Final BA Tie (almost) Cut
Nov 25, 2018, 6:36 am
#1
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Home: East Mids UK - Work (Base): Accra, Ghana.
Programs: BAEC: Silver - Marriott: Titanium
Posts: 12,086
Final BA Tie (almost) Cut
When I left the company, I did not even realise that I kept my staff travel concessions for 2 years post departure, but I did.
So, I used my J ticket last year to go to SFO for a few days, and this year, a couple of weeks ago, I took my mum, again on my J ticket, out to MIA, and we had 5 days in Fort Lauderdale for some relaxation and shopping, using Marriott points to cover accommodation.
I have to say, as much as people think that airline concessions are an amazing perk, I certainly won't miss them.
Stressful, the inability to plan better, and poor treatment by (JFK) ground staff reminded me how much I disliked the experience in general, and won't be looking back on parts of it fondly.
When I chose to leave the company, people said that I should wait another 5 years so I would get to keep my staff travel concessions for 15 years... I honestly could not think of anything worse!
So, from the 30th of this month, I become a normal, regular Joe and will be back to searching for sale deals for flights when I chose a holiday!
LHR-MIA on the A380, nice enough, 2 seats together in Club, nice service from the MF crew and arrival in MIA was good with no queues at immigration and baggage off very quickly, car rental was easy but driving MIA to Fort Lauderdale in torrential rain was not what I was planning after a long journey and really zapped the remainder of my energy.
MIA-LHR changed to JFK-LHR with an internal AA flight from MIA to LGA.
Loads shot up on the MIA flights, and it simply would not have worked with my priority and join date, so I made the decision the day before to fly up to JFK and take a flight home from there. I have to say, I was pretty blown away with AA. Booking the day before, we ended up paying quite highly for the flight, but I got front row bulk head seats in Main Cabin Extra possibly because of Silver, but also maybe fare class. We got Flagship Lounge access at the new D30 AA lounges at MIA, and it was a very nice experience, very pleasant lounge. The flight was very nice, with young, polite and friendly crew, on a brand spanking new 737 aircraft. Departed on time and arrived 30 minutes early into LGA. Uber over to JFK and then returned to reality with rude ground staff at JFK up to their usual tricks and power games.
Checkin experience was awful, embarrassed in front of other passengers in the fast track security line when my boarding cards were torn up and new ones shoved in my hand and a matronly telling off style lecture from one agent in front of about 30 pax.
Thankfully redeemed by one lady in the lounge who sorted everything else and apologised saying she was embarrassed at what had happened.
Nice flight home to LHR, me upstairs and mum downstairs, a few hours sleep and then an Uber to the Renaissance to collect the car (cracking deal of £97 for the night pre-departure plus 8 days parking!) and a quick drive home despite the best efforts of the M1!
As said up-post, I won't miss the experience of non-rev travel, and will avoid JFK at all costs in the future, but still find the BA experience bar the above, a good one.
Just musings on my latest BA experience.
BBB
Fly Private
:-:
So, I used my J ticket last year to go to SFO for a few days, and this year, a couple of weeks ago, I took my mum, again on my J ticket, out to MIA, and we had 5 days in Fort Lauderdale for some relaxation and shopping, using Marriott points to cover accommodation.
I have to say, as much as people think that airline concessions are an amazing perk, I certainly won't miss them.
Stressful, the inability to plan better, and poor treatment by (JFK) ground staff reminded me how much I disliked the experience in general, and won't be looking back on parts of it fondly.
When I chose to leave the company, people said that I should wait another 5 years so I would get to keep my staff travel concessions for 15 years... I honestly could not think of anything worse!
So, from the 30th of this month, I become a normal, regular Joe and will be back to searching for sale deals for flights when I chose a holiday!
LHR-MIA on the A380, nice enough, 2 seats together in Club, nice service from the MF crew and arrival in MIA was good with no queues at immigration and baggage off very quickly, car rental was easy but driving MIA to Fort Lauderdale in torrential rain was not what I was planning after a long journey and really zapped the remainder of my energy.
MIA-LHR changed to JFK-LHR with an internal AA flight from MIA to LGA.
Loads shot up on the MIA flights, and it simply would not have worked with my priority and join date, so I made the decision the day before to fly up to JFK and take a flight home from there. I have to say, I was pretty blown away with AA. Booking the day before, we ended up paying quite highly for the flight, but I got front row bulk head seats in Main Cabin Extra possibly because of Silver, but also maybe fare class. We got Flagship Lounge access at the new D30 AA lounges at MIA, and it was a very nice experience, very pleasant lounge. The flight was very nice, with young, polite and friendly crew, on a brand spanking new 737 aircraft. Departed on time and arrived 30 minutes early into LGA. Uber over to JFK and then returned to reality with rude ground staff at JFK up to their usual tricks and power games.
Checkin experience was awful, embarrassed in front of other passengers in the fast track security line when my boarding cards were torn up and new ones shoved in my hand and a matronly telling off style lecture from one agent in front of about 30 pax.
Thankfully redeemed by one lady in the lounge who sorted everything else and apologised saying she was embarrassed at what had happened.
Nice flight home to LHR, me upstairs and mum downstairs, a few hours sleep and then an Uber to the Renaissance to collect the car (cracking deal of £97 for the night pre-departure plus 8 days parking!) and a quick drive home despite the best efforts of the M1!
As said up-post, I won't miss the experience of non-rev travel, and will avoid JFK at all costs in the future, but still find the BA experience bar the above, a good one.
Just musings on my latest BA experience.
BBB
Fly Private
:-:
Nov 25, 2018, 7:10 am
#3
Join Date: Apr 2015
Location: US/UK - and elsewhere
Programs: BA Gold
Posts: 2,555
Glad you're enjoying life on the other side. (Our paths must have crossed at some stage!) What you say is undoubtedly true, although I must say that the AA experience is very varied in terms of CC - although I do wish BA had MCE (about to experience (again) 8 hours in Y in a midle seat of a 787...).
As many probably do, flying with BA is a habit - familiarity. Breaking the habit is good!
As many probably do, flying with BA is a habit - familiarity. Breaking the habit is good!
Nov 25, 2018, 7:23 am
#4
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: UK
Programs: BA Gold / Hilton Diamond / IHG Diamond Ambassador / Marriot Bonvoy Gold
Posts: 2,533
For many years I too had access to BA staff travel perks via my then partner but I have not had them now for more than 20 years. I hated every minute of it. The waiting, worrying and ill treatment from ground staff around the world was shocking. Using my card to access a lounge was a nightmare as the dreaded staff category trumped the fact that I had status, even when checked into F or J.
JFK was always the worst possible experience (where I was a regular on Concorde at one stage..go figure ) but Sydney was ghastly as well. Only Hong Kong and Seoul where I was reasonably well known, because of work travel, treated me well, albeit with no favours when on staff travel. Oh yes and T4 staff travel was just hell on earth at times.
As a staff passenger all I ever wanted was to be told wether my chances were good or not and where I was in the pecking order against the number of free seats. The ground staff seemed to take perverse enjoyment out of making you wait rather than checking you in, even when the booked load would allow them to do so.
The final straw was 20 years ago when denied boarding due weight issues out of Singapore. The flight left every night for a week with more than 100 empty seats and not a single staff passenger. I paid to come home after 2 nights and swore I wouldn't use staff travel again and never have. It sounds great to have cheap travel but being dumped for days on end in a very expensive city, especially with kids is just awful. I never understood why staff were treated so poorly by their own....but they were. I also hear that the taxes/fees on some staff tickets now are as high as commercial fares but I don't know for certain how true that.
I love AA, they are a fantastic airlines at the moment. They really do seem to be customer focused and whilst it is not QR CX SQ or QF or ME3/Asia carriers standard, it is light years from BA.
JFK was always the worst possible experience (where I was a regular on Concorde at one stage..go figure ) but Sydney was ghastly as well. Only Hong Kong and Seoul where I was reasonably well known, because of work travel, treated me well, albeit with no favours when on staff travel. Oh yes and T4 staff travel was just hell on earth at times.
As a staff passenger all I ever wanted was to be told wether my chances were good or not and where I was in the pecking order against the number of free seats. The ground staff seemed to take perverse enjoyment out of making you wait rather than checking you in, even when the booked load would allow them to do so.
The final straw was 20 years ago when denied boarding due weight issues out of Singapore. The flight left every night for a week with more than 100 empty seats and not a single staff passenger. I paid to come home after 2 nights and swore I wouldn't use staff travel again and never have. It sounds great to have cheap travel but being dumped for days on end in a very expensive city, especially with kids is just awful. I never understood why staff were treated so poorly by their own....but they were. I also hear that the taxes/fees on some staff tickets now are as high as commercial fares but I don't know for certain how true that.
I love AA, they are a fantastic airlines at the moment. They really do seem to be customer focused and whilst it is not QR CX SQ or QF or ME3/Asia carriers standard, it is light years from BA.
Nov 25, 2018, 7:41 am
#5
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: London
Programs: BAEC Gold, Hotels.com Gold
Posts: 576
Welcome to civvy street. That sounds stressful.
I flew LHR-ORD with AA recently on a BA itinerary. For me it beat BA in almost every way.
- The T3 experience and choice of OneWorld lounges
- The 787 hard product was better and the plane seemed cleaner and better looked after than BA's
- The food was comparable
- The crew on this sector were equivalent to a poor BA crew however I didn't interact with them that much
I flew LHR-ORD with AA recently on a BA itinerary. For me it beat BA in almost every way.
- The T3 experience and choice of OneWorld lounges
- The 787 hard product was better and the plane seemed cleaner and better looked after than BA's
- The food was comparable
- The crew on this sector were equivalent to a poor BA crew however I didn't interact with them that much
Nov 25, 2018, 10:45 am
#6
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: AA Lifetime PLT , BA Silver , BD RIP , HH Gold, SPG / Marriott PLT , EF Subscriber
Posts: 6,702
Until the last change in AAdvantage Award Points requirement. I was able to buy US/AA points and Fly AA/QF First Class MCO-JFK-LAX-SYD-BNE for less than the cost of an ID90 First Class Standby.
Last edited by UncleDude; Nov 25, 2018 at 10:47 am Reason: Moe info
Nov 25, 2018, 12:26 pm
#7
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Argentina
Posts: 40,210
I don't have status to keep and miles to collect which means I am under no obligation to fly a certain airline or alliance. If the price is right and the journey time suits I really couldn't care less who I fly with.
Not being a regular flyer certainly helps one maintain a positive attitude to the experience even when things go wrong. I feel sorry for those who dread having to get on a plane every other week because they have no say in which airline they fly with.
Not being a regular flyer certainly helps one maintain a positive attitude to the experience even when things go wrong. I feel sorry for those who dread having to get on a plane every other week because they have no say in which airline they fly with.
Nov 25, 2018, 12:29 pm
#8
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: JAX
Programs: Ex-BA/AA/CP/LY staff, BA Executive Club Blue, IHG Diamond, Marriott Silver, Chick-fil-A Red
Posts: 3,586
Oh I miss my concessions. Whether on my parents profile or my own, I had staff travel access for over 30 years and I loved it. Wish I still had it.
Nov 25, 2018, 12:36 pm
#9
Join Date: Nov 2010
Posts: 5,596
You will have lots of hotel points to spend now you are in the corporate world. Take a look at the Marriott travel packages. They are not as good as they were, but still reasonable value.
I agree staff travel is a pain, made worse by some ground staff.
I agree staff travel is a pain, made worse by some ground staff.