DYKWIA - The 2016 Thread
Jan 1, 2016, 3:23 pm
#1
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DYKWIA - The 2016 Thread
So I thought I'd start us off by relating a story from last night's New Year's Eve dinner. Not a gem, but certainly the first of the year.
A friend - who, admittedly, does fly a fair bit, not just on BA but across the board - sat opposite me at dinner last night. He announced that he couldn't stay much past midnight because he was on the first flight to JFK in the morning. Nothing really unusual in that, so there was not much conversation to be had around that. Except I wondered what business he had in NY that required him to fly on New Year's Day, which was followed by two days of weekend. Some semi-believable reason was given. Whatever...
It did get a bit odd when he offered the additional information that made this story DYKWIA-worthy. It seems that he booked this flight (in F) about 10 days ago but only got around to selecting his seat (2A he proudly announces) two days ago. He claims that the sight of a completely empty F cabin (i.e. all seats available for selection) gave him reason to ponder the possibility that the low load on a public holiday put the flight in danger of being cancelled. Having considered this he rang the BA Gold line (he is a 'normal' Gold, albeit Lifetime) to enquire as to the current and possibly future status of his early morning LHR-JFK flight. The cheeky agent on the phone replied, "Mr B, the load is indeed low tomorrow morning, but we noticed that you were travelling with us so we kept the flight scheduled," followed by some comment about having to pick up some people in NY for a return home the next day.
Well, Mr B didn't really get the sarcasm and suggested that the amount of business he directs towards BA gets him 'guaranteed' flights. No amount of hilarity around sarcasm would move him from his convictions.
Happy New Year all!
A friend - who, admittedly, does fly a fair bit, not just on BA but across the board - sat opposite me at dinner last night. He announced that he couldn't stay much past midnight because he was on the first flight to JFK in the morning. Nothing really unusual in that, so there was not much conversation to be had around that. Except I wondered what business he had in NY that required him to fly on New Year's Day, which was followed by two days of weekend. Some semi-believable reason was given. Whatever...
It did get a bit odd when he offered the additional information that made this story DYKWIA-worthy. It seems that he booked this flight (in F) about 10 days ago but only got around to selecting his seat (2A he proudly announces) two days ago. He claims that the sight of a completely empty F cabin (i.e. all seats available for selection) gave him reason to ponder the possibility that the low load on a public holiday put the flight in danger of being cancelled. Having considered this he rang the BA Gold line (he is a 'normal' Gold, albeit Lifetime) to enquire as to the current and possibly future status of his early morning LHR-JFK flight. The cheeky agent on the phone replied, "Mr B, the load is indeed low tomorrow morning, but we noticed that you were travelling with us so we kept the flight scheduled," followed by some comment about having to pick up some people in NY for a return home the next day.
Well, Mr B didn't really get the sarcasm and suggested that the amount of business he directs towards BA gets him 'guaranteed' flights. No amount of hilarity around sarcasm would move him from his convictions.
Happy New Year all!
Jan 1, 2016, 4:43 pm
#2
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He phoned to ensure his flight was still on-schedule, and BA said it was?
Jan 1, 2016, 4:48 pm
#3
Join Date: May 2010
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A good start to the year and worthy of DYKWIA status!
Jan 1, 2016, 5:07 pm
#4
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He phoned because he thought the low load would result in the flight being cancelled at short notice. He was told 'because YOU are in the flight we'd never cancel it, even if you were the only passenger'. At least that's what he likes to think.
Jan 1, 2016, 7:51 pm
#5
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Good start for 2016 LondonElite! 
Jan 1, 2016, 8:17 pm
#6
Join Date: Mar 2014
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Recently travelled in F on the A380 from LHR to MIA where six seats were taken by a middle aged rather posh british couple and their kids. That flight either cost them a substantial sum of cash or a lot of avios. Either way...
There was a bit of DYKWIA behaviour on boarding from dad (champagne NEVER cold enough on BA - said loudly) but nothing major. Kids were even pretty well-behaved in flight.
On arrival into MIA I was just standing up to get my bag when I was barged out of the way by mum (sitting in 4A) rushing to 1L. She also barged past the (lovely) crew member who'd been looking after us as she was trying to retrieve her hat from the cupboard.
Mum demanded to know how long it would take to get the jet bridge attached. When told it would likely be going to 2L she barged back past me complaining to the crew that her family were taged as VIP with BA and they had priority disembarking
As it happened there was a fault with the jetbridge going to 2L so F passengers ended up having to walk upstairs to disembark behind the whole UD CW cabin. As you might imagine, mum was very unimpressed with this. Her husband also managed to push my partner (1K) out of his way to get to the stairs first.
Last we saw of them was a rather flustered dad waiting for his bag at the baggage reclaim. Apparently the VIP note hadn't reached the MIA baggage handlers.
There was a bit of DYKWIA behaviour on boarding from dad (champagne NEVER cold enough on BA - said loudly) but nothing major. Kids were even pretty well-behaved in flight.
On arrival into MIA I was just standing up to get my bag when I was barged out of the way by mum (sitting in 4A) rushing to 1L. She also barged past the (lovely) crew member who'd been looking after us as she was trying to retrieve her hat from the cupboard.
Mum demanded to know how long it would take to get the jet bridge attached. When told it would likely be going to 2L she barged back past me complaining to the crew that her family were taged as VIP with BA and they had priority disembarking
As it happened there was a fault with the jetbridge going to 2L so F passengers ended up having to walk upstairs to disembark behind the whole UD CW cabin. As you might imagine, mum was very unimpressed with this. Her husband also managed to push my partner (1K) out of his way to get to the stairs first.
Last we saw of them was a rather flustered dad waiting for his bag at the baggage reclaim. Apparently the VIP note hadn't reached the MIA baggage handlers.
Jan 1, 2016, 10:42 pm
#8
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That was one of the calmest posts I've seen about an airline mess up in a while - zero score on the DYKWIA scale.
Jan 2, 2016, 1:20 am
#10
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So I thought I'd start us off by relating a story from last night's New Year's Eve dinner. Not a gem, but certainly the first of the year.
A friend ....
...really get the sarcasm and suggested that the amount of business he directs towards BA gets him 'guaranteed' flights. No amount of hilarity around sarcasm would move him from his convictions.
A friend ....
...really get the sarcasm and suggested that the amount of business he directs towards BA gets him 'guaranteed' flights. No amount of hilarity around sarcasm would move him from his convictions.
Jan 2, 2016, 4:26 am
#11
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It would seem from LondonElite's friend's response to the BA agent's line about flight going ahead because he was travelling on it that last component is questionable
Jan 2, 2016, 5:00 am
#12
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Jan 2, 2016, 5:23 am
#13
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I so wish I did not work for the company...
I had a doozie yesterday that I would love to tell chapter and verse... But can't.
I had a doozie yesterday that I would love to tell chapter and verse... But can't.
Jan 2, 2016, 5:30 am
#14
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Jan 2, 2016, 5:34 am
#15
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)* All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental