And Now it's Gone ... (at least for Scotland). (Go)

Member Name: sidneygee

Product:	Go
Date:	04/06/02 (349 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Cheap !, Reasonably convenient.

Disadvantages: Not totally convenient, May soon disappear

The Department of Transport and the Monopolies & Merger Commission have proved themselves as useful as Chocolate Teapots.

UPDATE

As from Monday 19 August, 'Go' flights between Scotland and Belfast have all been cancelled, following the successful take-over of 'Go' by 'Easyjet'. It is reported that this has affected 10,000 bookings.

At the same time, 'Easyjet' are advertising the cost of flights to and from Belfast at "From £15 single". This would make the cheapest cost of a return as £43.20, a substantial increase on the lowest costs that I have paid (£13.20 through to £35 recently). OK, I accept that the airlines will have made a loss at £13.20, but that is what 'loss-leaders' are all about when you have true competition.

I am left with no conclusions other than there is no protection given to the consumer
against the iniquities of a Monopoly, or that the Directors of the Venture Capitalist company "3i" are 'favoured' by this current government. After all, the executives of 'Go' rejected the take-over bid, but "3i" were the biggest shareholder (having financed the management buy-out from British Airways). You can draw your own conclusions ....

I am still awaiting to hear what Easyjet are going to offer me for the flight booking that I have outstanding with 'Go' for late September....



Original Review:

One question about the takeover of 'Go' by 'Easyjet' perplexed me, to the extent that I wrote to the Department of Transport.

'Easyjet' had made an offer to buy 'Go', which was accepted by the major shareholder (the 3i's Investment *anking Group), but opposed by the Chief Executive of 'Go', Barbara Cassini. She was the driving force behind the original management buy-out from British Airways but now the take-over is complete (according to an
email received on 1st August). The 'Go' service will continue in its present form until 2003, and then be amalgamated "...using the combined experience from both Go and easyJet to create one better, larger low cost airline. This new airline will operate under the 'easyJet' name..". Well, we shall see.


As I see it, now the low-cost airline 'Go' has been taken over by the low-cost airline "Easyjet", there will be a number of routes where the choice of budget airlines will be reduced from two to one. The Edinburgh to Belfast route is one of these. There seems little doubt that services will be curtailed, and there is a real danger that costs to the customer will rise substantially. Surely (I thought) this is what the Monopolies and Mergers mob are supposed to protect us (joe & jane public) from ? That is the question I have raised with the Department of Transport.

I do not really have an axe to grind, in that my costs are borne by my clients. But, if the travel costs should go to, say £150 return, then this might have an effect on my business. And it will certainly have an impact on all those who now travel regularly by air between these two cities. An acknowledgement came 3 weels ago, 6 weeks after I sent my letter ...., but as my poetic reasoning resonated "... action came there none ...".

I am left wondering if 'Easyjet' made any donations to the depleted Labour Party coffers ? ...... or was it the 3i Investment *ankers (who have made the biggest pile of cash out of the deal)? I think we should be told....


Original Review
It is no secret that I am very fond of carrying out my Consultancy work and that I enjoy my frequent trips to Belfast. I started these trips in 1997 and have written six reviews for Dooyoo about aspects of these visits to the City and the province.

As a frequent traveler by air between Edinburgh and Belfast, I was deli
ghted when the airline 'Go' started a service between Edinburgh and Belfast International Airport in early May 2001 - just too late to cover my trip that began on 30 April - so (for hopefully the last time) I had to fork out the princely sum of £255.90 (including taxes) for the excruciatingly poor service provided by British Airways (BA) through British Regional Airlines. Although a poor service, the planes were often full to capacity on a Friday evening and a Monday morning, so competition was certainly needed.

That price is now increased to £274 (!!!). Sorry that this review includes the occasional 'swipe' at BA, but it really does make me feel better (!).

My next trip required me in Belfast from Tuesday 29 May until Friday 1 June 2001 so, as soon as the client confirmed these dates, I booked my flight, at a then remarkable price of £90 return (including taxes). Since all these expenses are covered by my clients, I will not harangue here against the iniquities of European business air-fares, since this is academic to my pocket. But the airfare then paid regularly to the BA coffers was sufficient to get an Icelandic Air return flight to Boston from Glasgow airport, so some pertinent gripings really are called for.

Since that first trip with 'Go', I have now traveled with the airline on a 11 further occasions, the latest resulting in my return to Edinburgh on Thursday 30th May. The flights have generally been on time, with so far only one outward journey and one return flight later than 30 minutes (and in both cases less than 75 minutes). Indeed, a better service for punctuality than the BA flights (which were almost always late returning on Thursday/Friday evenings)

I have two further trips arranged this June, which (like the last) have each cost the princely sum of £13.20 return (Yes, THIRTEEN POUNDS 20 pence - including an 'Insurance surcharge of £3.20, and airport taxes). Now, admittedly, I book
ed these a couple of months ago and, for one of the flights, I double-booked myself on the outward flight (one for Monday 10th June and the other for Tuesday 11th June). At an extra cost of £6.60, this is worthwhile and overall, I have saved my clients well over £2,000 in airfares over the past year.

Booking is simplicity itself on their website (but a £3 surcharge for credit cards sticks in the craw, and I have risked my Debit Card for the cheapest fares). Just select your Departure and Destination airports, the required dates, and whether you want the lowest fare or the business fare. Then you are given the flight options and the costs of each journey leg. Much easier than when I had to book my BA flights through a travel agent (when they would have to telephone back to confirm a booking and then get the ticket sent to me) or via the very inefficient BA direct line. On one occasion using the BA line, they had no record of my booking at the check-in desk (!!).

The fully flexible Business Return Fare to Belfast with 'Go' is £97.30 when booked over the web, but the most that I have paid when booking a non-flexible fare is £78.30 and it is usually possible to make a sub-£40 return booking, provided you book up at least a week in advance. It is a ticket-less process and as with all trips now, you require photo-ID. If you have booked a flexible fare, then obviously you keep a note of your booking reference number ....

Like its former parent, British Airways, you do get a seat reservation, and baggage handling at both Belfast and Edinburgh via Servisair have caused no problems ? unlike problems that I have gathered are associated with Easyjet at some airports using other baggage handling agents.

My only criticism of Servisair compared with, say, the British Airways own check-in staff, is that they are not sticklers to the rules. With BA, at both Edinburgh and Belfast, the weight and dimensions of my hand baggage were often
checked and, if I was very much over the 5 kilograms maximum, the bag had to be checked in and put 'in the hold'. Servisair do not seem to care about this. Recently, I followed an old bat onto the flight from Edinburgh who was struggling with a shopping bag on wheels, that was not only in excess of the maximum dimensions allowed for hand-baggage but was obviously very much heavier than 5 kilograms. I had my lap-top computer case, my newspapers and my coat. Having helped her up the steps of the aircraft by gripping and supporting the bottom of the bag, I had decided that there was "no way" I would get involved in attempting to lift such a weight up into the luggage rack. Sure enough, she expected me to do this, which I (politely) refused to do, saying that it was ? ..more than my back can take ...?. She then had the cheek to complain that she suffered ? ...with sciatica and cannot be expected to lift it up herself ...? and was not impressed when I suggested that she should therefore have " .... put the item in the hold ...". One of the flight attendants 'rescued' the situation by trying and failing to hoist the load up into the rack, before insisting that it be relocated into the hold - much to the fury of the old bat, who (naturally) seemed to blame me for her embarrassment at the short delay that was caused - and commented on by the pilot!


It is interesting to compare the logistics and the costs of my current visits using the 'Go' service, with my previous using BA for the Belfast trip.

BA Flight (prior to May 2001)
The British Airways flights I used depart Edinburgh at 07.10, and returns departing Belfast at 19.40. They use Belfast City Airport, which is quite convenient for a 10-15 minute taxi ride into the centre (£5-£7), or a local (infrequent) bus service (involving about 5 minutes walk from the terminal building) at 95 pence each way (but with the attraction of viewing the Red Hand Gang
wall murals and the kerb stones painted red/white/blue as you trundle through the streets of loyalist East Belfast).

The aircraft used are ancient ATP turboprop aircraft that rattle about so much that your breakfast tray will move about your folding table (and can even end up on the floor). That is right, you do get a typical (disgustingly fatty) 'full' breakfast with the morning flight and an equally disgusting 'savoury wrap' in the evening. The evening flight only becomes bearable if the cabin crew can be persuaded to allow the 'splicing of the main-brace' immediately after take-off and serve you a (very) large G&T.

When I first traveled on the ATP aircraft in the late 1980's, I was very nervous. On the Edinburgh to Manchester run, the wings seemed to 'flap' as the crate took off and it came as no surprise when one was grounded at Inverness Airport because of 'metal fatigue'. I understand that all were withdrawn from service for the wing struts to be strengthened. I was relieved to find that the aircraft on the Belfast route did not suffer from this 'wing flap' so the problem obviously was sorted (lol).

So the cost of my usual 4 day (3 night) stay in Belfast would cost £212.50 (initially) rising to £254 plus £216 accommodation (3 nights accommodation at Jury's Hotel), totaling from £428 up to £470 (!) Booking a city short break could reduce the price by about 15 - 20 %, but with cancellation charges and loss of flexibility.

Go Flight (May 2002)
'Go' use 'proper' jet aircraft, (Boeing 737) and are much quieter and more stable than the ATP. Initially the 'Go' service departed Edinburgh at 06.30, returning from Belfast at 20.15, but that was when they were owned by British Airways. Following the management buy-out, the times altered and can now be regarded as either "much more convenient" or as "not quite so convenient" (de
pending if you are on the side of the Consultant or the client). The service now departs Edinburgh at 09.15, and returns departing Belfast at 18.15. It uses the International Airport at Aldegrove, which is a little further out. A taxi costs £20 - £25, but there is an excellent bus service, departing every 20 to 30 minutes, that takes about 35 minutes to the centre. It costs a very reasonable £8 return.

As indicated above, my flight expenses now vary between about £13 and £95 a trip, with hotel accommodation (at the Belfast Travelodge opened in 1999 - see my review) usually costing a discounted £35 a night. Thus, the costs of a 4 day (3 night trip) is now down to between £118 and £200 in total.

On the down-side, the later departure/earlier return means that my clients 'lose' almost 4 hours (say half a day) of my active time each trip. In fact what it means (as far as they believe) is that I work extra time at the hotel in the evenings, to make up for this 'lost time'. But, in ACTUAL fact, I almost always do carry out some work for clients in the evenings at the hotel. To reach deadlines, at least half or three quarters of this 'lost' time thus has to be made up by my working in Edinburgh, at time which is logged and charged for, so that each trip does, in fact generate about 0.3 or so of a day's chargeable work !

Of course, from the clients' point of view this has to be off-set against the fare and accommodation savings. So the 'honour' of both Consultant and clients are 'satisfied' (aren?t they ?).


Since I started using the 'Go' service, the rival budget airline 'Easyjet' started operating on the same route. Initially, there were two problems. The times were even less convenient (later departure and earlier return, but now there is a flight which leaves Edinburgh at 08.15. The second (potential) problem I feel is rather more serious. In January, when awaiting
my departure from Belfast one Friday evening, the plane handling the Easyjet flight which should have left at 17.45, did not arrive, and several people made last minute bookings on the Go flight (which left on time). I gathered from talking to a couple who had transferred, that Easyjet were not totally reliable on the Belfast route, and there were occasions when passengers would be left stranded, or would have to take the precaution of booking themselves onto this later 'Go' flight to ensure they made their Edinburgh destination. I was also told that prospects for refunds for such cancellations were very poor, particularly if you had booked a heavily discounted flight. Thus I had not felt tempted to try an Easyjet booking until quite recently (see Review), bu which time the departure times had been altered substantially.


Post Script on BA
Several weeks' ago, in early March my name appeared in an article in 'The Times', as a result of a letter that I had sent to the Editor. In their Business Travel Section, which appears on a Thursday, the journo wrote a Very Bullish article about BA and how it was going to compete against the budget airlines on the domestic routes, with fares starting at £90 return, with the Edinburgh-Belfast route mentioned.

Bingo ! thought I. That will be worthwhile, if I can fly out on the Monday or Tuesday morning at that price, returning on the Thursday or Friday evening. Thus, I tried to book return flights for the weeks commencing the Mondays 10th and 17th June. OK, it WAS possible, to book return flights that came back on the Wednesday/Thursday/Friday evenings but NO seats at THAT return fare were available departing in the early morning. However, a flight departing after midday could be booked. AND, lo and behold, the same pattern applied in the other direction. What a waste of space ! So when the BA adverts say "from £90" and "No Saturday stay required", don't be c
onned into thinking that there will be any flights convenient for you (even if you try booking 3 month's in advance). It was then that I found the VERY cheap advance booking flights via 'Go'. My letter, needlesstosay, put the boot very firmly into the ribs (and other anatomical parts) of BA for the manner in which they had been 'economical with the truth' when talking to The Times journalist.

The journalist telephoned me and tried to get me to complain to British Airways, but I declined. I explained had only seen his 'puff' published in The Times about the offer, and I told him that I had learned at an early age "never to believe everything I read in a newspaper", and that was the real reason behind my letter. I don't think he took that as a joke ...

In the same way, you should not necessarily trust everything that you read, or indeed, everyone that you meet, on Dooyoo (says he with a knowing smile ..... grrrrrr!).


© Sidneygee 2002

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