Did you know this Gold Benefit existed?
 

Perhaps not the most commonly used benefit. However, for people lile myself living in constant confusion it is a nice little perk.

If you pick up items lost on a BA flight or in lounges etc the charge for pick up is waived for Golds.

I had no idea! Quit helpful ad I forgot a phone in my seat Monday. They will even transfer it over to T5 for me.

There is a charge for picking up lost property?

BA charge for returning your lost property? Another "enhancement"!

I didn't know that and I was charged recently :(

BA did even more than that for me a few years back - much more. I got off an overnight trans-Atlantic, and accidentally left my toiletries bag in the underseat drawer. I only discovered this when I was in the Arrivals Lounge shower. I went to the desk and asked the dragon what could be done. After she'd clarified that it was my own toiletries bag (with my medication in it), and not the free amenity kit, she made a phone call which included the helpful sentence "And he's a Gold card holder too."

It took a little over an hour, but someone got in a car, drove over to the maintenance base to which the aircraft had already been towed, retrieved the bag, and drove it back over to T5 to hand it to me in the lounge.

It's the sort of event which makes you forgive a lot of the small wrinkles that happen in everyday flying.

Interestingly I have never been charged but no idea if that was because I was Gold or not. Both occasions I left my iPod on a flight. On the first, it was found and handed over to me at the gate for my onward flight. The second I retrieved from the desk at LAS. There was never any mention of a charge for this but any additional benefit for us lowly Gold card holders is very welcome :D

AFAIK, if it is at LHR, it is forwarded to Heathrow airport lost property office. Heathrow airport do charge for this. Whether the charge is legitimate is debatable.

I did not know that.

I was charged a bottle of gin for losing my bottle of gin a few years back.

I left my BlackBerry in the bin above seat 2A on a 777 to BOS a few years ago. I realised before getting fully landside thankfully and I found the BA transfer desk. Special Services retrieved it and I was extremely grateful and sent a couple of "ba.com/welldone" thank you messages. It never dawned on me that there might be a charge.

In October last year after one too many glasses of Pinot Noir in CW LHR-BOS, I was in a daze awaiting my luggage at reclaim when a booming (American) voice instructed DrBenO to remain where he was and not pass through customs.

My initial concerns and visions of armed TSA officials imminently sweeping in passed when the CSD of the flight came jogging up to me with my Wallet containing all my credit cards....


'Good job you didn't only take hand luggage'.

Well done promptly sent! ^

Hasn't this happened before in a few variants? Perhaps time to get a bright pink phone and iPad cover?

Took advantage of the very same thing, Petrus, last year after leaving my laptop on a flight from Dublin. The annoying thing was, I was due to fly on BA1, which was convenient as I live close(ish) to City. However, my laptop was in Heathrow so I had to catch the tube to T5, collect my laptop then zoom back to City! I did feel slightly happier when I was let off with the fee :)

What is the fee for picking up an item if you're not a GCH?

I think BA's argument is that they pass it to the appointed airport recovery company who then in turn make some kind of attempt to reunite the lost goods with the owner. This requires effort hence they can make a charge. If you refuse to pay the charge, they take ownership of the goods and then presumably sell them.

My daughter left her kindle in the lounge at Christmas. Needless to say we couldn't trace it via the appointed channel, so either GC users are light fingered or the recovery system is ineffective.

I contacted Amazon and they bricked the device for me.

(I have my doubts that they are all that bothered about attempting to catalogue low value items, but let's not go there again).

It depends on their perceived value of the item, but when I tried to find out, the line was you actually had to go there in person to be told what the recovery charge was. Again, stacking the odds in favour of the house - you're not schlepping all the way to LHR just to be told they want £50 to return a £100 tablet...