The final British Airways London City A318 aircraft is scrapped

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• Charlieface says:

  19 Feb19 February 08:54

  Never understood why they did not consider the Bombardier CS aka Airbus A220. It was specifically designed for short runways, and can do it all in a single hop without a fuel stop.
  It also has more seats.

  • Andrew says:

    19 Feb19 February 09:04

    Not wide enough for 4 flatbed seats across.

    • Stu N says:

      19 Feb19 February 09:18

      I think Global Entry made a huge difference – key selling point for BA1/2/3/4 was skipping immigration queues at JFK by using Shannon. A lot of regular travellers would have GE so that advantage disappeared. Crossrail would probably have finished it off – Canary Wharf to Heathrow in 30 mins isn’t much slower than CW to City by DLR.

      A318 wasn’t the most comfortable either, seats lacked privacy and IFE and the one time we flew on it back from JFK we barely slept due to turbulence, it was getting bounced around all over the shop whereas a bigger plane would have ridden it out.

      Finally Bombardier might look better on paper but overheads would be huge for a small sub-fleet. If CityFlyer rolled out A220 to replace or augment the Embraers that might work, but running 2 frames would have a sizeable fixed cost. The A318 was effectively a shortened A320 so crewing and maintenance costs can be pooled across the entire fleet.

      • Stu N says:

        19 Feb19 February 09:28

        Also – City to LaGuardia would probably have more legs but the FAA won’t lift the distance limit on LGA arrivals.

        • ChrisC says:

          19 Feb19 February 10:24

          The perimiter rule is a Port Authority one not an FAA rule.

          The FAA does have a restriction on the types of planes that can use the airport as well as the number of flights that can operate from LGA.

        • Doug M says:

          19 Feb19 February 10:31

          I think the distance limit is the Port Authority. Protecting Newark mostly, don’t want a rush to switch to LGA from EWR.

        • Doug M says:

          19 Feb19 February 10:33

          Beaten to it by ChrisC. Saturday and Denver are exceptions.

        • Stu N says:

          19 Feb19 February 12:10

          Thanks, makes more sense thinking about it.

        • Prins Polo says:

          20 Feb20 February 01:02

          The perimeter rule is not the main issue (there are already exceptions in place) – it’s the fact that LGA is a domestic airport with no immigration facilities. All LGA flights are either US domestic or to countries with pre-clearance (Canada, Bahamas).

  • Rhys says:

    19 Feb19 February 09:19

    Having a subfleet for one flight isn’t exactly ideal. At least the A318s had commonality with the short haul fleet.

  • Andrew says:

    19 Feb19 February 09:27

    I was flying back to LHR from JFK once and the checkin agent asked if I wanted to switch to LCY – I guess they offered this to encourage people to try it and convert but I declined as I like the arrivals shower and breakfast at LHR and even though there was the option of doing that at the spa at the Radisson, it seemed a bit inconvenient.

    • ChrisC says:

      19 Feb19 February 10:28

      More likely they were over booked on a later LHR flight and were trying to divert passengers to avoid bumping anyone.

      I was offered it once but declined because I had a car booked from LHR.

• Will says:

  19 Feb19 February 09:07

  Had a lovely couple of trips on the 318’s, best way to cross the Atlantic imho.

• Harrier25 says:

  19 Feb19 February 09:24

  I suppose the Daily Mail are a little short on cash since losing the court case to the delightful Meghan Markle.

  • LST says:

    19 Feb19 February 09:53

    She is delightful, talented actor and does a lot for charity and women’s groups in particular.

    • Number9 says:

      19 Feb19 February 10:02

      She does all that with no publicity all secret stuff, she is so selfless ( nearly managed to type that with a straight face) Like the time her and her meal ticket just happened to be laying a memorial wreath, how were they to know about the photographer snapping away at them. 🙄

      • Jayne says:

        19 Feb19 February 10:06

        Do you realise how bitter you all sound?

        • Doug M says:

          19 Feb19 February 10:35

          Bitter or realistic?

        • Jayne says:

          19 Feb19 February 10:43

          You can believe what you say, of course, but it’s still bitter.

        • Doug M says:

          19 Feb19 February 10:57

          Possibly, but I find it hard to feel sympathy for celebs that milk the publicity game, but then plead for understanding when it suits them. Write a book and then tour talk shows, but plead for privacy when there’s bad news. If you choose to live publicly then both good and bad times will be subject to public scrutiny.

        • Rhys says:

          19 Feb19 February 11:04

          There is a difference between public scrutiny and being hounded by the press, however. And I’m not sure Meghan Markle ever ‘milked’ the publicity game? Certainly before she became attached to Harry there was a lot less scrutiny.

        • Jayne says:

          19 Feb19 February 11:11

          I hardly think having a private letter written to your father published in the Daily Mail et al is milking the publicity game, but each to their own Doug.

        • ken says:

          19 Feb19 February 11:16

          Well said Doug

          They deserve to have their phones tapped, have people spy on them & their friends and family.

          Personally I reckon she is a witch and we should dunk her in a pond to check.

          All women are fair game – they are asking for it.

        • Yorkieflyer says:

          19 Feb19 February 11:22

          Actually most of are all laughing at the ridiculous woke couple

        • Yorkieflyer says:

          19 Feb19 February 11:24

          If we have any interest at all that is

        • Yorkieflyer says:

          19 Feb19 February 11:27

          Still remember them borrowing Elton’s jet to pop to a knees up to tell us all not to fly 😀 Wills and Kate then took Flybe to see Grannie to make their own comment on the loony pair

        • Jayne says:

          19 Feb19 February 11:33

          You seem overly interested Yorkieflyer.

        • Yorkieflyer says:

          19 Feb19 February 11:40

          I like a good sitcom, precious little to laugh about at the moment

        • Oh the irony! says:

          19 Feb19 February 11:49

          Whenever I see articles about “Celebrities” such as Ginge and Whinge, Footballers, the Beckhams, and their ridiculous offspring, Fatty Corden, etc I never read the story but go straight to the comments sections which are often an interesting commentary in their own right.

        • Anna says:

          19 Feb19 February 12:13

          It’s hard not to be bitter when one considers the amount of tax payers’ money which goes towards that gravy train when there are people queuing in the freezing cold in towns like Blackpool waiting for food banks to open.

        • mr_jetlag says:

          19 Feb19 February 12:48

          stop, I need more popcorn

        • The Savage Squirrel says:

          19 Feb19 February 13:41

          “Possibly, but I find it hard to feel sympathy for celebs that milk the publicity game, ”

          If there’s one group that had zero choice whether they wanted to be in the “publicity game” or not – from birth and until the day you die – for you and all your family – then it’s the British royal family. No thanks. For all their wealth and priviledge, I wouldn’t trade places with any of them and nor would any rational person capable of building a decent life that doesn’t involve that millstone.

        • Charlieface says:

          19 Feb19 February 15:33

          Seriously, I have no idea why anyone even takes any interest any more. The whole affair bores me to tears.

          @TheSavageSquirrel: I tend to view the royals as simply part of the heritage of the UK, like a listed building, and they get whatever maintenance is necessary to keep them up. I personally think listed buildings also have too much money spent on them, but that’s clearly not the opinion of the rest of the country.

        • Jayne says:

          19 Feb19 February 17:02

          Oh that’s good to hear Anna. But just to be clear, it’s only the money from their wedding you have an issue with, is it? I’d take your point more seriously if you you hadn’t signalled them out and had made a broader comment about the excesses of the whole royal family.

      • J says:

        19 Feb19 February 13:28

        @Number9 – Ah, so you only approve of Royal activities out of the public eye. Explains why the grand old Duke of York doesn’t get anywhere near the same column inches of criticism.

  • Lady London says:

    19 Feb19 February 11:14

    They lost? how much

• jek says:

  19 Feb19 February 10:37

  Has anybody experience with the Santander All in One Credit Card? With 0.5% cash back it seems to be one of the better ones.

  • The Urbanite says:

    19 Feb19 February 10:44

    Yes. What would you like to know?

    • jek says:

      20 Feb20 February 12:47

      Does it work with Curve and/or Creation?

  • Andy says:

    19 Feb19 February 18:40

    Yes I’ve got it. I also was very impressed with my chargeback claim against a travel agent. They asked me to send in evidence, 3 days later the money was refunded.

• AlanC says:

  19 Feb19 February 11:04

  Did anyone get the Dsily Mail cancellation email but offering an alternative 10,000 points for signing up?

  • Alex Sm says:

    19 Feb19 February 12:17

    No, but we would love to! Do you have a link to the offer page? 😉

    • AlanC says:

      19 Feb19 February 12:29

      Here you go 😉
      As our records show you were not part of that group, unfortunately we are unable to accept your subscription and your payment has now been refunded to you.

      As an alternative offer, click below to take out a 3-month subscription to The Ultimate Pack and you’ll be rewarded with 10,000 Nectar points, which you can use to redeem £50 worth of M&S gift cards*.

      SUBSCRIBE TODAY >
      We apologise for any

      • Harrier25 says:

        19 Feb19 February 13:07

        Here we go again. Everyone who didn’t receive this offer by email van expect a refund by the end of next week 😟

• Lady London says:

  19 Feb19 February 11:26

  Am I the only one that actually would have wanted to get this subscription in order to *read* the Daily Mail?

  No one has ever explained to me why the Daily Mail is the paper that always sells out first in Waitrose every.day, if no one reads it.

  • Rhys says:

    19 Feb19 February 11:27

    I don’t think anyone has claimed that nobody reads it!

    • Yorkieflyer says:

      19 Feb19 February 11:44

      Indeed, my old dad was just the other night telling me about all the refugees enjoying lavish 5 star luxury at the tax payers expense compared to those at HMP quarantine

  • Yorkieflyer says:

    19 Feb19 February 11:28

    It’s cheaper than cat litter

  • Harrier25 says:

    19 Feb19 February 11:33

    “The Daily Mail is the paper that always sells out first in Waitrose every.day.”……and that comment alone should tell you something when you take a look at the average age of the Waitrose shopper!

    • The cyclist says:

      19 Feb19 February 11:41

      and your source is ?

      • Harrier25 says:

        19 Feb19 February 11:57

        My own eyes is the source by going into my local Waitrose on numerous occasions for fine wines and a free copy of The Times newspaper.

        At least it’s probably the safest place to shop at the moment because 90% of the shoppers there have been vaccinated!

        • Mark M says:

          19 Feb19 February 12:19

          Waitrose may buy better ‘fine wines’ than other supermarkets, but they will not be ‘fine’ for very long after being kept at room temperature under bright lights in the store!

        • ken says:

          19 Feb19 February 12:27

          What supermarket are room temerature – they are all freezing !

          Red wine is bottled in dark green or brown bottles and its hardly on the shelves very long.

          Probably better conditions than most traditional wine merchants.

        • The cyclist says:

          19 Feb19 February 13:22

          So as I thought, you are unable to back it up, just your subjective take based on your local Waitrose.

    • Yorkieflyer says:

      19 Feb19 February 11:41

      To be fair loads of folk will be getting it from Waitrose for free 😀

      • mark2 says:

        19 Feb19 February 12:09

        But they could have the Guardian etc. instead.

        • Harrier25 says:

          19 Feb19 February 12:19

          Would you pick up the Guardian, even if it was free??

        • The Savage Squirrel says:

          19 Feb19 February 13:45

          Yes; and I do soften, online. It is not always well aligned with my own views and it’s good to read material that disagrees with and challenges your own views and biases.

    • Rich says:

      19 Feb19 February 13:20

      Sounds like port stock control from Waitrose. They shouldn’t be running out!

      A friend of mine once moved to a small, very conservative village. She popped into the newsagent and asked if they carried the Guardian. “We do, but he’s usually bought it before 8. I can order a second copy if you’d like?”

  • Martin Louis says:

    19 Feb19 February 13:36

    “No one has ever explained to me why the Daily Mail is the paper that always sells out first in Waitrose every.day, if no one reads it.”

    Maybe at your local Waitrose, at mine it’s the Times and Guardian that run out first.

    • Michael C says:

      19 Feb19 February 13:43

      Mine is Country Life!!

    • mutley says:

      19 Feb19 February 13:54

      My uncle was a paid up member of the Labour Party in the 1960’s/70s/80s, but he took the Daily Mail, for the horse racing coverage which was apparently pretty good at the time. So horses for courses if you will pardon the pun.

      • Rob says:

        19 Feb19 February 14:20

        Back in the days etc a lot of people did choose their newspaper due to the quality of the football / TV / cricket coverage, and indeed it was fairly common for men at least to read newspapers from the back to the front.

        That said, Henry Winter (The Times chief football reporter) is paid a reported £400,000 per year so clearly football coverage still drives a lot of sales.

        • Nathan says:

          19 Feb19 February 14:31

          The Telegraph for Cricket was often the only source ex-UK in the pre-internet days. Maybe others can recall those days, when Newspapers contained actual news?

    • Rob says:

      19 Feb19 February 14:23

      I never claim my free newspaper from Waitrose but I suppose I could now get a Mail and claim the free Nectar points via the MyMail code on the back ….

      • Mark M says:

        19 Feb19 February 17:09

        The only sensible thing to do – make a profit on it! Not that it will make you rich! But you can light the fire with it too…
        I wonder if Waitrose will deliver it with online orders ?!

  • TGLoyalty says:

    19 Feb19 February 17:05

    Good cat litter

    Selling out first assumes it’s more popular they have the same number of copies of each paper

• Mr Robert Hardless says:

  19 Feb19 February 11:32

  When they cancelled my payment they also cancelled my membership. I still managed the nectar avios conversion and the other Nectar deal so happy enough. I think Daily Mail will look back on this as a PR failure.

  • James says:

    19 Feb19 February 11:39

    I doubt they’ll be that bothered, and outside the community of eager points collectors this won’t have any traction

  • Yorkieflyer says:

    19 Feb19 February 11:47

    They might hoover up some bad publicity?

  • Mark says:

    19 Feb19 February 16:40

    I doubt that many of the people signing up for the offer uninvited would consider subscribing to the Mail anyway so they are not really losing customers.

• Andrew says:

  19 Feb19 February 11:39

  Anyone have a recent CEDR case?

  How long did it take from the allocation to outcome?

  • Anna says:

    19 Feb19 February 12:17

    Summer 2019 – it was very quick, CEDR gave BA 14 days to respond to a denied compensation claim, BA responded well within this time limit acknowledging they were “mistaken” (lol) in refusing the claim and asking how I wanted my money and it was paid within another fortnight or so. I imagine they’re a lot busier now but the process seems sound.

  • Tom says:

    19 Feb19 February 17:30

    Submitted a claim to CEDR in the second half of January and received a ‘case accepted’ type email a week or so later. BA have been given until late April to respond. Apparently they need extra time due to Covid.

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