[Lindsay Wilson]

BA's one-way fares – not such a good deal after all

Last week BA cut one-way fares on short-haul routes in a bid to compete with rival carriers. The carrier says that one-way tickets now cost from £29 with changes (for a £30 fee) now possible until midnight on the day before travel.

"We have slashed our one-way fares by up to 50 percent," says commercial director, Martin George. "This is not a short-term gimmick but a long-term commitment to our millions of customers to offer irresistible low fares every day of the year. Customers will now be able to easily compare prices for themselves between British Airways and the airlines offering lower standards of service and I can assure the public that it is our intent to offer the best value for money in the market."

After research by Business Traveller, however, it seems clear that BA's best prices are only to be found if you book at least one or two weeks ahead. This Monday (April 24) we compared the cost of booking a one-way flight online for yesterday morning (April 26). We chose flights from London to Amsterdam, Edinburgh and Stockholm and we considered both budget carriers along with the handful of conventional airlines who, like BA, also have low one-way tariffs.

The results showed that BA's one-way fares were either much more expensive than claimed or were simply unavailable. For example:

London-Amsterdam one-way for the morning of April 26

BA: no economy class availability from either Heathrow or Gatwick. Only Business class rates offered at £313 on the 0700 from Gatwick or £318 on the 0840 from Heathrow.
Bmi: £186 on the 0625, 0810 or 1040 from Heathrow.
Easyjet: £81 on the 0610 or 1020 from Gatwick, the 0600 or 0905 from Luton, or the 0700 from Stansted.
VLM: £237 at 0730 from City or £147 at 0830

London-Edinburgh one-way on April 26

BA: £186 at 0630 or 0925 from Gatwick, £188 at 0750 from Heathrow, £120 at 0810 or £87 at 1000 from City.
Bmi: £180 at 0640 or 0840 from Heathrow
Easyjet: £41 at 0625 or £61 at 0945 from Gatwick, £51 at 1105 (earlier flight full) from Luton and £121 at 0805 from Stansted.

London-Stockholm one-way on April 26

BA: no economy class availability. Only Business class offered at £490
SAS: economy class availability on non-stop flights. But we were offered a connection via Copenhagen for £98 or one via Gothenburg for £340.


Report by Alex McWhirter


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