Ziz

On my flight today I had a backpack as usual and my purse. Because it was so full they said that only wheelie bags could be out up top and took my back pack out because it could fit under the seat. Yes it could but my purse was also there and once both went under there was no space for my feet. Next to me a man with only wheelie bag sat comfortably with nothing by his feet. I felt like I was being penalised for having less than the allowed size bag.

Fitch

One gets the distinct impression that BA management have little or no control over the behaviour of their staff...

Not a great place to be in all honesty

liamvad

When I travel by air I am amazed at what people can take on the aircraft,some bags are BIG,some folk have 2 or 3 on a trolley!!! yet they still get on board with them,unbelievable,no-one seems to check,particularly BA.Hence the importance of 'Priority' boarding,and the ensuing scramble,its all about getting that locker space before anyonelse.

opalfruit

This is most curious. I was at the gate perhaps 30-40 minutes before boarding started, and did not hear any announcements regarding the new boarding procedure. He made a few announcements about the small delay, and for volunteers to gate-check hand baggage (no takers on that one!), and then began boarding asking for people with infants and those needing more time to board, without even stopping for breath before launching into the old boarding routine. Myself and my partner only joined the Priority lane a couple of minutes before boarding was meant to commence, and as we were travelling in CE (irrespective of status), it was our entitlement.

I find it most odd that if he had wanted to do things the proper way, why he did not re-iterate that over the PA once it became apparent that the check in area was becoming crowded, rather than asking for everyone in CE and all status pax all at once? Which he did. Repeatedly, and vociferously. Who knows?

Anyhow, I digress - I agree - bags and the limited overhead space are the core issue, and the complete and utter lack of policing them by staff, and the complete disdain of offenders - how many ripped off and discarded yellow tags have you counted on jetbridges?

People don't need to visit a check-in desk any longer, it's not the security staff's job to police how many bags people have, and the gate staff can't conduct boarding, let alone police people's oversized hand luggage - so hey, anything goes! On our flight last night, there were plenty of candidates for a gate check, as I'm sure you saw.

liamvad

Correct! as I was in CE as well....and its a shame this kind of thing spoils the trip...I enjoyed the flight though.had plenty of Gins!!

DYKWIA

I'd have just ignored the request and put my backpack in the overhead.

HilFly

A couple of observations and a question.

1. While waiting to board LHR - MAN, a member of the ground staff was proactively approaching some people at the gate and encouraging them to check their hand luggage.

However, the only people she was approaching were older people, telling them that if they didn't check their hand luggage, there wouldn't be room for it when they got on board. Most of them acquiesced, albeit reluctantly. Younger passengers, with hand luggage obviously exceeding their allowances, were not approached.

I declined their kind offer to check my hand luggage. Boarding was done in the correct order so thanks to my business UK ticket, finding space for my bag on board was not a problem. In fact the flight wasn't full so all hand luggage was stowed with room to spare, despite the copious amount of luggage brought on board by some passengers.

I really didn't like which passengers were approached, and how they were approached.

2. Mr H has never taken more than 1 carry on bag in his life. He travels with a relatively small backpack, in which he carries a camera and a couple of lenses, a smallish laptop, a GPS, a couple of magazines, a phone, his passport and a change of underwear and socks. On UK domestic flights, he always puts it under the seat in front - he doesn't want anything damaged in the sometimes brutal hand luggage-in-the-overhead jigsaw puzzle. On long haul, he always travels J or F, so overhead space is not a problem.

Out of interest, after we had checked in for a recent flight, he tried his backpack in the red, guaranteed on board bag sizer and discovered that it was slightly too deep. He would not squish it to make it fit because he didn't want to damage anything inside. Despite my reassurance that it is highly unlikely that he would ever be asked to check his backpack, he does not want to take that chance, and no longer wants to fly BA.

Nice one, BA. With your ridiculous bag rules, you've just solved a problem that never existed.

Question.

When checking in at MAN for MAN - LHR, I was given the obligatory yellow tag to go on my handbag, and a regular blue BA luggage label to out on my within limits wheelie bag. Does anyone know the significance of the blank blue label? I was not asked to put either bag in the sizers.

Fitch

I am beginning to think the new boarding rules are actually post-structuralist theatre, where tags, rules and announcement only have the meaning which the reader (or listener) gives to them...

corporate-wage-slave

You were absolutely right with your advice, I guess it's up to him to listen to whatever he wants to and make his own decision. The reality is that the problem is fixed sized wheelies and very large rucksacks, if he has a squidgy bag, either backpack or sports bag, not on wheels, which is more or less in range, he is simply not going to have a problem. If the bag won't go in because of wheels, then that's a very different issue (but only occasionally enforced). My bag, which has a capacity of 43 litres, fits inside the gauge, but if it is full it may need a bit of a squeeze to go in, but in umpteen years of travel, it's only once had its dimensions checked (by EDI airport staff, not BA).

The blue tag was originally one where you put your name and telephone number just in case you left it behind after the flight, but I think the space for that has now gone. It kind of says to the gate staff "yes, we, over in check-in, did clock this bag and it's fine". It's sometimes used in the larger airports to allow staff to spot and then chivy passengers to the gates, but it seems to be only HKG and T3 that does that these days.

francismc

I'm starting to think that the "new boarding process" is a FlyerTalk made up

On the BA1454 this evening and again Gold, Silver, Bronze and Business UK can board at their leisure.

Interestingly enough noticed a person walking around with the yellow tags, I had a small suitcase and a satchel; but was told I didn't need a yellow tag as I'm gold.

Made up processes for sure

Ziz

The problem is indeed all the wheelie bags. Which is why I don't understand why they chose to reduce the dimensions of the 'extra' bag. In my opinion, if you take a wheelie bag, your second bag should go under the seat in front. The bigger it is the less room you have, but that's the choice you make. What difference does it make to the space available if my second piece is bigger than the sizer but still goes beneath the seat? If anything they should be reducing the wheelie bag size.

Fitch

Be careful what you wish for

Worcester

Missed the announcment at DUB this morning but there were a lot of people rushing to board. Maybe a Gold heavy route but there were only 5/6 in CE.

Sat next to a chap from the Bloodhound Land Speed Record project which has made my day.

MPH1980

They didn't *just* change the dimensions of the second bag - they did something altogether more sneaky - they swapped the bags around.

This is from a year ago:



And this is today:



Notice how the terminology has changed. The wheelie size has become the additional bag.

It's subtle but important and allows BA to insist that all wheelie size bags can get checked regardless of whether you have a personal bag or not.

HilFly

Hence Mr H's reluctance to fly BA now that his backpack camera bag is no longer guaranteed to make it on board, even though he puts it under the seat in front.