British Airways Hotline Tickets

[MIGHTYONE 309]

For those that do not know, British Airways offer Hotline tickets to certain destinations throughout the year. I think they base it on routes which go through quiet periods. The criteria is that you must have a friend or memeber od family who works for BA and can trust you enough to book the flight for you.

 

At present BKK is on their list and most flights in May and June are available for £415 return inc taxes . It is unfortunate because last year I only paid £300 return.

 

I know Eva are offering the same price but just thought I would advise you all

 

For those who have flown both, who is best EVA OR ba??

 

Mike

[growler 0]

I have not flown BA to Bangkok. Worth noting that Eva seat pitch in Economy is 2" more. 33" versus 31".

[EnglishPaul 3]

Hi Thanks for the info Mike. I have flown twice in the last year with EVA,HTR-BKK last trip was in one of their new planes a 777-300 I think seemed to me to be a bit more spacious and possibly quieter. Before those 2 trips flew with BA, also OK. Personally price would decide for me,as both EVA and BA have been alright for me.

One very minor advantage for me is that with BA I seem to be able to get a pre-allocated seat,e.g. request and get an aisle seat,but couldn`t do so with EVA as they said they only allocate at check-in.(anybody know how to do this with EVA please let me know) hard to choose between the 2 really.Both get me to where I want to be-BKK then straight down to Pattaya

Cheers

[cnkbud 0]

Hi, on EVA USA website if you purchase a ticket from them you can assign your seat on-line. If purchase from a travel agent must wait till airport check-in. Don't know about the UK EVA website buy you can check it out. Have a good one and enjoy. Old Bud

[pattaya_mad 208]

Im booked with BA for June, but IMO you should steer well clear..why???

well it looks very likely that there will be the normal strikes during the summer months because of a dispute over pensions, BA want to put up the retirement age to bridge a billion pound black hole, the unions oppose this, Im praying it won`t effect my trip

[EnglishPaul 3]

cnkbud Thanks for that, I booked through travel agent for my flights,I`ll take a look at the EVA site here

Cheers!

[Gus 97]

If you book EVA through WestEast or Ours travel agencies, they can usually book your seat.

[pod 0]

One very minor advantage for me is that with BA I seem to be able to get a pre-allocated seat,e.g. request and get an aisle seat,but couldn`t do so with EVA as they said they only allocate at check-in.(anybody know how to do this with EVA please let me know)

EVA UK will accept a seat allocation request by phone (0207-3808-300) 100 days prior to the flight if the seat is booked through a travel agent. If booked via the EVA website the seat allocation can be made at the time of the booking.

[terry68 0]

i booked via westeast travel and choose my seat from those available on the eva website

[fi33er 1]

i pre-booked my seat on eva last year and for the return earlier on this year but both times they said that the flight was very busy and they were unable to give me the seats i had requested, on my return leg i was 3rd to check in but still they said they were unable to give me the seat i requested, the main reason i use eva is because i can change my return flight without any hassles. i would under no circumstances ever use BA even if they were £200 less than eva cos the motherfuckers made me redundant in 1999...............

[som nam na 0]

BA is my airline of choice ....given a choice then I choose not to fly with them and will go with one of their competitors instead ... in my experience a majority of BA workers are a bunch of selfish bastards ...two main reasons for this view ...firstly becasue of bad experiences as a passenger (I was a gold card holder) and secondly because they choose peak season to go on strike ....if they published strikes well in advance joe public would know about it and be able to go on other airlines and not have to spend holiday weekends as refugees at Heathrow Airport.

 

I don't want to be insulting but the above is I believe fair comment. Also I know I am generalising and that my comments are not applicable to all BA staff....

Edited April 5, 2006 by som nam na

[carpediem 0]

the main reason i use eva is because i can change my return flight without any hassles

 

fi33er

 

1. don't they make a charge? if so how much? the flexibility of return date with minimal (or no) charge would count as a big plus for me.

 

2. does eva offer as good prices on its own website as would a consolidator site - which is where i invariably look (opodo)?

 

3. never been on eva, but they do fly from paris and i'd certainly look into it if the above questions have positive answers.

[MIGHTYONE 309]

I just booked with Eva and the confirmation E-Mail stated that it is £75 to change date. I paid £100 with Thai in January when I changed flight

[python 27]

Hi all,

 

I just returned from Pattaya earlier today.

 

When I was confirming my return flight at the travel agent on Soi 2 she informed I could change my return flight by putting it back a few days if I wished for 300Bht.

 

This surprised me as I thought it would have been more??

 

I booked via Trailfinders in the UK flying out Qantas and returning with BA. I echo the concerns that other BM's expressed regards booking with BA as I experienced the strikes a couple of years ago. I took the chance this time as the price was good.

 

Regards to all.

[carpediem 0]

python Posted on Apr 10 2006, 11:28 PM

When I was confirming my return flight at the travel agent on Soi 2 she informed I could change my return flight by putting it back a few days if I wished for 300Bht.

 

Did BA or Trailfinders mention an amount for changes? How sure were you that the travel agent would have been able to deliver on her price if put to the test?

 

If really a BA ticket can have the return dates changed (by the soi 2 agent or otherwize) for a nominal charge, I'd certainly buy it for my coming trip next month.