Thankyou to BA crew
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2020
Posts: 2
Thankyou to BA crew
My wife and I are both in our 70's and have been visiting our son and his wife in South Korea and after almost a week of cancelled flights and re-routes finally managed to get two economy seats back to London via Hong Kong with BA in Traveller (economy) class.
I would like to start by saying I am no BA fan. I am not in the 'ABBA' group either but I find them a very mediocre airline and generally prefer to fly one of the asian or middle eastern carriers. This is more on account of their stingy management than their employees however.
My wife and I both being in the elderly 'vulnerable' category did have some trepidations about flying twelve hours in a sealed metal tube but we wanted to get home to the UK so needs must.
When we initially reached the gate in Hong Kong we wondered whether this would be our fourth cancelled flight as there were literally only around 30 other people milling around waiting to board the huge A380! Alas we were reassured by the ground staff that there were only around forty passengers in total tonight and the flight will operate as normal.
We are aware of the uncertainties all airline staff around the world must face at the moment and we were expecting a pretty sombre environment on board.
How wrong we were!!
We were jovially greeted by a wonderfully smiling, friendly, reassuring group of inflight stewards and stewardesses. And not only that - but EVERY passenger was upgraded by them to business class. Every single one of us!! I mentioned that the ones that paid for business class seats must be miffed and the stewardess replied 'they are just as happy as you - there was only three of them and we have upgraded all of them into First Class'. There was such a jovial atmosphere on board. The crew even managed to ensure some 'social distancing' (I believe there were twice as many business class seats on the plane as there were passengers) and advised anyone that wanted even more personal space they were welcome to sit in their original allocated seat. Funny enough, no one did.
The meal consisted of a plastic tray with a sandwich, toblerone and biscuit. No champagne, not even booze. I believe it was the same in every class. But none of us cared! We were being so well looked after. The crew were so hospitable and some even made a 'scarecrow passenger' out of blankets in the empty economy section which gave us a laugh as some of the crew gave us a rare guided tour around the huge jet.
So to the crew who looked after us on the BA028 departing Hong Kong 26 March thank you for your incredible hospitality and for a flight to remember!
I would like to start by saying I am no BA fan. I am not in the 'ABBA' group either but I find them a very mediocre airline and generally prefer to fly one of the asian or middle eastern carriers. This is more on account of their stingy management than their employees however.
My wife and I both being in the elderly 'vulnerable' category did have some trepidations about flying twelve hours in a sealed metal tube but we wanted to get home to the UK so needs must.
When we initially reached the gate in Hong Kong we wondered whether this would be our fourth cancelled flight as there were literally only around 30 other people milling around waiting to board the huge A380! Alas we were reassured by the ground staff that there were only around forty passengers in total tonight and the flight will operate as normal.
We are aware of the uncertainties all airline staff around the world must face at the moment and we were expecting a pretty sombre environment on board.
How wrong we were!!
We were jovially greeted by a wonderfully smiling, friendly, reassuring group of inflight stewards and stewardesses. And not only that - but EVERY passenger was upgraded by them to business class. Every single one of us!! I mentioned that the ones that paid for business class seats must be miffed and the stewardess replied 'they are just as happy as you - there was only three of them and we have upgraded all of them into First Class'. There was such a jovial atmosphere on board. The crew even managed to ensure some 'social distancing' (I believe there were twice as many business class seats on the plane as there were passengers) and advised anyone that wanted even more personal space they were welcome to sit in their original allocated seat. Funny enough, no one did.
The meal consisted of a plastic tray with a sandwich, toblerone and biscuit. No champagne, not even booze. I believe it was the same in every class. But none of us cared! We were being so well looked after. The crew were so hospitable and some even made a 'scarecrow passenger' out of blankets in the empty economy section which gave us a laugh as some of the crew gave us a rare guided tour around the huge jet.
So to the crew who looked after us on the BA028 departing Hong Kong 26 March thank you for your incredible hospitality and for a flight to remember!
#2
Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: UK
Posts: 10,125
I'm sure it will be a great relief to be back in the UK and a nice story to read including getting in business class on the way home!
You can of course if you wish choose to do so submit a thank you on ba.com. Here is the link
Cews can make such a difference to a flight and finally may I welcome you to Flyertalk and the BA Board Poodlepup, thanks for that post and hope to see more for the future.
You can of course if you wish choose to do so submit a thank you on ba.com. Here is the link
Cews can make such a difference to a flight and finally may I welcome you to Flyertalk and the BA Board Poodlepup, thanks for that post and hope to see more for the future.
#5
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: BKK
Programs: Mucci Chevalier de la Brosse a Cheveux Dore, SK *GfL, BA Gold, WY G, HH DIA, IC Plat Amb., Hertz PC
Posts: 3,681
That is great, and amazing to see that BA empowers crew to do such things - even if it is same catering as originally booked, the upgraded seat makes a world of difference.
#7
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Hong Kong, France
Programs: FB , BA Gold
Posts: 15,540
Glad you made it and a business class trip you will remember for ever.
But how did you manage to transit in Hong Kong on 26 as HKG was closed to transit from 25 at 00.00?
But how did you manage to transit in Hong Kong on 26 as HKG was closed to transit from 25 at 00.00?
#8
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: Roswell, GA
Programs: AA EXP 2.8m,Lifetime PLT, Hilton Diamond, IHG PlLT, SPG Gold
Posts: 3,191
a nice touch from BA.. even though BA often gets the short end of the stick.. for all my trips that have involved BA.. I am quite happy
(although the nuts they serve in Business could use some improvement)
Welcome home
(although the nuts they serve in Business could use some improvement)
Welcome home
#9
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2020
Posts: 2
Thankyou. It was just heartening for us to see people at their best in what is a pretty trying time. Plus of course it was lovely to be so well looked after!
How we managed to transit HKG was quite a challenge. Originally we were due to fly direct from ICN to London with Asiana which was cancelled. We were then rerouted via Tokyo (I believe Japan has no transit restriction). We arrived for check in on the day but this flight also ended up being cancelled and would have required us to take a later flight which would have needed us to overnight in Tokyo. This was not an option as we were travelling from Korea. When I explained to the agent my wife has a hospital appointment back in the UK on Monday (non urgent case which we found out upon arriving this morning has been cancelled anyway) they sought other options and one was to apply for an exemption to transit via HKG. I managed to find an email relating to her hospital appointment and after a wait of around 90 minutes we were granted authority to transit via HKG on the basis that it was under four hours and that we would wear a face mask at all times whilst in the airport.
The airport was actually a very sad sight. HKG is one of my favourite airports in the world. It is always busy yet so well designed with so many outlets for shopping, eating. Nearly every outlet was closed. The only thing that seemed to be open was the Duty Free shop.
How we managed to transit HKG was quite a challenge. Originally we were due to fly direct from ICN to London with Asiana which was cancelled. We were then rerouted via Tokyo (I believe Japan has no transit restriction). We arrived for check in on the day but this flight also ended up being cancelled and would have required us to take a later flight which would have needed us to overnight in Tokyo. This was not an option as we were travelling from Korea. When I explained to the agent my wife has a hospital appointment back in the UK on Monday (non urgent case which we found out upon arriving this morning has been cancelled anyway) they sought other options and one was to apply for an exemption to transit via HKG. I managed to find an email relating to her hospital appointment and after a wait of around 90 minutes we were granted authority to transit via HKG on the basis that it was under four hours and that we would wear a face mask at all times whilst in the airport.
The airport was actually a very sad sight. HKG is one of my favourite airports in the world. It is always busy yet so well designed with so many outlets for shopping, eating. Nearly every outlet was closed. The only thing that seemed to be open was the Duty Free shop.