shouldn't four weeks be enough time to issue an e-ticket?
Aug 13, 2014, 3:07 pm
#16
Join Date: Aug 2014
Posts: 2,670
As per other comments you shouldnt worry. While it takes time to ticket a change, when a flight is booked availability is held for you and you will see this flight in manage my booking.
The booking is placed on a electronic queue for ticketing and there isnt a set time for it to be actioned. It is prioritised purely on departure date of the ticket, as physically a ticket doesnt take that long to be reissued. It takes time because BA have thousands of tickets to deal with at any point. Therefore along with the date priority the workload of ticketing can affect the wait time.
If you call up an agent doesnt need to queue the booking again but they can check if it was placed on the correct queue. If there were any other issue for example a booking where the securely stored card details were stored expired then you would be contacted.
The booking is placed on a electronic queue for ticketing and there isnt a set time for it to be actioned. It is prioritised purely on departure date of the ticket, as physically a ticket doesnt take that long to be reissued. It takes time because BA have thousands of tickets to deal with at any point. Therefore along with the date priority the workload of ticketing can affect the wait time.
If you call up an agent doesnt need to queue the booking again but they can check if it was placed on the correct queue. If there were any other issue for example a booking where the securely stored card details were stored expired then you would be contacted.
Aug 13, 2014, 3:12 pm
#17
Moderator, Iberia Airlines, Airport Lounges, and Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Feb 2010
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Welcome Anonba
Welcome Anonba to the British Airways board on Flyertalk. Thanks for that insight, which I guess is inspired by inside information, and in any event it's great to see you here. May we see plenty more of you here, please make yourself at home, and we look forward to seeing more posts from you.
Sep 27, 2014, 7:30 pm
#19
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: LHR
Programs: BA Silver/ows, CX AsiaMiles (not even GR anymore!) missing my GO days
Posts: 1,581
This thread seems like the most logical place to ask this question, although perhaps mods can move if it belongs elsewhere:
First ticket booked via HK call center on Thursday Sept. 25. Cancelled that ticket within the 24-hour cooling off period on Friday, Sept. 26 and booked Second Ticket for same routing (just a change to a different flight on one of the legs). But credit card not charged yet.
I have a booking email with a ticket number (starting 125-), and a second "e-ticket receipt" email for the Second Ticket, and MMB shows the First Ticket as in process of cancellation/refund. But when will my card be charged? I've seen conflicting reports about how long BA takes to do this.
I wouldn't ordinarily be bothered, except a.) I'd like to use the credit card points I'll earn on this transaction to top up my Avios account to book my positioning flight for this ex-EU itinerary
and b.) I'm planning to cancel the card at some point as part of a relocation out of HK. But obviously can't do this until this charge hits. If I had known there might be a delay I would have used a different card!
Thanks for any insight on what I should expect! As you'll see from this and some of my other recent questions, I'm a relative BA newbie.
First ticket booked via HK call center on Thursday Sept. 25. Cancelled that ticket within the 24-hour cooling off period on Friday, Sept. 26 and booked Second Ticket for same routing (just a change to a different flight on one of the legs). But credit card not charged yet.
I have a booking email with a ticket number (starting 125-), and a second "e-ticket receipt" email for the Second Ticket, and MMB shows the First Ticket as in process of cancellation/refund. But when will my card be charged? I've seen conflicting reports about how long BA takes to do this.
I wouldn't ordinarily be bothered, except a.) I'd like to use the credit card points I'll earn on this transaction to top up my Avios account to book my positioning flight for this ex-EU itinerary
and b.) I'm planning to cancel the card at some point as part of a relocation out of HK. But obviously can't do this until this charge hits. If I had known there might be a delay I would have used a different card!Thanks for any insight on what I should expect! As you'll see from this and some of my other recent questions, I'm a relative BA newbie.
Sep 28, 2014, 3:54 am
#20
Join Date: Aug 2014
Posts: 2,670
Hi let me explain a bot since i work for BA in a call centre.
Ive seen many cases where ticketing were only reissuing a few couple of days or a day before departure theres nothing unusual about that. I do wish it was a lot quicker for passengers as it causes frustration and stress for you guys!
However the flights are held for you so you wont lose the availability and you will see this reflected by the fact that they show in MMB.
It doesnt physically take ticketing all that much time to do a reissue but they are dealing with thousands of bookings at any one time. Ive heard figures that they had 7000 on their queue to action, and when people change a booking and it needs a manual reissue this is being added to each time.
Due to this fact they prioritise ticketing based on departure date in order to ensure that they reissue tickets before the departure of peoples flights.
It does mean unfortunately if you book a flight well in advance to secure availability like on a amex then you can be waiting a lot of time!!
Ive seen many cases where ticketing were only reissuing a few couple of days or a day before departure theres nothing unusual about that. I do wish it was a lot quicker for passengers as it causes frustration and stress for you guys!
However the flights are held for you so you wont lose the availability and you will see this reflected by the fact that they show in MMB.
It doesnt physically take ticketing all that much time to do a reissue but they are dealing with thousands of bookings at any one time. Ive heard figures that they had 7000 on their queue to action, and when people change a booking and it needs a manual reissue this is being added to each time.
Due to this fact they prioritise ticketing based on departure date in order to ensure that they reissue tickets before the departure of peoples flights.
It does mean unfortunately if you book a flight well in advance to secure availability like on a amex then you can be waiting a lot of time!!
Sep 28, 2014, 3:59 am
#23
Join Date: Aug 2014
Posts: 2,670
This thread seems like the most logical place to ask this question, although perhaps mods can move if it belongs elsewhere:
First ticket booked via HK call center on Thursday Sept. 25. Cancelled that ticket within the 24-hour cooling off period on Friday, Sept. 26 and booked Second Ticket for same routing (just a change to a different flight on one of the legs). But credit card not charged yet.
I have a booking email with a ticket number (starting 125-), and a second "e-ticket receipt" email for the Second Ticket, and MMB shows the First Ticket as in process of cancellation/refund. But when will my card be charged? I've seen conflicting reports about how long BA takes to do this.
I wouldn't ordinarily be bothered, except a.) I'd like to use the credit card points I'll earn on this transaction to top up my Avios account to book my positioning flight for this ex-EU itinerary and b.) I'm planning to cancel the card at some point as part of a relocation out of HK. But obviously can't do this until this charge hits. If I had known there might be a delay I would have used a different card!
Thanks for any insight on what I should expect! As you'll see from this and some of my other recent questions, I'm a relative BA newbie.
First ticket booked via HK call center on Thursday Sept. 25. Cancelled that ticket within the 24-hour cooling off period on Friday, Sept. 26 and booked Second Ticket for same routing (just a change to a different flight on one of the legs). But credit card not charged yet.
I have a booking email with a ticket number (starting 125-), and a second "e-ticket receipt" email for the Second Ticket, and MMB shows the First Ticket as in process of cancellation/refund. But when will my card be charged? I've seen conflicting reports about how long BA takes to do this.
I wouldn't ordinarily be bothered, except a.) I'd like to use the credit card points I'll earn on this transaction to top up my Avios account to book my positioning flight for this ex-EU itinerary
and b.) I'm planning to cancel the card at some point as part of a relocation out of HK. But obviously can't do this until this charge hits. If I had known there might be a delay I would have used a different card!Thanks for any insight on what I should expect! As you'll see from this and some of my other recent questions, I'm a relative BA newbie.
Sep 28, 2014, 4:11 am
#24
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: GLA
Programs: BA Silver
Posts: 2,981
Genuine question - what is it that actually needs to be done to issue a ticket which seems to take so long? Given that 'the system' already has all the pertinent information - name, exec club number, dates, flights, credit card number. What is it that actually needs done? Charging the credit card and assigning a ticket number? Can that not be done electronically in a fraction of a second?
Sep 28, 2014, 4:20 am
#25
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: LHR
Programs: BA Silver/ows, CX AsiaMiles (not even GR anymore!) missing my GO days
Posts: 1,581
Genuine question - what is it that actually needs to be done to issue a ticket which seems to take so long? Given that 'the system' already has all the pertinent information - name, exec club number, dates, flights, credit card number. What is it that actually needs done? Charging the credit card and assigning a ticket number? Can that not be done electronically in a fraction of a second?
Sep 28, 2014, 5:12 am
#26
Join Date: Aug 2014
Posts: 2,670
I dont think it actually takes long in reality but it probably depends on the itinerary. Im not sure of the exact process because ticketing work on a different system compared to what i use.
Personally ive had people call up and make changes an hour or less before a flight and so once i had the details ie stored card details etc i called ticketing. In most cases it took probably about 5-10 mins. It might be more complex depending on if the booking was part flown/previous reissues.
I think essentially ticketing would check the amount to be debited so fare or avios and tax amounts then if there were applicable fare penalties or amendment fees. They need to check that what has been done in changing the itinerary is allowed under fare rules and that the change booking agent has advised the correct amount to be charged.
After that its setting up the ticket and debiting the money so i have no clue in what they do in terms of the process involves for setting up the ticket.
Being honest i think the time that reissues take is purely based on a) the number of people in ticketing combined with b) the number of bookings that are sent to the department.
That is to say that while an individual booking may not take that long to reissue its how long it waits to be actioned because other bookings need to be actioned first.
****** any opinions are my own and do t represent those of ba or iag******
Personally ive had people call up and make changes an hour or less before a flight and so once i had the details ie stored card details etc i called ticketing. In most cases it took probably about 5-10 mins. It might be more complex depending on if the booking was part flown/previous reissues.
I think essentially ticketing would check the amount to be debited so fare or avios and tax amounts then if there were applicable fare penalties or amendment fees. They need to check that what has been done in changing the itinerary is allowed under fare rules and that the change booking agent has advised the correct amount to be charged.
After that its setting up the ticket and debiting the money so i have no clue in what they do in terms of the process involves for setting up the ticket.
Being honest i think the time that reissues take is purely based on a) the number of people in ticketing combined with b) the number of bookings that are sent to the department.
That is to say that while an individual booking may not take that long to reissue its how long it waits to be actioned because other bookings need to be actioned first.
****** any opinions are my own and do t represent those of ba or iag******