LCY8737

Seachain

couldn't have put it better myself!!! what crossed my mind was "not much" and I admit I was caught out by not doing enough homework. i'd been partying down in London from Thursday to sunday and we were simply looking for some quiet pre-boarding time with something simple and a glass of wine. she got the 'something simple' in me not realising that there were better options to be had … had I looked!

the irony is that I am usually particularly diligent as to travel plans and times but rarely do I use LCY for the return leg and that;s where I assumed too much. it would have been good if the bag drop warnings were more prominent but they weren't. i'm home now so case closed for me and lesson learned. LCY has now left my travel plans.

corporate-wage-slave

The arriving and departing services are in a way quite different (though they still speak to those who value their time). So departing there are limited and costly shops / bars, no lounges; arriving into LCY it's a quick zoom out via the UK Border and short hop to the DLR, before you know it you are in central London.

However there is an expensive alternative, namely to use the independent service lounge at the Jet Centre, which is somewhat pricey at Ł95 per person. I can't see the time limit on this, but I doubt they would be bothered if someone turned up 3 hours early.

https://www.londoncityairport.com/lounges

Dave Noble

How does checking in not include the checking in of baggage? It is really stretching it to suggest that checking in times only apply to certain parts of the check in process

I would never choose to get to an airport 4 hours before the flight, but if the airline's information states that checkin can take place at the airport from 05:30, I would reasonably expect to be able to be checked in at that time - not partly checked in.

I do think that if there is a restriction on part of the check in process , it should make it clear in the manage booking tool

corporate-wage-slave

At LCY that would in fact be the norm, most people check-in at LCY just to get boarding passes, which can be done via the self service kiosks.

Dave Noble

There are plenty og people who do check luggage in at LCY and checking in of luggage is part of the check in process. Even with luggage, checking in with machines is normal - - self service check in isn't generally, ime, limited to passengers with hand luggage only

If baggage is only accepted at 2 hours before departure , then it should indicate that check in with luggage is only available at the manned check in desks

Globaliser

I agree. As I said, I too have erred on the side of sometimes cutting it fine because something has gone wrong en route. But there are people who are just not comfortable with anything other than the other extreme. For all the reasons you give, LCY is not really for them. On that, I think that HarryHolden68 is right, and not illogical - but I think that LCY's characteristics are simply LCY's, and not due to some sort of BA conspiracy to favour Londoners.I'm not sure why you would want to write off LCY from all of your future travel plans merely because you didn't do enough homework this time. There may be other occasions when it would still work brilliantly for you. Obviously, not on any occasion on which you want to use a lounge for hours before the flight - but frankly, even if you were in the area hours before the flight you could simply take yourself and your luggage to one of any number of good nearby spots that would rival any lounge for comfort and service.

Globaliser

So when you check-in online 24 hours before the flight, someone from BA should be by your keyboard waiting to whisk your bags away immediately?

Even if the information that BA provides could be clearer about the times when bag drop is open, this isn't an argument in support of that.

corporate-wage-slave

A fairly small minority though. Less than 20% of passengers check in baggage overall at LCY. Personally I think it's clear that if staffed desks are not available until 2 hours (as indicated in MMB) then that means no baggage accepted until then; it's not unusual in the UK, GLA is the same. Self baggage machines are still quite rare in the UK too.

Davidjonesk

South London Bon Viveur

orbitmic

It may be stretching but in my experience, that is the norm, certainly in Europe. Basically, airlines advertise a start of online check in, often 48, 30, 24, or 23 hours before departure, then they advertise kiosk check in, usually from the airport opening time on the day of the flight, and then they advertise the opening of the check in desks - usually either 3 or 2 hours before the flight and that is when they take baggage. So whether you are flying BA from LCY, KL from OSL or LH from NCE, the same restrictions seem to be imposed.

I've explained above why I personally don't believe that there should be more insistence on this on the boarding passes. I fully accept that others may disagree, but to me personally, that information belongs to the website and not to the final documents for the reasons I highlighted in post 11.

Dave Noble

I don't see any reason for it to be on a boarding pass , but if there is a restriction on baggage acceptance, I think that it should be made clear in the check in information in Manage booking

Although I wouldn't be getting to an airport that early by choice, I can see why someone could quite reasonably infer that when check in is open at the airport, unless it says otherwise, that it would be the whole process that is available

One of the good things ime about LCY is the quickness of getting through the airport and getting there 4 hours early defeats the benefits

corporate-wage-slave

The BA.com version says for London City :
Whereas for Stansted it says:
And Heathrow T5, after detailing the exception for those with lounge access:

Dave Noble

Looking at my booking , in section for check in it says

Online check-in Opens from 24 hours before departure
Closes at 1 hour before departure

You may check-in online for this flight. If you have baggage to check-in you may take this to the Bag Drop desks

Other ways to check in

Following link to Other ways to check in, I see

Airport self-service
Open From 05:30 on day of departure
closes at 30 minutes before departure
Kiosk locations - Outside the terminal in the Docklands Light Railway corridor


Airport desks
Open From 2 hours before departure
closes at 20 minutes before departure
Location - Desks 1-7

If you are relying on information in manage booking, I don't know how it is clear at all that baggage acceptance opens at 2 hours before departure