British Airways suspends Oakland flights for the Winter timetable

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• Mihai says:

  3 Apr3 April 04:26

  I booked the Oakland flight 3 times (once in a ridiculously low cost CW) and only got to fly it one leg, all others cancelled and moved to the SFO flight. Will miss the easy J fares.
  With San Jose and 2 SFO flights I think there was too much capacity.

  • JamesB says:

    3 Apr3 April 06:50

    Biggest problem might be recognition, I imagine many people in the UK don’t have a clue where Oakland is. For those who do, its reputation of being a bit rough might then becomes a problem.

    • Andrew (@andrewseftel) says:

      3 Apr3 April 11:51

      Yes indeed. I think it would do a lot better if there was a San Francisco city group that contained SFO,OAK and SJC.

• DanTTL says:

  3 Apr3 April 07:04

  Having flown into Oakland in Norwegian last week, this is a blessing to any of the other users of that airport! On a Wednesday evening it took 2.5 hours to get through immigration, with only 2 of the dozen or so booths staffed for most of the time. According to the staff we were lucky not to be there on a Tuesday or Saturday when it’s “really busy”. The airport is clearly struggling to handle a relatively quick rise in passenger numbers. The terminal is a dump, very few facilities and generally shabby and dirty (do not go anywhere near the toilets). It does have a fairly decent link to the BART however, so if they sort things out it could become a real competitor to SFO. For now I would make efforts to avoid it in the future.

  • Leo says:

    3 Apr3 April 08:33

    I’m not keen on BART. It might be quick and cheap but it felt a bit like taking your life in your hands….and I’ve been happily riding the tube for 40 years.

    • JamesB says:

      3 Apr3 April 08:55

      Used it many times at all hours including all the way to Pleasanton. Never had a problem. Last time was over 7 years ago though so I have no recent experience.

      • Intentionally Blank says:

        3 Apr3 April 09:46

        Ditto. There’s nothing wrong with the BART at all

        regards

        A very frequent BART user

• Paul says:

  3 Apr3 April 08:30

  If BA had a clue about what it’s actually about it wouldn’t need to compete with Norwegian. The problem is, it try’s to compete with low cost by being low quality…….while all the time claiming to be premium.
  WT WT+ and ET are shabby products on clapped out aircraft. LGW has had the old 777 foisted on them while LHR still has many 747 cross crossing the Atlantic with tired hard products. The crew are invariably poor, the food dire and the premium products in terminal decline. That’s why people fly Norwegian and not BA.

  • Leo says:

    3 Apr3 April 08:34

    The crew are NOT invariably poor that’s simply unfair. I’m with you on the other points.

    • JamesB says:

      3 Apr3 April 09:02

      Agree on crew, vast majority are excellent IME. BA is about carrying pax and making money, in this respect they seem far from clueless Personally feel safer on an old 772 or 744 than on a brand new 787.

      • Lumma says:

        3 Apr3 April 09:44

        The refurbed 747 (I think they’re the ones with the smallest economy cabin) are quite pleasant to fly on. I definitely prefer them to BA’s A380s. More modern IFE with bigger screens

      • Leo says:

        3 Apr3 April 14:37

        Thought the F cabin on the 747 was lovely – but the J cabin upstairs last year was dire. Couldn’t see the screen. Nice crews on all occasions.

  • Jo says:

    3 Apr3 April 10:32

    I’ve always flown BA in economy and the service from crew has always been bad. One time I got a free upgrade to WTP and they were just marginally better. I used to always fly economy in Singapore airlines and Emirates and not once was the service bad. Crew should not treat human beings better just because they bring more money. Learn BA!

    • Leo says:

      3 Apr3 April 14:35

      Erm sorry…. but you do get different service depending on which level of service you choose to pay for. If what you mean is there should be a basic underlying ethos of good solid customer service, politeness and respect extended to all customers then I agree. But you do get what you pay for to an extent.

  • Pr99 says:

    3 Apr3 April 14:08

    Terminal decline….LOL

• StaggerLee says:

  3 Apr3 April 08:33

  Grrrrr. Another route switch to Gatwick. Looks like I’ll be doing Vegas from Manchester with Virgin or Thomas Cook now.

  Why are BA giving up on Northern punters.

  • StaggerLee says:

    3 Apr3 April 09:31

    Ignore me I’m an idiot and didn’t read the article properly.

• Mr(s) Entitled says:

  3 Apr3 April 08:51

  Given the mention of FCO and airport transfer this is an On topic, off topic comment:

  I need to get from FCO to near St Peter’s station. The train looks a faff with a bus from the airport to station and then long intervals between trains. I’ve been warned off cabs. Anyone recomend a good alternative. Thanks to this article Sixt are currently in the lead.

  • xcalx says:

    3 Apr3 April 09:09

    Also looking at FCO to get to Civitavecchia Port for a cruise Sixt problem is 3 x pax but only 2 cases or 5 x pax 4 cases. Not a case per pax.

  • Lumma says:

    3 Apr3 April 09:54

    Leonardo Express to termini station then the metro isn’t too difficult but it costs €14 one way per person and not including the metro ticket and if you’ve not been before it’s not that obvious where the metro entrance is depending on where you come out of the main station.

    It’s not clear from the article as to what is declared as the city centre but St Peters seems closer to FCO than the actual centre, so I’d recommend this deal

• Lumma says:

  3 Apr3 April 09:47

  Flights with only 50 other passengers seem like a great way to get to California. Nice new BA lounge at Gatwick and turn a set of 3 economy seats into a poor man’s club world

• Boi says:

  3 Apr3 April 09:59

  OT: Anyone with a referral link for billhop? is it cumulative the free £250 payment or one time use?

  • shd says:

    3 Apr3 April 10:17

    there you go

    https://secure.billhop.com/r/5d786

    • Boi says:

      3 Apr3 April 11:17

      Thanks. I have used it. Smooth. Used shd as he posted first.

      • shd says:

        3 Apr3 April 12:02

        Thanks!

        We need some kind of conga thread for these so everyone gets a turn 🙂

    • Peter K says:

      3 Apr3 April 18:14

      The offer was only on until 31st March according to the t&cs…

  • shd says:

    3 Apr3 April 10:19

    Billhop support chat just told me the £250 fee-free can cover several transactions, but I’ve not tried this so YMMV 🙂

    • Peter K says:

      3 Apr3 April 18:15

      I can confirm this is correct. You have a counter starring with £250 that drops with each payment.

  • RussellH says:

    3 Apr3 April 10:37

    Or you could try https://secure.billhop.com/r/2b920
    🙂

• Louie says:

  3 Apr3 April 10:24

  I saw Stockholm and thought great as we’ve a couple of days there next month between Qatar and Norwegian. Then saw it didn’t cover Arlanda. Any suggestions for the best way between Arlanda and central Stockholm?

  • Paul says:

    3 Apr3 April 12:15

    Arlanda airport express, 20 minutes from in terminal to central station, very comfy, reliable, clean, everything you’d expect from northern european infrastructure. Cheapest if you book online in advance, the earlier the better, you only need dates, not times. They send you a code you simply show to the ticket collectors.

    • Michael Jennings says:

      3 Apr3 April 13:14

      Thanks for the advance purchase tip. I’m going to Stockholm for the August long weekend, and you’ve just saved me some money.

      • Rob says:

        3 Apr3 April 14:29

        On Thu-Sun and bank holidays they do group tickets, so 2 adults are 350 SEK one way. Kids under 12 are free.

      • Polly says:

        3 Apr3 April 17:27

        We just used the normal city train 30 mins into central station right in the middle of the city. Every 15 mins. Platform back to airport is at the far end of the station. Very cheap can’t remember what we paid. Just bought a ticket at the platform machine.

    • Leo says:

      3 Apr3 April 14:28

      It’s also very expensive – more so than the HEX. You can pay a supplement to use the normal commuter train which works out cheaper if you are buying a travel pass etc. I think “best” is subjective but I do agree that the Arlanda express is probably easiest.

      • Alex says:

        3 Apr3 April 16:18

        This was my first airport train ever on my first trip abroad back in 2000. And probably still the most expensive (even with a student ‘rabatt’ discount). It is quick and modern and perhaps worth a try if you can find a deal. If you are on budget – I would recommend Flygbussarna airport bus which is half-price of even cheaper and gives you a good window view of Stockholm’s suburbs before dropping you off at Central station.

  • Mark says:

    4 Apr4 April 12:21

    The Arlanda express is quick but very crazily expensive for a twenty minute train ride.

    I regularly use the Flygbussarna coach service. Very convenient – picks up directly outside arrivals and runs every twenty minutes of so. Clean, comfortable coaches with free WiFi. Download the app to buy a ticket then just scan the QR code when you board. Cost is around under £9 each way and takes around 40 minutes or so depending on traffic. If you’re in a rush and cost is no issue then take the train, but if not, I highly recommend the Flygbussarna.

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.