Deutsche BA > Reviews > Anything but British

Author's product rating:   

Food Quality	Poor
Customer Service	Friendly and attentive
Punctuality	Good
Space	Fairly Comfortable
Value for Money	Satisfactory

Advantages:	Cheaper than local competitor Lufthansa
Disadvantages:	Almost no frills, unsuitable for Business Class passengers

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Having flown Deutsche BA, the German subsidiary of British Airways, around thirty times, I still don't fully understand their service concept. In a local market strongly dominated by German flag carrier Lufthansa, Deutsche BA repeats every mistake made by Lufthansa, and adds new flaws of itself.

DBA currently operate two routes between the UK and Germany, i.e. from Gatwick to Hamburg and Munich, as well as seven domestic routes in Germany (Munich to Berlin, Cologne, Duesseldorf and Hamburg as well as Berlin to Cologne, Duesseldorf and Stuttgart). Instead of echoing BA's (unpopular) strategy of attracting Business passengers and getting rid of backpackers (with a class concept that mirrors British society in the 19th century), Deutsche BA does the absolute opposite and annoys (pisses off would be more accurate) Business Class passengers instead. This has been succesfully mounted by Lufthansa before and is now taken to new dimensions by Deutsche BA.

How's that? DBA runs a fully one-class economy concept on domestic flights. So you can end up on a middle seat in row 23 even if you've paid 120 Pounds for a full-fare one-way ticket in Business (covering a distance of only 250 miles). When Lufthansa introduced the worst domestic-flight-meals in airline history (that's for Business, Economy passengers don't get anything) two years ago, DBA followed on the step. All you get is a small roll with a maximim of 50 calories. The result is that all domestic airtravel in Germany is now basicly no frills.

Prices are around 5% to 10% below the relevant tarifs of Lufthansa, depending on booking class. That's good for weekend trips which can be had for around 60 Pounds return, but still not of much value for the ridiculously overpriced business fares in Germany.

Deutsche BA boasts itself to be Germany's most punctual airline, however it has skillfully manipulated the statistics. Comparing Deutsche BA's timetable to that of Lufthansa, one discovers that flight times are shown up to fifteen minutes longer on the same routes, so it's quite easy for them to fly on schedule.

On Deutsche BA, there are no priviliges for Gold or Silver members, unlike Lufthansa where Gold members have a booking guarantee on full flights and a guaranteed window or aisle seat in the first rows. There is also no lounge access for Business Class passengers unless you have Executive Club status (which for members outside the UK is almost impossible to attain because of the mediocre point system). Once you are in, though, you find much cosier lounges than at the competition. Lufthansa's Business, Silver and Gold lounges resemble the plain atmosphere of call centers, here Deutsche BA is clearly ahead.

DBA also looses to Lufthansa on the Frequent Flyer programme. Alongside the Excutive Club, DBA opeartes its on programme called BonusPlus. This one is highly ineffective, requiring 30 business flights for one free ticket to a European destination, compared to Lufthansa's 15. The only advantage is that you can collect twice for the same flight, both on Bonusplus and Executive Club, but the latter is highly unattractive for overseas members.

As a result one may say that DBA fulfills the major demand from an airline, i.e. to take you safely from A to B, but it completely fails to serve and set incentives for business travellers who could take DBA (finally after seven years in operation) into the profit zone.

Airlines reviewed by myself so far:

Austrian Airlines
British European Airways (formerly Jersey European Airways)
British Mediterranean Airways
Czech Airlines
Deutsche BA
Lauda Air

Copyright 2001 by Hansjörg Gebel, Witten, Germany