Cofyknsult

Hello all,

Due to last month's threat of a strike, I cancelled a BA J trip in early January from CDG to JFK and rebooked it on AA from LHR with a F upgrade. Starting out of Paris, I booked a separate CDG/LHR after the strike was cancelled. I booked it in Y as the price difference was substantial and BA's J service or seat comfort on the 40 mnts CDG/LHR has all but disappeared.

BA's check-in at CDG insisted on charging me for a 2nd piece of luggage, 38 euros, in spite of my Oneworld Emerald status, of my explanations, and on my production of an unrestricted BA J ticket between London and India in 2 weeks. After consulting my faithful Expertflyer Blackberry screen, I gave them not 38 euros but 76, leaving them a fairly bulky hand briefcase annoying to carry around. I then booked myself on Jet Airways in J between London and Bangalore and cancelled my BA trip.... at a saving of approximately 3.500 euros.

Willy Walsh Economics ? Maybe, but they seem to be the only ones this airline understands these days.

I started this trend , tit for tat, when BA abruptly cancelled my return from Uganda to the UK 18 months ago under the (false) pretext that I had not used the outbound flight (3 days before... with the same returning crew), and when I successfully sued them in the NY Small Claims Court for a decent compensation.

I strongly encourage my fellow Flyertalkers to follow the same path, it seems to be the only language they understand.

Happy hassle-free new year to all !

ba273

I think I am correct in saying that it is only BA Gold and Silver card holders who get a 2nd item of checked luggage free.

The One World benefits do not extend to luggage. All airlines have their own benefits for their best flyers.

I had an F flight with Qantas recently, and was a few kilo's over 40kg, had I had status with Qantas I wouldn't have had anything to pay, but as I'm with BA I did. Those are the rules, and you just live with them.

Producing your ticket for your Indian flight wouldn't have helped either as the flights would all have had to have been on one PNR.

ajax

So are you saying that BA should have bent the rules for you because of a future booking?

So you checked another bag? Fine, but that was your choice and you didn't have to. I don't understand how this is germane to your story.

I don't understand. Was the original trip €7,000? Who saved €3,500? This doesn't make sense.

Ahh. Welcome back. I thought you were never flying BA again. I guess this time you're really never flying BA again.

LTN Phobia

What they did was correct. OWEs do not have an entitlement for a 2nd piece of luggage on BA (and neither does a BA Gold have any extra entitlement on QF, for instance - i.e. OW status does not count when it comes to extra baggage). I know this for the fact as I am a non-BA OWE and I checked my entitlement.

FrancisA

But surely seat comfort is only one factor - it's not worse and in some ways (no middle seat) better than it was. Other factors would be lounge access (if no status), better food and a larger luggage allowance. If you needed two pieces of checked luggage, the excess charge that you would incur in Y should be taken into account when assessing the value of J. If you pay for the Y product, you get the Y product, otherwise why would anyone ever pay for J?

sunrisegirl

As you're an AA Emerald you wouldn't know that AA and other oneworld carriers charge BA Emeralds an excess baggage charge for their baggage, even though their own members are not. So BA are merely following the same procedures as AA (and others). As you would put it .... tit for tat

So the agent was exactly correct and followed the exact rules which apply to you as a OW emerald not flying in a premium BA cabin. And if you look on the website it's shown there.

And you might also wish to know for future reference OW equivalents don't get the heavy bag charge waived either. So no point coming back and telling us you can't have that either.

elitetraveler

AA does offer the checked bag fee waiver to OW elites...

http://www.aa.com/viewPromotionDetai...&_locale=en_US

That said, they seem in my experience to be a stickler to the rules in terms of charging for overages. As a BA Gold, I find BA to be quite generous and customer friendly on overages. My experiences with AA and their rules were as an EXP, so my opinion is BA treats its top customers better than AA in this area. As to OP, AA is more generous than BA with OW elites.

john_r06

Apologies but as I have done J from LGW-JER (a similar length flight) both recently and often over the last 2 years ... (after the return of the wider seats) there has been no change of any note to the J service and if your unlucky enough to be on the DEF seats it has been improved.

Well if you don't want to fly BA then thats really your choice and there is nothing anyone on his forum can really do to help!

However if you had flown BA in J from CDG and kept your Bangalore J you would have been well on your way to BA Silver (if you have a Euro address) which would have prevented the problems in future when flying Y in the first part of your post!

Prospero

Checked baggage allowance is outlined in MMB and during the OLCI process. Of all the outstations to test staff willingness to deviate from these allowances, CDG just isn't the one.

Safe travels

Andriyko

As explained before, OW Emeralds do not get extra allowance on BA (even though AA does offer one).

As with regard to your future booking - why should it matter? I am sure it works the same way on AA - you get what you paid for. Can you imagine the chaos that would occur if people start producing premium cabin tickets and demand extra baggage allowance, better setas, meals, etc.? The fact that you had a future J class booking with BA had nothing to do with the fact that BA was obliged to deliver to you what you paid for for your CDG-LHR ticket. Moreover, since your ticket was unrestricted you could have easily canceled it after your Paris flight. I am sure that if your ticket had been on one PNR BA would have let you check-in more bags.
I am sorry but it seems that you punished yourself with canceling the BA ticket to India - you will miss excellent BA lounges and on-board service.
You should always only expect what you paid for. The thought of producing a future ticket to demand something that I am not currently entitled for would not even cross my mind...

orbitmic

Well, the bit about the India trip is the only part of your comment I don't really agree with as Jet arguably has a better service than BA. However, for the rest, like everyone else, I really don't see your (cofyknsult's) point. I have several BA trips booked, some in C some in Y, and I don't expect the luggage allowance on my Y bookings to be extended just because I also have some C flights booked! It really makes no sense to me. I can understand that you feel frustrated that you thought luggage benefits would be extended to all OW emerald's but isn't it time you came to the conclusion that you were mistaken in this assumption and will read the rules more carefully next time?

PS: and like others, I don't understand your maths: if you saved €3500, the only way BA will have lost €3500 with your changed booking is if you got your Jet J class return for free!

LTN Phobia

CDG was excellent at deviation and trying to send my bag off to Australia and not charge me for it - the only trouble was, I wasn't going anywhere near Australia (good thing I spotted the error before my bag went off)! Sorry, a bit OT... but had to have a little dig at CDG check-in

Sixth Freedom

^

Hubbabridge

It is the complete non-sequitur that I adore a sort of " you are a complete knave sir and having consulted my crystal ball I demand that you take these 78 ducats and carry my sword as well"

dmahon

What do you mean "unlucky enough"? Now the DEF seats are actually the DF seats, they are the preferred option (unless you want to hold hands with your companion all the way, as it's a bit of a stretch).

There has been a significant detriment to the service though (meals and hot towels particularly).