British Airways the best?

InsideInsurance

Economy is economy and not a vast difference with any of the airlines I've flown. A One World carrier or Virgin have certain advantages for me given I have access to their lounges via my tier but really there isnt that much difference onboard.

Once you go above economy then the differences start to become much greater. Many of the middle east airlines excel, some of the far east ones are good too. Have a soft spot for Virgin Upper Class but mainly because its so much better than BA Club World whilst still having some useful direct flights.

budgetflyer

I have always had excellent service both long and short haul with BA.
Same goes all the usual low cost carriers.
Only stroppy crew have been Qatar about 5 yrs ago and more recently Finnair.

Voyager2002

BA is a rubbish airline! No flights to Cuba; no flights to Ethiopia; no flights to Lithuania. So basically there is no point in considering them if you want to get anywhere.

Doshwaster

Voyager2002 wrote: »

BA is a rubbish airline! No flights to Cuba; no flights to Ethiopia; no flights to Lithuania. So basically there is no point in considering them if you want to get anywhere.

Is there any airline which flies direct to Cuba, Ethiopia and Lithuania from the UK?

BA may have some gaps in its network but it still serves more long haul destinations than most of its rivals.

stratford_2

Have to say that Etihad in business were exceptional recently - fantastic crew and you pick and choose / mix and match from the food menu whenever you wanted!

Voyager2002

Doshwaster wrote: »

Is there any airline which flies direct to Cuba, Ethiopia and Lithuania from the UK?

BA may have some gaps in its network but it still serves more long haul destinations than most of its rivals.

BA does not service those major destinations AT ALL, never mind direct or not.

Last time I was in Ethiopia I flew BMI (direct flight): an important route since Addis Ababa continues to be the diplomatic capital of Africa and the base for numerous international organisations. Virgin Atlantic have non-stop flights to Havana (Cuba)...

Basically BA seems to have realised that it cannot compete in these major markets and retreated to obscure routes where no decent airline would bother to compete.

bluenoseam

Of those three locations you listed only one of them would make sense on an economic level, Ethiopia & Lithuania are not really high traffic locations you have to bear in mind. Cuba will more likely than not be a holdover from the days where the political situation between Cuba & the West was drastically different.

I have flown BA on both long haul to the US & short haul domestic flights and always found them to be reasonable. It's all about what you're doing & your expectations, if it's just to get you to an overnight stop then by all means a budget airline is better, but sometimes you have to balance it. I don't have a problem with either Ryanair or Easy Jet, they have their place in the scheme of things, but BA have theirs and it's to offer that little bit more which the budget carriers make you pay for.

It's probably because I've had mostly good experiences with BA but I'm more than comfortable using them - and that's coming a few days after the only negative experience of them! If I was looking to fly to say the far east or Australia/NZ I'd likely look to one of the eastern carriers though. It's not a knock on Virgin Atlantic but I've found them to be slightly more expensive & for me significantly less convenient.

duchy

London to Vilnus is a major route ?
Apart from a friend who has a Lithuanian wife and a curiosity myself as my grandparents were born there I know no-one who wants to go there . In fact in over twenty years in the travel industry I was never asked for a flight to Lithuania.

Interesting place perhaps but major route - I don't think so

Most major routes from the UK are major because people want to travel there. Adis has business traffic but leisure travel is minimal (BA used to have a service but the demand simply wasn't there)

I'd like to see fresh chopped herring available to buy locally but Tescos simply don't stock it due to lack of demand - It's another niche market so I have fewer options of where to buy it.

BA are a business - they respond to market demand-just like Tescos- if the demand doesn't exist- they won't bother as it isn't cost effective and they have shareholders to keep happy.

BMI ceased to exist three years ago - so if BA had kept the service going for people who visit Adis as infrequently as you do .....they'd be out of business by now ! Far better they stick with obscure destinations like NYC, LAX, HKG etc IMO.

Blue264

Voyager2002 wrote: »

BA does not service those major destinations AT ALL, never mind direct or not.

Last time I was in Ethiopia I flew BMI (direct flight): an important route since Addis Ababa continues to be the diplomatic capital of Africa and the base for numerous international organisations.

But certain other industries pay more and have a higher traffic volume, so BA cover their routes direct. There's precious little profit in government / diplomatic contracts.

SW17

katejo wrote: »

I wish that BA allowed you to check in online and print out boarding passes a couple of weeks before the flight instead of just 24 hours. I can do it earlier with Easyjet.

This is more complex for BA, mainly due to fleet management. easyJet and Ryanair have only 1 or 2 aircraft type on their fleets, BA have several. They only fix the actual aircraft a few days before the flight, and having everyone already checked in would complicate this. I guess it's not impossible though

Voyager2002 wrote: »

BA is a rubbish airline! No flights to Cuba; no flights to Ethiopia; no flights to Lithuania. So basically there is no point in considering them if you want to get anywhere.

Liking your work

To answer the OP, in economy there isn't much difference between airlines (though sometimes between aircraft type, on long haul). My favourite UK airline in economy is BA CityFlyer, which flies on /out of London City Airport. Next is easyJet, though I do fly BA fairly often, depending on price/schedule.

Business class and above is a different matter, especially on long haul.