itsmeitisss

I think its just sheer lack of organisation And planning on the part of BA. I just arrived from DUS in CE and we arrived at a domestic gate. Lots of apologies from the captain saying he didn't understand it as plane was off to BLQ next. So not only do we have to get out the back of the plane and get off last but in causing this situation BA planners decide to wait 20 minutes to send the buses. We would have been better off at a remote stand. The flight arrived 5 mins early. I hate landing early as it always shows up BA's lack of organisational skills. The luggage situation is another symptom of this.

Not deliberate just that the people in the planning department think that failing to plan and organise is a USP.

HIDDY

Yes you can see the dayglow tags in this picture of our bags at MAD. Obviously no bag handlers with inferiority complexes there as ours were amongst the first off.
However any advantage gained was soon lost by us having to faff about for ages trying to get a token for a trolley.

rossmacd

It just shows BA's awful ground handling at T5 (yes, the home base!). Try arriving last thing on a Friday night on domestic and parking at a remote stand

sammyh25

Don't take the 19:35 Shuttle from Edinburgh, more often than not it gets a remote or International stand....

Fly Baby

Its such a mixed bag at T5....

Got a remote stand just off T5A last week - priority disembarkation was great - a separate bus for just CE (9 of us) and another for everyone else (numbers confirmed by the CC as they opened the doors). Very quick trip to the terminal followed by a swift trip through UK Border. All done in around 10 mins from brakes on.

And then a 47 minute wait for the bags to start arriving on the carousel.....(after what was basically a 55 minute flight) The bags with a priority label were amongst the very last to appear too.

And they wonder why people try to overstuff the cabin with carry on....

clarkeysntfc

VS has a 100% record of delivering bags in order of Upper, Premium, Economy in my experience with them. Their system was shown on airport live as pretty simple. Seems odd that BA can't replicate it.

FrancisA

Was the bold bit on BA?

I am not sure that that is supposed to happen. I always use the F desks at LHR/LGW and any outstations that have them and I have never been given F tags unless travelling in F.

My understanding is that the tags are supposed to reflect the cabin that the passengers are travelling in, not status. There is a certain logic to this as in an ideal world there would be separate containers for F amd CW. That way priority luggage should work properly and groups of passengers and their luggage can be moved around in an orderly manner. It is also easy to find a bag, if someone needs to be off loaded.

If you tag bags based on status as well, you end up with GCHs travelling in WT, but with luggage in the F container. You then have a mismatch of cabins travelled and container used, raised expectations of prioirty luggage delivery and disappointment when it doesn't work. Oh wait, that's what happens at the moment

rossmacd

I updated that for you

dubbin

As someone who generally sprints to immigration because he detests queueing, I find that cabin crew bags and those tagged as urgent (because of short inter-airport transfers?) are generally first. Then a mix of CW, F and a few from further back. My guess is that there are priority containers, but that these are topped up with general bags to facilitate load balancing and to make sure that all bags get inside the aluminium cigar.

As has been said here many times, status per se doesn't give priority handling. OP, were you in a premium cabin or are you thinking wishfully that your status affords priority?

The other issue is general bag handling at LHR. You may have been waiting 40 minutes, but how long of that was staring intently at an empty, unmoving conveyor, I wonder? IMHO this is still better than standing impotently in an immigration line.

layz

I got F tags on a UK domestic one time. At the F check-in at T5 the check-in agent said "I've run out of priority tags, I'll just use the first ones". Wasn't particularly worried as I know it makes no different on a domestic.

I did think it looked nice, these were the ones used prior to the yellow ones.

Joely

I was in CW (I thought my original post gave that away although maybe I wasn't explicit enough).

While I can't find record of priority baggage for GCHs on BA.com, I have always had a priority tag even when flying lower classes. I guess the question is whether there is any other differentiator other than the tag. On this particular flight some priority bags did come out earlier but none of them seemed to be for people in the club cabin based on the people waiting around at the end.

BotB

Not sure that counts HIDDY...it looks like your bags were the ONLY bags 'checked in' on that flight? (so in essence were also the last off!

timezonehopper

If it's any consolation this isn't unique to LHR T5, priority tagged baggage is often last off at MAN too. I have had quite the opposite experience at NRT and at numerous US airports flying with AA as a OW Emerald/Sapphire where the priority tagged baggage is first on the carousel.

Kaveh96

I was thinking this also, I have to get a flight to Glasgow after changing at T5, and the last three flights, my bag has been one of the last out. I have always put it down to sods law, you know youre tired, want to go home and have to wait at the airport that little bit longer, when you know youre not supposed to.

itsmeitisss

I would put it down to the fact that BA don't have a system in place, (or they do but it isn't being followed consistently) to ensure that a published benefit is given to its premium customers. In my experience, BA are the worst OW airline at this, as in my experience on LAN, AY, JL, AA, and QF, my bags are generally one of the first out. I fly a fair bit - not as much as some as I am a low rent GGL, and may not renew this year. I can count on one hand the number of times my bag has been one of the first to come out - and I'm always in J/C or F.

I think this is one of BA's biggest problems. It over promises and underdelivers on many occasions. It would be better the other way around.