Cad's favourite airline (British Airways in general)

Member Name: buzzard_cad

Product:	British Airways in general
Date:	01/09/06 (1064 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Online check-in, staff very good

Disadvantages: None really

Anyone who reads my meandering reviews will know that I am not a great fan of airlines in general. I think they charge too much and treat you less than cattle, the budget airlines in particular have seen my ire and even a national carrier has been on the wrong end of my tongue. So it was with a heavy heart that I turned on the computer as Mrs Cad gave me the responsibility of booking our main holiday flights. This you have to remember was about two days after arriving back after my disastrous sortie with a allocation free airline of Irish extraction. I had screwed up the last one and was determined to find someone up to the job this time.

For some reason British Airways (BA) came to mind and so when I was looking for the flights I went straight to their web-site. I got a reasonable price and checked it out with the disgraced budget carrier. Imagine my surprise when it turned up cheaper. Yes, not pennies but nearly £50 cheaper. I tried the other carriers that went to the same destination and they were around £100 to £150 more expensive. So dropping my earlier pledge not to go with the cheapest and with Mrs Cad's backing I booked the BA tickets.

So who are BA and what is their service like?

Well a brief history lesson for those not in the know. British Airways has a long history starting as an amalgamation of pioneer airlines from 1919, it soon formed in 1924 into Imperial Airways. Synonymous with the expansion of the British Empire the Imperial name was changed in 1939 to British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC), this was when Imperial Airways and British Airways Limited were brought together and nationalised. The BOAC name lasted until the seventies when it was changed to British Airways and absorbed some other smaller airlines. By the eighties it was a loss making giant that the government couldn't wait to get rid of. It was privatised in 1987 on the stock exchange and seems to be doing okay to day. It is now Europe's leading operator of flights across the Atlantic, it has flights domestically in Britain and also world wide.

Booking the tickets was straight forward enough over the internet and unlike the budget airlines the price is displayed within the first few pages and you don't need a calculator to work out what the total is. Keeping abreast of what is happening with your booking is easy as they send you some emails to keep you informed. The first was a confirmation email, the next was a blurb about Heathrow it's layout and parking options. The final email came about three days before departure and had links on it to help you out with anything you need. The only link I used was for check-in online.

Online Check-in was new too me, but I understand that many carriers have introduced this system of check-in. It effectively means you can check-in, reserve seats and print a boarding pass over the internet. You can only do this by the invitation email and when the check-in online function opens. In our case this was 24 hours before the flight was due to depart. This is a very good idea as it allowed us to select an aisle seat for Mrs Cad and have a reassurance of a boarding card. The system is flexible too so you can reserve your seats and go to a self-check-in point at the airport and print your tickets there if you have no printer when you are away from home. Online check-in is a god send item as it allows you to go to check-in quicker or not at all if you have hand-luggage only.

Check-in at Heathrow was a breeze as we arrived sailed in to the 'Fast bag drop' zone with a tiny queue and got checked in with 10 minutes of walking through the terminal door. We still had to produce passports, our printed boarding cards and answer the security questions, but it was so much easier than the standard check-in. I was happy, I was joyous, I was positively skipping to the security to get frisked and have my shoes X-rayed.

The joy of BA's check-in is that they have the three options of check-in, standard, online and self-service. I cannot mention the standard as we didn't use it, but I can comment on the self-service as we used this on the way back. The self-service tills are located at the airport and look like a cash-point. You need the payment card you booked the holiday with and you reference number. Put in your card type your reference number, select your seats and the card is printed. You will need to use the self-service check-in desk if you cannot print out your online boarding card as happened to us when we returned. In all another very enjoyable check-in experience.

With the security and frisking done we headed down to the gate and waited for boarding. The process when it started was unhurried and easy going with a light queue and no pushing and shoving. We got on the plane easily and for once I was relaxed and ready for anything that the flight crew threw at me. Needless to say they didn’t pull an surprises and in stark contrast to my other experiences the flight crew looked a lot older, but had impeccable manners and were very professional. I could find nothing to fault the whole flight, even the landing was like sitting on a soft chair.

The seats were in blue leather and were comfortable and clean. There was plenty of leg room and the recline function was easy to use. All the drinks were free and the meal that came along although nothing to shout about was nice. It was a roll filled with chicken on the way out and tuna on the way back. There was also a portion of fruit salad or trifle and a cup of tea or coffee with the roll. I cannot think of a bad thing to say about BA’s service throughout the time we were with them and were dealt by them.

So to recap then the online check-in is a brilliant idea and if you cannot do this the self-service check-in is also very good as it saves time at the desks. Assistants on the desk are friendly and well mannered. The boarding of the flight is easy and unhurried and the flight crew are pitch perfect. The planes are comfortable and the food although not hot is nice and fills a gap in your stomach. After all my troubles with budget airlines I will definitely be travelling with BA again, they are my favourite airline to date.

Thanks for reading, rating and commenting.

Martin
(Review is all mine except the history part which a regurgitated from BA and an encyclopedia. Also can be found on other opinion sites under the same username as written by me.)

Summary: Good airline with some flight's cheaper than you would think.