GiddyKipper638

I have just finished a call with gold line requesting seat selection for 3 family members travelling on the same flight as ourselves and in the same class of travel. This is the first time doing so and I (incorrectly) presumed that it would be a simple ask!

I was advised that in order to do so, I needed one of the passengers on the other PNR to verify their reservation details and for me to then join in on a conference call and do likewise. At that point, I could request the desired seats. An alternative would be for the said family member to ring BA, provide details re reservation and then add me as a nominee on their reservation. I would then need to call up and provide details of their reservation and advise that I am a nominee on their reservation and then request seats.

Is this the correct procedure? If so, surely this is a convoluted way of requesting what is, in essence, a simple ask!! If not, how should this be actioned?

Cheers

orbitmic

Yes, in theory, BA's understanding of privacy policy is quite "intense" so they require that, though in practice, for TCP, I think it is often not asked so calling back might give a different result.

Mekko

I have done this successfully in the past with no involvement of the travelling party (but where they have already been members of my household account, to the extent that matters/helps).

FlightDetective

I did this once, had a friend on a separate booking seated beside me. I used the web chat for it and it worked seamlessly. However, that would probably be because I paid for my friend's upgrade on the flight, so they could see my card details to one extent or another in his booking, so that probably made the security thing much easier. I didn't have to involve him at all, which was nice.

I have heard from others about this conferencing people in and adding nominees... GPDR is a big thing in Europe.

corporate-wage-slave

In essence just have one of the other travellers round with the phone on speakerphone (though not in a BA lounge....). It seems a reasonable thing to do rather than taking it on trust that you can alter somebody's booking without their consent.

csdavidson

I had this recently with a friend on the same flight to BCN. I had to get them to add me as third party nominee on their account, despite knowing all the flight details.

Last time I did this (probably pre 2018?) it was very simple and didn't need this.

JD1905

I done this recently but had added them to my household account. Just provided the booking ref.

Dave Noble

It is good to see an agent doing what should be done in regards to someone's booking. No one should be able to modify someone elses booking without their express permission

If the person has made a separate booking, what is to tell the agent that they would be happy having some other random passenger decide where they sit?

lhrsfo

This is classic BA putting obstacles in the way of its customers. How many people give Gold members their PNR when they are on the same flight so as to sit elsewhere on the plane?

chazman189

Likewise having to give email, full address, card number when calling the helpline - they ask more than most banks do.

investing some of this £600m into voice recognition software will save them thousands. Just think how long the agents spend EVERY SINGLE CALL asking people for all that data, which often people don’t have to hand (hence extra time while they find it).

BLHD

Lotta People in this thread that don't understand GDPR.

Considering BA's £20m fine in 2020 for a GDPR breach, I'm not too surprised at the current process.

For the record, I have undertaken this process.

Anonba

The process hasnt changed, even before 2018 or before the data breach BA’s guidelines for agents have been clear. An agent can only discuss or action anything on a booking if the agent speaks to a named person from the booking (passenger, cardholder or authorised third party) and they clear the appropriate security questions.


I’m always surprised by the reaction people have to this, as ultimately its there to prevent someone fraudulently accessing your booking.

RichieMc

Enterprising data pirates know that if you want to fraudulently access someone else’s booking and upgrade them, change their seat to 35B or order them the gluten-free or halal meal, then don’t bother phoning in; it’s way to hard too get all the info required to get through security. Instead, do it on ba.com. Here you just need PNR and last name to wreak havoc.

Frequentflyer99

I have made TCP seating requests many times over the years, both pre and post 2018, and have never once been asked to have the other pax confirm the request. I do not have a HH account, so that has had nothing to do with it.

aks120

I tried to do this a few months ago - it was easier to give my friend a silver card and then they could move themselves to sit next to me!

If you have got a PNR and the correct surname, you don’t need BA call centre staff to do anything nefarious - you can do it online yourself if so inclined! Well if you can get BA’s IT to work! Therefore the argument about ‘accessing’ a booking to do something fraudulent isn’t really valid!

It is not always easy to get folks in the same room on a conference call with BA - in fact damn near impossible when the reason you are taking the trip is to meet up for the first time in years.

I also do not believe BA have any GDPR knowledge in their company when they ask me to send the same personal details over and over again when I email the GGL team. They are just useless at anything to do with IT.

Regards

aks120