Jaunted - Tag: british airways

Ryanair Taunts British Airways: 'We're (About To Be) #1!'

Omri — 2009-11-05T16:15:14-05:00

It's no secret that Ryanair has translated their "Customers Suck" philosophy into one quarter of breakout profits after another.

It's also no secret that we kind of loathe them and everything they stand for (excepting low airfare), which makes this particular story, about how the low cost carrier is poised to pass British Airways as the largest airline in the UK, as predictable as it is aggravating. Try to contain your shock when we tell you that they're being obnoxiously smug about the whole thing:

How Many All-Biz-Class Airlines Must Fail Before British Airways Understands?

JetSetCD — 2009-09-30T12:18:51-05:00

Haven't we already worked out that All-Business-Class Flights just don't span out? Just look at the track record for these flights: Silverjet, Eos, and MaxJet all died in early 2008, ailing L'Avion was bought by British Airways shortly after that, and BA's own all-business OpenSkies took to their blog to beg passengers to book with them.

So why is British Airways making an additional attempt at the all-business, transatlantic route? Of course it's all about money, and the reasoning is that they think it'll be profitable in its first year—no word on further years. The newest route runs from London's City Airport (LCY) to JFK, but has to make a refueling pitstop in Shannon, Ireland because The Telegraph UK explains that "City Airport's runway is too short to handle an A318 with a full fuel payload." Bummer.

British Airways Introduces Shiny New Fee For Selecting Your Seat

Omri — 2009-09-25T13:37:57-05:00

New fees are pretty much inevitable. It's obnoxious and even six months ago it might have drawn howls of criticism, but now everyone seems to be charging extra for choosing emergency exit seats and so the next step has come: charging to select your seat at all. Congratulations airline companies, your nickle-and-dime opaque fees have finally crossed the line from outrageous to embittering. The LA Times has the deal:

We’ve seen airlines add extra charges to reserve popular exit-row seats and aisle seats. But are you ready for this one? Starting Ocober. 7, British Airways plans to charge you just to select a seat. That’s right: $30 to $90 for the right to choose a seat any time up to 24 hours before flying. After that time, you get a free pick of what’s left.

You're exempt if you're in first class or have a particularly high status with the airline, but everyone else is on the hook. It's $30 for coach and $90 for business, presumably on the assumption that there aren't really bad seats in business, so if you want to choose your seat you must really want to choose your seat.

Yield To Landing Planes On The Road Between Gibraltar And Spain

JetSetCD — 2009-08-27T16:34:41-05:00

We love airplanes, you love airplanes, so let's go look at airplanes! In our Prime Plane Spotting series, we'll let you in on all the best spots to whip out your cameras and binoculars for a piece of the aviation action.

We may have made it 'round to most of the world's itty-bitty countries and territories, but Gibraltar still eludes us. The Rock, which is not part of Spain but sits on the Iberian peninsula, is a self-governed British territory famous for peculiarities like their wild monkeys, mishmash of language and cuisine, and crazy insane airport runway positioning.

You see, Gibraltar's tiny airport straddles the border between Spain and Gibraltar, and juts out into the ocean because of the lack of land. The single road that runs between the two countries runs right across the main runway, by necessity, and as a result, the road must be closed during plane takeoffs and landings.

Will A British Airways-AmEx Partnership Bring Mile-Chasing Back?

egw — 2009-08-18T17:24:37-05:00

British Airways announced this week that it's partnering up with American Express's Membership Rewards program, so cardholders can convert their points into Executive Club miles. But in this economy, are frequent-flyer miles still a good deal?

Prior to this agreement, only British cardholders could harness the power of their green cards to buy miles in the Executive Club for British Airways and its Oneworld partners. Earn enough points and members might even be able to take advantage of BA's newest Caribbean routes bowing this fall.

British Airways Breaks New Advertising Ground, Puts Ads On Boarding Passes

Omri — 2009-08-18T16:19:37-05:00

Not content with being cheaper than Ryanair and reducing check-in allowances like Ryanair, British Airways is now following Ryanair's lead and plastering every last empty space with ads:

British Airways is trying to come up with a way to increase profit by becoming the first major European scheduled airline to sell advertising space on its own boarding passes. British Airways, which has already posted a �106 million net loss for the three months ending June 30, said that it is now actively seeking advertisers who wish to buy space on its boarding cards, as well as on its website.

Ryanair Found To Be More Expensive Than British Airways On Some Routes

Omri — 2009-08-13T08:41:16-05:00

What we've always suspected, and yes—even feared—has happened: Ryanair has been proven to cost more than non-LCC airlines. CheapFlights investigates:

Ryanair is now more expensive on certain routes than full-service competitors such as British Airways, according to a report in The Sunday Times. The paper identified ten routes for which the low-cost carrier charges more than BA—three of which were more expensive even before surcharges were added. Researchers found that a family of four who travel to Ibiza in mid-August would pay �1,057 with Ryanair, compared to just �913.20 when flying with BA.

Well sure they cost more. But at least they also sneeringly insult their customers, deliberately enact obnoxious fees, and have an insane no checked bags policy. At least there's that!