Why fly easyJet or Ryanair when you could fly British Airways?

Question

I mean, at least BA uses the major airports and not some abandoned military airfield miles from civilisation...

Answer 1

The same is true with U.S. "low-fare, no-frills" airlines. We have Southwest Airlines and AirTran which are pretty dismal airlines. They're often not cheaper than the flag carriers such as American Airlines, and they fly out of inconvenient airports. For example, I live in Boston and the major international airport is very convenient to get to. But if I want to fly Southwest, which I don't, I would have to travel an hour to either Providence or Manchester. So to make it worth it, I would have to save like $100 round trip or more but it's never that much cheaper than a major airline. You have to keep that in mind too - convenience of airports. Like if you're flying to Paris, one of the major airlines will go to CDG but if you take one of the no frills carriers you have to go to Beauvais. So by the time you get from there to downtown it costs more than you would save on airfare. Plus you get the perks of the major carrier (i.e., assigned seating and a can of Coke).

Answer 2

Easyjet and Ryanair don't have an extensive international network and some people prefer not to be treated like cattle on their flight. Sometimes cheapest isn't everything or the only criteria to consider when choosing how to travel. One might as well ask why eat at a top class retaurant when there is a chippy or McDonalds around the corner or why drive a Lexus, Mercedes, Jaguar, BMW etc when you can drive a 14 year old Corsa. British Airways aren't the only alternative to pound shop airlines either, there's the likes of BMI and FlyBe too. It is also well established that "low cost" airlines aren't always cheaper without fail either.

Answer 3

BA have got customer service down to a fine art - their "service with a snarl" philosophy, high prices, low "on-time" performance, and the tendency of their staff to strike every August is enough to make anybody consider other options.

But it often comes down to price and timings. Occasionally BA might be a better option for me; other times easyJet might be a better option. Though it has to be said that of my last dozen European or UK domestic flights, 10 have been with low cost carriers.

Even long haul they're struggling. For example, I thought I'd try the new Oasis Hong Kong from Gatwick to Hong Kong. We had seat back TVs with more channels than BA, we had two hot meals, we had excellent service, the planes were on time, and the seat pitch was far better than BA. The cons? We had to pay for alcohol and soft drinks. The pros? £261 instead of £400. Now, I know full well that a couple of cans of coke does NOT cost £139 - so where does the rest of the money go? (Since Oasis started, BA have lowered their prices to HKG).

Answer 4

People want cheaper flights and BA are not all they cracked up to be. The service with BA has rapidly gone down hill over the last few years.

If someone is looking for a really cheap weekend away then easyjet, Ryanair andBMIbaby are ideal. I wouldnt call Cardiff, Bristol and Birmingham abondoned military airfields would you?

They have cheap fares and you only pay for what you want. So if you are not taking luggage you dont have to pay for it. Meals yes or no etc. Ideal for business men, young adults and backpackers.

Answer 5

Hmmmm BA to Venice in mid Feb ~ 500 Euros vs HLX from a further airport at ~70 Euros. I think I'll take the extra 30 minute 20 Euro train ride to save 410 Euros per person. I save $1,000 for me and my Girl Friend traveling at only a waste of 1 hour of our time.

What would you do?

Answer 6

If the price is the same, then I would always go BA because BA is very good. But if the price is much cheaper,and I'm a cheap guy, then it is Ryanair. The Irish spiv barking bingo cards at you, the burned out eastern european flight attendents, the over-priced food, and the arguments over baggage at check-in, all add to the experience.

Answer 7

for the saving in price...

for short flights there is virtually no difference in service (all you get on a BA Conenct flight is a bag of nuts and a small drink) so why pay so much more...

and Ryanair always has a shuttle to the nearest city anyway

Answer 8

Depends if you want to pay another £80 for a cheap meal or not. Some of easy Jet and Ryan Air flights land in desirable places - usually with good links.

Answer 9

Most people would like to pay 40 Eur instead of 400 and get to the same destination. What the sense to pay all extras like using gate, pay for airport slot,for airport employees and etc.

Answer 10

good question. BA uses comfort to gain customers but ryan air and easy jet use cost to gain customers. it costs more to fly with BA because of the major airports and comfort where as easy jet and ryan air is really cheap because they offer none except a near destination of where you are going