BAH - one leg cancelled (very long story!)
Aug 27, 2023, 11:54 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Oxford, United Kingdom
Programs: BA GGL, NH SFC, IHG Diamond, Radisson VIP, HH Diamond, SPG Gold
Posts: 838
BAH - one leg cancelled (very long story!)
I just started my BAH this morning, which has been disrupted. I started my journey from NCL, supposedly arriving into LIM via LHR & MIA within today.
When I was checking in at NCL, the check in agent was struggling to check me in and eventually told me to ask someone to issue tickets at LHR. He, however, managed to produce the bag tag all the way to LIM. Then I went to the lounge at NCL and noticed a text message saying my flight to MIA had been cancelled. This seemed to be received during the check in process. No reason mentioned at all, I did not know what to do on the airside. They put me into tomorrow's same flight, which means I would have 26 hours at LHR. No follow-up from BAH, I was advised onboard to speak to the ground staff at LHR.
When I spoke to the customer service at LHR, the agent could not find any alternative option arriving into LIM today, also alternative flights had no First (i.e. Iberia) though my booking is F. The agent also issued a hotel voucher for the Sofitel, it's 7:30am-ish but the check in time was 3pm, so he advised me to go to the BA arrival lounge.
At the arrival lounge, I was advised to go to the First Wing as they might be able to issue "yesterday's hotel voucher" so that I could check in now. And I did, and a supervisor was bothered to speak to the Sofitel and confirmed I could check in immediately. The supervisor kindly spoke to the baggage area too so that I could get the bag back too. She was told that the bag would be ejected onto Carousel 11, but it would take one hour. So she told me to go to the hotel first and come back to the baggage enquiry when settled at the hotel.
Then I went to the hotel, shockingly no room was available. I had the name of the person whom the supervisor talked to, but the hotel said there was no person with such a name! I rang the supervisor's mobile, and she directly talked to the hotel but was not successful. She told me to stay at the hotel reception, so I was waiting for over 1 hour, and I got one call back with no update and nothing afterwards.
Also, it's almost the time for the bag to come out, so I went all the way back to the baggage enquiry area. I was told that a bag handler would bring mine and just to wait around the area. About 1.5 hours later, they could not locate my bag because there were too many bags but the handler was working alone. (some people were crying and/or agitated at the area, it was really chaotic)
It had been more than 4 hours by that point since I got to Heathrow, I headed back to the First Wing and managed to find the supervisor. She offered the access to the BA arrival lounge and I waited there until 2pm or thereabouts (it's already around the midday).
I was quit upset because:
1) I talked to the lounge staff a couple of times between all these incidents, the arrival lounge staff kept refusing my access because there were many such travellers, they should be treated equally.
2) One GGL agent I spoke to at the very beginning was helpful, he sorted out several things until a sudden cut off. The other two I spoke to later were rather unpleasant, both said almost the same thing the lounge staff said. The third male agent sounded like he's even upset with my request for the one-off lounge access (he said he's been in the GGL team for 10 years, no one never asked).
3) BAH just rebooked me into the next day flight and sent me a change notification email, no follow up on the accommodation at all. They did not even offer any alternative routes, just changed my itinerary without any communication.
In particular, I was extremely disappointed with the GGL agents. I was in very complicated situations a couple of times in the US, the CK agents were super helpful even though I was only BA GGL.
When I was checking in at NCL, the check in agent was struggling to check me in and eventually told me to ask someone to issue tickets at LHR. He, however, managed to produce the bag tag all the way to LIM. Then I went to the lounge at NCL and noticed a text message saying my flight to MIA had been cancelled. This seemed to be received during the check in process. No reason mentioned at all, I did not know what to do on the airside. They put me into tomorrow's same flight, which means I would have 26 hours at LHR. No follow-up from BAH, I was advised onboard to speak to the ground staff at LHR.
When I spoke to the customer service at LHR, the agent could not find any alternative option arriving into LIM today, also alternative flights had no First (i.e. Iberia) though my booking is F. The agent also issued a hotel voucher for the Sofitel, it's 7:30am-ish but the check in time was 3pm, so he advised me to go to the BA arrival lounge.
At the arrival lounge, I was advised to go to the First Wing as they might be able to issue "yesterday's hotel voucher" so that I could check in now. And I did, and a supervisor was bothered to speak to the Sofitel and confirmed I could check in immediately. The supervisor kindly spoke to the baggage area too so that I could get the bag back too. She was told that the bag would be ejected onto Carousel 11, but it would take one hour. So she told me to go to the hotel first and come back to the baggage enquiry when settled at the hotel.
Then I went to the hotel, shockingly no room was available. I had the name of the person whom the supervisor talked to, but the hotel said there was no person with such a name! I rang the supervisor's mobile, and she directly talked to the hotel but was not successful. She told me to stay at the hotel reception, so I was waiting for over 1 hour, and I got one call back with no update and nothing afterwards.
Also, it's almost the time for the bag to come out, so I went all the way back to the baggage enquiry area. I was told that a bag handler would bring mine and just to wait around the area. About 1.5 hours later, they could not locate my bag because there were too many bags but the handler was working alone. (some people were crying and/or agitated at the area, it was really chaotic)
It had been more than 4 hours by that point since I got to Heathrow, I headed back to the First Wing and managed to find the supervisor. She offered the access to the BA arrival lounge and I waited there until 2pm or thereabouts (it's already around the midday).
I was quit upset because:
1) I talked to the lounge staff a couple of times between all these incidents, the arrival lounge staff kept refusing my access because there were many such travellers, they should be treated equally.
2) One GGL agent I spoke to at the very beginning was helpful, he sorted out several things until a sudden cut off. The other two I spoke to later were rather unpleasant, both said almost the same thing the lounge staff said. The third male agent sounded like he's even upset with my request for the one-off lounge access (he said he's been in the GGL team for 10 years, no one never asked).
3) BAH just rebooked me into the next day flight and sent me a change notification email, no follow up on the accommodation at all. They did not even offer any alternative routes, just changed my itinerary without any communication.
In particular, I was extremely disappointed with the GGL agents. I was in very complicated situations a couple of times in the US, the CK agents were super helpful even though I was only BA GGL.
Aug 27, 2023, 12:27 pm
#2
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Hampshire UK
Programs: BA Silver, Virgin Red, Accor Gold, IHG Platinum
Posts: 151
I just started my BAH this morning, which has been disrupted. I started my journey from NCL, supposedly arriving into LIM via LHR & MIA within today.
When I was checking in at NCL, the check in agent was struggling to check me in and eventually told me to ask someone to issue tickets at LHR. He, however, managed to produce the bag tag all the way to LIM. Then I went to the lounge at NCL and noticed a text message saying my flight to MIA had been cancelled. This seemed to be received during the check in process. No reason mentioned at all, I did not know what to do on the airside. They put me into tomorrow's same flight, which means I would have 26 hours at LHR. No follow-up from BAH, I was advised onboard to speak to the ground staff at LHR.
When I spoke to the customer service at LHR, the agent could not find any alternative option arriving into LIM today, also alternative flights had no First (i.e. Iberia) though my booking is F. The agent also issued a hotel voucher for the Sofitel, it's 7:30am-ish but the check in time was 3pm, so he advised me to go to the BA arrival lounge.
At the arrival lounge, I was advised to go to the First Wing as they might be able to issue "yesterday's hotel voucher" so that I could check in now. And I did, and a supervisor was bothered to speak to the Sofitel and confirmed I could check in immediately. The supervisor kindly spoke to the baggage area too so that I could get the bag back too. She was told that the bag would be ejected onto Carousel 11, but it would take one hour. So she told me to go to the hotel first and come back to the baggage enquiry when settled at the hotel.
Then I went to the hotel, shockingly no room was available. I had the name of the person whom the supervisor talked to, but the hotel said there was no person with such a name! I rang the supervisor's mobile, and she directly talked to the hotel but was not successful. She told me to stay at the hotel reception, so I was waiting for over 1 hour, and I got one call back with no update and nothing afterwards.
Also, it's almost the time for the bag to come out, so I went all the way back to the baggage enquiry area. I was told that a bag handler would bring mine and just to wait around the area. About 1.5 hours later, they could not locate my bag because there were too many bags but the handler was working alone. (some people were crying and/or agitated at the area, it was really chaotic)
It had been more than 4 hours by that point since I got to Heathrow, I headed back to the First Wing and managed to find the supervisor. She offered the access to the BA arrival lounge and I waited there until 2pm or thereabouts (it's already around the midday).
I was quit upset because:
1) I talked to the lounge staff a couple of times between all these incidents, the arrival lounge staff kept refusing my access because there were many such travellers, they should be treated equally.
2) One GGL agent I spoke to at the very beginning was helpful, he sorted out several things until a sudden cut off. The other two I spoke to later were rather unpleasant, both said almost the same thing the lounge staff said. The third male agent sounded like he's even upset with my request for the one-off lounge access (he said he's been in the GGL team for 10 years, no one never asked).
3) BAH just rebooked me into the next day flight and sent me a change notification email, no follow up on the accommodation at all. They did not even offer any alternative routes, just changed my itinerary without any communication.
In particular, I was extremely disappointed with the GGL agents. I was in very complicated situations a couple of times in the US, the CK agents were super helpful even though I was only BA GGL.
When I was checking in at NCL, the check in agent was struggling to check me in and eventually told me to ask someone to issue tickets at LHR. He, however, managed to produce the bag tag all the way to LIM. Then I went to the lounge at NCL and noticed a text message saying my flight to MIA had been cancelled. This seemed to be received during the check in process. No reason mentioned at all, I did not know what to do on the airside. They put me into tomorrow's same flight, which means I would have 26 hours at LHR. No follow-up from BAH, I was advised onboard to speak to the ground staff at LHR.
When I spoke to the customer service at LHR, the agent could not find any alternative option arriving into LIM today, also alternative flights had no First (i.e. Iberia) though my booking is F. The agent also issued a hotel voucher for the Sofitel, it's 7:30am-ish but the check in time was 3pm, so he advised me to go to the BA arrival lounge.
At the arrival lounge, I was advised to go to the First Wing as they might be able to issue "yesterday's hotel voucher" so that I could check in now. And I did, and a supervisor was bothered to speak to the Sofitel and confirmed I could check in immediately. The supervisor kindly spoke to the baggage area too so that I could get the bag back too. She was told that the bag would be ejected onto Carousel 11, but it would take one hour. So she told me to go to the hotel first and come back to the baggage enquiry when settled at the hotel.
Then I went to the hotel, shockingly no room was available. I had the name of the person whom the supervisor talked to, but the hotel said there was no person with such a name! I rang the supervisor's mobile, and she directly talked to the hotel but was not successful. She told me to stay at the hotel reception, so I was waiting for over 1 hour, and I got one call back with no update and nothing afterwards.
Also, it's almost the time for the bag to come out, so I went all the way back to the baggage enquiry area. I was told that a bag handler would bring mine and just to wait around the area. About 1.5 hours later, they could not locate my bag because there were too many bags but the handler was working alone. (some people were crying and/or agitated at the area, it was really chaotic)
It had been more than 4 hours by that point since I got to Heathrow, I headed back to the First Wing and managed to find the supervisor. She offered the access to the BA arrival lounge and I waited there until 2pm or thereabouts (it's already around the midday).
I was quit upset because:
1) I talked to the lounge staff a couple of times between all these incidents, the arrival lounge staff kept refusing my access because there were many such travellers, they should be treated equally.
2) One GGL agent I spoke to at the very beginning was helpful, he sorted out several things until a sudden cut off. The other two I spoke to later were rather unpleasant, both said almost the same thing the lounge staff said. The third male agent sounded like he's even upset with my request for the one-off lounge access (he said he's been in the GGL team for 10 years, no one never asked).
3) BAH just rebooked me into the next day flight and sent me a change notification email, no follow up on the accommodation at all. They did not even offer any alternative routes, just changed my itinerary without any communication.
In particular, I was extremely disappointed with the GGL agents. I was in very complicated situations a couple of times in the US, the CK agents were super helpful even though I was only BA GGL.
Aug 27, 2023, 2:44 pm
#4
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Oxford, United Kingdom
Programs: BA GGL, NH SFC, IHG Diamond, Radisson VIP, HH Diamond, SPG Gold
Posts: 838
For me, the most shocking thing was that the arrival lounge staff did not give me the access even though I as GGL travelling on First was in such a situation. Also, I was in front of the arrival lounge and asked GGL agents to talk to lounge staff members, which was refused.
Aug 27, 2023, 2:48 pm
#5
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Oxford, United Kingdom
Programs: BA GGL, NH SFC, IHG Diamond, Radisson VIP, HH Diamond, SPG Gold
Posts: 838
* I only received the generic message "It's nearly time for your trip with BAHs" after the cancellation!! Outrageous whilst I was panicking!!
Aug 29, 2023, 7:08 am
#6
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Oxford, United Kingdom
Programs: BA GGL, NH SFC, IHG Diamond, Radisson VIP, HH Diamond, SPG Gold
Posts: 838
Just one update.
I checked in the hotel booked through BAH, but initially my booking was missing. This is because BAH did not inform them of the flight cancellation and the new check in date, the hotel regarded my stay as a no show...
I did ring BAH telling that the one day less stay needed to be confirmed when my original flight was cancelled, and the agent said the hotel had been notified and the check in date updated, which was not true... Apart from double TPs, BAH are pretty useless imho.
I checked in the hotel booked through BAH, but initially my booking was missing. This is because BAH did not inform them of the flight cancellation and the new check in date, the hotel regarded my stay as a no show...
I did ring BAH telling that the one day less stay needed to be confirmed when my original flight was cancelled, and the agent said the hotel had been notified and the check in date updated, which was not true... Apart from double TPs, BAH are pretty useless imho.
Aug 29, 2023, 7:32 am
#7
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: JER
Programs: BA Gold/OWE, several MUCCI, and assorted Pensions!
Posts: 32,146
Poor show by BAH on the hotel aspect. We had the same happen with our trip to HER last year, where BAH didn’t advise the hotel we would be a day late. Fortunately the hotel guessed what had happened (flooding in Crete) and kept our reservation open.
"It's all Greek to me", or "Per Astra ad Crete" with BA.
"It's all Greek to me", or "Per Astra ad Crete" with BA.
Aug 29, 2023, 9:28 am
#8
Join Date: Dec 2007
Programs: BA Gold, UA Premier Platinum, Bonvoy Platinum, OnBusiness, Eurostar C.Blanche
Posts: 106
So despite the supervisor at the First Wing granting you access to the BA Arrivals Lounge, they still did not let you in?
Why did you not ask the supervisor to call them again or to even quickly accompany you to the Arrivals Lounge, to ensure that you get in?
Why did you not ask the supervisor to call them again or to even quickly accompany you to the Arrivals Lounge, to ensure that you get in?
Aug 29, 2023, 9:50 am
#9
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: UK
Programs: BA Blue, IC Spire Ambassador
Posts: 5,229
Thank you for sharing and I’m glad you got there. I’d love to say this is shocking but I’m not shocked as it’s typical of BA - one arm does not know what the other is doing sometimes! It’s got lots of people who really care and then get let down by colleagues, third party contractors and shoddy IT.
This should not be how it is - I’m not being an apologist for the treatment.
You did very well to get a supervisor and for them to phone the Sofitel. It sounds like the Supervisor was operating in Cinderella-land though and perhaps should have managed your expectations downwards!
I hope you get to enjoy your holiday, get the extension, and smoother sailing from here.
This should not be how it is - I’m not being an apologist for the treatment.
You did very well to get a supervisor and for them to phone the Sofitel. It sounds like the Supervisor was operating in Cinderella-land though and perhaps should have managed your expectations downwards!
I hope you get to enjoy your holiday, get the extension, and smoother sailing from here.
Aug 29, 2023, 6:28 pm
#10
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Oxford, United Kingdom
Programs: BA GGL, NH SFC, IHG Diamond, Radisson VIP, HH Diamond, SPG Gold
Posts: 838
I managed to get the supervisor when I went back to the First Wing, she came to the lounge with me and finally the lounge staff let me in. It was almost 12 noon, was there only for 1.5 hours or so. Just moving between the Sofitel, the First Wing and the baggage enquiry for 5 hours, which was ridiculous.
Aug 29, 2023, 6:35 pm
#11
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Oxford, United Kingdom
Programs: BA GGL, NH SFC, IHG Diamond, Radisson VIP, HH Diamond, SPG Gold
Posts: 838
Thank you for sharing and I’m glad you got there. I’d love to say this is shocking but I’m not shocked as it’s typical of BA - one arm does not know what the other is doing sometimes! It’s got lots of people who really care and then get let down by colleagues, third party contractors and shoddy IT.
This should not be how it is - I’m not being an apologist for the treatment.
You did very well to get a supervisor and for them to phone the Sofitel. It sounds like the Supervisor was operating in Cinderella-land though and perhaps should have managed your expectations downwards!
I hope you get to enjoy your holiday, get the extension, and smoother sailing from here.
This should not be how it is - I’m not being an apologist for the treatment.
You did very well to get a supervisor and for them to phone the Sofitel. It sounds like the Supervisor was operating in Cinderella-land though and perhaps should have managed your expectations downwards!
I hope you get to enjoy your holiday, get the extension, and smoother sailing from here.