British Airways removes in flight meals

[filthiestfis]

With the recent news that BA is removing in flight meals on flights of less than 2 and a half hours I am thinking that the company can no longer call itself a full service airline. I am also thinking that this move is short-sighted and will alienate a large percentage of their fanbase who are happy to pay more for those little things like the food.
I sometimes hear that BA prices are about the same as those of Ryanair/Easyjet once the extra costs are factored in but I have yet to see evidence of this since 2007.
All I see is BA increasing prices and stripping down their product to bare essentials.
I was wondering what is the opinion of those seasoned short-haul travellers and of those ABers who still fly with BA?

[Hawkwalk]

the food is not that great anyway and certainly not a reason for choosing BA. I use BA on short haul flights if the flight times suit and they are on the route I need. I also use the low cost airlines and find no problems with them.

For me it is about getting there in one piece so they are all good so far!!

[filthiestfis]

The food has been diabolical on some flights in the last few years and evidence of cost cutting has been mounting, but still, how can they justify charging sometimes double the price of Easyjet?
If it is not the food, then surely the only advantage that BA now hold over their competitors is the assigned seating, but who in their right mind would pay so much more for that priviledge?

[Hawkwalk]

I do find the service and staff much more professional with BA and they do still offer business class on short haul which some people still see as a requirement on a 50 minute flight!! The experience of checking in and boarding is better and you can take two bags in the cabin which some others do not allow. Saying all that I would still not choose them over anyone else unless they were the only ones or the price was comparable.

The problem is that we all expect very cheap flights now due to the low cost airlines but air travel really should cost far more than it does. Big airlines with large overheads will need to cost cut to keep up. I expect BA will think of a few more ways soon.

[Curly13]

We always fly Monarch, as they have assigned seating, more baggage allowance, extra legroom seats and the option to buy a snack or hot meal (�6 on our last flight). Their flights always come up way cheaper than BA for our route.

Easyjet and Ryanair aren't too bad if you can handle the rugby scrum whilst trying to board the plane lol

[filthiestfis]

Curly13: I sometimes fly with Monarch and all those extras you mention are chargeable. Extra legroom seating? That'll be 20 pounds!

[Curly13]

Yes extra legroom seats are roughly �20 extra per person, but BA is literally double the price of Monarch for us so it would still work out lots cheaper for us.
We fly in to Gatwick which unfortunately seems to be an expensive airport to fly to whoever we fly with.

[filthiestfis]

I guess that Monarch is the "middle man" at present then, but Im still mad at them for removing in flight entertainment. That was mean.

[VHG]

Nobody needs a meal on a flight of less than 2 or 3 hours.

We all sit around the airport for an hour or more before the flight and most people grab a sandwich or a fast food meal so we are hardly hungry.

The only reason for food on a short flight is to relieve the boredom.

Lets face it, you dont get a free meal if you catch the train from London to Edinburgh do you (or any other train journey) so why do airlines do it.

It is just left over from the days when air travel was much slower, and was considered a luxury way to travel.

It is now outdated and has no place in modern air travel.

[kira000]

Whay dont you have a look at the BA.com website, it now has a comparator that shows you the comparison between BA, Easyjet and Ryanair, so you can see the ways the extras add up.

If you book months and months in advance to get the rock bottom price, have no baggage, check-in online etc, then ryanair can be cheaper. However closer to the time, their ticket prices and those of Easyjet, can be higher than BA, and if you add all the extras, then its very costly.
Plus, if my plane has a problem, i know BA will sort me out, and have a support network of staff/extra planes etc. With Ryanair and easy, you are often just left to sort yourselves out. I know i would pa extra for that reassurance.

[kira000]

Ps. Flights under 2.5 hours will still get food for breakfast, its just the middle periods when people will alrady have eaten that are losing the sandwiches.

[Bjohn]

10 reasons why I fly BA over the Easyjets and Ryanair. Why? Because:

1) I get an easy boarding 2) The staff are more friendly and proffessional 3) The flight has more chance of leaving and departing on time 4) If the flight is cancelled they don't leave you in the lurch 5) Drinks at your leisure 6) Food at your leisure 7) Airports are generally easy to get to 8) Fewer chavs 9) Leather seats 10) Often a free newspaper 11) I get freq flyer miles 12) check queues are lest than the others - did I say 10 reasons.

BUT

I don't mind paying the �20 or �30 pound more but if they start knocking of the perks then I'll be switching to SleazyJet.

Also

Just returned from Croatia on BA. A friend wanted to join us in Croatia and looked for flights a week before departure. He looked up our BA flight and the one way flight was over �300 so he went on Sleazyjet for �160. Our BA flight was about 1/3 full. Same on the way back. Now simple economics would say that b8ms on seats makes more money. Come on BA - be competitive with your competition and you may avoid going broke