O?T: BA flight cancelation for tomorrow

[Hampstead Gull]

Aer Lingus were great. Rebooked online and changed both the outbound and inbound for no extra cost.

I have never flown BA since they sent my bag to Nigeria when i was flying to Australia. They were completely disinterested.

 

[Pinkie Brown]

Originally Posted by Herr Tubthumper
If I had my way I'd get a 747 and stick it right up Willie Walsh's arse, then turn it sideways slightly. Take a leaf out of Virgin's book when it comes to communication and information and customer help.

A classic example of rumour over reality I've been at Gatwick all week and I've dealt with more problems at the Virgin desks than I have at BA, and that's bearing in mind BA have significantly more flights due to depart than their competitors.

Spot on. Having worked in the 'industry' for 23 years before taking the money & running, in my experience, BA's customer service will always run rings around that of the grinning bearded berk. BA staff do actually work for the airline rather than many of those at Virgin, who are simply inexperienced youngsters being paid peanuts by a handling agent.

Virgin probably have a slight edge on 'spin' for sure & Willie Walsh's reign at BA has been a disaster for the travelling public & staff alike with his hatchet man austerity attitude.

There's way too many myths & half truths on this thread to attempt a response to. Briefly, the suggestion that BA may have been hawking the seats at sky high prices prior to tansfering any delayed passengers is nonsense.

As a side note: BA do own & operate their own fleet of De-Icing equipment for their aircraft wheras Virgin & other airlines, both budget & charter, sub contract the de-icing out to a third party operator who hasn't a cat in hells chance of coping in the recent conditions.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Spot on. Having worked in the 'industry' for 23 years before taking the money & running, in my experience, BA's customer service will always run rings around that of the grinning bearded berk. BA staff do actually work for the airline rather than many of those at Virgin, who are simply inexperienced youngsters being paid peanuts by a handling agent.

Virgin probably have a slight edge on 'spin' for sure & Willie Walsh's reign at BA has been a disaster for the travelling public & staff alike with his hatchet man austerity attitude.

There's way too many myths & half truths on this thread to attempt a response to. Briefly, the suggestion that BA may have been hawking the seats at sky high prices prior to tansfering any delayed passengers is nonsense.

As a side note: BA do own & operate their own fleet of De-Icing equipment for their aircraft wheras Virgin & other airlines, both budget & charter, sub contract the de-icing out to a third party operator who hasn't a cat in hells chance of coping in the recent conditions.

We'll gloss over the BA dirty tricks campaign then, oh, and the aviation fuel surcharge stitch up. All you BA apologists can line up behind Willie for HT Airlines aviation experience.

 

[Lady Whistledown]

Spot on. Having worked in the 'industry' for 23 years before taking the money & running, in my experience, BA's customer service will always run rings around that of the grinning bearded berk. BA staff do actually work for the airline rather than many of those at Virgin, who are simply inexperienced youngsters being paid peanuts by a handling agent.

Virgin probably have a slight edge on 'spin' for sure & Willie Walsh's reign at BA has been a disaster for the travelling public & staff alike with his hatchet man austerity attitude.

There's way too many myths & half truths on this thread to attempt a response to. Briefly, the suggestion that BA may have been hawking the seats at sky high prices prior to tansfering any delayed passengers is nonsense.

As a side note: BA do own & operate their own fleet of De-Icing equipment for their aircraft wheras Virgin & other airlines, both budget & charter, sub contract the de-icing out to a third party operator who hasn't a cat in hells chance of coping in the recent conditions.

Don't know about the technicalities but I've worked for both in my time and have no axe to grind with either. Both have their flaws and merits.

I do know that many of the staff on the Virgin check-in desks are actually employed by Swissport (or is it Menzies? It's one of the handling agents) so arguably have less of a stake in what's going on, and thus less incentive to fix problems. I'm not suggesting they're deliberately arsing people about, but it's easier to walk away when you don't work for the company you're representing.

 

[PHCgull]

There's way too many myths & half truths on this thread to attempt a response to. Briefly, the suggestion that BA may have been hawking the seats at sky high prices prior to tansfering any delayed passengers is nonsense.

you know that for a fact do you? Yesterday afternoon the BA website would NOT transfer us to another flight to the same place in the same class that DID have seats. At the same time in another browser I cued up the ability to buy those SAME tickets for £12k.

That is fact, my friend , not nonsense.

 

[Lady Whistledown]

We'll gloss over the BA dirty tricks campaign then

Blimey, nothing like being topical, is there? How long ago was THAT? In Bob Ayling's day, wasn't it?

I can see you have an axe to grind with BA, but that is quite clearly nothing to do with what's going on at the moment

 

[Lady Whistledown]

And Virgin were as involved in the fuel surcharging issue, that was why it was called "collusion" by the court.

They were found guilty just as BA were, the only difference is that it was someone from Virgin who eventually blew the whistle for whatever reason, so they avoided a fine on that basis.

 

[Tummy Burger]

Gettin abuse from the public - NEVER

I genuinely feel bad for people stuck over the Christmas period because of this. The only thing that amazes me are the excuses that people will come up with to make out that they have a better reason than anyone else to travel.

Its all my fault...... regardless of the fact that my Wife is one of those stuck, and maybe not getting back for christmas.

 

[PHCgull]

jeez - where is she?

 

[Lady Whistledown]

Gettin abuse from the public - NEVER

I genuinely feel bad for people stuck over the Christmas period because of this. The only thing that amazes me are the excuses that people will come up with to make out that they have a better reason than anyone else to travel.

Its all my fault...... regardless of the fact that my Wife is one of those stuck, and maybe not getting back for christmas.

Oh it is crap, Gatwick was like a refugee camp at the weekend. I did meet plenty of passengers who had been advised not to come to the airport by their airlines, but turned up anyway, so my sympathy for them was somewhat less. I just don't know how the airlines are supposed to fairly allocate their few remaining seats without pissing massive numbers of people off.

 

[Gully]

I just don't know how the airlines are supposed to fairly allocate their few remaining seats without pissing massive numbers of people off.

Gold, blue and white membership schemes...or maybe even season ticket holders first...it seems to work very well for football clubs, without any problems or adverse comment!

 

[PHCgull]

Oh it is crap, Gatwick was like a refugee camp at the weekend. I did meet plenty of passengers who had been advised not to come to the airport by their airlines, but turned up anyway, so my sympathy for them was somewhat less. I just don't know how the airlines are supposed to fairly allocate their few remaining seats without pissing massive numbers of people off.

HI edna - the ONLY thing I am pissed off with BA for is that they didnt give me the opportunity to re-book onto that flight even though they had spaces.

IF all the spaces were gone, I wouldn't have a complaint, but as it stood at 16:21 yesterday I had my original flight cancelled but I couldnt get onto a flight that clearly had available spaces. I was not asking for any special treatment, just a fair crack at a rapidly diminishing resource.

 

[Lady Whistledown]

HI edna - the ONLY thing I am pissed off with BA for is that they didnt give me the opportunity to re-book onto that flight even though they had spaces.

IF all the spaces were gone, I wouldn't have a complaint, but as it stood at 16:21 yesterday I had my original flight cancelled but I couldnt get onto a flight that clearly had available spaces. I was not asking for any special treatment, just a fair crack at a rapidly diminishing resource.

Fair enough, it all sounds a bit strange to me, even for a corporation the size of BA. Hope you enjoy yourselves when you do eventually get out there. And Emirates are a good airline to fly with.

 

[Tummy Burger]

jeez - where is she?

Only Paris. She's flight crew. Stuck since Saturday morning. If things start moving today, then I am still hopeful

 

[Lady Whistledown]

Gold, blue and white membership schemes...or maybe even season ticket holders first...it seems to work very well for football clubs, without any problems or adverse comment!

1901 Club?

Someone had to say it

 

[Gully]

- the ONLY thing I am pissed off with BA for is that they didnt give me the opportunity to re-book onto that flight even though they had spaces.

IF all the spaces were gone, I wouldn't have a complaint, but as it stood at 16:21 yesterday I had my original flight cancelled but I couldnt get onto a flight that clearly had available spaces. I was not asking for any special treatment, just a fair crack at a rapidly diminishing resource.

This sounds thoroughly reasonable to me, surely they should have been looking after people who were already customers (being in posession of a valid ticket) than still looking for more people to fill seats. This smacks of a company that is going down the drain but still takes on custom in the knowledge that any contracts made are worthless and will never be honoured.

I usually fly with BA through choice and have never experienced any of the complaints mentioned on this thread, maybe I have been lucky, even though my flights have been in cattle class.

 

[Gully]

1901 Club?

Someone had to say it

Edna...I omitted that on purpose...it would have been like shouting "trunkey want a bun!"...imagine the reaction!

 

[Tummy Burger]

you know that for a fact do you? Yesterday afternoon the BA website would NOT transfer us to another flight to the same place in the same class that DID have seats. At the same time in another browser I cued up the ability to buy those SAME tickets for £12k.

That is fact, my friend , not nonsense.

Hi pal. It was not me that posted this, but yes I do know this for a fact. It is justlikely the website was not allowing it. Have you already cancelled or can I assist you in any way?.

 

[beorhthelm]

I was not asking for any special treatment, just a fair crack at a rapidly diminishing resource.

you say that, but still havnt suggested how you, along with all the others wanting a transfer, could all be given a equal and fair oppurtunity to get those spare seats.

 

[PHCgull]

tummy - PM sent, genuine thanks for the offer.

beorthelm - there is no fair way, other than first come first served - the same way they sold the seats in the first place, the same way in fact that any tickets are sold.

My beef with BA was that they had a few spaces that were not available to transfer into, but were available to buy (expensively). Tummy burger suggests that this was because the BA website was not allowing it. If I had been able to get through on the phone, or if as ICy Gull suggests I had used a travel agent, I might have been able to do what I wanted. Maybe others on my cancelled flight DID have that opportunity, who knows?