EDDLEGLL

Not exactly "on topic" but kind of: in your collective experience, how sympathetic would the lovely attendants at the T5 Flounge be to letting me bring in an additional guest (my sister!) on her birthday? It'll be a Saturday morning on a EU-EU transit (so coming in from the airside entry).

Absolutely prepared to pay for bubbles elsewhere in the terminal but considering if it's worth to try?

Allan38103

How about this one, " I was next on the list for upgrade, but they gave away my seat to some one lower on the list with a birthday."

Globaliser

BA carries somewhere in the general region of 45,000,000 passengers a year. If my arithmetic is correct, that means that each and every day, on average about 123,000 passengers are flying on their birthday.

There are about 1,000 BA flights a day (based on there being about one BA flight every 90 seconds on average). So on average, one in every three BA flights has a passenger celebrating their birthday. This second stage needs mental adjustment for different aircraft sizes, of course, but that's the broad picture.

Finavia

UKtravelbear

Close to zero chance. Plan on bubbles somewhere else.and sparing your blushes from a refusal.

Finavia

UKtravelbear

Actually yes. A birthday is not a reason for an upgrade. Same with wedding anniversary, going on honeymoon etc etc Thousands of passengers each day have a special reason for flying. Is BA going to upgrade them all?

BA had a process for upgrades and it is bad when staff go against that process with out a valid reason - as I said if the seat turned out to be broken for example would be a good reason to switch seats if the rest of economy was full but no other reason.

Fraser

I'm just curious as to how this played out. It makes it sound as though you were trying to blag yourselves into lounges you didn't all have access to on the basis of it being a birthday. Having rarely had duty managers approach me in lounges did you seek out a duty manager in the CX lounge to have a whinge about being denied access to the F side? If so, IMO, *cringe*.

Maybe it's just me but people who make a big deal about their birthday and particularly those who expect strangers to do them favours are narcissistic. Congratulations, you made it another 365 days without being hit by the metaphorical bus *slow clap*

Now if the airline wants to proactively upgrade someone or do them a favour that's completely different and a nice bit of "surprise and delight".

fruitcage

This appears to be another case where BA need to simultaneously
(1) Give staff the freedom to use their own discretion, and
(2) Enforce consistency to avoid annoying their passengers.

What's the problem with that?

mwp1

BABenchley

It will pop up on the iPad.

missdimeaner

Beergander

Will100

dulciusexasperis

I can't imagine being forced to fly on my birthday. That's just a case of 'p*ss poor planning' or PPP as it's known.

On my birthday (in February), I am usually in a nice hotel, somewhere warm, having arrived several days previously at least. There is nothing an airline could do that would come close to what I can expect from a nice hotel that my wife has made arrangements with.