British Airways drops the Financial Times from its lounges

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

• BaFin Island says:

  17 Apr17 April 05:14

  BA is clearly signalling it does not value serious business travellers, and we should heed that. Clearly the red-faced, pale chino, pink shirt wearing man who still considers The Telegraph to be a serious newspaper is preferable.

  • Tom says:

    17 Apr17 April 06:40

    Very weird move on behalf of BA. One more reason to fly a (real) low cost carrier and visit a Priority Pass lounge. Can usually find an FT in lounges worldwide. Now just everywhere except BA…

  • Ian says:

    17 Apr17 April 08:53

    I thought they had stopped providing the Telegraph in the lounges too? I haven’t seen one there for ages.

    • BaFin Island says:

      17 Apr17 April 10:02

      I don’t know. Sorry for the outburst, I’m just an avid FT reader who despises the Telegraph for descending into a tabloid and mouthpiece for the ERG.

  • Lady London says:

    17 Apr17 April 11:24

    What, no FT on British Airways any more? might as well fly Ryanair now.

    This is a seriously stupid marketing message by British Airways to the business traveller. I know you all secretly read The Sun and pretend not to, but really for ‘window dressing’ BA needs to keep the FT Thé Economist and preferably thé Wall Street Journal as well.

• ChrisC says:

  17 Apr17 April 05:33

  BA wants people to use the press reader app.

  Less physical papers in lounges etc means less to clean up.

  Perhaps it just wasn’t as popular as it used to be?

  • Bagoly says:

    17 Apr17 April 09:06

    See Gareth’s comment below

• Aa says:

  17 Apr17 April 05:56

  Quote often these days on anything departing during the day, the Aspire lounge at Luton is full, unless you’ve booked online with them. If only they would allow Priority Pass holders to pay £5 to secure entry, like No1.

  • Lady London says:

    17 Apr17 April 11:44

    I am really pleased with this news. For some time i have thought 2 lounges could make a good living at Luton Airport. Some competition might keep the offering good.

    If this was Gatwick I would consider paying the Club supplement, think it was about 12pds or so, for Clubrooms instead of the 5pds ‘dont refuse my Priority Pass’ reservation fee that No. 1 apparently is effectively imposing for signed up priority pass users accordng to reports just for the regular lounge. Based on prices and the offering, the7pds differential feels about right for some market testing.

    Now can we have an alternative lounge please for the 2nd London hellhole after Luton, which is Stansted?

• Nigel the Pensioner says:

  17 Apr17 April 05:59

  The Sun, apparently, will continue to be available
  BA, to be fair, always seems to have imposed a quality threshold..

  I’m not sure that the two sentences above are compatible! You’ll be telling us next, Rob, that the guardian is an unbiased publication!!

  • Justin says:

    17 Apr17 April 07:15

    Nigel the Pensioner: sure the BA has always imposed a quality threshold, it is just that by having the Sun in its lounges, the bar is extremely low! Lounge access is akin to democracy. If you give the vote to everyone, the great unwashed with little intellectual capacity to weigh the issues produce strange results. If you lower fares and allow almost unfettered access to lounges, the great unwashed enter and demand a quality paper to read, hence the Sun is brought in.

    • Spurs Debs says:

      17 Apr17 April 07:42

      Best you fly from Liverpool, you won’t find the Sun newspaper there.

  • Alan says:

    17 Apr17 April 07:34

    I’m also not sure how BA could be said to have a quality threshold yet supply the Daily Mail!

    Thankfully they still stock Business Traveler in the lounges, it’s at least a half decent read.

    • IanMac says:

      17 Apr17 April 07:38

      The Mail disappeared one or maybe even two years ago.
      I for one was a Mail fan and would always request one to be brought to me on long haul flights back to LHR.
      Apologies to any members who picked up my discarded and unread Mail to find the centre puzzle pages missing 🙂

      • Alan says:

        17 Apr17 April 07:42

        I thought they still offered it on board? Never took it so haven’t paid close attention.

      • Lady London says:

        17 Apr17 April 11:58

        You and I should get together @IanMac thé puzzle pages are always the first thing I Ross.

      • Lady London says:

        17 Apr17 April 12:00

        Ross- *toss

    • Lady London says:

      17 Apr17 April 11:56

      OK I’ll come out. I love the Daily Mail especially on a Saturday when their free magazine has the best TV.

      So there. Now I’ve said it. I will probably get banned from flyertalk as well now.

      All i can say is when Waitrose gives out the free newspapers and in their cafés, the Daily Mail is always the first of the newspapers that stock is exhausted of. A bit like all the professionals that seem to read The Sun whilst saying they read something else.

      I’m also partial to The Guardian when I feel like having a rant about a social issue as well.

      • Gavin says:

        17 Apr17 April 13:11

        I’ve seen a few people on the train to Cannon St reading the Sun obscured within a copy of the FT!

    • BJ says:

      17 Apr17 April 14:20

      Picking up a hard copy of Business Traveller was always one of the joys of using the lounge.

  • Lady London says:

    17 Apr17 April 12:53

    Well I think I’ve seen ‘Hello’ magazine in Galleries Club at Heathrow so that matches up really.

• Gareth L says:

  17 Apr17 April 06:10

  Press Gazette reported on the FT story yesterday https://www.pressgazette.co.uk/british-airways-has-stopped-offering-financial-times-over-coverage-of-airline-source-claims/

  • Steven says:

    17 Apr17 April 07:06

    That’s a shocker if true. BA censors the skies..keeping the fake news, losing the real stuff. Whatever happened to press freedom?!

  • Bagoly says:

    17 Apr17 April 09:05

    Gareth – thank you very much indeed for that link.

    I would be surprised that the FT would run such an advert if the dispute was just about money.
    So it seems quite likely that Press Gazette is accurate in saying that BA has dropped the FT because of some negative stories.
    In which case it is truly disgraceful.
    I hope and believe the FT has enough integrity to not back down.
    I will make a point of asking for the FT on future lounge visits, and when not available explaining to the staff how bad that decision is by management (not attacking the staff member – they don’t make that sort of decision)
    Does anybody hold some IAG shares to complain at the next AGM?
    Here’s the article that seems to have particularly annoyed them: https://www.ft.com/content/796b0aa0-4a63-11e9-bbc9-6917dce3dc62

• Tony says:

  17 Apr17 April 06:12

  Do many airlines allow J class passengers to use the Clubrooms? I was hoping that QR did at Birmingham, but it wasn’t the case.

  Note this offer for Luton….

  “To celebrate its launch, we’re offering 25% off all bookings for this brand-new lounge – that’s entry for just £27. You just need to book by 31st May, for visits anytime up to the 30th September.”

  No code required, just need to book before the end of May.

• Doogie says:

  17 Apr17 April 06:27

  OT – using my 241, booked flight out in first the other day and just picked up the return at 355 but in CW, using double avios to hold then calling later today to adjust.

  If first inbound opens up, what is the procedure to secure it – phone call and charged avios difference only (plus change fee), phone call plus one person avios then refund CW avios or online double avios then phone call to refund CW?

  Just trying to make sure I have sufficient avios and process to secure, without needless liquidation from MR.

  • Stu N says:

    17 Apr17 April 06:39

    Phone call if availability opens. Worth checking right up to departure. You’ll pay £35pp plus the Avios differential between CW and F for one person (c.20-30k on most routes), plus any difference in taxes, fees and charges when they recalculate this component. This is usually trivial (FX on overseas taxes and fees) unless the surcharges get bumped. Note that you’ll loose any benefit of arbitrage on TFC on inbound from your booking if you upgrade as they always recalculate these in my experience.

• Stu N says:

  17 Apr17 April 06:35

  Re EDI No.1 lounge, 1400 on Sunday is probably peak due to number of Qatar passengers using the lounge. The Doha flight leaves around 1600, then after that it’s blocked out for Emirates evening flight. I’ve just been in there now but unlikely to return until next month.

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