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Keep getting quotes in GBP - A Brexit symptom?

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Keep getting quotes in GBP - A Brexit symptom?

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Old Jun 12, 2019, 1:24 am
  #1  
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Keep getting quotes in GBP - A Brexit symptom?

Only joking. I am sure it is not. But I am curious as to why, when I book a trip in Euro and then go back to change it, they come back with a quote in GBP. Isn't there something in their system that tells them its a booking in Euro? On the RTW booking I am changing now, they gave me the updated price in GBP and when I asked for it in Euro, they said they had to send it downstairs to get the price in Euro (the changed price came from downstairs so why didn't downstairs know the original pricing is in Euro)!
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Old Jun 12, 2019, 1:40 am
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I thought bookings were always priced in the currency of the departure country and then converted to any other currency that the person wishes to pay in. So I guess that part of the booking (your wish to pay in Euro) isn't persistent.
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Old Jun 12, 2019, 2:02 am
  #3  
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That's what I thought too but seems not. My departure is always BRU but I often get quotes in GBP even on new bookings now I think of it.
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Old Jun 12, 2019, 2:05 am
  #4  
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Are these quotes you are getting on the phone? If booking or doing changes on the phone they usually convert everything to GBP, if doing them online it should be in EUR.
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Old Jun 12, 2019, 2:08 am
  #5  
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Originally Posted by mjack99
That's what I thought too but seems not. My departure is always BRU but I often get quotes in GBP even on new bookings now I think of it.
When you phone, are you phoning a BA number in Belgium or one in the UK. If calling the UK, it would be perfectly normal to be quoted in GBP regardless of starting point of journey
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Old Jun 12, 2019, 3:19 am
  #6  
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Originally Posted by Dave Noble
When you phone, are you phoning a BA number in Belgium or one in the UK. If calling the UK, it would be perfectly normal to be quoted in GBP regardless of starting point of journey
Originally Posted by KARFA
Are these quotes you are getting on the phone? If booking or doing changes on the phone they usually convert everything to GBP, if doing them online it should be in EUR.
Yep the phone at the GGL line in Manchester. It just seems strange to me that the original booking (via the phone) was done in Euro, but they don't see that. I can't believe its because the office is physically located in the UK but maybe I am wrong. Its a global line for GGL customers not just for UK customers.
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Old Jun 12, 2019, 3:25 am
  #7  
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Originally Posted by mjack99
Yep the phone at the GGL line in Manchester. It just seems strange to me that the original booking (via the phone) was done in Euro, but they don't see that. I can't believe its because the office is physically located in the UK but maybe I am wrong. Its a global line for GGL customers not just for UK customers.
It's not that they can't see it, it is that they will automatically convert it to your home currency whether you are booking or doing a change. If you ask them to give you a quote in euros they can do that.
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Old Jun 12, 2019, 3:27 am
  #8  
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Originally Posted by KARFA
It's not that they can't see it, it is that they will automatically convert it to your home currency whether you are booking or doing a change. If you ask them to give you a quote in euros they can do that.
But my home currency is Euro.
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Old Jun 12, 2019, 3:29 am
  #9  
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Originally Posted by mjack99
But my home currency is Euro.
ah thanks for mentioning that, so your baec account address is in a euro denominated country. just ask for the figure in euros then when you call. i imagine they are used to dealing predominantly with UK based customers there.
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Old Jun 12, 2019, 3:38 am
  #10  
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Yep I think that is what it comes down to. I do ask each time but sometimes it can be a pain (such as when they need to send it back downstairs after it took 2 days to get the price in the first place). I was just curious as to why this happens.
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Old Jun 12, 2019, 5:35 am
  #11  
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Originally Posted by mjack99
Yep I think that is what it comes down to. I do ask each time but sometimes it can be a pain (such as when they need to send it back downstairs after it took 2 days to get the price in the first place). I was just curious as to why this happens.
If you phone a European location then you will get prices in Euros. Phoning the UK, getting a GBP price is what would be expected

Doesn't matter what the original fare paid was, you are asking to make a change in UK
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Old Jun 12, 2019, 5:36 am
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I was doing a relative a favour. They had a complex itinerary, Aussie TA booked, but ticketed via Qantas. Everything I tried to do via my own BAEC log in came back in Aussie dollars. The flight she was going on next was a BA flight.
I understand the link back to Aussie dollars, but BA IT knew it was me doing stuff, from a UK base. Not a problem, and we found a reasonable solution.
Maybe it was the TA booking aspect that locked the currency.
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Old Jun 12, 2019, 8:29 am
  #13  
 
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Originally Posted by mjack99
Yep the phone at the GGL line in Manchester. It just seems strange to me that the original booking (via the phone) was done in Euro, but they don't see that. I can't believe its because the office is physically located in the UK but maybe I am wrong. Its a global line for GGL customers not just for UK customers.
Not your fault of course, but calls might appear to agents with a description along the lines of INBOUND_GGL_UK, so agents may not be expecting a non-GBP booking. Even after retrieving your PNR, and possibly seeing that it was made on BA.com Belgium, they may not be in the mindset of needing to jump to a EUR work area until too late. If they stay in their usual GBP work area, then the PNR gets sent to a GBP work queue, …and the result may well be in GBP.

Try asking the agents to jump to a EUR "office ID" (work area) before you give them your PNR next time, hopefully that will start the process on the right track, and have the change request sent to a EUR work queue to be priced in EUR.


Originally Posted by Ancient Observer
Maybe it was the TA booking aspect that locked the currency.
Yes; BA.com defaults to the original ticketed currency, with no option to change it, similar to when making a booking it is priced in the currency of the country you are departing from. Pros and cons to that method of course, but "it's a feature, not a fault."
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Old Jun 12, 2019, 8:51 am
  #14  
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Thanks for the advice. On the same point, is the pricing between GBP and EUR going to be the same apart from the prevailing exchange rate? I mean to say, if I get a price in GBP, can I just use Google to get a rough price in EUR or could there really be a substantial difference in price because POS is Belgium and not UK (or are they completely different things)?
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Old Jun 12, 2019, 9:46 am
  #15  
 
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Originally Posted by mjack99
…is the pricing between GBP and EUR going to be the same apart from the prevailing exchange rate?
Yes, unless one has much better availability than the other, there shouldn't be any difference to the UK/BE prices, other than GBP/EUR. There are no taxes/fees that change with POS for UK/BE.
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