I haven’t flown with British Airways (BA) for a couple of years, but the last time I did they still allowed you to pick a seat when checking in and provided a complimentary drink and snack en route.
Just back from a short trip to Oxford (via London Heathrow) and was seriously disappointed that BA wanted £7-15 each way to change the preallocated seat and now charge for their Marks and Spencer branded in-flight service. Given they are generally more expensive than RyanAir, EasyJet, Jet2, FlyBe, etc. what are BA planning to do to differentiate their service from any of the others?
I didn’t notice if they included hold luggage in the price, as I was travelling light, and only had hand luggage anyway, but it really didn’t feel much like the BA flights I remember.
On a slight tangent, I was impressed with the Oxford Airline bus service, which gets you from LHR to Oxford in under and hour. I hadn’t been back to Oxford for some time (after living there for 3-4 years at the end of the 90’s and early 00’s) and whilst it was great to catch up with some old work colleagues, I still don’t really like the place! Not entirely sure what it is, but I wasn’t a fan when I lived there and it never really felt like home.
Anyway, I suspect I’ll be using BA even less in the future after this trip unless of course, they are the most competitive on price. I certainly won’t be paying a premium for what felt like a pretty ‘budget’ experience.
Couldn’t agree more. BA have lost their USP and are becoming another budget airline 🙁