The Best Budget Airline By Far! (British European)

Member Name: jatkinson100

Product:	British European
Date:	21/02/05 (182 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good quality for a cheap price., Reliable and trustworthy., Excellent prices if booked well in advance.

Disadvantages: Price rises and choice drops the nearer the departure date., Many of the airports don't have a great choice of destination.

I was really sorry to hear that other dooyoo’ers hadn’t enjoyed flying with British European; as a, fairly, regular user, around 6 times per year, I rate them very highly and comparable only to the only other good low cost airline I’ve been on, Jet2.

The premise is simple; stack ‘em high and sell ‘em cheap. People do not fly on BE, or any other low cost airline, for the luxury, only for the price. This is what anyone wanting to fly with any budget airline must remember. Even if you paid £200 for a ticket, there’s bound to be someone on the plane who paid peanuts and got a really good deal, just by booking earlier.

Another dooyoo’er thought it was weird that they didn’t drop fares nearer the time, but they do tend to work opposite to how many people would think. The nearer the time of departure, the less seats they have and, therefore, more demand. Rather than working as tour companies which sell off the last few remaining holidays in order to make sure that they get rid of them, these budget airlines work like the stock market, so, when demand is low, the cost is cheap. However, as more people buy shares (book seats) the price goes up. We found this out quite early in EasyJet’s life when we booked four tickets, with three costing one price and the fourth a bit more. In the case of BE, flying from Leeds-Bradford to Belfast City, my usual route, costs £110.00 if I want to go in three days, but is free* (yes, FREE) if I book seven months ahead.

* These fares do not include taxes.

BE fly to many airports in the UK and mainland Europe, with their main hubs being Exeter, Southampton and Birmingham. By using these provincial and smaller (no offence) airports they can ensure that they have a big share of the total number of passengers and, therefore, have great bargaining power when schedules are written and space is allocated. They are medium fish in a small pond rather than a great big one like Manchester, Heathrow, Gatwick, etc.

From these three airports, you can travel to many parts of Europe, as well as other parts of the UK, quickly and cheaply, often far, far cheaper than you would using other modes of transport. From Birmingham or Southampton you can travel as far a field as Edinburgh, Salzburg, Malaga or Perpignan. For those wanting to travel to exotic destinations, Murcia, Toulouse, La Rochelle and Leeds-Bradford are all served well. It is worth remembering that, if you don’t live within easy travelling distance of one of these airports, one near you may well offer a very cheap connection, so going via Southampton will be a viable option for the early bird.

British airports served are (with domestic destinations / European destinations):
Aberdeen (Belfast City only)
Belfast City (12/0)
Birmingham (7/13)
Bristol (2/3)
Exeter (9/6)
Gatwick (3/0)
Glasgow (6/0)
Guernsey (4/0)
Isle of Man (Birmingham only)
Jersey (10/0)
Leeds-Bradford (3/0)
Liverpool (6/0)
London City (Edinburgh only)
London Southend (Jersey only)
Luton (Jersey only)
Manchester (Southampton only)
Newcastle (4/0)
as well as
Dublin (2/0)
Shannon (Birmingham only)

European destinations are:
Alicante
Almeria
Bergerac
Bordeaux
Brest-Brittany
Chambery
Cherbourg
Faro
Geneva
La Rochelle
Limoges
Malaga
Murcia
Palma de Mallorca
Perpignan
Prague
Salzburg
Toulouse

As noted before, even if BE don’t fly to your destination from your local airport, it is very likely that you will be able to connect to one which has more choice, as long as you book early enough.

However, this is about experiences of BE and mine have, without exception, been very good. I don’t like getting treated badly even if I am getting something cheap, so I wouldn’t put up with poor service, rude behaviour or massive delays. I have never had any of these problems with BE and would highly recommend them to anyone.

Their service is great, with a very easy online booking and payment system. The website guides you through each stage of the booking and paying sections and lets you read and digest everything, in plain English and large numbers, before you move on. Immediately you get an e-mail confirmation and this, as well as some ID, is all you need to fly far, far away. Payment is accepted via many different cards and is secure when done on-line.

The website is very informative, giving you good descriptions of each of the destinations. You can see, at a glance, whether or not BE uses your local airport and where you can fly to from there.

The staff at check-in and on-board have, with me, always been courteous, polite and helpful, even if they tend to wear just a little too much make-up.

I cannot tell you whether or not they are helpful when faced with a problem, as was the situation faced by another dooyoo reviewer, as I have never had any cause to complain. The greatest amount we have been delayed was 5 minutes, and this has happened once, and we are regularly early as they take the first available slot as soon as all of the passengers are boarded, another benefit of using smaller, less busy airports.

In short, I have found them easily the best of the budget airlines that I have flown with, comparable to Jet2 in cost and service, and far superior to EasyJet and Ryan Air.

Summary: