tinytraveller

Mr TT is currently in Tampa on a conference. He has gone online to check in for his return flight tonight to LGW (BA2166) tonight and has got the message "Sorry we cannot completed online check-in for your flight on this occasion. Please proceed to the airport to check in and collect your boarding pass". He is booked into WT so it can't be a downgrade!

I'm concerned that this may be an indicator that the flight is overbooked and he may be IDB'd. His colleagues who have checked in to WT said that there were no seats left to choose which is another sign. (I can't check the loads on experflyer as I've used up my free trial and don't fly enough to make a subscription worthwhile.)

He has to be back in the UK on Sunday as he has clinics and operations booked on Monday which I believe his NHS trust have to pay a fine for if cancelled at short notice, plus there is of course the inconvenience to his patients.

I know that one of the options open to BA if he is IDBd is a reroute but as most other US flight arrive into LHR rather than LGW this will leave him in the situation where his car is at LGW and he is at LHR - would BA have to arrange transport to LGW? (If this did happen I'd most likely get to LGW myself and collect the car and pick him up, but just in case I can't).

Any advice on how he should approach this (if it is indeed an overbooking situation) would be gratefully received. Despite numerous flights to and from the US we haven't encountered this kind of situation before.

travelwithross

Happens all the time. Just check in at airport. Everything else is just conjecture.

Barnaby100

We often get that for 1 of us when flying. I didi ask once as was given the blanket reply of randomly selected for manual checking. On another occasion I just tried a few hours alter and then I could check in on line.

tinytraveller

That's good to know! In 20 odd sectors with BA to and from the US I've never had issues with checking in online myself so was a bit concerned. Thanks

travelwithross

It happens to me quite often TATL. More than not it means a manual check of my credit card or passport / a free upgrade.

tinytraveller

I think Mr TT is hoping it is the latter!!! Just wanted to prepare him case it's not such good news.

He may be a 33 year old consultant surgeon but it's the first time he's travelled TATL on his own - it's a wife's place to worry

tinkerbell

might be that "slight" storm (hurricane) hitting Bermuda and the Atlantic right now causing disruption to flights

corporate-wage-slave

The reasons for restricted OLCI are well known. My own experience is that it is often offline at T-24, it's worth trying again at T-23 / T-22 but then I tend to give up until T-12 or so. This covers things like IT glitches, computer upgrades, temporary comms issues, late flight changes, large tour groups on board and what not.

However if at T-12 I'm still getting that (I can rule out a security, passport or credit card check but rx is right that is sometimes a reason) then I'd see if Expertfyler was showing a load of zeros and think about Plan B just in case (ie so I can suggest something to the agent which suits me).

As it happens the TPA flight for Saturday is showing a row of zeros and C (closed). I can see a bit of space from Orlando, but that leaves before TPA and is what, 2 hours away? MIA looks fairly busy too. So if I was keen to get to LGW I would think about getting to the airport earlier - either to assure a seat (does he have status? If so that probably helps) or to maximise options on other flights. He could even start a careful conversation with the agent to see if they are looking for volunteers. (Careful since you don't want him to volunteer to go to EWR and then WT without something for his efforts).

In the unlikely event of being sent to LHR, yes there is a process for getting a free National Express voucher to get him to LGW, but personally I'd just buy it directly and jump on the next coach, rather than hang about T5 while they hunt for a voucher. BA would just pay for the ticket, the coach stop is right in front of arrivals, on the same level, just the other side of Costa's Coffee shop past the water feature. He could use the National Express App to buy the ticket or the ticket office and machines are just along from the Arrivals exit.

tinytraveller

CWS - thank you so much for that info. Unfortunately Mr TT doesn't have status so I will start looking at options for him and will email him. He's in conference sessions all day again so won't have time to do it himself. I will advise him to get to the airport early as well if he's still getting the same message at T-12.

Thank you all for your help. I'm hopeful that it won't come to an IDB situation but if it does, at least I can prepare him for it.

tinytraveller

I hadn't caught up on the news yet but yes, you may be right Tinkerbell. The flight is already showing as delayed (ok, only by 15 mins at the moment) but I'll keep an eye on this. Thanks

roberino

My brother is a surgeon in Bavaria and was IDB'd by a German airline returning from SFO six months ago. He found this out at T-6. He too had medical commitments on his return. He phoned the airline and explained this and asked if, for the sake of the patients, they would IDB someone else. They said this was not possible but phoned him back an hour later just as he was booking an extra night in his hotel and calling the hospital to say that they had found him a seat.

I suspect that this was not down to a sympathetic agent but rather that someone had cancelled at T-5 and he was next on the list.

BerksFlyer

Please come back and let us know how it works out, I hope it's an UG rather than an IDB, but I suspect it's neither.

MSPeconomist

For flights from the USA, TSA could have given him SSSS.

tinytraveller

Will do.

True, although I'd be surprised if they did as his travel patterns aren't out of the ordinary. Three return trips to the US since 2012, all with me, and then this trip to Tampa is his first solo one. I know the criteria used are more complex than that but he'd be an odd one to red-flag. But then I guess that's the point of it, it's "random".

guv1976

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry: BlackBerry8530/5.0.0.1030 Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/417)

Is BA currently selling seats -- in any class -- for this flight? That should be easy to check. @:-)