 Poster: A snowHead
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Just had a call from a pal who is flying down from Edinburgh to Heathrow this afternoon on BA. He's in a hotel tonight and then continues with BA tomorrow morning to San Francisco (and then Tahoe... the smug git). Thing is, for some good reason, he booked the two legs seperately. So, guess what? The jobsworth at Edinburgh insisted on charging him excess baggage because his gear, whilst being within the transatlantic allowance, was over the domestic allowance by a couple of kilos. After an assertive discussion, which included supervisors, he was forced to give in and cough up because "it was company policy" even though they could see how daft it may appear.
He advised them that there would be a cost to their actions equal to or greater than the excess baggage charge and that part of that would be paid in negative publicity on here. So here it is. I'm sure he'll be along to add flavour. His main concern wasn't the fee but the surly, inflexible attitude towards him. The customer is always wrong eh?
Anyhow, this is a guy who flies up and down all the time. He clearly has a choice. I expect he'll be on bmi in future as will all his staff! BA's loss.
Personally, I'm a big fan of BA and my own experience is different. (Before anyone asks, the fella in question would have been polite)
Last edited by Poster: A snowHead on Thu 19-02-09 17:41; edited 1 time in total
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Bode Swiller, I feel another pedant attack coming on. 'Different from this' rather than 'different to this'? I can do totally missing the point. 
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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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achilles, neither 
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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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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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IME BA are very good at working out whether you are a valued customer or not and adjusting their behaviour accordingly. sounds like they may have got it wrong in this case
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| Bode Swiller wrote: |
| Anyhow, this is a guy who flies up and down all the time. |
Clearly not one of the those guys with a wingsuit, because they never seem to gain altitude. Superman?
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Bode Swiller,
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... the smug git).
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Perhaps the BA staff thought the same 
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Bode Swiller, boy, that would annoy me too. Companies need to learn to delegate reasonable authority to front-end staff. You've reminded me that my trip to Tahoe next month involves a couple of (US) internal flights with kit. Scurries to find out Southwest Airlines policy...
achilles, there's also "different than". This is one usage where I don't know what is "right" and can't decide what sounds right. I expect I use to/from/than randomly.
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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 can tell you that our own experience with BMI was totally different, despite booking both legs of a trip to Canada separately as it was cheaper to do so at the time (can't remember how) , they allowed us the transatlantic allowance for the domestic flight too.
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I always try and avoid flying with BA but it's not always possible, the cabin crew always seem to behave like a bunch of supercilious wannabe nannies. Seems the airport staff are no different.
Last edited by Ski the Net with snowHeads  on Thu 19-02-09 18:21; edited 1 time in total
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Flying BA from Aberdeen to SFO in just over a week and its a single booking so if I don't get the transatlantic allowance from Aberdeen to Heathrow, there will be hell to pay after going with a single through booking rather than train to London on the basis that you did get the transatlantic allowance right through. First short haul flight in over 4 years before anyone preaches about carbon emissions!
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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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That's unfortunate, and bad publicity duly noted. In my limited experience with BA they've been pretty accommodating, including them voluntarily suggesting a MAN-SFO flight with a two month stop-over in London in order to keep an airmiles flight within its 12 month deadline.
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In my experience with BA the customer service is far better than most other airlines I've flown with. The only time I reomotely had a problem with baggage was when I was flying out with skis in early November and the girl on the check in didn't know that skis were carried free. She soon found out they were though.
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You know it makes sense.
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I have always had better experiences with BA than with other airlines (SAS excepted who are amaaazing). BA check in staff have even persuaded me that the extra bag I had one day contained sporting equipment and therefore wasn't a problem (it did have my running shoes in!). Sounds like this chap was unlucky, particularly as he's going all that way and the snow in europe is sooo good this winter!
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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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Bode Swiller, How tiresome. I prefer BA as they always treat me right (and for no reason, as I fly as little as possible, which is not very much). I'm sure your mate was polite and I suspect a polite letter to the appropriate board members copied to the Telegraph will, as usual, work wonders.
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Poster: A snowHead
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I generally find BA to be pretty good, but there have been one or two exceptions.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| Quote: |
the cabin crew always seem to behave like a bunch of supercilious wannabe nannies
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I experienced that once, flying to the Pacific, via LA. Having got up extremely early I was starving by the time the flight left around mid-day. And not drinking any alcohol (40 hour journey). So the free champagne and canapés left me a bit cold. I asked if I could have my meal, or something, early and with rather bad grace the woman provided it. And very small it was, too. About an hour later, when the main meal was served, I asked if I could have another one. She looked at me as though I'd crawled out from under a stone. "You've already had yours" she announced crossly and loudly, as though I was a greedy 4 year old (as opposed to a greedy 44 year old). The man next to me, who by this time had thrown quite a few free drinks down his neck, graciously said he wasn't hungry, so I could have his provided he could have the accompanying (rather good) wine.
This was in a half empty Club (Business) class cabin.
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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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BA have recently outsourced their ground services and service is no where near as good as it used to be. In saying that, when I had a problem at Glasgow airport I fired off an email to their customer service dept. and the matter was quickly resolved to my satisfaction. It would be worth a try.
Last edited by Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see? on Thu 19-02-09 20:35; edited 1 time in total
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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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Bode Swiller, didn't your mate have a "I'm a frequent flier so you're my bitch" card with him?
US customers are now paying ski carriage and excess baggage on most internal flights - but checked through to London - no problem. This has given rise to many people in the US fedexing their skis from home/work straight to the hotel....
Tough times for airlines - expect more of this stuff.
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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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| Quote: |
He clearly has a choice. I expect he'll be on bmi in future as will all his staff! BA's loss.
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Except that I've had similar problems with BMI, whom I now don't use unless there's no choice. A couple of years ago they (i) wouldn't let me check my bags through from Leeds-Bradford to Vancouver, because my onward flight was with BA (meaning I had to lug everything from T1 to T4) and (ii) charged me excess baggage. This wasn't a problem I'd encountered in previous years, but was now, apparently, "company policy". - interestingly, the return flight with BA let me check everything through from YVR, no problems, no excess. (Except that when I got back to LHR, I discovered that BMI had cancelled my flight to LBA a month earlier, but had neglected to inform me. Just what you want after a 9.5 hr flight, having to wait around T1 for 7 hours for the rejigged connection).
Now I use KLM.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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| stoatsbrother wrote: |
| Bode Swiller, didn't your mate have a "I'm a frequent flier so you're my bitch" card with him? |
flies a lot but blue tier cos he doesn't enjoy buying full price flexible tickets.
Anyway, I have more info... he was 2kg over. He suggested to the lady that she would have the power to waive the fee and she replied "I do but I'm not going to". Difficult not to reach over and start throttling IMO.
Then, upon arrival a Heathrow T5, his bag (of the split roller variety) came around the carousel completely unzipped and open for all to see. It was explained to him that this would have been as a result of inspection by security at Edinburgh. Connected to previous events at check in? Maybe not but it is now. This otherwise sane individual is about to go insanely ballistic at someone in a BA uniform in the morning.
Anyway, BA upgraded me on the way to Chicago two weeks ago so I'm still a fan.
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| Steve Sparks wrote: |
| Sounds like this chap was unlucky, particularly as he's going all that way and the snow in europe is sooo good this winter! |
Have you seen the Kirkwood snow report this past week 50+ inches I believe
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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 would follow up with BA. If you look at their website baggage policy states that a single pair of skis is free of charge: http://www.britishairways.com/travel/bagsport/public/en_gb
The info is slightly confusing as it states that most skis fit the maximum dimensions which include 90cm length and yet it accepts any recognised ski bag. It sounds like your friend has such a bag and so I would get in touch and explain this. It sounds like your friend got someone who had got out of the wrong side of bed in the morning or who didn't know the rules.
My experience with BA has been good - I used to travel on 4+ flights a week with work and would say that BA were amongst the better airlines.
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lionrampant, he wasn't carrying skis.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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I'ts a bitch of a world out there now. Fewer small companies that offer service have gone by the wayside. Replaced by huge companies whos staff simply dont care. Suffice to say, if they can hinder your experience they will !!! No matter how friendly and nice you are to them at check in !!!
Idiots like Stellios have fueled this. This has filtred down the ranks of other companies to the check in clerks.
I used to feel like a customer at check in..
But I thought BA were better than this. I am shocked by this posting !!
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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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So is the domestic allowance 20kgs and the international 25kgs?
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You know it makes sense.
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So BA have actually done nothing wrong and the guy has a strop on because he did not get his own way. Maybe some one else got out of bed the wrong side and not the BA staff
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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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rayscoops, probably depressed by the continuing declining value of property 
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Poster: A snowHead
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| Bode Swiller wrote: |
| Then, upon arrival a Heathrow T5, his bag (of the split roller variety) came around the carousel completely unzipped and open for all to see. It was explained to him that this would have been as a result of inspection by security at Edinburgh. Connected to previous events at check in? |
Had the same thing happen to my wife and I flying back from JFK last summer. We had an almighty run-in with the check-in staff and then, lo and behold, not only got pulled aside for some very 'detailed' questioning at security but also found our luggage had been opened and gone through very thoroughly when we got it off the carouselle. Severly pissed off. Although this was with Zoom, so I guess they got what was coming to them...
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