 Poster: A snowHead
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On checking in BA kindly invited me to let them know more than 3 days before my flight (lol) that I am bringing ski equipment “to improve the chances that it travels with me”.
There’s a phone number. I rang it. The automated voice sent me a text message to the link that tells me I should call it. And hung up. The online chat machine does exactly the same.
What should I do please?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I'd suggest badgering them on their Socials... that seems to be the most rapidly responded to way of getting attention these days.
In the meantime I'd make sure you know their lost luggage protocol book and verse, the CAA guidance and your own travel insurance coverage.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Hmmm. The same helpful bot runs their Twitter feed.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Strange, this all sounds new for BA and unsurprisingly not well done. I guess due to peak ski bag season?
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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I wonder how many pair of skis failed to "travel with the owner" last year to prompt such a strange request?
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Get yourself prepared for loosing it, e.g. pack clothes into a different bag than skis and check as others suggest your insurance. BA lost recently my bag during stopover. I wasn't sure how it would work because I flew to point A with BA and then ryanair to point B. BA could have delivered the bag by point A later that day (it flew with the next flight) but I wasn't there so got it actually 3 days later. On arrival to point B I did some shopping for whole my family to a point it wouldn't disturb holiday (swim shorts, goggles etc) and they refunded for everything without an issue. When i travelled recently for snowboarding I calculated that the value of my bag was easily over £1000 which is the limit of airlines responsibility, so worth checking if insurance covers the rest.
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@James the Last, Are you travelling on one of their smaller aircraft such as some of the Cityflyer fleet (or whatever it’s called this week) out of London City or a provincial airport? If this is the case it’s not that unusual in the industry, if you are on an Airbus out of Heathrow it is!
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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I tried on the number you can get to from the link in that page. Managed to speak to someone, who then gave me a different number: 0344 493 0787. Tried that (option 3, option 3) at which point the recording said they're taking too many calls at the moment and they hung up...
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I don’t know why they don’t just put that as a selectable option in the managemybooking interface they have, surely easier all round than trying to ring them.
Have you tried their chat to see if they can register it for you?
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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I eventually talked to a real person on Twitter who said 'just turn up with it'!
And I'm frlying out of Gatwick tomorrow (Friday) so hopefully it won't be too horrific...
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Sounds like they don't have an actual system and it is more of a CYA if they don't load your baggage. I suspect the average baggage handler isn't at loading accessing a separate system to see whose bags should have priority.
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Probably just something that might make customers feel better if you get thru and register but probably won’t change what they do, i.e. put it in the plane or leave it at the airport as operational requirements dictate.
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You know it makes sense.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Are you on a direct flight?
I suspect this comes from the pain of anything not in London flying through London (E.g. if I'm flying from Manchester, I'd always have to go through Heathrow....so BA to Europe is always a non-starter).
Historically, getting bags (of any kind) onto a connecting flight at Heathrow could be problematic (especially if there's a terminal change or a short transfer). I'd imagine ski equipment is the sort of thing that gets offloaded and sits in a pile until they've done the other stuff so often misses transfers.....
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Poster: A snowHead
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| James the Last wrote: |
| On checking in BA kindly invited me to let them know more than 3 days before my flight (lol) that I am bringing ski equipment |
how can you check-in 3 days before?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Finally got through to someone. They want to know the weight and dimensions (for the form they fill in) and it's not something you can do yourself online - only they have access to the form. Apparently not a new requirement either.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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| endoman wrote: |
| https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/british-airways-executive-club/2143501-notify-us-72hrs-advance-policy-sports-equipment-new.html |
Interesting. I don't find their explanation terribly convincing - there are massive numbers of baggage handlers at LHR, and knowing that a single punter on a single flight may bother to fight their way through the offshore customer services... seems unlikely as a business approach.
Air Canada do not do that, although I've never bothered telling BA and had no trouble with that. However, AC did have something like that for air bags. I rang them up (in the US; UK customer service is garbage, use Skype and ring the 0800 US number...) and they didn't know what I was calling for. So I didn't bother after that.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| LushRFC wrote: |
| Finally got through to someone. They want to know the weight and dimensions (for the form they fill in) and it's not something you can do yourself online - only they have access to the form. Apparently not a new requirement either. |
It didn't use to be in their T&C last time I checked, depends how recent "new" is to the person claiming not new requirement.
Lufthansa will take skis for free and you have to phone to get them added though that is in addition to your bag allowance
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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@LushRFC, flew with them last April with a ski bag, just turned up with it (at T5 LHR using the night before check in to be exact), didn’t see this on the website and no-one at check-in mentioned a thing or batted an eye-lid then so cant be that old a requirement.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| endoman wrote: |
| https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/british-airways-executive-club/2143501-notify-us-72hrs-advance-policy-sports-equipment-new.html |
Thanks for that link. From their replies it seems it's not that if you don't notify them of taking ski bags you will be individually identified as not being able to take them, more the case that if more than the average number of passengers are taking ski bags on a flight and BA aren't notified by those passengers then some passengers (presumably the later ones to check in bags) may not get their ski bag shipped on their flight.
FWIW I've never heard of this BA policy before and have always previously just turned up with my ski bag at check-in without any problems.
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| Alastair Pink wrote: |
| endoman wrote: |
| https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/british-airways-executive-club/2143501-notify-us-72hrs-advance-policy-sports-equipment-new.html |
Thanks for that link. From their replies it seems it's not that if you don't notify them of taking ski bags you will be individually identified as not being able to take them, more the case that if more than the average number of passengers are taking ski bags on a flight and BA aren't notified by those passengers then some passengers (presumably the later ones to check in bags) may not get their ski bag shipped on their flight.
FWIW I've never heard of this BA policy before and have always previously just turned up with my ski bag at check-in without any problems. |
I'm inclined to @endoman's view - I've never had the checkin staff care about which order they tag my bags, when there are normal and ski bags (or normal bags and a bike box, more recently), which would suggest they don't have any way of knowing how many ski bags are already checked in.
This would suggest that it's more about the overall risk - i.e. that if nobody bothers to tell BA, a random selection of ski bags don't make it onto the flight.
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This is sounding like one of those things we're uneasy about ignoring but usually do anyway, such as the dimensions of our carry-ons.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Think with BA nowadays baggage is the least of your problems with their tendency to cancel flights at the last minute, both my OH and now by brother had theirs cancelled this year.
My brother only last Saturday flying Heathrow/ Lyon 15:40 then dumped onto a Sunday AM flight
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| snowdave wrote: |
| Alastair Pink wrote: |
| endoman wrote: |
| https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/british-airways-executive-club/2143501-notify-us-72hrs-advance-policy-sports-equipment-new.html |
Thanks for that link. From their replies it seems it's not that if you don't notify them of taking ski bags you will be individually identified as not being able to take them, more the case that if more than the average number of passengers are taking ski bags on a flight and BA aren't notified by those passengers then some passengers (presumably the later ones to check in bags) may not get their ski bag shipped on their flight.
FWIW I've never heard of this BA policy before and have always previously just turned up with my ski bag at check-in without any problems. |
I'm inclined to @endoman's view - I've never had the checkin staff care about which order they tag my bags, when there are normal and ski bags (or normal bags and a bike box, more recently), which would suggest they don't have any way of knowing how many ski bags are already checked in.
This would suggest that it's more about the overall risk - i.e. that if nobody bothers to tell BA, a random selection of ski bags don't make it onto the flight. |
Perhaps we're at cross purposes, I think that's what I was trying to suggest. 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| Alastair Pink wrote: |
Perhaps we're at cross purposes, I think that's what I was trying to suggest. |
Sorry, misunderstood you! I thought your comment about later check-ins was that those people would get refused.
My experience of BAs baggage systems is that once it's gone on the belt, everything else timing-related is relatively random. We did check in some air-tagged bikes very early a few weeks back, and they were about the last thing onto the plane.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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| snowdave wrote: |
| ... My experience of BAs baggage systems is that once it's gone on the belt, everything else timing-related is relatively random. ... |
Mostly they're using the airports' baggage system and the local check in staff. Hence I don't understand how this "double check in" thing works.
Are they really suggesting that BA's contract ground staff are paid to sort ski bags to penalize those of you who didn't talk to their offshore call centre in advance? That seems expensive and stupid and achieves nothing. It seems bizarre! If they don't put something on your tag ... then the rest of the airline systems simply don't know you're bad, so I don't see how they can penalize you.
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Turkish Airlines have the same baffling skis pre-check. But when you try, via socials/emails etc, it's v hard to get a reply/confirmation! Yet at the counter, they get upset if you've not done(r) it... Madness.
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You know it makes sense.
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I did eventually get through to a real person on Twitter.
They were unaware of the policy, so I directed them to the Ts and Cs.
All a bit meaningless as with only a handful of us on the flight so they cancelled it ‘for operational reasons’ 80 minutes before take off.
It then took an hour to get back out into the real world. And onto EasyJet - rather than wait until tomorrow on BA. Doubtless I will have to fight them not to cancel my return flight too.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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@James the Last, unlucky. And then there should have been plenty of space for ski gear if the flight had gone.
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Poster: A snowHead
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@James the Last, 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@James the Last, that's a bummer. Make sure you claim your £220 and any relevant expenses - my understanding is that the expenses are in addition to the compo claim, so if you needed a taxi at the other end, lunch, etc., then that all goes into the pot.
There's a very good thread on the flyertalk BA forum that details how to go about the whole thing with BA.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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@James the Last, BA have a duty of care. It is their Job to put you on another flight. If you booked EZY independently I’d get confirmation in writing that you are allowed on the return flight. They may argue that you didn’t get on the initial rearranged flight so the return is void.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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PS this happened to me in Hong Kong. Sorry sir, the flight is cancelled and we have you on a flight tomorrow. I just said there is another flight going to LHR so put me on that.
There was no guarantee I would get my connecting flight to Glasgow but I just said, I’ll then get BA to put me in a hotel at LHR.
They flew me back on the other flight business class.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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They need to make this notification digital, asking people to call in and get put on hold just raises anxiety and stress and is a terrible customer experience. I had my Snowboard left behind at Heathrow on a simple flight from LHR to Salzburg last winter, I checked in 3 hours before, but my friends who checked in 2 hours before all had their skis/boards arrive. I'd hope that they know Saturday flights out to Geneva, Salzburg etc are going to be stuffed with ski equipment and plan accordingly.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| James the Last wrote: |
| .....All a bit meaningless as with only a handful of us on the flight so they cancelled it ‘for operational reasons’ 80 minutes before take off..... |
Unfortunately just like I mentioned in my post above, BA are getting worse than Ryan Air nowadays 
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| Quote: |
| Unfortunately just like I mentioned in my post above, BA are getting worse than Ryan Air nowadays |
I've had ski flights cancelled fairly last minute with easyjet and Jet2 and had skis not turn up with BA, KLM and Lufthansa - but had no issues whatsoever with 20 years (or more) of Ryanair bookings.
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| Quote: |
| ...BA are getting worse than Ryan Air nowadays |
| Quote: |
| ...I've had ski flights cancelled fairly last minute with easyjet and Jet2 and had skis not turn up with BA, KLM and Lufthansa - but had no issues whatsoever with 20 years (or more) of Ryanair bookings. |
It's quite hard to get an objective view of airlines.
This is quite interesting, but needs some interpretation. Easy Jet may have most incidents... but one needs obviously to factor in somehow the number of flights and the average length of flight and number of segments and.... They do provide their methodology, but it seems to me to be a "journalist" approach - I'm not sure if it's actually useful or not. I'd expect that type of short-haul "discount" airline to have more customer problems even if they were equally good, it's just harder to make that work than a few long haul flights per day. They do link to the CAA complaints data.
My experience is that bad things happen with all airlines, and standard-class customer service is not really a thing.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Well I made my transfer (by the skin of my teeth), so the extra time I’d have had to wait at GVA was instead spent running around LGW.
@snowdave, Thanks I’ll have a look for that thread.
I’ll cheerfully settle for a refund and £220. TBF it’s not cost me anything (other than a couple of hours’ coffee with laptop) other than the EZY fare.
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@James the Last, well done!
I'm not sure you can get a refund _and_ the £220. Taking a refund pulls you out of the compensation loop and absolves BA of its requirement to get you to your destination or compensate you; effectively it cancels the contract on both parties.
I think the way it works is that if you made it to GVA within 3hrs of expected time, then all you can claim is costs (EZY flight + incidentals). If the alternative travel arrangements took you over 3 hrs, you should be able to get costs + £220. Effectively, you're "transferring" your BA ticket over, in an economic sense, and then claiming compo for late arrival if that's available.
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FAQ
