Acceptance of BA E-tickets in Africa
 

Just curious as to any firsthand feedback on how accepted or recognized E-tix are for BA flights into/out of Africa, specifically LHR-ACC-LHR. I expected an old fashioned paper ticket to arrive but received a faxed E-ticket instead. I know within Europe & N. America they are almost commonplace these days, but anyone think there'll be any waves created I should be expecting ex ACC or am I worrying about nothing?

You input is appreciated. :)

Recently flew from Cairo, and in order to get through security before check-in, I had to tick my own name off on a print out of the manifest (which oddly grouped names by the first letter of the surname, but not in an alphanetical list - The "E's" were almost at the bottom of the list for some reason).

What I would suggest is asking the check-in agent at LHR for an e-ticket receipt which will be printed on normal ticket stock. This should avoid any problems on the return as security will see it as a ticket.

Hope this helps.

Last time I flew from ACC, I would not want to be there with an e-ticket. It's not that they would not let you board: if you're unlucky, they will just use it as another excuse to give you trouble.

Given that in Ghana they will ask you for a bribe given half a chance, this will actually be viewed as half a chance.

I agreed to pay about £750 for excess luggage last time which greatly surprised check-in staff because they insisted that they can give me "cash discount" (i.e., no receipt) and it would be only £200.00. I said no, they took me to BA office at Kotoka airport and made me wait half an hour and then charged by Amex (yes, 2250 points, thank you very much).

Then they had the gall to offer me "manager's special upgrade" to CW for £200. Again, this were to be on no-receipt basis. I again declined.

Then a dude loitering around passport control offered me an immigration form for $5.00. I pointed it to him that there were forms freely available on a desk ten metres away. He told me "they're no good" but I suggested he should go to look for somebody else to cheat.

Then again, Ghana is not Nigeria and you're unlikely to feel harassed to the point where you feel like you're not safe or about to miss a departure.

And how are BA e-tickets dealt with in Nairobi?

What! That's a heck of a bargain. I would have jumped at that one.

Though back OT, surely the E-ticket would only matter at check-in, and I would guess the staff should be well versed on these by now. Provided you had an e-ticket receipt (though the prinotout at LHR/LGW is an excellent suggestion) you would get a boarding card that you would need anyway to get through security.

You have to see it in the context. After spending three months working in Ghana (make no mistake, I was fortunate enough to work with some of the most sincere and dedicated people that I have ever met) and after 90 days of getting through dozens of people all of whom wanted a piece of the action (contractors, officials, police, drivers - everyone), I was through with greasing the effing wheels every step of the bloody way. It was a matter of principle for me at that point.

Many airports won't let you in the building without a ticket.. never mind getting as far as check-in.

But I would think that someone in BA might borrow the company brain cell and figure out that if they are offering E-Tickets to a destination, then you would not have to have a paper ticket. If you have an e-ticket should be able to printout and show the receipt. If this were always the case then I'm sure BA would either instruct pax to have the receipt or paper ticket or only offer paper tickets to the destination.

I did LHR-NBO-JNB-CPT-LHR in club this summer.

In NBO they could not find my e-ticket on their system, but when I showed them my gold card they immediately sent three people to solve the problem and everything was fine after a few minutes. Just remember to print your own copy of the e-ticket.

Apparently Golds are quite rare on African flights so I got a lot of attention when compared to the usual cattle club flights between LHR and JFK.

South Africa did not present any problems with using e-tickets.

Where did you hear that?

LOS, JNB, CPT, NBO, etc are very lucrative routes for BA and are always filled with Prems/Golds/Silvs, MVCC's, & VIP's/CIP's.

You were in good company.

Maybe he means internal African flights (Comair)? Wouldn't think there are many Golds on those routes but I stand to be corrected.

Are you sure? I'm just curious (and not trying to be mean or cheeky), but what do you base that on, except maybe that the BA birds to Africa always seem to fly full, especially to JNB and CPT? I only ask because LHR-JNB is my most used route on the BA network, and I can't say the passengers seem any different than other routes and chats with crew do not seem to reveal an any more important manifest than anywhere else. And CPT is not exactly known as a business mecca (JNB draws a much bigger and more important crowd, even for tourism).

Previous poster is right though that BA staff in Africa seem to treat Gold and Silvermembers far better than anywhere else in the network. Contrasting my experience of treatment in the LHR, especially, where being Gold seems to mean little, in Africa (even JNB) and you feel like royalty.

African hospitality... they know how to treat guests well :D

The moral of the story is to always ask the agent to print a copy of the e-ticket reciept. If done at the airport (as suggested by ChickenOrBeef) it is printed on ATB style stock with a BA logo. This has been enough for security people in DEL, BOM and BUC amongst others. Personally the biggest hassle I have had is with SQ e-tickets at MNL - just about the only time I have to get the station manager involved.

A good lesson indeed... I always insist on a receipt that looks official, if not to satisfy security then to satisfy immigration officials who sometime enforce the requirement to have a return ticket to ensure you are leaving the country eventually.

Regarding Gold in Africa
 

My impressions regarding Gold being rare in Africa is based on the very good treatment I recieved and the fact that I did not really see any goldcard luggage tags.

On LHR-NBO on the upper deck, I was the first to be asked for dinner choice eventhough I was seated in the middle.

On check-in for JNB at NBO they sent three people to work on my missing e-ticket. This included one who closed down her economy class check-in stand.

At JNB my non-changeable redemption ticket was changed to an earlier flight without any discussion whatsoever.

I can assure you that no of these things have ever happened to my a paid fare thorugh LHR or JFK.