BA Empowers LHR staff to assist with any travel issue
Oct 21, 2018, 5:04 am
#32
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Cheshire / Wherever they send me
Programs: BA Blue, Marriott Plat Life, UA Silver (thx Marriott), IHG Gold, Accor Plat, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 943
If I were BA - I would start with the basics.
Call at 659am EST to the BA call center in the US: 1 800 247 9297 - prerecorded message says the call center opens at 7am
Call at 7am EST - prerecorded message says they are busy, cannot take the volume of calls, to try again later
Bravo BA...!
Call at 659am EST to the BA call center in the US: 1 800 247 9297 - prerecorded message says the call center opens at 7am
Call at 7am EST - prerecorded message says they are busy, cannot take the volume of calls, to try again later
Bravo BA...!
T
Oct 21, 2018, 5:19 am
#34
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: OOL
Programs: VA Plat, QF LTS, UA MM, Hilton Diamond, Rydges Black, ,Le-Club Gold
Posts: 3,659
1. Through-check your bags when travelling with BA"s airline partners on separate tickets
2. Bypass BA's spiteful "conformance" stooges at security, whose only job is to throw you off the flight 35 minutes ahead though your flight may not even have started boarding yet
3. At check-in, direct you to your gate rather than concealing the gate assignment until the last minute in the hope you'll spend more in the shops
4. At check-in, change you to an earlier flight if space is available (compare AA, UA etc)
5. Or, put you on a same-day-standby for earlier or even later flights (compare AA, UA etc)
6. Enable the GA to assist you with rebooking on standby or misconnections (compare AA, UA etc) see posts above
7. Ensure that families are seated together if/when they haven't coughed up BA's ludicrous price to pre-assign seats, even for J customers
8. Direct you the shortest route to the lounge rather than walking you past a row of overpriced shops and back again
9. Take heed of the priority sticker on your checked bag
10. Some, any electronic process to identify the location of your lost checked bag
2. Bypass BA's spiteful "conformance" stooges at security, whose only job is to throw you off the flight 35 minutes ahead though your flight may not even have started boarding yet
3. At check-in, direct you to your gate rather than concealing the gate assignment until the last minute in the hope you'll spend more in the shops
4. At check-in, change you to an earlier flight if space is available (compare AA, UA etc)
5. Or, put you on a same-day-standby for earlier or even later flights (compare AA, UA etc)
6. Enable the GA to assist you with rebooking on standby or misconnections (compare AA, UA etc) see posts above
7. Ensure that families are seated together if/when they haven't coughed up BA's ludicrous price to pre-assign seats, even for J customers
8. Direct you the shortest route to the lounge rather than walking you past a row of overpriced shops and back again
9. Take heed of the priority sticker on your checked bag
10. Some, any electronic process to identify the location of your lost checked bag
(2) conformance, how do you get around that?
(3) how to identify your gate, if the board says "wait"?
(4) Fly-ahead on the day at no charge, how to arrange that?
(5) Same day standby for earlier or later flight at no charge, how to arrange that?
(7) What to do if your family's seating is split up? (Other than "talk to the FA")
My experience is that BA's charming but disempowered ground staff weren't able to help with any of these
Oct 21, 2018, 5:33 am
#35
Ambassador, British Airways; FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Leeds, UK
Programs: BA GGL/CCR, GfL, HH Diamond
Posts: 42,958
why do you need to be at your gate more than an hour before the flight? I am not sure what purpose knowing your gate more than an hour beforehand serves?
In any case the answer is to ask at check in or the lounge if there is an indicated gate - bearing in mind it can and sometimes does change. In any case I don’t set off to the gate until well after it shows on the board and yet manage to get there before boarding starts.
In any case the answer is to ask at check in or the lounge if there is an indicated gate - bearing in mind it can and sometimes does change. In any case I don’t set off to the gate until well after it shows on the board and yet manage to get there before boarding starts.
Oct 21, 2018, 5:41 am
#36
Moderator, Iberia Airlines, Airport Lounges, and Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Feb 2010
Programs: BA Lifetime Gold; Flying Blue Life Platinum; LH Sen.; Hilton Diamond; Kemal Kebabs Prized Customer
Posts: 63,803
Conformance can be as low as 22 minutes. After the cut-off, if you are HBO, then you can ask the staff to let you through, they will need to ring the gate and then FMU, but it's a routine thing - several dozen people a day make use of this. If you are a large family group or look less than mobile then the agents will probably encourage other options. Conformance is now switched off when there are bad delays.
Ground agents will tell you the gate if you ask nicely. Obviously going to B or C early is a risk (mainly on shorthaul) unless you know about the passageways. You suggested that the FIMs are only updated at the last minute - it's usually 75 minutes (and sometimes 120 minutes on the "will depart from B" message, but particularly for longhaul the agents with tablets or PCs will normally indicate the expected gate.
Almost all point to point shorthaul tickets, in both CE and ET, now have SDC, with the notable exception of Basic fares. If there is space, you can fly early or late. For longhaul you would need a flexible ticket but not that many longhauls have such a large number of flights that this is practical. However it can be done, even with Avios tickets (for a £60 charge) out of LHR.
Normally BA tries to keep people off standby lists, so the SDC mentioned above should be seen as the main conduit, however if you are HBO then BA will put irrop passengers onto Standby and you can plead your case in other circumstances. It can be done.
Ground agents often shuffle people around if the flight isn't full, but the big difference is BA's use of Altéa's Theoretical Seating algorithm. The complaints about split up families - which used to be commonplace in this forum - have almost evaporated, I can't remember a recent bad case of this. Sure it still happens, particularly on irrops, but to say ground staff are powerless simply isn't true.
(3) how to identify your gate, if the board says "wait"?
(4) Fly-ahead on the day at no charge, how to arrange that?
(5) Same day standby for earlier or later flight at no charge, how to arrange that?
(7) What to do if your family's seating is split up? (Other than "talk to the FA")