dont provide the ‘frills’ anymore.

“Hate” is such a harsh term. Its more the fact that I dislike them. Unlike you, my experiences have never been good ones.

But I’ve been accused of hating the people that use low cost airlines, which is completely ridiculous.

Spence your right about the snobs flying BA but the great thing is most people arnt snobs and those who are can go to hell. They make working in the airport a living hell sometimes. The vast majority of people just want to get from A to B and dont really want to be served a plate of fish crap and 40 bottles of champagne which leaves them leggless after the flight.

A woman coming from PRG off the OK flight 2 nights ago is a good example, she thought it would help if she came over to our desk and complained about the 10 minutes she had been waiting for her bags. I really do hope she comes back next year in the height of the summer and is left waiting for 1.5 hours.

At one time i regularly flew man – glasgow / man – london on the BA shuttles for work. It always amazed me (indeed it was the highlight of an otherwise boring trip sometimes :)) how some people posture and attempt to act important once they get on a plane !!!

It does happen on the train between here and london also, particularly in (or near to:) ) first class, but *some* air shuttle users have to be experienced to be believed… pushing to get on / off, making rediculous demands of cabin staff, making ludicrously loud phone calls while waiting to board which seem to be just a monologue to some minion on the other end about how they should try to stop the organisation falling apart until Mr / Mrs important’s flight get in as it cant really function without their presence….

I think airline staff sometimes earn every penny…

T5,

I agree with all your comments entirely; many people still seem to consider BA to be elitest and not able to offer what any of the travelling public wants. I for one would always choose BA over a loco and most times I’ve checked/booked; the fare is little more for a vastly better service(usually newer/cleaner a/c, some inflight service, more legroom etc).

Please stop the B.A. bashing, yes, they may have higher fares, but we should be proud of our national airline with that wonderful tail logo.
B.A is a well run airline ( if you excuse the recent strike ) it makes a good profit, has a good safety record, most of its flights ( if you check teletext ) are normally on time.

The question to everyone must be: A B.A 767 to New York from Manchester or a Jet2 757 to New York from Manchester ( I know Jet2 dont fly that route, just for arguments sake though ) who would you rather fly with ?. a cramped 757 that should have 186 seats but actually has 235, no free meal etc, or pay the extra and go in comfort in a B.A.767 with more leg room and free food.

cheers

Nordjet415