spc354

I travel frequently for business and pleasure. I understand things occasionally go wrong inspite of airlines' best intentions. While I have 2 Million Miler lifetime status on Skyteam, I am an ordinary AAdvantage member. In context, I believe the service I received from BA yesterday was a disgraceful reflection on the UK Flag Carrier.

I checked in for my flights from INV to EWR via LHR for November 26, 24 hours in advance (November 25) and had seats assigned on both segments. I boarded the INV-LHR flight knowing that BA 189 (LHR-EWR) had been down guaged (the gate agent at INV told me), but I still had boarding cards with my confirmed seats and that I would be OK. Arriving in LHR the automated gate did not work with my LHR-EWR boarding card. I was told I was put on standby and my seat assignments were no good for BA189. When I asked the CSR what was the metric for removing pax from an oversold flight, I was not given an answer. The supervisor, whose name I have, then told me it was "random," but another said it was per a process that was not to be shared with me. I was told first to stand near the Standby desk until the flight closing time to find out if I had a seat. After waiting for 40 minutes I was told to go to the gate (B35, T5). There I was told I was not going to fly on BA 189, but there was a possibility that I could go LHR-JFK on BA 179 which would leave at 6pm and arrive into JFK at 9:15pm. I said I would accept that as long as my checked baggage was on the same flight. The agent said that would be guaranteed. I was then asked to take the very long walk to the new gate (C56, T5) without taking the train since the latter would require me to go through a securuity check again. I did so and eventually boarded the flight. Arriving in JFK I waited an hour for my bags which never showed. At that point a BA staff informed me that they knew my bags were arriving on Nov 27 on a different flight (BA 117). Also since my home was more than 100 miles from JFK, they would not be delivered until Nov 29.

I spent $370 to go from JFK to NJ where my car was. I give BA a failing grade for 2 things:
1. Denying me boarding when I already had boarding pass for BA189, and not explaining the reason to me.
2. Lying to me that my bags would fly on BA 179 if I accepted the switch of destination to JFK. This appears to be a tactic that is frequently used by BA staff to get disgruntled passengers off their hands (this was laughingly explained to me by BA staff at JFK). While I was getting regular emails from BA about my upcoming flights, I never received any informing me of a. my denied boarding situation, or b. My bags not flying with me (even as they knew it as I saw on the screen of the baggage handler in JFK).
I am not going to swear about not flying BA ever, because you never know! But I do want people to know this institutionalized practice of gate agents lying to passengers and denying boarding to passengers with seat assignments without explaining the metric followed. Never take their words as truth.
I have verified that if it wants, BA can identify who were lying to me yesterday as the IDs of gate agents who switched my reservation are recorded by the system.
Their delayed bags website still did not have any information about where my bags are this morning, and do not show any of the additional information which the individual handling the delayed baggage report collected from me last night. So much for going to ba.com/baggage!!
If they had leveled with me that my bags would not be on the flight, I would have waited in London for the next flight to EWR.
Please beware of these lying gate agents at BA (definely for LHR, but probably also true for BA across the board. Finally, before I get comments such as this happens at other airlines too, please let me tell you that I have experienced such blatant lying to my face rarely in my 35 years as a frequent flyer.

c1223

Aside from the fact that every airline in the world overbooks flights, I don't think the gate agent has lied to you about baggage. Bare in mind, it is in BA's best interests to get the bags to their final destination with the passenger. Someone else will explain the exact intricacies of what happens in case of IDB, but between take off and landing they have 7 hours to ascertain that your bags haven't made it onto the original flight and get them onto the next one.

It is interesting that they didn't offer you the BA181 - maybe it was full?

BA should cover your $370 and compenstate you due to the IDB. The compensation due depends on if you arrived at Newark 4hrs or more late, which may be likely as BA189 is schedule to arrive at 19:45, and you arrived to JFK on BA179 at 21:22 yesterday. Then there is the time getting from JFK to EWR. Hopefully your taxi receipt shows arrival time at EWR.

spc354

Thanks.
1. My missing bags report clocked in at 10:35 pm. Should address your taxi receipt concern.
2. It is in the best interests of BA (and every other airline) to get their passangers and baggage to the right destination at the right time. But then there is the reality. How they handle customer service issues is what makes the difference. Being upfront and providing the correct, even if not pleasant, update seperates the good from the rest! Being a BA Gold, you seem very knowledgeable about its practices. I would sincerely like to know if you have any insights into how they deny boarding to someone who has already checked in 24 hours in advance.
3. I will not name the BA staff in JFK who told me that this was a practice (lying to passengers) in cases such as mine just to make the problem go away from them. Being a BA Gold and all, YMMV of course.
4. As I said in my post, even now, when I check my ba.com/baggage site for tracking my missing bags it stll says "being searched." This is way beyond 7 hours won't you agree?
By the way if you want to carry on this conversation you can also do so with private messaging. I am OK either way.

cargueiro

The gate agents probably thought your bags would be loaded. The gate agents don't load the bags. There are all sorts of reasons why your bag may have been delayed and not been loaded. The Turnaround Coordinator is under pressure to get the aircraft Ready to Go a few mins before STD and sometimes has to make a decision to stop loading any further delayed baggage in order to achieve an ontime departure.

I have no idea how BA choose people to offload. I think it is automated these days. I imagine passengers with no Executive Club or high Oneworld status and who are not connecting at the destination and who are travelling solo are top of the list.

KARFA

I just want to note that you do seem to have a claim regarding denied boarding, and you can find more information in the guide here

The 2023 BA compensation thread: Your guide to Regulation EC261 / UK261

scottishpoet

I doubt many gate agents or staff at conformance will know what the offloading algorithm is.

Much like op ups, i suspect it is all automated. I doubt it was the gate agents that did it.

Had you waited for the EWR there is possibility your bags may not have made that either.

When coming off a flight feom DOH I have had LOT agents in WAW tell me my bag was in the system in waw. When i get to KRK theyvhave a note on the syatem it is still in DOH.

Telling people what they want to hear to move a situation forward does go on, not just in the airline industry

EuropeanPete

I don't think in this case it's exactly a case of lying: You clearly pushed the staff for a definite answer on topics they wouldn't have the fainted clue on. If they were better trained at customer service they would have explained that, but the language of your post it seems possible that you might have come across with a kind of aggression/ energy which doesn't translate well outside the US (from the amount of punch-ups in the US, I'm not sure it works well there either - but that's well OT).

Overall this sounds like a relatively happy conclusion to a missed trans-atlantic flight though. And do get BA to pay up the taxi fare and potential UK261 compensation (I didn't follow the whole timeline, but it surely must be some combo of IDB and/ or delay).

Jambon87

As above

Gate agents have no say in the loading of bags, so it’s a stretch to say that they have blatantly lied to you. They will have been of the belief that your bags would be loaded to the aircraft. However as per the above post, turnaround is a different beast and the decision may have been made to push back without further transfer bags, to avoid fines for delayed departures. This was probably decided as you boarded the aircraft.

It can be annoying when bags are delayed, however it’s best to take a beat. Claim for the IDB expenses and move on.

The “manhunt” you want to embark on with BA will not produce the results you may wish for.

Finland Station

As already noted by KARFA up thread, the OP needs to concentrate on the IDB compensation, not delay. The link provided gives all the info.

c1223

I believe no compensation payable as the delay was less than 3hrs. No downgrade was mentioned, so presumably also no Mennens calculation required either.

Actually I'd be interested to know whether full compensation is payable, because the delay is most likely over 4hrs, if the OP didn't leave JFK until at least 22:35 due to trying to get missing bags.

SK AAR

Forget the rant. Nobody lied to you. If you pushed the agents for confirmation that your bags would be loaded on the same flight to JFK, then obviously agents would reply that the bag(s) would be loaded. Would you expect the agents to say that the bags wouldn't be loaded/wouldn't make it? Point is that you asked staff that had absolutely no say on or knowledge of whether your bags would make it on the same flight, and you received answers accordingly.

Focus on the compensation for IDB and reimbursement of expenses incurred. You can't receive comp. for IDB and delay at the same time, so focus of on IDB compensation and move on.

ajamieson

Sorry to hear you were offloaded, which wasn't a good experience. Fortunately, BA is on the hook for compensation to you for the denied boarding, regardless of the length of delay. BA might also entertain your claim for the cost of getting from JFK to EWR, although I struggle to see how this cost $370.
In which case you should know that checked bags rarely survive a change of plan mid-route. Nobody lied to you, but the chances of bags getting onto an alternative flight are always slim and I'm surprised that a) an agent would promise this and b) anyone would believe them.

c1223

I doubt anyone except BA insiders know exactly how they choose who to offload. Along with how much they overbook a flight by, it is probably a relatively intricate process. (Alternatively, also knowing BA and their IT, they might just start at the beginning of the alphabet....)

As others have said, whether the staff actually knew where your bags were right then and there is probably irrelevant, because either way they cannot guarantee that in this kind of situation that they'll make a flight, let alone the same flight you've been booked onto.

Unfortunately the msising bag site is woeful, I will give you that. In my past experiences I've had the bags delivered to me before the website has been updated...

Misco60

I would expect the staff to reply truthfully, and say that they didn't know, rather than give a meaningless and dishonest guarantee just to be rid of the passenger.

Whether the gate agent was lying is a question of semantics, but the OP has every right to be annoyed.

Tobias-UK

The OP of course has every right to be annoyed. I suspect the staff he interacted with had an honest belief in what they told the OP, no lies, no deceit.

There is a straightforward claim for IDB (£520).