Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Category: Airlines

  • British Airways vs Wizz Air

    British Airways vs Wizz Air

    For the first time in a couple of years, I flew British Airways (BA) on my trip with Richard to Gothenburg. I had some Avios to use up, which meant that the flight cost £40 return and it gave me a chance to use Richard’s guesting rights to experience the lounges at Heathrow T3 once again. As a disclosure, I used to do work for BA and so I still feel quite an affinity to them.

    And then there’s Wizz Air, who I’ve flown with extensively over the last year because of their All You Can Fly pass which I very much like. They’re a budget airline who have a dreadful reputation, although, as a disclosure, I’ve flown them a lot and have now got something of an affinity to them as well.

    So, as I don’t get out much, I thought I’d compare the two using a series of artificial headings that I’ve created. I’m not including lounge experiences and I can’t take into consideration IRROPs (when things go wrong) which BA might be better at dealing with.

    All are out of five and I’m making this up as I go along, so at this point, I don’t know who will win this riveting competition. And so….

    BOARDING CARD ACQUISITION

    WIZZ AIR : Acquiring the boarding card on the Wizz Air app is an easy process, although it’s limited to just 24 hours before the flight (unless you pay extra, which I obviously don’t). There are quite a few screens to go through, but the process is easy and the boarding card stays saved in the app for months. Seating is random, although only on around 20% of occasions am I put in a middle seat. 4/5

    BRITISH AIRWAYS : This was a slightly disappointing experience, the app didn’t work (I got it working, sort of, for the return although it was very slow) and so I was forced to check-in on a laptop. This was the case for the outbound and inbound flights, wasting a fair chunk of time getting it resolved. There was the advantage of being freely able to select seats in the 24 hours before the flight, which was a benefit so it wasn’t entirely random. BA’s IT is, by their own admission in the past, sub-optimal and I’ve found them erratic before, but they have the advantage that you can print the boarding pass out at the airport for free which Wizz Air don’t offer. 3/5

    PRE-BOARDING

    WIZZ AIR : Wizz Air are impeccable about this and I note this on just about every flight, it’s clear where to stand and they work through the priority and non-priority queues quickly and effectively. It’s customer focused, it’s efficient and it’s quick. 5/5

    BRITISH AIRWAYS : This felt just slightly muddled, there was no defined queueing area which led to customers milling about in the way of others. There was no obvious time that the boarding desk would open, so customers couldn’t relax or at least wait in the appropriate queue. The process didn’t feel customer focused. One bonus to BA, I did like that I wasn’t concerned about whether my bag fit the bag sizers, which is always a slight concern when flying with Wizz Air. 3/5

    BOARDING

    WIZZ AIR : Impeccable, on my last 60 or so sectors there have been no delays or issues with boarding. 5/5

    BRITISH AIRWAYS : Particularly on the outbound flight, the crew were stressed (I know this as I was on the last row and the crew were talking to each other about the potential need to get bags moved to the hold), some passengers were stressed and it was just a little chaotic. Passengers were faced with searching up and down the cabin for space for their bags. The passenger in the middle seat next to me was one of those, so I ended up standing in the aisle for a few minutes whilst she found space. I don’t mind that, but she was unnecessarily stressed and could only find space some considerable distance away. I like my bag under the seat in front of me, which is what both BA and Wizz Air require me to do (if I had a big bag with BA I could put it above for free, which doesn’t feel entirely fair for those with small bags). 2/5

    SAFETY ANNOUNCEMENTS

    WIZZ AIR : The safety announcements are often ignored, but I always watch them out of politeness. All very professional. 5/5

    BRITISH AIRWAYS : I have no issues with the safety processes of BA, but I was disappointed that the flight safety demonstration was so far away from me down the cabin that I could hardly see it. As an aside, BA crew should probably check that lockers are shut (although they were trying to manage bag reshuffling for a long period of time) as an overhead locker went flying open during the take-off. 4/5

    CREW

    WIZZ AIR : The crews are always helpful, personable and polite. 5/5

    BRITISH AIRWAYS : And no difference with British Airways. 5/5

    FOOD ON BOARD

    WIZZ AIR : There is nothing free, but I like their noodle pot things which are reasonably priced. 2/5

    BRITISH AIRWAYS : I’m going to be overly fair here to BA as the food and drink prices were overly expensive, but economy passengers do get a free biscuit and bottle of water. This allows for more crew engagement, which I think is very positive. 4/5

    FLIGHT COMFORT

    WIZZ AIR : I find Wizz Air flights as comfortable as I’m going to get on a budget airline. The seat pitch is fine for me, although only for flights of under four hours I’ve discovered. 4/5

    BRITISH AIRWAYS : BA declares their seat pitch to be nearly the same as Wizz Air, although I struggled more with leg room for reasons I don’t understand. I’m giving them the same score as the seat pitch is similar and I was comfortable enough. 4/5

    FLIGHT CLEANLINESS

    WIZZ AIR : Given their very fast turnaround time, the cabin is generally always very clean. I’ve never had a dirty tray table, although there’s sometimes a little litter in hard to reach places on the floor. 4/5

    BRITISH AIRWAYS : This was disappointing, my tray table was dirty on the return flight so it hadn’t been cleaned at all. There’s no excuse not to do at least some basic cleaning for passenger comfort. 2/5

    PILOTS

    WIZZ AIR : The pilots have always been impeccable. 5/5

    BRITISH AIRWAYS : Again, professional pilots. 5/5

    ENTERTAINMENT

    WIZZ AIR : There is a magazine in the seat pocket which has a map of their destinations I like to look at, as well as some articles to read and also their list of on-board purchases. I have enough things to read on my phone, but I like paper magazines for some variety. That’s the limit of the entertainment though. 2/5

    BRITISH AIRWAYS : There is no provision for printed material. 1/5

    INTERNET

    WIZZ AIR : There is no on-line provision, even a paid for one. 1/5

    BRITISH AIRWAYS : This was a strong advantage for British Airways, their free wifi for all passengers is limited to WhatsApp and email, but it worked well and was very useful. I was impressed at how well this worked. Very pleased. 5/5

    DISEMBARKING

    WIZZ AIR : There are too many bus transfers, although this isn’t something limited to Wizz Air by any means. Disembarking from front and back is efficient and passenger focused. 4/5

    BRITISH AIRWAYS : On the outbound flight I was first off, but on the inbound the disembarking took too long. Jet bridge only disembarkation when passengers are trying to scuttle around the cabin heading in the opposite direction to find their bags is just a little frustrating. I do have a comment relating to accessibility below though. 3/5

    TOTALS

    This gives Wizz Air a total score of 46 and British Airways a score of 41. This feels just a little unfairly skewered to Wizz Air and not entirely fair to British Airways, although the more I reflect on it, the more I realise just how poor some elements of these British Airways flights were. I did find the wifi to be useful, so that probably deserves a bigger uplift here, so the results should perhaps be a little narrower.

    One important element I haven’t considered in the above headings is accessibility. As BA often uses jet bridges, this makes it much easier for those with accessibility requirements. It’s right to give credit to BA for that.

    PRICING

    I now need to make an adjustment based on the average price charged for a flight. I had expected when I planned this post a few weeks ago that BA would be better, so I was going to mention the more expensive prices.

    Anyway, I’m going to use the headline fare for the flights we took to Gothenburg as these were the cheapest flights we could find for BA when we book, so that makes them £50 for a single.

    It’s unfair to note that my Wizz Air flights are £9 each as I pay extra for the all you can fly pass, so taking that into account, all of my single fares are around £20. This means that BA are usually significantly more expensive.

    CONCLUSION

    This is easier than I expected. I would still fly British Airways, but only if their flights were cheaper than Wizz Air.

    RESULT

    Wizz Air have got their processes to be efficient and they are in line with what I need from an airline, so my results are inevitably biased in that way. I like a budget airline for cheap prices and Wizz Air is very good at that, it’s all that they do. BA has to have a broader appeal across a much larger operation and they also fly from airports with higher costs, although for my own travel, I’m happy with London Luton airport.

    For those with bags, more complex needs, a requirement to fly from larger hubs or those with status, there is much to be said for BA. For those who want budget travel without stress, I certainly think Wizz Air is worth considering here. I’d add that I think both BA and Wizz Air are better than Ryanair for anyone interested in that perspective, I don’t tend to fly with Ryanair.

    But, taking everything into account, for short haul flights, it’s Wizz Air who I prefer over British Airways, which I’m not sure I expected to write when I started this.

  • Gothenburg Trip – Day 4 (British Airways – Gothenburg to London Heathrow)

    Gothenburg Trip – Day 4 (British Airways – Gothenburg to London Heathrow)

    After dropping the car off at the hire place, which isn’t something that I usually need to worry about on my trips, it was time to get a British Airways flight back to the UK. Richard went through premium security, but I was content muddling through in the poor lane.

    That’s helpful of me, I thought I had taken a photo of the flight screen so that I could mention the time, but I appear to have failed to realise that it had gone to the second page with the flights for the day after. Anyway, it was the BA793 flight at 20:00. Once again I had problems with the BA app, so, to be safe, I printed a boarding pass out at the airport.

    Richard had priority boarding and he was anxiously waiting to be called forward with the VIPs, as he had spent a small fortune upgrading to business class. I hadn’t upgraded and I was happy to sit and wait until boarding was nearly complete. I was on an aisle seat near the back of the aircraft, so this wasn’t a problem. Boarding announcements were relatively poor, Richard was standing for 26 minutes and they had said they were about to commence boarding quite early on during that process.

    I was pleased to be able to board by the stairs as I like that to see the aircraft registration number, although it was partly hidden here. It was though G-EUYW, an Airbus A320 that BA has had since new in 2014. The boarding was more efficient than the chaotic outbound flight, but there were fewer passengers here for the crew to deal with and there were some issues with a lack of staff for bag storage.

    In terms of what I paid, which was £20 each way after Avios discount, I was entirely content. But, the tray table was dirty and so they had clearly made only basic efforts to clean the aircraft between flights. I mention this as Wizz Air, in the last 80 or so flights I’ve taken with them, have never offered me a tray table that wasn’t clean.

    On another note, the cabin crew were standing so far forwards during the safety demonstration that it was pointless for us at the back (they were at rows 1, 4 and 14, whilst I was on row 28 and there were rows behind me. Most passengers seem to disregard the safety announcement anyway, but I didn’t have much choice here if I had been interested in following intently. They were doing a safety announcement from row 4 as that’s where the economy section of the cabin started, but it felt slightly sub-optimal. I would add at this stage that I have complete confidence in BA’s broader safety processes and always have had.

    Disembarking was more time consuming than ideal as it was from the front only, although that more inconvenienced Richard as he was on row 1 and had to wait for me. This is really a side issue as to just how complex baggage storage is on the flight, there are passengers trying to walk backwards to the only space they could place their bags, it’s just a mess. I accept BA’s service style and the layout of the airport isn’t to have stairs at the rear at Heathrow, but it would have been quicker.

    On the positive side, the crew were helpful and engaging, with the benefit of free wifi being particularly useful so I could read messages on WhatsApp. I’m going to do a separate post about the comparison between Wizz Air and British Airways, I’m not at this stage sure who will win on my riveting comparison post, but it’s going to be very close. The provision of wifi might just be enough for BA…..

    When I did work for British Airways they said that their problem was that the only thing they were consistent at was inconsistency. I suspect little has changed and I certainly see no reason to fly with them again in the near future.

  • Gothenburg Trip – Day 1 (British Airways – London Heathrow to Gothenburg)

    Gothenburg Trip – Day 1 (British Airways – London Heathrow to Gothenburg)

    We had spent some time in the lounges and the gate was already boarding when we got there, so it wasn’t clear just how efficient the boarding process was in general. However, for us, it was fast and well managed, with the team members being personable and friendly.

    There are jet bridges to board the aircraft so everyone went by the front door. I like stairs for the simple reason that I can see the registration of the aircraft without looking it up, which in this case was G-DBCG. This is an Airbus A319 that has been in the BA fleet since 2012 and before that it was operated by bmi (owned by Lufthansa but sold to IHG in 2012) from 2006.

    I was in the aisle seat at the rear of the aircraft and I noted the rather rickety nature of the seats. That seat in front was reclined during the flight which is impressive as the seats don’t actually recline. The aircraft was rather hot during boarding, but was I pleased to note that the temperature became somewhat more comfortable after take-off.

    Boarding was a little chaotic. The crew members behind me were saying to each other that the overhead lockers were now full and so they were having to be creative. The passenger sitting next to me had a large bag and was walking up and down the aircraft trying to find a place to put her bag, so I ended up standing in the aisle for five minutes watching the confusion unfold. And the crew didn’t check the lockers as one flew open when taxiing which felt a little sub-optimal. But we were ready to depart pretty much on time.

    However, onto the positives, the crew were very friendly throughout and there was a free biscuit and water on BA which is at least something. I was surprised and delighted to have access to WhatsApp during the flight, this was something of a bonus to me. However, in a separate post, I’ll do a comparison between Wizz Air and British Airways as to who I thought was the better carrier.

    And safely in Gothenburg. There was disembarking from the rear doors and that meant I managed to be the first off the plane into border control. That is exciting, but is always stressful in terms of working out where to go and I had to wait for Richard anyway.

    The border was particularly friendly, a very positive first impression of Sweden. It also meant that I have now visited every EU country, which excited me….

  • Gothenburg Trip – Day 1 (Heathrow Airport T3 – American Airlines First Lounge)

    Gothenburg Trip – Day 1 (Heathrow Airport T3 – American Airlines First Lounge)

    Here’s Richard with his luggage.

    Sorry, wrong image. Anyway, this is the posh bit of the American Airlines lounge and again I’ve only visited the standard bit before so many thanks for Richard guesting me in.

    The staff member checking us in wanted to see my passport to check that Richard wasn’t guesting in some member of the lower classes, before joking that she needed to decide which lounge to send us. However, after seeing all of Richard’s bags, she thought she’d better send us to the premium bit and here’s the menu board outside.

    Apologies about the complete lack of useful photos in this post, I was too excited about the trip ahead. The beer selection was woeful, American Airlines hadn’t managed to get any American beer in, which would have least shown some willing.

    We didn’t go for the table service as we’d just had a three course meal, but I had a healthy salad with a generous amount of bacon bits from the self-service area. This tasted perfectly acceptable for a salad, with the Peroni 0% tasting thin and dull as ever.

    I should have really explored the lounge a little more to write a fuller report, but time was starting to get short and I was getting distracted. There could have been more power points available, but we found some by a seating area, but a wider provision would have been useful.

    There were some pre-packaged sandwiches in the fridge which I assume they didn’t mind if passengers took, but I decided against it. I did take some crisps for the evening though as I saw numerous others doing that.

    I felt that this was the weakest of the four lounges with the whole arrangement being a little lacking in atmosphere, power points, food and drink. The ceiling was also leaking and it didn’t have the calmness of British Airways, the informality of Qantas or the luxury of Cathay Pacific. However, the staff were helpful and the surroundings were generally clean and organised.

    Richard was very kind to guest me into the lounges, it’s been some time since I’ve been to Heathrow Terminal 3 (now I use Wizz Air to go just about everywhere) but it was all an interesting experience.

  • Gothenburg Trip – Day 1 (Heathrow Airport T3 – Cathay Pacific First Lounge)

    Gothenburg Trip – Day 1 (Heathrow Airport T3 – Cathay Pacific First Lounge)

    The next lounge for our little visit to Heathrow T3 was to Cathay Pacific, which I’ve visited numerous times before but not to the posh bit. This is the seating area of the First area of the lounge, with the table service restaurant off to the back left. We went over, but there was a fifteen minute wait, so I sat excitedly whilst Richard sat on the phone doing business things.

    There was a friendly welcome at the reception desk, it felt authentic and personable so my first impressions were very positive.

    The dining room area which all felt clean and comfortable.

    The self-service drinks area.

    The beer selection was the best of all of the lounges we visited in the day.

    The full drinks list in the table service area.

    The food menu with some tempting options. With the food and drink, I appreciated the effort to offer some Asian choices as well as some European choices.

    Richard with his salmon starter.

    My burrata starter, which was delicious although I felt that the burrata could have been just a little creamier and I’m not sure why a second one was provided. It was nicely presented though.

    The dim sum selection which is available in the main lounge, but I thought I’d have this for my main course as I don’t ever get to come here any more. This was as tasty as ever, one is shrimp, one is vegetable and the other is pork.

    I ordered a pork bun as well as I got muddled up when they asked if I wanted anything else.

    The cheese board selection for dessert and this was perfectly pleasant, but only the blue cheese had much in terms of the depth of flavour.

    It’s unlikely that I’ll come to this part of the lounge, namely the posh bit, again so thanks to Richard for guesting me in. I’ve always liked this lounge in general and it was a very positive experience to visit it again. The posh lounge area was quite compact and we had a bit of a wait to be seated, but it all felt professional and I hope I can get in the main part of the lounge again at some point in the next few years…..

    And with that, we thought we’d pop to the American Airlines lounge.

  • Gothenburg Trip – Day 1 (Heathrow Airport T3 – British Airways First Lounge)

    Gothenburg Trip – Day 1 (Heathrow Airport T3 – British Airways First Lounge)

    Thanks to the decadence of Richard and his kind guesting offer, this was the first time in years that I’ve been able to visit the First Lounge of British Airways at Terminal 3. There was a friendly welcome from the BA staff who seemed upbeat and personable.

    This is the informal section of the lounge with Richard modelling the Christmas look.

    There’s a relatively wide spirits selection and three beers, including one non alcohol option.

    BA still has the order by phone option, although there is a self-service area as well. This was the really quite delightful toasted tomatoes and avocado with some chilli on top. Very decent indeed, served alongside the Brewdog Speedbird OG Transatlantic IPA, a hoppy and fruity little number.

    The breakfast on the self-service counter and this was cleared away at around 11:20.

    The cheese selection.

    The lunchtime hot food selection was brought out at 11:30.

    And the cold selection.

    I solely tested it for the purposes of this blog, but the beef & onion pie with beef dripping gravy was very agreeable.

    And the rest of the options.

    I accidentally ordered the pastrami and it was pleasant although it felt a bit like a cheaper supermarket option. But, I don’t want to be critical, it’s an airport lounge and not a Michelin starred restaurant or Greggs.

    This is the dining and work area of the lounge, which was my favourite area of the whole arrangement. This was a little cooler than the rest of the lounge, which was more preferable for my requirements.

    For those arriving at breakfast the options are more limited, but the lunchtime selection was much more decadent. There was an effort made with the alcoholic drinks, less so with the non-alcoholic drinks. I like the Brewdog tie-up and have done for some years, although I suspect now they’re owned by a US company that this might slowly come to an end. The lounge was all spacious and clean, with the team members all seeming friendly.

    But with that, we were off to the Cathay Pacific lounge for lunch.

  • Gothenburg Trip – Day 1 (Heathrow Airport T3 – Qantas Lounge)

    Gothenburg Trip – Day 1 (Heathrow Airport T3 – Qantas Lounge)

    Excuse the poor photo, but it’ll have to do. I’ve written about this lounge before, so I won’t witter on endlessly…. Or no more than normal anyway.

    We arrived at 09:10 and the ground floor restaurant area wasn’t open until 09:30, so I had a starter in the buffet area upstairs. It was busy, but not uncomfortably so. There were some pastries and yoghurts laid out, with a small hot selection of bacon and sausages.

    The brunch menu in the downstairs table service area.

    And the salt and pepper squid, my favourite thing on the Qantas menu. This was certainly acceptable, although it didn’t reach the usual melt in the mouth standard they’ve offered before. But, it was nicely presented, other than for the rickety old marked plate.

    Richard ordered his Eggs Benedict and received his Egg Benedict. He ordered another one though, so he didn’t miss out.

    The Qantas lounge doesn’t have a split between gold and silver (or their Oneworld equivalent) members, it’s all one offering. I’ve always liked the set-up at Qantas, an informal table service restaurant downstairs alongside the self-service set-up upstairs. The team members were friendly and agreeable, it was a lovely start to the day.

    And, Richard, who has been reading these blog posts, I feel deserves some praise. So, thanks very much for guesting me into the Qantas lounge, I might not be back here for a while….

  • Gothenburg Trip – Day 1 (Bus to Heathrow Airport and Checking In)

    Gothenburg Trip – Day 1 (Bus to Heathrow Airport and Checking In)

    Rare evidence that Richard can use public transport. Although my usual complaint is that it’s not possible to walk into Heathrow Airport, because the authorities have removed that facility. The travel zone used to be free, but they’ve got rid of that too.

    The driver was particularly friendly and upbeat, all very positive.

    The bus was at the stop when we arrived and that meant we were at the airport just five minutes after setting off.

    We then went to the check-in desk even though we had nothing to check in, but Richard likes being thanked for being gold. I didn’t say anything, well, not much. I will admit, his being able to guest me through fast-track security was handy.

    And that’s really why we’re doing this, it’s Richard’s last month of being gold and that means we can lounge hop around Heathrow Terminal 3. This is a very good idea of his and it’ll make for a relaxed day of food, drink and blogging…. I used to do the lounge hopping when I had status with BA and when I worked for them, but I’m a Wizz Air person now and this golden age of decadence is behind me. But not for today….

  • Gothenburg Trip – Day 0 (BA Technical Issues)

    Gothenburg Trip – Day 0 (BA Technical Issues)

    I have a lot of time for British Airways, not least as they paid for me to travel the world for many years in the most non onerous way possible. But, their IT was famously poor and it appears that’s still the case. This is what the app shows me, despite starting it again.

    So, the app can’t be used. I can log in via the website, but I have to mention at this point that the Wizz Air app works every single time without delay or issue. Fortunately, I am travelling with a senior business executive who has status, so he will have to call on his contacts to resolve any issues. Or something like that….

    But, on the wider matter, this is the part of a riveting new series about my trip to Gothenburg! Woooo. The flight out is tomorrow.

  • Wizz Air – New Routes and Why So Unpopular?

    Wizz Air – New Routes and Why So Unpopular?

    I think I’ve posted this before, but these are some of the new routes from Wizz Air and this surprised and delighted me, some new cities for me to explore there (well, Debrecen, Cluj and Targu Mures).

    Which? have released their annual airline survey with a relatively small number of responses far too low to make any reasonable useful statistical analysis, but from this they claim that Ryanair and Wizz Air are the lowest rated in their survey. Even by their figures, Wizz Air has one of the best punctuality figures.

    They like to point out that when all costs are added together then Wizz Air are no cheaper. This seems to be forget that something around just over half the passengers boarding Wizz Air flights are going with one free cabin bag and evidently don’t want to pay the costs that airlines like British Airways force upon them. I don’t want a headline price that includes a bag as I, and seemingly around half of every flight, don’t want a bag.

    Which? seem outraged that Wizz Air and Ryanair dismissed their report, although that’s probably because it’s ridiculous and nearly everyone will dismiss their report until they actually make it statistically useful. EasyJet rejected it too, but in an attempt to show their relevance Which? said:

    “We’ve repeatedly found that airlines that include baggage and seat allocation in their fares can actually work out cheaper overall. Fly with anyone else, if you can.”

    Same old tired claptrap, at least Ryanair and Wizz Air are transparent and give customers the chance to actually pay for what they want. I don’t want baggage and seat reservations, so why have I got to pay more? So even though BA would be over four times the price and offer me nothing more, they want me to fly with them?

    It’s not clear to me why Which? don’t just suggest that if you want reserved seats, a three course meal, champagne, baggage, lounge access and a VIP tour of the cockpit from the pilot then go with a full service airline and fly a lot to get the benefits of the loyalty schemes. If you want to get to Poland for £10 then fly with Ryanair and Wizz Air which is what tens of millions merrily choose to do every single month. Choice, it’s quite powerful….