Massive 'Check your carry-ons for free' signs at LHR
Dec 11, 2018, 2:34 pm
#61
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: LHR
Programs: AA L/T Gold, BA Gold
Posts: 401
What the actual ****? My response to that would be “Fine. Check the bag - AFTER you’ve checked the bag of every passenger in Y”. This is utterly out of order. If you’ve paid to be in CE then you should under no circumstances ever be asked to gate check a compliant bag.
But not surprisingly....... there was room above my seat.
All benefit of of being in row 1 to get off quick and max out the time in BCN was lost.
BCN luggage is notoriously slow coming up to the belt!
Last edited by jimmyw9; Dec 11, 2018 at 2:42 pm
Dec 12, 2018, 3:01 am
#62
Join Date: Sep 2010
Posts: 610
What the actual ****? My response to that would be “Fine. Check the bag - AFTER you’ve checked the bag of every passenger in Y”. This is utterly out of order. If you’ve paid to be in CE then you should under no circumstances ever be asked to gate check a compliant bag.
The whole, "we are more important than you" is utterly ridiculous.
Dec 12, 2018, 4:20 am
#64
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: LHR
Programs: AA L/T Gold, BA Gold
Posts: 401
This is totally DYNKWIA. There is no guarantee to get carry ons on the flight.. and while its not always the case, the majority of CE flyers tickets are paid for by a company, not themselves... also some of the seats in Y are pretty expensive if booked last minute.
The whole, "we are more important than you" is utterly ridiculous.
The whole, "we are more important than you" is utterly ridiculous.
This was also my only piece of luggage, so once I removed my lap top, iPad, phone, wallet, passport and folder containing some important papers, I had to carry these onboard in my hand....... somewhat annoying!
FYI.... my status is achieved solely from leisure travel so this CE ticket was paid for personally.
Dec 12, 2018, 4:41 am
#65
Join Date: Sep 2010
Posts: 610
My response was to Oxford Blue, not you.
Like i said earlier on in the thread, they handled me terribly when they tried to get my bag.
I was on a flight back from amsterdam in Nov and the staff there handled it brilliantly. They targeted bags that were evidently way bigger than the allowed dimensions (or ones that had been expanded to add more things into the bag) and said that they had to be checked in. They politely asked if i wanted mine checked in and i said no and they just let me go through.
Like i said earlier on in the thread, they handled me terribly when they tried to get my bag.
I was on a flight back from amsterdam in Nov and the staff there handled it brilliantly. They targeted bags that were evidently way bigger than the allowed dimensions (or ones that had been expanded to add more things into the bag) and said that they had to be checked in. They politely asked if i wanted mine checked in and i said no and they just let me go through.
Dec 13, 2018, 1:20 am
#66
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Essex, UK
Programs: BA Executive Club, AZ, VS, AA, UA
Posts: 602
This is totally DYNKWIA. There is no guarantee to get carry ons on the flight.. and while its not always the case, the majority of CE flyers tickets are paid for by a company, not themselves... also some of the seats in Y are pretty expensive if booked last minute.
The whole, "we are more important than you" is utterly ridiculous.
The whole, "we are more important than you" is utterly ridiculous.
the argument that pax with status shouldn’t necessarily be treated differently to those without in this case, but pax in the forward cabins have paid for and expect preferential treatment. It is irrelevant whether they have paid for the flight themselves - in my case I was using hard-earned Avios to travel in CE and treat myself on a long flight. If companies have paid, then one can surmise that the expectation is that their staff will be off the plane with their cabin baggage promptly and on their way to adding value to their organisations.
The Club experience includes priority boarding, food, drinks, a better crew-to-pax ratio and there is IMHO an expectation of preferential treatment when it comes to cabin baggage. So if I have paid (one way or another) to travel in Club then I do consider myself “more important” than passengers in Y.
I’m not going to act like a tool, or push people out of the way to board, but I have chosen to be at the front of the bus, I’ve paid for it, and I expect to have my carry-on with me. There are fewer seats per row in Club and so logically there should be more space for bags. If there isn’t, however, then I do think that passengers in Club should get priority over those in Economy. I am quite certain no other airline would dream of asking business class passengers to gate-check bags.
I don’t think that makes me DYKWIA. I’ve paid for an experience and I expect to receive it. Having my bag with me is part of that experience.
Dec 13, 2018, 2:25 am
#67
Join Date: Sep 2010
Posts: 610
Firstly, you are not taking into consideration the highest priced Y tickets.
Secondly, I work for the NHS and as someone that doesn’t have that much disposable income, I have to make every penny count on trips away. I spend months looking for flights till they go down to what I can afford, even if its HBO and obviously I have no status and this is not something I will ever gain with my travel patterns.
All tickets, be it Y or F, state that you are not guaranteed to have your bag with you. This is not a perk of Business or status. Whereas 5 years ago, I think you would have probably agreed with your argument, the Y product now has been SO stripped down, to the point of constant ridicule, your argument of “we expect to be treated better than Y” in this case comes across as very DYKWIA (I mean, you start the post with “What the actual ****”).
You already get a BUNCH of things that we don’t, as you have stated including 2 checked in bags. In short haul, I am now consistently put in middle seats. So excuse me if I don’t feel any sympathy for you when your bag is taken off as the only downside of your flight.
And excuse me if I don’t feel any sympathy for you when you have used your Avios to pay for a flight (which you accumulated from your employers flights) where I have paid quite a lot of my disposable cash and maybe not left the house for a month other than to go to work so I can go on trip.
You do not know peoples situations and thinking you are more entitled to something because you are sat “in the front of the bus” reeks of self-importance, especially when it is not a guaranteed perk.
My bags are always well within limits. I have the same right to have my bags with me as you.
Secondly, I work for the NHS and as someone that doesn’t have that much disposable income, I have to make every penny count on trips away. I spend months looking for flights till they go down to what I can afford, even if its HBO and obviously I have no status and this is not something I will ever gain with my travel patterns.
All tickets, be it Y or F, state that you are not guaranteed to have your bag with you. This is not a perk of Business or status. Whereas 5 years ago, I think you would have probably agreed with your argument, the Y product now has been SO stripped down, to the point of constant ridicule, your argument of “we expect to be treated better than Y” in this case comes across as very DYKWIA (I mean, you start the post with “What the actual ****”).
You already get a BUNCH of things that we don’t, as you have stated including 2 checked in bags. In short haul, I am now consistently put in middle seats. So excuse me if I don’t feel any sympathy for you when your bag is taken off as the only downside of your flight.
And excuse me if I don’t feel any sympathy for you when you have used your Avios to pay for a flight (which you accumulated from your employers flights) where I have paid quite a lot of my disposable cash and maybe not left the house for a month other than to go to work so I can go on trip.
You do not know peoples situations and thinking you are more entitled to something because you are sat “in the front of the bus” reeks of self-importance, especially when it is not a guaranteed perk.
My bags are always well within limits. I have the same right to have my bags with me as you.
Last edited by MiraculousM; Dec 13, 2018 at 3:11 am
Dec 14, 2018, 12:08 am
#68
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Oxon, UK
Programs: Mucci des canapes, Skywards Gold, BAEC, IC Plat Amb, LH FTV
Posts: 1,951
Mrs PK is off to Madrid this morning in CE but has a seat in a CW cabin so I assume it is a 777 service. She has received an invitation to check in her hand luggage as it is busy flight. Just an automated system or aircraft change to come?
Dec 14, 2018, 7:47 am
#69
Suspended
Join Date: May 2011
Location: London
Programs: *A G, OW S.
Posts: 996
It occurs to me that if BA were smart in the marketing department rather than so driven to advertise cheap fares they would change tack. It's clear that HBO won't and can't work with the current allowances, there simply isn't room particularly on the short haul ultra dense fleet to put the bags and instead there is slow, chaotic boarding which annoys and stresses just about everyone both staff and passengers.
So, I think a smart marketer would keep fares at the same level and advertise that all fares include a checked bag - since they are checking them in anyway. At the same time reduce economy hand luggage to one piece and police it at the head of security and that's one piece, not one piece and a personal item. Something has to change with this crazy situation before a 23kg bag falls on someone's head.
So, I think a smart marketer would keep fares at the same level and advertise that all fares include a checked bag - since they are checking them in anyway. At the same time reduce economy hand luggage to one piece and police it at the head of security and that's one piece, not one piece and a personal item. Something has to change with this crazy situation before a 23kg bag falls on someone's head.
Dec 14, 2018, 8:35 am
#71
Join Date: May 2012
Location: Ipswich
Posts: 7,543
I occasionally travel on airlines with such a policy and it's a PITA using one bag. It's OK for the journey - I can easily fit what I need into one bag, but I don't want to rock up to my clients with a suitcase instead of a briefcase. I recently ended up visiting my clients with my laptop and a couple of documents in a carrier bag for just this reason. It's not a good look.
Apr 18, 2019, 4:05 am
#73
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Vale of Glamorgan
Programs: BAEC Gold
Posts: 2,991
Apr 23, 2019, 3:39 am
#74
Join Date: May 2016
Location: London
Programs: BA Gold, Accor Gold
Posts: 1,428
Announcement at Edinburgh on Monday, regarding a full flight and checking of hand luggage. The announcement finished with the news that those that checked their hand luggage would be able to board with Group 3.
Apr 23, 2019, 3:56 am
#75
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: UK
Programs: IC Hotels Spire, BA Gold
Posts: 8,667
Are the big signs still there at LHR as they seem to have been removed from LGW recently. Plus with the check-in agents at LGW it has changed from being "yes, no problem at all" to check in a compliant piece of hand baggage to, "well on this occasion only I will allow it because the flight is not full" which I interpret as BA no longer will allow it across the board at Gatters
At the non-BA staffed outstations of course it remains very hit-and-miss as it always has been
At the non-BA staffed outstations of course it remains very hit-and-miss as it always has been