British Airways to move to Gatwick’s South Terminal in November 2016

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• Paul says:

  20 Jan20 January 06:45

  Not sure I would agree that this is a positive move. It may have some benefits but it demonstrates the sad decline of BA at Gatwick. At one stage it had the North Terminal to itself and if my memory serves me, it was built for them originally to keep the scheduled operation separate from the charter flights. Services to Africa, Asia and the USA have all gone! Given the pictures posted on flyertalk yesterday of a rather disgusting First cabin you have to wonder where BA is going in general let alone at Gatwick.

• Darren Appanah says:

  20 Jan20 January 06:55

  I wish they would reinstate the internal flights between Manchester and Gatwick. Flights from LGW are generally cheaper than LHR and I miss being able to connect from MAN.

  • Can't Sleep says:

    20 Jan20 January 07:11

    It’s still possible to fly from Gatwick to Manchester, you just have to connect in Dublin, Belfast or Newquay…

    I did the latter recently, and you save on APD too!

    Not for everyone though as it’s still a long journey and only one rotation to Manchester a day, but it is the same aircraft as on the Gatwick leg. Still waiting to find out if I should have had to pay the airport development fee though.

    • JQ says:

      20 Jan20 January 09:12

      Latter implies the second of two options… did you mean LGW-NQY-MAN? Why would that save you APD?

      • Can't Sleep says:

        20 Jan20 January 10:29

        No APD due on Public Service Obligation (PSO) routes, i.e. LGW-MAN,
        combined with…
        APD rules stating that if the route is a connection and the first leg is PSO, APD is also wavied on the subsequent route. This may (I’m not sure) only be the case where the same aircraft is used on both legs. I wasn’t charged APD, but it was the same aircraft. The connection was also same day.

        My understanding of the rules are that the reverse routing should also be exempt but it seems to get added by the computer when I priced it up.

        • Tim says:

          20 Jan20 January 12:50

          My understanding is only two legs are permitted with RFS redemptions. As I am only an Avios spender and not collector with BA such routings would involve more than one redemption, separate tickets, painfully long total journey times etc. etc. The BA Gatwick routes are for all intents and purposes are cut off from the second largest connurbaton in the UK.

          It would be better to close BA’s Gatwick, mostly leisure, operation and move it to Manchester. Northerners are great leisure flyers. The option of popping over the Channel is not an option to us and the weather correspondingly worse than the lower latitudes. Plus there is a direct BA connection to Heathrow 🙂

        • Mark says:

          20 Jan20 January 19:01

          Since BA doesn’t fly those indirect routings it’s academic anyway. I guess Can’t Sleep is flying at least the onward leg to Manchester with an airline other than BA. Does BA even fly LGW-NQY these days?

        • Can't Sleep says:

          22 Jan22 January 16:12

          BA don’t fly this route, only Flybe does. It does codeshare with BA on the NQY LGW legs but that doesn’t make it relavent to RFS.

  • Mr(s) Entitled says:

    20 Jan20 January 07:32

    Agreed. No MAN-LGW connection means my business (esp Caribbean) goes elsewhere.

• Way Off Topic says:

  20 Jan20 January 07:19

  I know I am way off topic but this site seems to be the place to get factual helpful info…….

  Has anybody had problems doing a balance transfer from IHG Black rewards card….I had a problem 6 months ago with it and it took 6 weeks doing the transfer as Halifax wouldn’t recognise the card number, yet again this time as I try avoid the £99 annual fee, I cant balance transfer as Santander cant recognise the card BIN code? Barclays seems oblivious and are sending a new card but two weeks later I still can’t do a balance transfer and I’v passed the annual fee mark albeit the fee hasn’t appeared yet? Anybody else has balance transfer problems on this card?

  • Blenz101 says:

    20 Jan20 January 07:52

    You may be better asking the question over in the forums of MoneySavingExpert.com where you will likely get a quick response or may be able to search for similar experiences.

    I’m pretty sure the vast majority of the readership here do not maintain a rolling balance on their reward credit cards as the cost of balance transfer fees and interest would quickly eat up the value of any ‘points’ earned.

    Please don’t take the above as a snipe at how your run your finances but just a suggestion on where you may find a wider audience who use credit cards in the way you describe.

    • Way Off Topic says:

      20 Jan20 January 08:13

      I don’t take it as a snip! I agree I’m moving my balance to a 0% card which has a 0% transfer fee (Santander) so it costs me nothing to move my balance and keeps my money earning interest for longer! Otherwise your right churning cards but paying interest means im buying points not earning them!

      • Aziz Tarafder says:

        20 Jan20 January 13:38

        Hi

        Had the same issue with Santander. Raised a formal complaint and the complaints guys resolved it by paying the generic bank account and sort code. Seems to be caused by some over zealous validation processes at santander’s end.

        • Way Off Topic says:

          20 Jan20 January 13:43

          Thanks:) That’s what I like about this site somebody almost always has a good pointer

    • JQ says:

      20 Jan20 January 09:17

      I maintain about £40,000 on my balance transfer cards at 0% and have done so for about 5-6 years since I started getting approved with high limits.

      A 3% BT fee is fine when the BT is for 2 years and you can earn 3% per year with the money. Now that you can’t earn 3% per year (because I already maxed out all banks and building societies, I only apply for card with fees of 1.5% or less, of which there are many.

      I’ve never paid a penny in interest to a credit card.

• Andrew (@andrewseftel) says:

  20 Jan20 January 07:30

  North terminal has the superior No1 lounge though! Perhaps BA thought it was suppressing CE sales :p

  • Andrew S says:

    20 Jan20 January 10:50

    Slightly OT – but i noticed the No1 lounge has been dropped by priority pass in Stanstead recently… lets hope its not onthe cards at Gatwick.

    • Mark says:

      20 Jan20 January 10:53

      I thought the No1 lounge at Stansted closed?

      • Dane says:

        20 Jan20 January 10:56

        Yep that lounge is closed, tried to access it last week.

        • Rob says:

          20 Jan20 January 12:37

          New Escape lounge opening in the main terminal next month I believe.

        • Will says:

          20 Jan20 January 17:22

          A couple of times when I’ve been in Gatwick recently and tried to access both the lounge in the basement and the other one with priority pass I have been told they are full and only available for people who have pre-booked and paid…

        • Andrew says:

          20 Jan20 January 20:45

          Ah thanks for the info. That makes more sense.

• Kathy H says:

  20 Jan20 January 08:57

  I agree about the connection comments – it would be a bonus to have NCL and ABZ reinstated but cannot see this happening. The connection from NCL seems to change every 6 months and this makes it very difficult for early booking – Jet2, blybe, easyjet have all tried operating the route. The connecting bus from Heathrow is very expensive and inevitably you have to build in a nights stay at a hotel in/around LGW too. Hopefully the South Terminal will provide decent facilities (even if BAEC Gold members may have to share a lounge – contentious I know 🙂 ).

• Oyster says:

  20 Jan20 January 09:11

  BA has shown us their approach to easyJet competition at Gatwick. Instead of trying to be the higher quality operator they’re cutting costs to shave a few pence off the fare.

  Their ‘new’ A320s are cast offs from the likes of Wizzair and although being refurbished they’re squeezing more seats in than they do at LHR. This means no wardrobe at the front of CE and I believe no bulkhead wall (just like easyJet).

  The only chance you’ll see a major improvement to the lounges is if the airport funds it on the condition that the facility is of a standard similar to LHR. Gatwick wants to be seen as a serious competitor to LHR so may fund the lounges as part of a deal to get BA to agree with the move.

  • Mark says:

    20 Jan20 January 11:05

    Given the reduced legroom in CE, the lack of bulkhead wall at the front is probably a good thing – at least there are a couple of seats at the front which will have plenty of space to stretch out if you can bag them.

  • Cheshire Pete says:

    20 Jan20 January 11:23

    I used to enjoy the front row but there are two issues now for me with the new config.

    As you say less wardrobe room and they don’t even take your coat anymore, so if on the front row you have to stuff it in the overheads assuming you get there before they fill up,

    I usually have just a small bag so need overhead in front row. But in the new Config they amazingly designate the first locker over row 1 as Crewe only, and with nowhere else to stow stuff if lockers are full your a bit stuffed.

    On one flight in December Inwas on row 1 but had to put my two shopping bags back on row 10. The reduced space in th front row is made worse by the changes and the fact more people are saving money by bringing on board hard cased carry on.

    Purely so I know I can have me personal carry on bag (small) Next to me I’m now not going to bother using Row 1 as what’s the point when you have to walk 10 rows back to recover your bag. If you can get back through the scrum when at the arrival gate.

    So little thought has gone into the new layout and those bland Grey walls are so depressing anyway!

    • CV says:

      20 Jan20 January 13:27

      It’s for those reasons you describe that I always book a seat in row 3. A good chance of overhead luggage space (compared to row 1) and also you will be served your drink at the same time as row 1. Short haul BA flights have a big problem with lack of overhead bin space now that BA charge for check in.

• Waribai says:

  20 Jan20 January 09:30

  Completely agree. North Terminal has a much nicer less crowded feel to it especially the BA F check in area. The F&B choices along with the retail options are vastly superior to the South Terminal. Also if you opt for the Premium car park, it’s a 2 minute walk to the check in area!

• Rob says:

  20 Jan20 January 10:18

  I think the shops will be changed around as well. Certain retailers want the BA crowd and others want the easyJet crowd so you may see some swapping over.

  • Oyster says:

    20 Jan20 January 10:47

    Is there really a BA crowd now? Anyone thinking BA is the posh option is misguided.

    • Rob says:

      20 Jan20 January 12:38

      You have a lot of passengers on the Caribbean long-hauls. I would guess, in general, that the average age of a BA short-haul passenger is older and therefore wealthier and with different tastes in clothing etc than an easyJet short-haul passenger, ex Gatwick.

    • Aeronaut says:

      20 Jan20 January 21:39

      I’d switch that around and say presuming easyJet passengers are all Rab C Nesbit types in string vests (or rather their southern cockney/mockney equivalents) off to Magaluf/Shagaluf is rather out of date, if in fact that was ever that accurate.

      Plenty of well off folks can be found on easyjet flights nowadays – not everyone’s playing the frequent flyer miles game after all. That said, I’d think leisure flyers off on holiday to the Caribbean are probably a better market for upmarket retail than short haul European flyers (whether on BA or easyJet)

  • Nick says:

    20 Jan20 January 11:06

    Raffles, can you not add a “View online/view in browser” link at the TOP of your emails? Or make the email headline into a link.

    When I receive your emails, I like to quickly click through to your site so I can read comments and open multiple tabs etc.

    With this new system, I have to scroll all the way down, just to get the article on your website.

    Hope this makes sense!

    • Rob says:

      20 Jan20 January 12:36

      That can be fixed. I don’t need the ‘Published on’ bit anymore because I have changed the set-up to show the first paragraph in your email client. I can replace this with a click-through to the online version. Let me look at it.

      From tomorrow, the ‘Click here to comment’ link under the article will take you directly to the comments and not to the top of the page, saving a vital 2 seconds of scrolling time!

      • Rob says:

        20 Jan20 January 12:56

        Fixed! See tomorrow.

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