BA to scrap meals on short haul flights

[laffer]

I note the news recently about BA scrapping meals on its short haul flights (defined as under 2.5 hours) which depart after 10am. If you leave prior to 10am you will still get a breakfast.

The meal itself was never much on these flights but allowed BA to market itself as a 'full service' airline and charge accordingly. Given that passengers are clearly choosing to fly with low fare high fees and charges carriers on these routes I wonder if BA will bring its pricing down to compete with these carriers (e.g. EasyJet, Ryanair, Aer Lingus etc)?

I know from my own experience that I always check the BA pricing when flying out of London but usually cannot justify spending an extra £50 or more to fly with them on what is only a 1.5 hour flight to a European destination. If the move to scrap the meal means BA becomes a bit more competitive price wise on some of these routes then I think it is a good thing but we shall see if they lower their prices (the skeptic in me doubts it).

 

[anat0l]

If the move to scrap the meal means BA becomes a bit more competitive price wise on some of these routes then I think it is a good thing but we shall see if they lower their prices (the skeptic in me doubts it).

I also doubt that will happen and if they scrap meals then that will just compound their stupidity.

I wonder what their meals are now. I hear it might just be animal feedstock (not literally! )...

There's not a lot BA can do to make themselves more competitive compared to their LCC rivals, although I guess as far as their fellow English LCCs are concerned, both Ryanair and Easyjet leave something to be desired as far as credit card charges and checked baggage allowance is concerned. Plus, no status obtainable on Ryanair or Easyjet, but not everyone is obviously embroiled in the status game.

 

[ejb_nz]

... the status game.

He who dies with the greatest number of status credits wins.

ejb

 

[laffer]

The problem with points accrual on most BA flights if you are a member of QF is that it is only a reduced % earn on economy fares. You could fly business but the significant price increase (plus the coughpy business product for short haul flights) does not really represent a good use of money from my perspective.

 

[Mal]

BA recently (~7 days ago) released a comparison tool to show how much better they were than EasyJet and RyanAir.

Unfortunately it's missing now... But the title was hilarious from a flyer perspective - "Compare us to RyanAir and EasyJet" (or words to that effect),

Do they really want UK punters comparing them to such airlines?

 

[laffer]

I have flown BA and EasyJet on short haul flights on several occassions. I refuse to fly Ryanair. Generally I have found no difference between EasyJet and BA as I do not check in luggage and generally do not eat the meal. BA tend to have slightly better schedules (but not always) but for the price differential it is often hard to justify flying with them which is unfortunate from a status point of view.

Mal - I know the tool you speak of. Interesting that it has been removed. I think it made a big deal about the ability to take your skis for free or something like that.

 

[chrizzz14]

hmmm whats next.... BA taking out window shades to compete with ryanair? Or maybe they will start flying out of small country airports! The only way BA could actually compete with LCC in Britain is if they lowered their pathetically over priced fares, which i think we all know, will never happen!

 

[Mal]

The 'compare us' tool is here: Value Calculator - Ryanair | Easyjet | British Airways

It does say "Food and snacks" "No Extra Charge", so not sure if that's still valid or not!

 

[anat0l]

Using my typical profile of flying, I get:

• Pay with a credit card
• OLCI
• Standard boarding
• 15 kg checked
• No food or drink

Total: GBP 30 more on Ryanair and GBP 19 more on Easyjet

The extreme cases are just that...a bit extreme, i.e. in select cases, if you wanted to carry > 15 kg checked baggage you'd be an idiot if you wanted to fly Ryanair.

Also, with a penalty of GBP 80 for checking in at the airport, you'd be foolish not to do otherwise and OLCI. (This relates to a comment about "forcing" people to a certain discipline, which cuts costs (supposedly) but can drive away particular business.)



Travelling light or with hand carry only and that kills off a good part of the margin.


Of course, fly with BA and I get:

• Priority boarding due to OWE
• Advanced seat selection
• Standard checked baggage allowance based on class of service
• A poor feed on board, but lounge food to compensate
• Status accumulation

Barring "pinch situations", I think I know who I would fly.

 

[dajop]

Recently been checking fares from London to a range of destinations, and much to my surprise BA came in very competitive with easy Jet (in several instances, after luggage 10 GBP or more cheaper). Also more convenient for some of their cheaper fares, especially give I could connect to their flights from my inward flight to LHR.

Some of the other "legacy" carriers ex-LHR were also quite competitive, although getting one-way fares on these carriers for non domestic travel, originating elsewhere in Europe (other than UK) was almost impossible, and still stuck in the old mode of only being able to buy cheap return fares.

Now, admittedly I didn't even check Ryanair, because they're the sort of airline if flying in Australia would have as their destinations Sydney (Newcastle), Canberra(Wagga), Melbourne (Sale), etc ... and don't have time to spend 3 hrs getting to/from airports (OK, I exaggerate, but still ...)

Back to OT, I wonder if BA have considered charging for food on short flights? If so I guess it would have to phased, remove complimentary meals for a while - then bring in pay for food. It's quite bizarre (like in the US) that legacy carriers will have no food available, yet LCC's offer food on even on their shortest flights (albeit at a small cost). My most illustrative contrast is a 10pm flight from DFW to LAX on AA - 3 hrs - and a bowl of cashew nuts is all I could eat - and that's in "First". Go on airasia from SIN to KUL and I have a choice of hot meals that I can pre book on this 30 minute trip, for a measly $5.

 

[laffer]

Some fair points anat0l. I guess different strokes for different people but for me seat selection and priority boarding are not huge issues for me especially on a flight that is usually only going to last two hours max. Status accumulation and mile earning is pathethic if you are with QF (unless you fly biz which for the price and the time spent on board cannot, in my view, be justified) and so you are left with the checked baggage allowance as being a huge plus for BA but when you consider that most people who are flying within Europe (at least those who live here) often only fly with hand luggage it is not a huge plus.

I would fly BA and have done so where there fares are competitive with say EasyJet (not Ryanair cause they reek) but if there is a sizeable difference (£20 or more) then I tend to stick with the low cost carrier and I think rather unfortunatley for BA most people do.

Status would be nice to achieve but as a member of QF living in Europe it is nigh on impossible to maintain without flights back to Oz (or another QF destination). The BA scheme is not really that competitive in my view and if you are a member of AA the earn on BA can be negligible at times.

What is an economy european based regular flyer to do? At the end of the day it comes down to price because the benefits just dont seem to be available for people like me (this is a secret plea for someone to suggest a frequent flyer program for me to join that might have status that is attainable given flying is from London).

Using my typical profile of flying, I get:

• Pay with a credit card
• OLCI
• Standard boarding
• 15 kg checked
• No food or drink

Total: GBP 30 more on Ryanair and GBP 19 more on Easyjet

The extreme cases are just that...a bit extreme, i.e. in select cases, if you wanted to carry > 15 kg checked baggage you'd be an idiot if you wanted to fly Ryanair.

Also, with a penalty of GBP 80 for checking in at the airport, you'd be foolish not to do otherwise and OLCI. (This relates to a comment about "forcing" people to a certain discipline, which cuts costs (supposedly) but can drive away particular business.)



Travelling light or with hand carry only and that kills off a good part of the margin.



Of course, fly with BA and I get:

• Priority boarding due to OWE
• Advanced seat selection
• Standard checked baggage allowance based on class of service
• A poor feed on board, but lounge food to compensate
• Status accumulation

Barring "pinch situations", I think I know who I would fly.

 

[aus_flyer]

BA recently (~7 days ago) released a comparison tool to show how much better they were than EasyJet and RyanAir.

It's been out for months. Quite an interesting tool.

 

[kamchatsky]

So glad I picked CX over BA for HKG-LHR leg for next week, and picked AY over BA on LHR-HEL leg as well on my redemption ticket.

 

[aus_flyer]

Status accumulation ... is pathethic if you are with QF

It's no different to any other OW airline for a discount economy fare... same number of status credits!

 

[simongr]

So glad I picked CX over BA for HKG-LHR leg for next week, and picked AY over BA on LHR-HEL leg as well on my redemption ticket.

How does this change impact the HKG-LHR flights that would make CX much more attractive? There is no change to that flight. If crediting to QF then you miss out on the status bonus if flying on CX.

For LHR-HEL, I flew in J HEL-LHR on AY and the food was worse than BA in Club Europe and the seats were the same if not worse - three abreast in J potentially - thankfully I didnt have anyone next to me as the flight wasn't too full.

 

[anat0l]

How does this change impact the HKG-LHR flights that would make CX much more attractive? There is no change to that flight. If crediting to QF then you miss out on the status bonus if flying on CX.

For LHR-HEL, I flew in J HEL-LHR on AY and the food was worse than BA in Club Europe and the seats were the same if not worse - three abreast in J potentially - thankfully I didnt have anyone next to me as the flight wasn't too full.

So we are all in agreement: Australians get spoilt on QF domestic* J.

For some countries around the world without a large domestic network, this is sort-of equivalent to regional J

 

[JohnK]

BA recently (~7 days ago) released a comparison tool to show how much better they were than EasyJet and RyanAir.

No offence Mal but BA, even on short haul flights without meals, is going to be streets ahead on EasyJet and Ryanair. It does not really warrant comparison.

By the way my favourite LCC by far is A3 and I am looking forward to my 2 flights with them in August/September. Almost guaranteed to have at least on cancelled flight and one delayed flight. Just as well the beers are cheap at the cash bars at ATH and SKG airports....

 

[anat0l]

No offence Mal but BA, even on short haul flights without meals, is going to be streets ahead on EasyJet and Ryanair. It does not really warrant comparison.

Well, two points on that one:

• Some people would rather be thrift and go with an inferior product than suck up the funds and fly a decent carrier. The "calculator" tries to convince people that there are still decent carriers at a reasonable price.
• With over 50 million pommies, their judgement can't be as sharp as yours, JohnK. :mrgreen:

 

[Dave Noble]

Well, two points on that one:

• Some people would rather be thrift and go with an inferior product than suck up the funds and fly a decent carrier. The "calculator" tries to convince people that there are still decent carriers at a reasonable price.

• 
  
  If just treating the flight in the same way as one would pick a train or bus, carriers like easyjet and ryanair have their place. On short flights many people just care primarily about price. If going LGW-AMS in economy ( especially if holding no airline status ) for example, why wouldn't people take EZ if it is cheaper.
  
  Not as if BA is going to give you anything much extra on the 40 minute flight
  
  Dave

 

[Dave Noble]

No offence Mal but BA, even on short haul flights without meals, is going to be streets ahead on EasyJet and Ryanair. It does not really warrant comparison.

For an average non-status passenger, in what way is BA going to be streets ahead of EZ for a short 1 hr flight

FR does seem to be aiming to be as low as possible, so would ignore them except if they are having one of their GBP1 style deals

Dave