AleTrail

Scrapping of the return to UK test soon to be announced - keep your eyes peeled this week.

checkerboard

A few weeks ago, I'd booked a BA itinerary that included a same-day connection from BA-6420 (CPT-JNB) to BA-54 (JNB-LHR), with 1:15 to make the connection. It was tight, but doable.

Checking MMB, however, I see now that, while the rest of my itinerary is intact - those two sectors have disappeared.

My first thought was that one of them had cancelled - but that's not the case. Nor, have there been any schedule changes. Both sectors are still individually available for sale on the date of my travel, but the combination of these two flights isn't any longer proposed for sale as a same-day connection.

I'd normally call BA to ask what's happened - but since it's impossible to reach anyone at the call center these days, and since my travel isn't until May anyway - I'm not in any special rush. But I am curious.

Did BA possibly sell & ticket me an itinerary that didn't meet their own MCT? Or has BA's MCT recently changed at JNB for D to I? Or, perhaps, is there another explanation?


,

Globaliser

The only other explanation that I can think of is that your flights originally had slightly different times, and a legal connection time, but it's the schedules that have changed slightly so as to make it an illegal connection now. We do seem to be in the thick of schedule change season at the moment (albeit that Covid is making that a perennial travel buddy).

As far as I can see, the MCT for this is 1:30. So if the connection time between these flights was always 1:15, then a recent change to the MCT is a real possibility, but I don't know any way of extracting historical data on that. At a guess, the chances of BA having sold you a connection that did not meet MCT at the time that it was sold would seem to be very slim, given that there are pretty good automated checks on this before itineraries are offered.

checkerboard

So, I cheeked all my e-mails, and it seems this sort of schedule change is indeed what happened - but in a most unusual way. On 30/Dec, I'd searched for the flights, and was offered (and I accepted & purchased) the following connection, with 1:40 between the flights:

BA6430 CPT-JNB 17:30 (dep) 19:30 (arr)
BA54 JNB-LHR 21:10 (dep) 07:20 +1 (arr)

But the ticket receipt I received reflects slightly different times (with only a 1:15 connecting in JNB):

BA6430 CPT-JNB 17:30 (dep) 19:10 (arr)
BA54 JNB-LHR 20:45 (dep) 06:55 +1 (arr)

This suggests I had the bad luck to have the schedule change push through at the exact moment I was buying my ticket. I've never seen anything like that before.

Anyway, with some months still before travel, I'll wait, I think, for BA to reach out to me about this; there's no sense in waiting on hold endlessly for something that may well change several more times before travel.:

BESTEDIFLYER

I am on BA54 at the beginning of March and my departure time is 2215. Also flying up from Cape Town on the 1730 flight so have 2.45 between flights.

Globaliser

That's quite a coincidence, but it would seem to explain what's happened.

You don't say when in May this will be, but I've just seen that BA54 seems to have been been taken off sale wef 9 May for the remainder of the season, so you will want to work out whether this affects you.

checkerboard

Thanks for the heads-up on this. As it turns out, I'm flying just before that, so no direct effect. But perhaps the reduction to just a single-daily JNB-LHR from that date will indirectly cause the cabins to fill up a bit faster than they otherwise might have. While I'd like to think the automated system will eventually deal with my case, I'll still try to call & get it sorted out sooner rather than later, just to be safe.

imapilotaz

Anyone have any issues with BA or South Africa being morons and not following their own rules? Flying USA - LHR - JNB, which means 2 overnight flights. I have a test at ~60 hours negative for the USA - LHR leg, but it's well beyond 72 hours for the LHR-JNB leg due to the connection in London. The SA website very clearly states "72 hours from departure from origin country". Anyone know the risk of them being idiots and not reading this correctly in London or Joberg?

flyingnomad

Assuming you are on a through-booking (ie single ticket with connecting flights), then this will be a non-issue. You will be checked through for the LHR-JNB flights at your point of departure in the USA, where they will check you are in compliance with the entry rules for your final destination.

I’ve recently done a few XXX-LHR-USA and USA-LHR-XXX trips involving two overnight flights on the return, and in each instance they checked for test-window compliance in accordance with the final destination. Once your status is ADOC (docs cleared) and LHR-JNB boarding pass issued at the USA check-in desk, you won’t face any issues in LHR.

The trickier bit was the XXX-LHR-USA flights, because the USA entry requirement is tighter - within 24 hours of departure from XXX.

imapilotaz

Thanks a bunch. For someone who did 1.5M+ miles and 75+ countries in the last decade, covid has really screwed with me. Where I used to be confident, now I second guess myself.

I plan on trying to check in at the airport at t- 23:59 to get my boarding pass to put my mind at ease. First international flights during covid, and I got caught with a 2 day cancel in December on this trip from Omicron, so it's doubly freaking me out.

Thanks!

atcanobbio

in my case, i have separate tickets, SEA-MEX, 6hr connection, then MEX-LHR-CPT...I should be OK with doing my test in SEA as long it's within 72hrs of the MEX-LHR dep, right?

corporate-wage-slave

BA will only see this as MEX-CPT, so the MEX ground agents won't be much interested in SEA but will be interested in you having fulfilled CPT's requirements. You don't need to do a UK PLF or do anything testing related for the UK, so that makes it easier on one level, but I would have a UK PLF completed just in case you are asked for it, it only takes a few minutes to do.

atcanobbio

understood. I guess what I am trying to get at is that the PCR test I present to BA in MEX can be performed in SEA instead of MEX, right?

from what I read in the SA govt site is that the test must be taken within 72hr from origin departure (MEX). It doesn't state anywhere that the test must be taken in the same country at the origin departure.

AleTrail

Anyone know what reasons BA are giving for cancelling BA058 CPT-LHR.
I’m booked on it in 10 days, still showing in itinerary yet it hasn’t flown since Dec24th.

Scotsgirl

it starts again next week