8herveg From United Kingdom, joined Aug 2006, 905 posts, RR: 0 Posted (1 year 11 months 1 day 21 hours ago) and read 421 times:
I am about to book a trip with 3 other people to Venice for this coming June.
The two scheduled airline which fly from Gatwick are British Airways and EasyJet.
The price of BA is £123 rtn and the price of EasyJet is £70 rtn. (Dates are 15th June (eve) - 19th June (eve) 2007.
I have travelled on both airlines before, but when I travelled with BA (LHR - BCN), I can only remember getting a small pizza slice for food and a muffin or something and obviously free drinks throughout.
Is it worth me spending the extra £53 to go with BA or should I just fly with EasyJet?
I have no problems flying a low-cost airline, but I thought if the service/food etc is that good on BA, then I am happy to spend the extra money.
I am assuming the BA flight is a B737 and the U2 flight is an A319.
BMED From United Kingdom (Scotland), joined Dec 2004, 804 posts, RR: 2 Reply 1, posted (1 year 11 months 1 day 20 hours ago) and read 416 times:
Having flown EZY and BA I've found that for short flights often I don't really want any food or drink and the service you get from the EZY crew is of high level aswell. How much would it be to fly BA one way and EZY the other?
Touch galley, touch trolley...see how many times you can do that without serving anybody whatsoever
BCAL From United Kingdom, joined Jun 2004, 3166 posts, RR: 19 Reply 3, posted (1 year 11 months 1 day 19 hours ago) and read 406 times:
It is a short flight and there is not really that much difference between the two but I find that by the time you paid for your drinks on U2 (2 x G&Ts both ways would add another GBP 20 to the fares!), and perhaps also priority boarding, the difference in fares is smaller. As you are flying in the evening, BA’s 4 x daily flights against U2’s 2 x daily is not an advantage for you. Service on both airlines is consistently good, although BA has the edge over U2. As regards the refreshments (food is too grand a description) all BA will probably offer is a sandwich/pizza slice and small chocolate bar with tea/coffee plus complimentary bar service.
Briefly the other advantages/disadvantages can be summarised as follows:-
BA
If you do not use on-line check in, there are virtually no restrictions as to when you can check in for your flight both at LGW and VCE
Pre-assigned seating, which is beneficial if (like me) you want to be assured of a window seat or a seat with extra legroom
No mad scramble to board the aircraft
An older 737 that perhaps has seen better days
U2
Although you can check in on line, you will be in Boarding Group C
Check-in opens no earlier than 2 hours before scheduled departure time which can mean you are left with little time other than to go straight through security to departures
U2’s check in area at LGW is often congested and the wait in line can be longer
In flight drinks/snacks are provided but you pay for everything
A newer A319
I love talking about nothing. It's the only thing I know anything about. Oscar Wilde
I don't know them obviously, but if they are not aviation enthusiasts, then they may not be too keen at paying £50 odd quid more just to fly BA and it could lead to a very difficult and embarrassing situation for yourself. When travelling in a party, it is the polite thing to present all the options and prices to everybody so they can make a choice and subsequently can't blame you if they don't like it either
Shamrock_747 From United Kingdom, joined Mar 2002, 1550 posts, RR: 39 Reply 5, posted (1 year 11 months 1 day 16 hours ago) and read 393 times:
U2 are good at what they do - professional, cheap and cheerful.
BA's Euro Traveller service isn't anything fancy (drink and a sandwich), but overall it's a much more civilized experience with allocated seating, 31-34" legroom and none of the horrors of Gatwick South Terminal.
Personally I would choose BA, but I'm a biased snob! Either way you'll get from A to B safely, so it's down to your own preference to decide if £53 extra is worth it.
Lite From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 6, posted (1 year 11 months 1 day 14 hours ago) and read 383 times:
I would fly EasyJet for such a short flight. The only things I think you'll notice as a difference to British Airways, is the lack of assigned seating, leather seats and free refreshments. EasyJet have very friendly crews, a modern fleet of Airbus 319s, a wide range of things you can purchase onboard or simply save yourself for the delights of Venice and you've overall saved yourself some money. If you do online check-in, whilst you will automatically be put in Boarding Group D, you can pay extra (usually about £2.50) for Speedy Boarding, whereby you are amongst the first to board the aircraft and get to bypass even those requiring extra assistance and those in Group A.
AirbusA6 From United Kingdom (England), joined Apr 2005, 878 posts, RR: 0 Reply 7, posted (1 year 10 months 3 weeks 5 days 8 hours ago) and read 332 times:
This is an unusual route, in that both BA and U2 fly from Gatwick, normally the different airports may make a difference.
£20 extra, I go BA
£70 extra, I go U2
£53 extra, I go U2. Probably!
it's the bus to stansted (now renamed national express a4 to ruin my username)
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