dr_badbeats:
A&L are Santander, as are B&B now, it is the same account.
I don't think there's a financial institution that people won't beable to re-count stories of.
at the end of the day, this is £100 free money, which for the vast majority of people will be without incident.
They may well be under control of Santander but if you go into B&B, Abbey and A&L you will get very different experiences. They are in no way run the same way (at least yet). It is NOT the same account. A&L and Abbey are still considered different banks as far as the £50K guarantee (FSA?) is concerned. This will change but not yet.
The fact is that Abbey scored the worst in a recent customer satisfaction survey. Yes - somebody will be able to recount a horror story from most banks but the fact is there will a LOT more about Abbey than anyone else.
It's up to you though - if you want the hassle of moving your regular income to Abbey and put up with their customer service for £100 then fine.... but from personal experience I would rather go for the £50 on offer at A&L and get the free travel insurance (I haven't checked if this is still available but I have had it now for the last 3 years or so).