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Bits: why competition works (LHR-DUB), BA confirms Gatwick move date

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News in brief:

What has happened to Dublin fares in Club Europe?

Time to dust off the list of promises that British Airways made when it was allowed to buy Aer Lingus.

Club Europe to Dublin was always a good deal – not surprising, given that it is a super-short flight.  Sub-£200 fares over a weekend were common in sales and you could rack up any necessary tier points for a decent price.

BA has, of course, now acquired Aer Lingus.  And, whilst Aer Lingus never had business class on short-haul, it is hard to explain the jump in Club Europe as a coincidence.

Looking at the BA Low Fare Finder yesterday, there is NO combination of dates in the next year when you can fly Club Europe to Dublin for less than £280 return.  For comparison, the cheapest one-way Club Europe flight to Amsterdam is £107, to Bordeaux is £109 and to Barcelona £110.  I know the latter three are Gatwick departures but Dublin was usually up there.  Ho hum.

Dublin

British Airways confirms Gatwick move delayed to January

BA confirmed in writing yesterday what has been rumoured for a few days.  The move from the North Terminal to the South Terminal has been delayed from November 2016 to 25th January 2017.

Given that we are still almost a year away, I doubt even that date can be guaranteed with absolute certainty.  Those passengers unhappy with using the No 1 Traveller lounge will be stuck with it for a while yet.

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Category

Aer Lingus and AerClub, British Airways and Avios

Comments (49)

  • John G says:
    11 Feb11 February 08:07

    Just look at the seat map for a random LHR-DUB flight and see how many rows of CE there are. I’ve seen it go back to the emergency exits on some flights. This is definitely related to the aggressive transatlantic pricing ex DUB and therefore little surprise BA would choose not to discount point to point at this point in time.

  • Cheshire Pete says:
    11 Feb11 February 08:36

    I’m one of those going from Dublin to Miami over Easter on one of those heavily discounted CW fares, plus return is in First class as the differential was minuscule on the day I happened to be flying back.

    Rob, any news yet on the when Lingus becoming a full member of One World? I held back paying extra for baggage on my Manchester to Dublin hop before my flights to Miami but I’ve only got 6 weeks to go now before I fly. It’s about £40 for a 40kg load unless my status becomes recognised by then.

  • Troll Basher says:
    11 Feb11 February 08:39

    No surprise that DUB is no longer a CE sweet spot.

    I suppose this fare hike makes room for AerSpace fare bands on EI to slot in between Cheap and Castelnau Class on BA.

    Ex-DUB fares are clearly filling the BA aircraft though; a sample rotation in July has the curtain back at row 8 already.

  • Justin says:
    11 Feb11 February 09:16

    Pleasantly surprised at the No 1 Lounge after reading comments here. It was busy but got seats at the bar, the drinks were plentiful and the staff very attentive and friendly. Ordering food is a waste of time though, should come with a magnifying glass.

  • Adrian says:
    11 Feb11 February 10:28

    Having just flown both CE and cattle class for a positioning flight, I’d take cattle class and the savings every time as for the £60-70 hike per leg you get some sandwiches (stale) and a tray in the middle, the money saved pays for a night at the Hilton.
    I too am really hoping that Aer Lingus joins sooner rather than later as BHX-DUB (even if slightly more expensive) will save us hours on our newly found ex-eu travels The LHR-DUB, DUB-LHR was a PITA.

    • harry says:
      11 Feb11 February 13:50

      It can be a lot more than that – on my route, difference between HBO & CE is often £550.

      For the same seats, 2 hours in the sky 🙂

    • Polly says:
      11 Feb11 February 14:38

      We are flying Y to Dub to connect for our NYC J. Flights in summer. Could not justify the club fare.

    • mark2 says:
      11 Feb11 February 15:30

      I agree. Walking through the plane I have often wondered why people pay so much extra on a short journey, especially as many couples prefer to fill the centre seat.
      We are flying CE in September as it was the only redemption seats available so I may find out; perhaps it is the No 1 Lounge.

  • Wally1976 says:
    11 Feb11 February 11:13

    Completely OT – sorry but might be useful/interesting to some-one!

    Lloyds Avios card – my wife bought a load of things around Christmas time when we still had double points on the card. In the last month – after the double points ended – she has returned a load of them. I’m not totally sure how they’ve calculated the Avios but they definitely haven’t taken back the double points. This month saw about £300 new purchases and £370 refunds and we still earned 2 Avios! We should’ve been about -550 on my reckoning.

    Just to add, this wasn’t done deliberately, she had absolutely no idea there were double points on offer; she was just using the card I’d told her to.

    • Alex W says:
      11 Feb11 February 13:58

      Similar thing happened to me. They “repossessed” single points, not double points. I wouldn’t bank on it though. I’ve immediately moved all my points to BAEC out of avios.com in case they try to take them back again!

    • mark2 says:
      11 Feb11 February 15:27

      Lloyds are not very good at Admin.
      My wife’s Avios account never received any Avios (apparently not the only one). But they did sort it out and gave her generous compensation.
      In other news, my HHonors account is showing a balance of -867 yes minus. This is surprising since all of the entries end in 00 but there is no running total so who knows. I have noticed many times that the balance changes some days before a entry appears on the account.

    • Rob says:
      11 Feb11 February 15:38

      They only take back the rate in effect on the day you return it.

      • Alex W says:
        11 Feb11 February 16:23

        Not sure this is correct for Lloyds as I am in the first 6 months so double avios is still in effect.

  • ECR says:
    11 Feb11 February 12:51

    I’ve only really been using Club Europe on the LHR/DUB route in the past year or so, but from what I recall the usual price has always been around £280. (It was also usually about £50 cheaper starting in DUB rather than LHR). I may well have missed it but I’ve not noticed LHR/DUB appear in a sale, although LCY/DUB often featured for £199 in that time when there was a Club Europe sale on, although of course with LCY there is no lounge and no free middle seat.

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