Another view of UC versus CW

I flew BA last month because of the really good price and the opportunity to fly to Tampa instead of the usual nightmares of Miami or Orlando. Having read other people's comments I thought I would add my own comparisons.
* the BA price - wow it really was good
* the BA CH - oh dear no contest. VS wins
* the BA seat - really comfy in sitting position
* the BA bed - give me VS please
* BA storage drawer - very useful a real plus
* BA destination - fantastic. Loved TPA. Even security &
immigration were friendly. No queues.
* BA cabin layout - yuk. Felt very crowded.
* BA climbing over people's feet to reach aisle - double yuk
* BA sitting by aisle- ok if you don't mind the CC hitting your
elbow as they rush up and down
* BA food- good but the way it was served felt no better than
the tray handed to you in Y. VS much superior.
* BA CC - always seemed in a rush and hard to get their
attention. Please I like more than one cup of coffee!
Never felt in any way special. Never addressed beyond
absolute necessity. VS scores again. Also VS seem more
aware of their passengers' needs.
* BA breakfast - where were my cereals ? I don't want a bacon
roll as the only choice. And more coffee please! VS scores
highly here.
* BA taking me by surprise - sitting facing backwards I never
got advance warning and suddenly a tray or hot towel
would appear in front of me. Didn't like this !
* BA footstool- had a mind of its own !Perhaps this was me
not getting to grips with it but how I missed VS ready to
explain everything with a friendly smile.
* BA talk to your neighbour- yes, excellent if you are
travelling with a friend it is nice to hold a conversation
* BA time keeping - umm. Recently I have experienced delays on
VS flights ( some long) and BA did take off on time ( for
these two flights.)
Conclusion. Well, I am booked again BA for September because of the price at the time and flying to Tampa. But as for my next flights ?! ?|
Please VS fly to Tampa - there would be no contest !!!!

Tampa is indeed a great airport for direct inbounds, I really like picking people up from there (plus its nearer home for me than Orlando)

if VS did fly there then it would be great , i wonder if they feel is that all they would be doing is diluting the MCO trade rather than getting extra pax

if VS did fly there then it would be great , i wonder if they feel is that all they would be doing is diluting the MCO trade rather than getting extra pax

Indeed. I think BA's Tampa service is in lieu of a second daily Orlando flight. They did fly 1 x TPA and 2 x MCO for a while but I think that this probably diluted the loads too much.

The majority of Brits flying to central Florida will be holidaymakers staying in the Orlando area. So it makes perfect sense for most flights to go there.

BA, with its much larger fleet, can afford to fly into TPA once a day to cater for the much more limited market for the gulf coast. But VS, with a relatively tiny fleet, has to use it as effectively as possible and that means MCO.

Hi Hiljil,

Nice to see another comparison with CW VS Upper.

I must admit to checking BA's prices now and again when looking for flights, but haven't really managed to find any that were much/any cheaper than what VA were offering (comparing like for like fares)

What I have noticed is the considerable jump in upper fares to MCO in the past few years getting to the point of being a little scarey - even premium fares seem to have slowly expanded to the point when that was what you used to pay for an Upper fare.

One of these days we will try BA, but at the moment, with the recent tier point bonus, I am nearly at gold, so will continue to support VS for another wee while. I am certainly looking forward to some heat in a couple of weeks

thanks again

David

Thanks hiljil, and very timely as I'm mulling over the choice of BA or VS for my next NY trip. Ordinarily it would be a no-brainer for me, but I've come to realise that I'm going to fall slightly short of reaching BAEC AG on domestic runs alone, so could use a top up. May just have to see if I can get the LCY-JFK option to work instead as I have visions of it being rather more uncluttered with bodies...

Oh, and I have no issue with a bacon roll for breakfast. It's just that I like to have cereal as well

[honey lamb]

Taking TPA out of the equation, since I am not one of those whose regular pilgrimage every year is to the House of the Mouse or indeed to Florida, I have to say that your comparison between CW and UC absolutely reflects my experience of BA

Great TR. y)

I was very impressed with TPA when we visited the area last year, and immediately wished we had flown direct instead of using VS miles and transiting via the hell hole that is MIA!

Just have to say that I was dreading MIA last week but immigration in took 35 minutes and security on Sunday coming home was only a few minutes. Literally no queue and straight through. Maybe it was an exception to the norm but I was happy with it!

Thanks for the report. It's a good reminder that VS service compares favourably, something that I think we may have lost focus on, what with IT issues etc.

Good report. and one I almost fully agree with. To quantify, I also recently flew Club with BA from Gatwick to Orlando, and actually briefly met up with Hiljil in the BA lounge.
Having flown VA previously several times in U/C on Airbus 346's, I didn't find the 777 cabin too cramped, but did notice that it was not great for travelling as a single, unless you bagged a window seat.
In general, I agree with Hiljil regarding the lounge. The VA LHR clubhouse is a spoiler. The food on BA was good, I found. The seat comfy, and I had no problem sleeping in bed position. Staff, I found friendly. Arrivals lounge, again not great but functional at Gatwick.
The big difference for me was the price. I originally looked at VA and for 3 x adults, this came out at £2,512 each in U/C. With BA it was £1,701 each, meaning a £2,500 saving. I realise this is a leisure route, and the argument that BA have more seats in Club, I understand, but cannot justify the extra cost.
To summarise. If the cost between VA and BA were almost identical, then I would fly with VA. Otherwise, I would take BA and live with the differences, which are slight in my opinion.
Just to add. I have just looked at LGW to MCO mid August. BA Club comes out at £2,800 each. VA comes out at £3,800 each in U/C.

I am pleased that I found this topic as I have been looking at the BA sale with increasing interest. I think that even though VS may be a superior product the prices of CW at the moment may make me willing to try - being forewarned about certain things !!!
Thank you for your opinions.

There is an Upper Class sale in just now - for some strange reason its not advertised on the sale page ?| ?| so I would have a play with dates to your destination which might give you an equivalent sale price to CW.

When BA price their flights in a sale VS aren't often far behind (unless all the cheapest fare classes have been sold)

David

Edit : - have a look at fare watch on the front page here http://www.v-flyer.com

Thank you for that . I hadn't realised !!