Is BA really cheaper than the budget airlines at the moment?
Readers' emails and my own experience in booking a flight to Rome last week suggest it can be. Go's flights were more expensive and at less convenient times than its BA rivals.
So does that mean I should book on BA.com?
I hesitate to recommend it. While this clunky site has improved somewhat recently (the price bands indicating the cheapest days to fly are a great boon), it continues to have problems actually fulfilling bookings. When I first tried to book here, it rejected one of my credit cards.
Bad luck. Too many weekend breaks?
Well, not yet. But when I tried using my other card, BA gave up entirely and advised me to ring a customer services assistant instead.
And did they help?
They wanted to, but they also wanted to charge me an extra £20 because I was booking two tickets offline. But that isn't fair, I protested: it's not my fault your site isn't working properly. They were sorry, but it wasn't in their power to charge me the lower fare, and suggested I ring the web support department on another number to talk about what might have gone wrong. I did, but not until I'd bought the flights at the lower price on Travelocity.co.uk.
So what was wrong with the site?
Apparently, it is having trouble accepting "some" American Express cards. While the web supporter was unwilling to concede that there was anything wrong with it, she did admit that I could have saved the £20 if I'd called her.
So one part of BA has a different policy to another?
Yes, because the company doesn't want to publicise its website's failings. In the meantime, you would be advised to shop around for your ticket - try Expedia.co.uk and Ebookers.com as well as Travelocity.
