BA Premium Economy. Hidden Costs

[disney4me]

I have just booked to fly with BA to Orlando in Dec 2020. Having always flown with Virgin I thought we would give BA a chance. I regret this decision. I assumed wrongly that BA Premium Economy would have similar benefits to Virgin. It was so disappointing to find out that there was no dedicated check in, no fast track security and no lounge.
But the disappointment didn't stop there. Having booked and paid the deposit for 2 people I then went on to reserve our seats to make sure we were sat together. For this privilege! I was charged an additional £236 return. When I contacted BA to say I thought this would be included in the price they told me if I did not wish to pay I could wait until 24hrs before departure and book for free. Who would do this! and run the risk of sitting in the middle of a row of 4 seats with your friends scattered about.
To make matters worse when I emailed a complaint about this I received an email back that my 8 year old granddaughter could have made a better job of, the content was so badly written. The first email didn't even address my issue and the second one told me to 'reach out' to a BA phone number.
BA customer service could not have cared less and in fact said that the £236 paid does not guarantee I have a seat on the plane.
Oh how I wish I had stuck with me favourites Virgin.

[allymc316]

yes, it can be a sharp learning curve the things you take for granted with Virgin. If seat selection is important to you then you really do need to factor in those costs on top on the "Sale" price.

Not aware virgin offer a free lounge with premium economy.

[disney4me]

Sorry should have said Virgin Holidays lounge as I have booked a BA holiday

[mdkdue]

Originally Posted by disney4me

I have just booked to fly with BA to Orlando in Dec 2020. Having always flown with Virgin I thought we would give BA a chance. I regret this decision. I assumed wrongly that BA Premium Economy would have similar benefits to Virgin. It was so disappointing to find out that there was no dedicated check in, no fast track security and no lounge.
But the disappointment didn't stop there. Having booked and paid the deposit for 2 people I then went on to reserve our seats to make sure we were sat together. For this privilege! I was charged an additional £236 return. When I contacted BA to say I thought this would be included in the price they told me if I did not wish to pay I could wait until 24hrs before departure and book for free. Who would do this! and run the risk of sitting in the middle of a row of 4 seats with your friends scattered about.
To make matters worse when I emailed a complaint about this I received an email back that my 8 year old granddaughter could have made a better job of, the content was so badly written. The first email didn't even address my issue and the second one told me to 'reach out' to a BA phone number.
BA customer service could not have cared less and in fact said that the £236 paid does not guarantee I have a seat on the plane.
Oh how I wish I had stuck with me favourites Virgin.

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Despite all the above i am still willing to bet that the price with BA after all the extras was still less than a Virgin equivalent?

My wife and I have tried to 'give Virgin a go' on multiple occasions but it is always vastly more expensive than the BA equivalent, even after factoring in paying for seats and lounge access (if you want it)

Our personal opinion is that Virgin is way overpriced and not particularly superior to BA...so a no brainer really.

[lorna_99]

I dislike BA for a number of reasons, some of which you mention in your post.

My only advise now is to try and let it go and at least next time you go to book you know not to waste your time with them although like me you will still look as now you will have earned Avios points that could make your next trip cheaper as you can use them for money off flights or to pay for seat selection!
Its a vicious circle ...

[disney4me]

I did compare prices and BA came out cheaper, however, not after I then had to pay the £236 for seat reservation. This then made the holiday more expensive and when you factor in the benefits that are free with Virgin, the cost is even more.
I think for me it was that it was not made clear throughout the whole booking process that I would have to pay to reserve our seats. Only after I had paid the deposit and went to reserve did I realise that I would have to pay for the privilege of sitting with friends and family. The whole reason for booking so far in advance was to take advantage (or so I thought) of booking our seats early

[nanu]

Originally Posted by disney4me

I did compare prices and BA came out cheaper, however, not after I then had to pay the £236 for seat reservation. This then made the holiday more expensive and when you factor in the benefits that are free with Virgin, the cost is even more.
I think for me it was that it was not made clear throughout the whole booking process that I would have to pay to reserve our seats. Only after I had paid the deposit and went to reserve did I realise that I would have to pay for the privilege of sitting with friends and family. The whole reason for booking so far in advance was to take advantage (or so I thought) of booking our seats early

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Is it not worth cancelling and losing your deposit? At least then you can book with Virgin and not be too much out of pocket.

[disney4me]

Hi Nanu
I would but am travelling with others and it would be too difficult.
I really just wanted others to be aware of the service or lack of it that BA provide and of the hidden costs. Their Customer Service department was truly terrible they really could not care less what their customers think of them. All I asked them to do was to review their seat reservation policy or at least send my complaint/concern higher up to the suits. Their response was that they were as high as a complaint could go.

[DisneyCupcake]

Ba don't offer a similar equivalent to the V Room that Virgin have - to access the BA Lounges you have either to be travelling in Club/First or hold a BA Executive Club card status of Silver or above (or One World equivalent). At Heathrow the Virgin Clubhouse has similar rules relating to travel class or Flying Club Tier so travelling in PE wouldn't get you access to that lounge but Gatwick and Manchester are different offerings entirely. It will be interesting to see what happens when the new Virgin Clubhouse opens in Manchester later in the year.

[Hughseysar]

Originally Posted by disney4me

I have just booked to fly with BA to Orlando in Dec 2020. Having always flown with Virgin I thought we would give BA a chance. I regret this decision. I assumed wrongly that BA Premium Economy would have similar benefits to Virgin. It was so disappointing to find out that there was no dedicated check in, no fast track security and no lounge.
But the disappointment didn't stop there. Having booked and paid the deposit for 2 people I then went on to reserve our seats to make sure we were sat together. For this privilege! I was charged an additional £236 return. When I contacted BA to say I thought this would be included in the price they told me if I did not wish to pay I could wait until 24hrs before departure and book for free. Who would do this! and run the risk of sitting in the middle of a row of 4 seats with your friends scattered about.
To make matters worse when I emailed a complaint about this I received an email back that my 8 year old granddaughter could have made a better job of, the content was so badly written. The first email didn't even address my issue and the second one told me to 'reach out' to a BA phone number.
BA customer service could not have cared less and in fact said that the £236 paid does not guarantee I have a seat on the plane.
Oh how I wish I had stuck with me favourites Virgin.

See more...

We made this exact mistake 2 years ago and the service from BA was so bad, we vowed we would never use them again ... would rather not go !
Premium with BA is no we’re near the same standard as Virgin... I would go as far as to say from the experience we had , Virgin Economy is even way better then BA a Premium !