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BA/BMI have treated me really badly
I recently caught a flight (or tried to) from LHR to Riyadh. The ticket was sold by BA and operated by BMI. On following the online check in process on the BA webpage, I was taken to a BMI page which stated online check in remained open until 30 minutes prior to departure. As I subsequently discovered, this is incorrect and when I turned up at least 42 minutes prior to departure following online check in, I was not allowed to board. BMI and BA both admitted that the website was wrong but I was forced to buy another ticket for almost £2k before I could take the next plane. :mad:
BA and BMI have so far refused to correct the situation by refunding the additional ticket cost, or to pay the €500 compensation, in both cases in breach of directive 261/2004. I am going to sue them if they don't sort it out. Does anyone think they're in the right on this?? |
There's something missing from this story.
Let us know how the lawsuit goes. |
Originally Posted by jimster99
(Post 19232140)
I recently caught a flight (or tried to) from LHR to Riyadh. The ticket was sold by BA and operated by BMI. On following the online check in process on the BA webpage, I was taken to a BMI page which stated online check in remained open until 30 minutes prior to departure. As I subsequently discovered, this is incorrect and when I turned up at least 42 minutes prior to departure following online check in, I was not allowed to board. BMI and BA both admitted that the website was wrong but I was forced to buy another ticket for almost £2k before I could take the next plane. :mad:
BA and BMI have so far refused to correct the situation by refunding the additional ticket cost, or to pay the €500 compensation, in both cases in breach of directive 261/2004. I am going to sue them if they don't sort it out. Does anyone think they're in the right on this?? Online Check-in is available on bmi operated flights. This service becomes available 24 hours before the scheduled departure time and will remain open right up until 30 minutes before departure for UK domestic and Western European shorthaul flights, and 45 minutes prior to departure for all other routes. Online check-in closes 1 hour before departure if travelling from Addis Ababa, Almaty, Amman, Amritsar, Baku, Beirut, Bishkek, Cairo, Casablanca, Dammam, Freetown, Jeddah, Marrakech, Riyadh, Tbilisi, Tehran, Tripoli or Yerevan. ........... IMPORTANT: Although Online Check-in is available to customers travelling from Addis Ababa, Almaty, Amman, Amritsar, Baku, Beirut, Bishkek, Cairo, Casablanca, Dammam, Freetown, Jeddah, Marrakech, Moscow, Riyadh, Tbilisi, Tehran and Tripoli, no boarding pass can be printed. Please obtain your boarding pass from the airport check-in desk. |
Originally Posted by jimster99
(Post 19232140)
I recently caught a flight (or tried to) from LHR to Riyadh. The ticket was sold by BA and operated by BMI. On following the online check in process on the BA webpage, I was taken to a BMI page which stated online check in remained open until 30 minutes prior to departure. As I subsequently discovered, this is incorrect and when I turned up at least 42 minutes prior to departure following online check in, I was not allowed to board. BMI and BA both admitted that the website was wrong but I was forced to buy another ticket for almost £2k before I could take the next plane. :mad:
BA and BMI have so far refused to correct the situation by refunding the additional ticket cost, or to pay the €500 compensation, in both cases in breach of directive 261/2004. I am going to sue them if they don't sort it out. Does anyone think they're in the right on this?? I remember that OLCI closes an hour before the flight (someone will need to correct me on this)? /AE |
Originally Posted by TerryK
(Post 19232177)
https://www.flybmi.com/check-in/en-g...r-booking.aspx |
Originally Posted by jimster99
(Post 19232237)
If travelling from Addis Ababa, Almaty, Amman, Amritsar, Baku, Beirut, Bishkek, Cairo, Casablanca, Dammam, Freetown, Jeddah, Khartoum, Marrakech, Riyadh, Tbilisi, Tehran, Tripoli or Yerevan, please be aware that Online Check-in closes one hour before departure. Even so, I'm surprised you couldn't call or talk to a ticket agent to put you on the next flight. |
Originally Posted by TerryK
(Post 19232177)
Online check-in closes 1 hour before departure if travelling from Addis Ababa, Almaty, Amman, Amritsar, Baku, Beirut, Bishkek, Cairo, Casablanca, Dammam, Freetown, Jeddah, Marrakech, Riyadh, Tbilisi, Tehran, Tripoli or Yerevan.
Originally Posted by gfunkdave
(Post 19232688)
Even on the page you quote, did you miss the part that says:
If travelling from Addis Ababa, Almaty, Amman, Amritsar, Baku, Beirut, Bishkek, Cairo, Casablanca, Dammam, Freetown, Jeddah, Khartoum, Marrakech, Riyadh, Tbilisi, Tehran, Tripoli or Yerevan, please be aware that Online Check-in closes one hour before departure.
Originally Posted by jimster99
(Post 19232140)
I recently caught a flight (or tried to) from LHR to Riyadh.
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Moving this over to the BA Forum.
Obscure2k TravelBuzz Moderator |
all of the above quotes state when travelling "from" not "to" OP was going TO Riyahd
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The OP is correct as the Boarding info page https://www.flybmi.com/bmi/en-gb/tra.../boarding.aspx, states that you must be at the gate no later than 30 minutes prior to departure.
Assuming the OP was OLCI prior to the 45 minute deadline, and was at the gate 30 mins before departure then it seems a little unfair he was denied boarding. |
Did you have bags to drop off? This seems to close 45 or 50 minutes before departure but is not clear from the bmi website. Otherwise it seems as though you followed the info given on the website. Please let us know how you get on.
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Originally Posted by mdevans
(Post 19232881)
all of the above quotes state when travelling "from" not "to" OP was going TO Riyahd
http://www.flybmi.com/bmi/en-gb/trav...k-in/faqs.aspx. (FAQ number 6). |
The question would be if the OP turned up at the [i]airport[i] at least 42 minutes before the flight or the gate at least 42 minutes before the flight. That is not clear to me.
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To the OP;
I agree, the information on the website is a bit of a mess, and possibly contradictory but I think there are some outstanding questions which might help us understand the situation;
Is your issue really with online check-in, or with check-in generally? If you didn't check-in online then check-in closes 45 minutes before the flight, and I suspect you fell foul of the rule. Still, if I were you I would take some screenshots of all the contradictory web pages and keep them safe, then pursue BMI for a refunds of the extra ticket, and I'd even pursue them for the "denied boarding compensation" since it was their contradictory information which sent you down te wrong path. |
Welcome to FlyerTalk and the British Airways forum, jimster99, though I'm sorry that it is in such adverse circumstances. Hopefully we will see more of you in happier times.
Flights to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia are difficult because of (inter alia) visa issues, especially for pilgrims, which give all airlines a big headache. To be honest, turning up at one the biggest airports in the world, on one of the more security sensitive routes, some 40 to 45 minutes before departure is frankly asking for trouble. Unfortunately your legal manœuvres are destined to fail, and would probably burn up any goodwill you may have tried to extract out of the situation. |
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