Programs: Ba gold, skywards gold, sas silver, gha black, hilton diamond
Posts: 62
The fog, the frost, the mass cancellations. R they really necessary?
I and my girlfriend were on different flights to cph today. I was on the scheduled 11.30am after her scheduled 9.20am... Her flight was cancelled, mine was 1hr delay... Her 2pm then became cancelled, her 4.40pm has now become cancelled and she has been there since 8am.. Whats irritated me is that she asked about the 11.30 and was told no seats yet when i was on the plane a seat was clearly available in biz and also behind me in the first row of economy... Does BA not have a standby policy at all which she could have been on rather than bumped from flight to flight..Shes BA silver.. Personally think this experience has been disappointing from all aspects, late cancellations, lack of personal touch..i know LHR is a busy airport but as soon as the going gets tough the passengers get dropped to get plane positioning back in orders is my best guess as the weather was fine when i finally left 2hrs late.. I realise its not just a BA issue but sometimes these things could be managed better within the departure complex
Given that you saw empty seats, surely EU261/2004 should apply (rebooked on first available flight or whatever), and she should at least get some compensation?
Programs: BA Gold, BD Silver, Hilton Diamond, Priority Club Platinum
Posts: 1,057
Just because you saw empty seats on the flight, it doesn't necessarily mean there were seats available when your girlfriend asked.
Is it possible that another couple of passengers cancelled at the last minute (maybe the delay meant their trip wasn't going to be worthwhile). Maybe they didn't even cancel, they just didn't turn up at the gate, meaning BA would have a very small window to try to fill those seats. Would you have preferred BA delay your flight further while they try to find passengers to fill those seats or get the flight off as soon as they can? I suspect most passengers would opt for the latter.
I know from personal experience that weather cancellations and delays can be really annoying, but in my experience BA do try to accommodate passengers as best they can (given their lack of control over the situation).
Good question. I can only recall going standby on flights by other carriers after IRROPS. I can't believe that BA don't do it, because surely when there's a weather problem, it can often affect people getting to the airport too. Surely best to pack the earlier flights full to deal with the problems later on.
Programs: Ba gold, skywards gold, sas silver, gha black, hilton diamond
Posts: 62
No luggage, no help in the first lounge which we were in, nothing, just wait after wait...AA offer standby without question which then goes if im right on oneworld ranking... Why does BA not offer this, its not really going to delay the plane anymore if cut off time is reached, passengers havent shown, right standby passenger one is done, on you go. Now she cant go till tomorrow. Would i have got any better service as gold than her silver, not sure i would, just sounds like it becomes a free for all for all airside passengers to get the first available seats regardless of status
No point comparing how AA do it to the way BA handle it. We've been down that road hundreds of times before.
The empty few seats could be a bit of a red herring....they might have been held for people connecting and they arrived too late. Delays and cancellations during bad weather have and will always be part of flying. Travel often enough and you'll be affected by it sooner or later.
__________________
Don't let the Walter Mitty's get you down....
Programs: Ba gold, skywards gold, sas silver, gha black, hilton diamond
Posts: 62
Its ok saying if you travel often enough you'll be affected by the weather sooner or later, its a bit of an obvious statement... Why does BA not offer standby, and why does BA not allocate a priority system for airside passengers? Simple enough questions.
Programs: BA Gold; Flying Blue Platinum for life; LH Senator; Hilton Diamond; Kemal Kebabs Prized Customer
Posts: 3,767
Gold passengers certainly get standby, that is how I travelled today after my original flight was cancelled. Well, waitlisting is the term the staff used. In my case I got a seat because one passenger failed conformance (unbelievably his first name was Harold!) and I was at the gate at close. And I've been waitlisted after irrops in the past too.
I get the impression that BA don't encourage the practice, their IT really makes it incredibly difficult and requires multiple phone calls, therefore they prefer passengers to go online and rebook into available seats. And to be fair, rebooking is now a lot easier online than it used to be. In my case it would have meant leaving tomorrow, which wasn't an option for me.
No point comparing how AA do it to the way BA handle it. We've been down that road hundreds of times before.
The empty few seats could be a bit of a red herring....they might have been held for people connecting and they arrived too late. Delays and cancellations during bad weather have and will always be part of flying. Travel often enough and you'll be affected by it sooner or later.
Precisely why a gate standby scheme for IRROPS is the way to go for disrupted pax already checked in and waiting post-security. Amazed BA does not do that. I don't think there is any reasonable, justifiable excuse for not having this option.
Programs: BA Gold, AA ExPlat, UA 1K, Starbucks Gold
Posts: 2,243
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sankaps
Precisely why a gate standby scheme for IRROPS is the way to go for disrupted pax already checked in and waiting post-security. Amazed BA does not do that. I don't think there is any reasonable, justifiable excuse for not having this option.
Quote:
Originally Posted by corporate-wage-slave
Gold passengers certainly get standby, that is how I travelled today after my original flight was cancelled. Well, waitlisting is the term the staff used. In my case I got a seat because one passenger failed conformance (unbelievably his first name was Harold!) and I was at the gate at close. And I've been waitlisted after irrops in the past too.
I get the impression that BA don't encourage the practice, their IT really makes it incredibly difficult and requires multiple phone calls, therefore they prefer passengers to go online and rebook into available seats. And to be fair, rebooking is now a lot easier online than it used to be. In my case it would have meant leaving tomorrow, which wasn't an option for me.
I have boarding pass to show for it once as well. I get the came impression as you, cws. It's extremely rare, done only during IRROPS and I had to literally throw a temper tantrum to get them to do it. Funnily enough it was done the day before the flight, then at checkin I got a confirmed seat, and then at the gate I got an OpUp to CW!
It was nice
