4 Pax on PNR, 2 not flying – problems?

I’m flying BA to LAX with 3 friends in a few weeks (all on 1 PNR) and 2 of the friends have just announced they are no longer coming However the show must go on and us two remaining ‘champions of fun’ will still be making the trip.

The flight is in Y and was booked a while ago at LAN.com when it was dropping the fuel surcharge (so only cost us Ł130 each all in). With this in mind we will not be taking any action to cancel the 2 pax not travelling as we probably wouldn’t get any money back and don’t want to casue any issues for the remaining travellers regarding the advantageous booking terms.

My question is will having 2 non-travelling pax on the booking cause any issues when we travel? I guess after they don’t show for the LHR-LAX flight the return will be cancelled (hopefylly just their ticket and not all pax on the PNR!).

Secondly could we use the non-flying pax for our comfort on the outbound by checking one of them into a B seat, which would then leave us with 3 seats between 2? Or should we just forget about complicating things further and OLCI the 2 pax as early as possible and hope to snag the twosomes at the back of the plane?

Any feedback welcome as I don’t really know much about flying BA (as a *A flyer).

I don't think you'll have any problems with the 2 who are not travelling. If it were LGW I'd liaise with the ticket desk to advise the others weren't going and to check if there were any issues regarding your return flight. I would imagine LHR will do the same or send you to Zone E to check.

You'll only be able to check in the people travelling. Even if you check in one of the people not travelling, they'll be offloaded as soon as they miss conformance at LHR so the seat could be reallocated.

I'd do OLCI and get the best seats you can for the two of you.

Have a good trip ^

My rule is to always cancel a booking even if no refund is made. Somebody may actually want to buy your seats from the airline, and you may once be in a situation when you need to fly but there is no availibility!
Please cancel the booking for those not going to travel it will not affect the other passengers!

Curious again....what does "miss conformance at LHR" mean? Is that the "must pass through security at least 35 minutes before departure"?

Thanks, HH

Hi Heckenhocker,

Just before security at Flight connections ( and just before security on the main departure level) there is a boarding pass check.
There is now a new procedure " Conformance" that states that the bp must be scanned at least 35 mins prior to your flight leaving ( the assumption being that 35 mins gives you enough time to pass security and get ot the gate before the gate closes to ensure an on time departure.
If your boarding pass is not scanned before T-35 ie you get to the bp check at T-33 you will not be allowed to proceed to security and to travel on that flight and any checked bags will not be loaded.

Regards

TBS

I believe so, yes.

tb

Thanks TBS & tb.

I'm a chronically early type of person, so the 45/35 minute limits never concern me (unless public transport disaster). But this would explain the ranting about "I had half an hour" from a colleague last year who chose to cut it fine and spent the night at LHR instead of ARN

If we do OLCI then we won't have any contact with any real people at check-in. Do you suggest we volunteer to go to the ticket desk to let them know the others aren't coming?


Ordinarily I would but as this booking was made with LAN I don't think I will. I've called LAN many times and every time they haven't got a clue what I am talking about and I don't want them messing with the reservation as it was a mistake are. I don't think BA would be selling the seats again anyway as the flight seems wide open at the moment.

Hi heckenhocker

TBS and trueblu gave you the answer before I could.
I'm like you, always at the airport long before departure time, so this would rarely be an issue for me. But I know it has caught a few people out which is very unfortunate.

Do you have any bags to check in? If so you could let them know when you drop these off. If not I would suggest either letting BA know before the day of travel so they can release the seats to someone who may be needing them (and the LAX route is often very heavily booked) as suggested above. Give them a call and tell them the problems you're having with LAN, they may be able to help.
If you do leave it until day of travel let either the Customer Service/Ticket Desks at Zone E know or a Customer Service desk in the departure lounge.

You will have to go to a desk anyway to have your passport and visa checked. The following information is from ba.com



Important information for customers travelling with hand baggage only
If you have checked in online, or at a check-in kiosk, you will need to go to a passport and visa check desk if you:

are travelling on any intercontinental flight - go to zones B, C, or G
are travelling to Moscow or St Petersburg - go to desks in zone G
are travelling to Kiev or Tripoli - go to desks in zones B, C or G
This ensures we have checked that you are ready to fly and are carrying the correct passport and appropriate travel documents before going through security.

If you have baggage to check-in, your passport and visa will be checked at a Fast Bag Drop or Customer Service Desk.

I've always had bags to check in going to the US so documents are checked when they're dropped off.

Ah yes, the ticket without the YQ surcharge.............wonder if anyone's been pulled up at the airport and been forced to pay that yet?