British Airways Flights

[butterflytiger]

Hi everyone,

We are going to Barbados in November and have just been advised we will be flying with BA. Usually been with Thomson and our luggage was checked in at Gatwick and then we didn't see it until it was outside our room. Apparently with BA we have to collect it from the airport in Barbados. Does anyone have any experience and any pro's or con's?

[rubydoobydoo]

We prefer to fly with BA and if you can pre book your seats the ones by the emergency doors have far more leg room and the seats don't recline so no worries about the seats in front.

 

You also get your meal and drinks included in cost, some airlines charge extra.

 

Not sure about the luggage once you get to the airport we have had to collect our own luggage with BA and Thomson then take it to the desk for check in then the next time we saw it was outside the cabin.

 

Janis

[bee-ess]

We flew with BA in March out to Barbados and the flight was OK with free drink all the flight but the immigration and baggage reclaim was a shambles. All the trolleys were hidden so we had to pay the guys with the barrows to carry our bags out to the coaches and were about 1.5 hours before we got to the ship. On balance good as the flight was I'd take the Thomas Cook/Thomson flight and get straight on the coaches and have the bags delivered directly to the cabin.

One advantage of flying BA is that you can buy extra luggage allowance which suited us as we were a 3 week cruise.

[lizdave]

Hi everyone,

We are going to Barbados in November and have just been advised we will be flying with BA. Usually been with Thomson and our luggage was checked in at Gatwick and then we didn't see it until it was outside our room. Apparently with BA we have to collect it from the airport in Barbados. Does anyone have any experience and any pro's or con's?

 

Look at the terms and condition of your BA flight, you may be able to take up to 23KG in your hand luggage, just at long it is in the hand luggage size.

[Zombies]

I haven't flown eith BA but have done thr baggage collect / check in etc

Horrible, much prefer the straight on the plane arrangement.

That said, it was due to the plane issue and returning for an overnight stay

 

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[marylizcat]

I should enquire whether you can swap to a charter flight. They are better for long haul than the scheduled airlines. You get more legroom. At Barbados, you go down the plane steps and on to a bus straight to the ship. With scheduled, you have to go through the airport with all the usual procedures of immigration, customs, baggage collection. Thomson or Thomas Cook will definitely be a better bet.

 

 

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[jaxw17]

I would pick my luggage up any day to fly with BA rather than Thompson. Different league of service altogether.

[marylizcat]

I would pick my luggage up any day to fly with BA rather than Thompson. Different league of service altogether.

 

Service levels pretty equal. Down to individual cabin crew as much as anything! Personally I go for comfort every time and to me the extra inches of space are worth a lot. Also the experience at Barbados airport is brilliant with the charter flights. Unless you have actually done it, I do not think you can really appreciate the difference.

[bee-ess]

Service levels pretty equal. Down to individual cabin crew as much as anything! Personally I go for comfort every time and to me the extra inches of space are worth a lot. Also the experience at Barbados airport is brilliant with the charter flights. Unless you have actually done it, I do not think you can really appreciate the difference.

 

Totally agree

[Mr Blue Sky]

Totally agree

 

Hi we had several beach holidays to Barbados before we discovered the joy of cruising, and travelled there on BA

and Virgin, up to 2009 our memories of The airport consist of queues lasting upto 2 hours for passport control,

not fun with a young daughter in tow, and the air con was miminal, so the delights of Thomson

Flight straight off plane onto coach is a great thing :)

All very well organised, we have done this twice now and again next feb,

Have you thought of upgrading to Prem Econ 299 each return, if there still seats available.

[jaxw17]

Service levels pretty equal. Down to individual cabin crew as much as anything! Personally I go for comfort every time and to me the extra inches of space are worth a lot. Also the experience at Barbados airport is brilliant with the charter flights. Unless you have actually done it, I do not think you can really appreciate the difference.

 

Have done both. BA does not have the best leg room at 31" but better by far than Thomsons and complimentary bar which it sounds like Thom have stopped. I have always found the food okay on BA.

Nine hours is quite a stretch and you need to be as comfy as possible.

[marylizcat]

Have done both. BA does not have the best leg room at 31" but better by far than Thomsons and complimentary bar which it sounds like Thom have stopped. I have always found the food okay on BA.

Nine hours is quite a stretch and you need to be as comfy as possible.

 

Sounds like you have either only done Thomsons short-haul or you did long -haul a long time ago! Thomson has 34 inches compared to BA's 31 inches. So no, BA's is definitely not 'better by far than Thomsons'! Agree that you no longer get the complimentary bar on Thomsons, but I would rather pay for my drinks and get more legroom and great transfer on arrival.

[rubydoobydoo]

The last long haul we did on Thomson was Nov 2010 and yes I agree it was very good, but BA just have the edge for me though if we sit by the emergency exits there is loads of room to stretch out.

 

Flying out of Barbados airport didn't seem that much trouble but I do remember it wasnt a particularly nice airport

 

We flew BA in May to meet the Equinox in Barcelona and from take off to balcony was 3 hours, great flight and great organisation by Celebrity.

 

By far the best airline we have used is Air New Zealand, they were great

[Zombies]

Personally, I prefer not to have to appear to boast who I like to fly with.

For me its the all round package, you are stuck on a plane for 7-8 hours, having one inch will not make any difference, standing up and walking will.

Before now I have noticed a much taller chap than myself and offered to swap my emergency exit seats, once being told I couldn't.

 

I would much prefer to get off a plane with 1 inch less leg room and straight to the ship than wait to collect luggage with people who don't know what the line is for around the carousel and the same on my return, people moaning in the queues.

 

My last visit, we were on a Thomson flight and had to return to Barbados due to plane fault and had a stay over in a fantastic all incl hotel.

People were getting as much beer as they could in the morning prior to leaving for our flight and then at check in people were constantly moaning, some drunk.

 

The least time I spend with some people (queues, baggage collection etc) the better I am for it, not a free drink on BA.