BA overbooking - a bad experience
in [Airline Travel]
|
Prev: Jews Strive To Restore Christmas Trees At Seattle Airport
Next: United Mileage Plus mystery terms
From: Tchiowa on 26 Feb 2007 19:52 On Feb 26, 10:13 pm, hummingbird <RHBIYDTNP...(a)spammotel.com> wrote: > On Mon, 26 Feb 2007 15:38:58 +0100 'Thur' > posted this onto rec.travel.air: > > > > > > >"hummingbird" wrotenews:kvc5u2p2ll76bl7jmel6544t7gr2pflnpc(a)4ax.com... > >> One hour later it became apparent from a BA memo circulating along > >> the passenger queue that BA had overbooked this flight by 90 seats > >> and were asking for BA passengers to accept an alternative travel > >> package to London (overnight hotel in Bangkok, flight on China > >> Airlines to Hong Kong [3h40m] the following morning and a flight from > >> Hong Kong to London on BA the following evening - plus a card worth > >> £250 which BA claimed could be used to w/d the cash in *many ATMs*. > >[snip] > >> We were scheduled to take off at 00.10am but eventually got airborn > >> at 02.15am, arriving back at LHR at 07.30am instead of 05.50am local. > >> A total of 15 hours on the plane plus 3.5 hours to get checked-in. > >An obese guy sitting next to you can happen everywhere. Further, Ia delay of > >1h40m is not that huge... The alternative offered for the overbooking isn't > >that bad etiher; I think I would have taken it. I don't see what's the "bad > >experience" at BA's fault here. You wrote you arrived 3h30m before scheduled > >departure time to the check-in, so why you mention that again is beyond me. > > If you can't see the bad experience I described here, I'm sorry for > you...perhaps you aren't aware of what a nightmare flying is becoming > these days: 3-4 hours to check-in, ineffective security checks, shoes > off at LHR, personal items in plastic bags, inadequate seating, flight > delays, damaged luggage, lost luggage etc etc. I disagree with you completely. Thur was right. For the record I fly over 100,000 miles a year, every year and have for a couple of decades. So I'm well aware of what flying is like. I would *not* describe it as a nightmare. I think you've over-reacted. There was a cancelled flight. That is going to create seating problems. It's a reality in flying. It happens. Be prepared for it. Some of your complaints are "off the board". Examples: Inadequate seating: You asked for a small seat. You bargained for a small seat. There are bigger seats available but you chose not to pay for one. People have complained a long time about small seats in Economy, but when given a choice between slightly larger seats at a slightly higher cost in Economy the vast majority choose cost over comfort. So you get what you pay for. As Thur points out, obese passengers are a fact of life. I sympathize with you. Qantas should make people pay for 2 seats if they can't fit into one. Agent information: You complained that your "agent" (Expedia) didn't give you enough information. Expedia is *not* a travel agency. People use Expedia so they can save the cost of travel agents. You chose to do that then complain because they didn't give you the service that you chose not to pay for. Doesn't make much sense, does it? Flight delays: Come on. 1 1/2 hours on what amounts to a 24 hour flight (roughly). 3 continents, 2 days. You don't think that's a bit of an over-reaction? Lost or damaged bags: In 3 million miles of air travel the worst damage to my luggage was a couple of broken handles. In each case it was cheap luggage. Never lost a bag. A couple of times there were delays, but no losses. Yes it does happen sometime. But considering the volume of luggage it's pretty rare. 3-4 hours check-in: I just don't get that. It rarely takes me more than 15 minutes. But I can see that some flights do get long lines at check-in. No where near 3-4 hours, but an hour at least. However that's in the Economy line. Again, this is a choice you made. You pay for reduced service, you get reduced service, what is the complaint? > Yes, I arrived 3.5hrs before my flight time but *not* to stand in > a queue waiting for BA to get their act together. Many airlines don't open their check-in counters more than 2 or 2 1/2 hours before flight time. So you did, in fact, ask for an extra hour or more wait time. In my opinion it's worth it. I always try to get to the airport early. Don't like surprises. But if you get there early plan on accepting the fact that you are there early (!) and thus will have to kill some time.
From: ant on 26 Feb 2007 21:16 hummingbird wrote: > On Mon, 26 Feb 2007 13:30:39 GMT 'Bobs your uncle' > posted this onto rec.travel.air: > > Stick to Qantas, give BA the flick I say! > > I suspect that my personal experience is not unique to BA these days. > I hear that overbooking flights is quite common in the US. It is *very* common. Whenever I catch a US domestic connection, there's a mild riot at the gate as anxious people line up hoping for a seat, or they ask for volunteers to let their seats go. The compensation is miserable, too. It is only worth taking if you live in the town as there's no offer of accommodation or anything. If they tried that in Australia, there'd be an explosion. -- ant Don't try to email me; I'm borrowing the spammer du jour's addy
From: Jim Ley on 27 Feb 2007 03:06 On 26 Feb 2007 16:52:42 -0800, "Tchiowa" <tchiowa2(a)hotmail.com> wrote: >Inadequate seating: You asked for a small seat. You bargained for a >small seat. There are bigger seats available but you chose not to pay >for one. People have complained a long time about small seats in >Economy, but when given a choice between slightly larger seats at a >slightly higher cost in Economy the vast majority choose cost over >comfort. So you get what you pay for. Especially as it was a BA long haul flight, so there was going to be an Economy Plus seat available without paying the full Business class fare. Jim.
From: Sanja on 27 Feb 2007 04:15 "hummingbird" wrote in message >A bad experience ... (cut) I've had a bad experience with Air China a month ago
From: Sanja on 27 Feb 2007 04:16
"Sanja" wrote in message > I've had a bad experience with Air China a month ago Oups ... I've clicked "send" unintentionaly. Sorry guys. :-( |