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Aviation Discussion

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Bald Rick

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I've been inside one of those 318s on the ground at Farnborough; the interior is more like an executive jet than an airliner. Now, if the flight number BA1 still applied to the aircraft it used to, would you have been prepared to pay that much, I wonder?

I’d have been saving Avios to do it, and would have happily broken my BA boycott!

(A friend of mine did do BA1 on the ‘old frame’ in 2002, on AirMiles, and it is one of my greatest regrets in life that I didn’t follow suit).
 
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Butts

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Has anyone flown Premium on TUI/Thomson on Long Haul in a Dreamliner ?

It seems a lot cheaper than Premium Economy on Virgin or BA and they are "the best seats in the house" with no Business Class or Upper Class.

Just wondered if it was worth 200-300 each return on top.
 

Techniquest

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I haven't flown that class, but I am told it is worth it just for the bigger seat and better legroom.

Mr Mugridge, I'm relatively new to the aviation scene, so I don't know what was before the A318. I'm intrigued...

Flying homewards in about 16 hours, Haneda to Heathrow on a BA 777-300. By some fortune I have an aisle seat! 12h40m on BA0008, bring on those noisy beasts! :D
 

atillathehunn

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Has anyone flown Premium on TUI/Thomson on Long Haul in a Dreamliner ?

It seems a lot cheaper than Premium Economy on Virgin or BA and they are "the best seats in the house" with no Business Class or Upper Class.

Just wondered if it was worth 200-300 each return on top.

No one but you can answer this question. How much utility will that £300*N bring you when you get to your destination? That's a lot of very nice dinners with champagne, or duty free cigarettes. No economy seat will kill you and TUI doesn't have proper business class. Maybe better spending the £50 or so on the exit row seats?

If this money doesn't represent a huge loss to you, then by all means enjoy the added comfort. I will confess I am likely to shell out my miles on a business class upgrade with KLM on my next trip to southern Africa in a couple of weeks. But given I don't attach much of a value to them (I didn't buy the tickets that earned them, and I have done all my redemptions for this year) it doesn't bother me.
 

Aictos

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Not sure if it’s right but do airlines charge more on certain days of the week eg flights on Mondays and Fridays are more pricy then flights on Tuesdays to Thursdays?

I am aware of yield management etc but wondered if there was any truth in it?
 

YorkshireBear

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Not sure if it’s right but do airlines charge more on certain days of the week eg flights on Mondays and Fridays are more pricy then flights on Tuesdays to Thursdays?

I am aware of yield management etc but wondered if there was any truth in it?

The leisure airlines ddfinitely do on city break routes to tourist destinations
 

Bald Rick

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Not sure if it’s right but do airlines charge more on certain days of the week eg flights on Mondays and Fridays are more pricy then flights on Tuesdays to Thursdays?

I am aware of yield management etc but wondered if there was any truth in it?

It depends what the yield Managment algorithms come up with. But typically, with a fixed supply, and higher demand on Mondays and Fridays for some flights, then the laws of micro-Economics mean that prices will be higher on those days.
 

atillathehunn

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It depends what the yield Managment algorithms come up with. But typically, with a fixed supply, and higher demand on Mondays and Fridays for some flights, then the laws of micro-Economics mean that prices will be higher on those days.

However, I have noticed a bit of a creep - now I find Sunday evening and Thursday evening to be quite a bit more expensive than they used to be. I've got rock bottom fares on Friday evening on a core route dominated by people who will work in that city in the week and fly home for the weekend. For the same reason Virgin got rid of peak time fares on a Friday afternoon. It's shifting quite a bit now with flexible working.

You would need to read the fare rules for the airline in question, but a very common trick is that the saver tickets have a six night minimum stay and/or you need to stay Saturday night. Business travellers leaving on Monday won't want to be there for the weekend so including the Saturday night is a bit like a sorting mechanism.
 

atillathehunn

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How many days can a short-haul airliner work in a row before it needs a 'day off' for maintenance?

I seem to recall that an A check - the lightest check - is about every c.500 hours. They get less frequent the higher through the alphabet you go, but they also take longer.
 

Royston Vasey

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Not sure if it’s right but do airlines charge more on certain days of the week eg flights on Mondays and Fridays are more pricy then flights on Tuesdays to Thursdays?

I am aware of yield management etc but wondered if there was any truth in it?
The airlines have some extremely sophisticated algorithms which may mean the cheaper buckets do not get released first for flights that are expected to be busier (Monday morning, Friday evening etc). If the flight can be filled on intermediate to high buckets without ever opening the cheaper buckets, the cheaper buckets never get released. So yes, absolutely there is. Alternatively if demand is lower than expected for that class of travel then cheaper buckets can be released quite close to travel.

There is also something BA have (and I'm sure more legacy airlines at least do also) which is a Saturday night stay requirement whereby certain cheaper fare buckets targeted at leisure travellers are not available if booking Sunday to Thursday or Tuesday to Friday, as the business traveller is expected to be far less price sensitive. This is specifically written into the detailed code of that ticket.

The difference can be very dramatic, it can turn a £1500 economy return to the US into a £700 return by staying a day longer.
 

Shaw S Hunter

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Not sure if it’s right but do airlines charge more on certain days of the week eg flights on Mondays and Fridays are more pricy then flights on Tuesdays to Thursdays?

I am aware of yield management etc but wondered if there was any truth in it?

Simplistically: the airlines invented yield management so you can be absolutely sure that it happens.
 

Techniquest

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Got back about 30 minutes ago from Tokyo, been a long travel day!

BA8 0945 Haneda-Heathrow was in the hands of 777-300 G-STBF on this occasion (15/11/2019). Seating wasn't too bad, but the blanket and pillow paled in comparison to that on JAL. Crew were the usual BA crew I come across, and again nothing like JAL. However I did get food which I managed to eat the majority of, which is exceptionally unusual. Not that it was particularly exciting or inspired. At least it wasn't all nonsense I can't stand the taste, smell or texture of! They've also upgraded their red wine on BA, it's not an Australian shiraz but it did the job!

Barely responsive to touch with the IFE screen at 45H, but using the remote I got through 5 movies during the flight so can't complain at that. Legroom was pretty good too, even if by the final 90 minutes my legs were fed up of being sat down for so long. Yes I did have flight socks on! The worst bit was the sore derriere, I was more than ready to get up and go for a walk at Heathrow! Overall it was a good flight, and I want more 777 miles but just be sat closer to the engines. On this craft I'd have had to be in Business Class for that though.

Next up is Heathrow-LA and back on BA 747-400s in less than 2 months' time. Bring that on already!
 

gsnedders

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Just looked it up there - at least £5000 return for June 2020.
FWIW, in the BA sale a month ago I was looking at BA1 and return from BOS (business class on one of the sleeper services) for under £2000, so you can certainly get it for much less if you're flexible.
 

fowler9

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Got back about 30 minutes ago from Tokyo, been a long travel day!

BA8 0945 Haneda-Heathrow was in the hands of 777-300 G-STBF on this occasion (15/11/2019). Seating wasn't too bad, but the blanket and pillow paled in comparison to that on JAL. Crew were the usual BA crew I come across, and again nothing like JAL. However I did get food which I managed to eat the majority of, which is exceptionally unusual. Not that it was particularly exciting or inspired. At least it wasn't all nonsense I can't stand the taste, smell or texture of! They've also upgraded their red wine on BA, it's not an Australian shiraz but it did the job!

Barely responsive to touch with the IFE screen at 45H, but using the remote I got through 5 movies during the flight so can't complain at that. Legroom was pretty good too, even if by the final 90 minutes my legs were fed up of being sat down for so long. Yes I did have flight socks on! The worst bit was the sore derriere, I was more than ready to get up and go for a walk at Heathrow! Overall it was a good flight, and I want more 777 miles but just be sat closer to the engines. On this craft I'd have had to be in Business Class for that though.

Next up is Heathrow-LA and back on BA 747-400s in less than 2 months' time. Bring that on already!

Sounds like a brilliant trip.
 

Techniquest

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That will be an experience. Haha.

Oh yes. Daytime flight going west, night time flight heading back to Heathrow. Then a 22 hour layover before jetting off to Krakow and back on (booked at least) an A321neo each way.

Going to be getting close to 100,000 air miles by the time I return from Krakow I reckon!
 

Bald Rick

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Oh yes. Daytime flight going west, night time flight heading back to Heathrow. Then a 22 hour layover before jetting off to Krakow and back on (booked at least) an A321neo each way.

Going to be getting close to 100,000 air miles by the time I return from Krakow I reckon!

20+ years ago I did BA282 LAX-LHR on a 747-400; my first transatlantic crossing. Horrendous flight. Mrs BR and I were I need the middle 2 of the Central 4 seats. On our left was “Mr see if I can drink the bar dry” (approximately 15 cans of lager from the trolley and galley trips, followed by almost as many trips to the toilet immediately adjacent). On our right was ‘Mr Nervous flyer / food intolerant’ who before take off was wrapped up in the blanket, eye mask on and ear plugs in; only stirred for dinner (a rice cake and water) and breakfast (same). Didn’t sleep a wink.
 

fowler9

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20+ years ago I did BA282 LAX-LHR on a 747-400; my first transatlantic crossing. Horrendous flight. Mrs BR and I were I need the middle 2 of the Central 4 seats. On our left was “Mr see if I can drink the bar dry” (approximately 15 cans of lager from the trolley and galley trips, followed by almost as many trips to the toilet immediately adjacent). On our right was ‘Mr Nervous flyer / food intolerant’ who before take off was wrapped up in the blanket, eye mask on and ear plugs in; only stirred for dinner (a rice cake and water) and breakfast (same). Didn’t sleep a wink.
Ha ha ha. That sounds fun. I've been really lucky on my long hauls.
 

Techniquest

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20+ years ago I did BA282 LAX-LHR on a 747-400; my first transatlantic crossing. Horrendous flight. Mrs BR and I were I need the middle 2 of the Central 4 seats. On our left was “Mr see if I can drink the bar dry” (approximately 15 cans of lager from the trolley and galley trips, followed by almost as many trips to the toilet immediately adjacent). On our right was ‘Mr Nervous flyer / food intolerant’ who before take off was wrapped up in the blanket, eye mask on and ear plugs in; only stirred for dinner (a rice cake and water) and breakfast (same). Didn’t sleep a wink.

Ouch! That must have been rather grim! I'm surprised though the crew let him have that many though!

I don't generally sleep on a flight, and when I do it's not for long and it's only when the body is beyond physical exhaustion. That's time I can better spend watching movies! :lol:

Ha ha ha. That sounds fun. I've been really lucky on my long hauls.

Compared to Bald Rick, so have I! I try to get an aisle seat whenever possible on long-haul, if I want to get up and move about I don't have to interrupt anyone else. Just better that way, I've been stuck by the window and unable to get out when I want to before and that's just not fun!

I'm already beginning preparations for LA today, nothing too advanced yet of course. For now ensuring I don't do something stupid like leaving my earplugs and eye shade behind again is of paramount importance. Having done just that on last week's overnight Frankfurt-Narita on JL408, and regretting it like mad, I'm not willing to suffer next time! :lol:
 

Peter Mugridge

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BA will only refund you if they gave you a replacement that wasn’t equivalent (for example, you paid for extra legroom but didn’t get it, or paid for a bulkhead and didn’t get it). I don’t think they will consider failing to see the engine as non-equivalent.
I've just heard back from BA and I've got my £48 back...
 

Bald Rick

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Ouch! That must have been rather grim! I'm surprised though the crew let him have that many though!

He was helping himself from the galley when they weren’t looking. What really annoyed me was that he didn’t offer to get me one!

Compared to Bald Rick, so have I! I try to get an aisle seat whenever possible on long-haul, if I want to get up and move about I don't have to interrupt anyone else.

I have to have a window where possible, partly because it significantly reduces the chances of me getting airsick, and partly because I love to see where we are. Quite happy to stay seated; indeed the return from LA was the home run from a round the world trip, (including 3 flights of 12h+) and I returned having never set foot in an aircraft WC.
 
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Techniquest

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Impressive! It's not often I manage to avoid the need for the lavatory on an aircraft, especially on long-haul. It gives me a good reason to get out of my seat for a brief stretch of legs, which is never a bad thing.

Congratulations, too, on the around the world route. Soon my big gap in such coverage will be LA to Brisbane/Tokyo. It's going to take a while to fill in that gap!
 
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