Ex Ba staff travel

[Scouser1]

Ok, I hope this is in the right place-mods please move if not. I left BA in 1998,taking voluntary redundancy. I have received several emails from BA (all from a "do not reply" email address) saying from 1st April 09 I will be entitled to receive staff travel benefits again. I have not been given any contact within BA to ask a question about this, and have trawled the internet, and BA intranet without success. My question is, if I nominate 2 friends as my travel companions, can they travel alone on ID90s, or do I have to go with them???Thanks in advance. x

[beerdrinker]

PM me your email address and I will send you the document

[Scouser1]

Have PM'd you as requested..............

[kotakota]

Yeah , its real lousy , got to choose between the 2 candidates for the position of 'future Mrs Kotakota'.........swine...........

[Jean-Lill]

Former staff get only one nominee and if that person is a friend he/she becomes your travel companion and cannot travel without you.

If you log on to 'my.baplc.com' and select the option 'not a ba staff member' there is a link at the bottom of the page inviting former employees (not existing former employees) to register their details.

Hope that helps.

[Scouser1]

Thank you all-yes, it appears just 1 person can (in theory) be nominated as travel companion. I have until 31st Mar to change the details on the BA Intranet, but bearing in mind the facility to change details has been down (confirmed by BA IM) for at least 2 weeks now, and there seems no urgency to fix the snag, I can't get up too much hope of sorting it....

[stevefruin]

fantastic................ ive moved house 4 times since leaving ba looks like ive lost my staff travel as ive missed the deadline of 31/mar ?:confused:

[Tercarley]

You are lucky thats all youve got to worry about.

I took early retirement in my late 40's as a lot of my colleagues did at the time. We are now all in the position of not having more than 5 years left for staff travel under ST09 rules, which may not affect me so much but will affect my wife (who is quite a bit younger than me) and my children who often travel on Hotlines through my staff travel entitlement. When I joined BOAC we were told its staff travel for life for yourself and spouse ( if and when I kick the bucket) - not when Willie Walsh got at it though.

I would have thought that money from Staff Travel might be a welcome gift to BA considering their results. Its not as though we are taking pax seats as its sub load except the free one or 2 a year and thats debatable if there are fare payers wanting to get on!

Retirees in Australia and New Zealand are very affected by this dictate from management. Anyone who doesnt know about ABAP should join them they are possibly the only people that can helpm ex BA employees.

[Private jet]

Tercarley,

BA staff travel is a concession, not a right, so therefore it has never been guaranteed. Perhaps people should have thought about that before emigrating to locations distant.
I know that its a bit of a bummer, but if you seem to think that the company owes you some sort of "debt of gratitude" for life then i'd like to know why.

Kind Regards.

[itwasme]

because...."it's the BA way"...

:yuk:

[Tercarley]

When you join an airline and you are told when you sign your contract that there will be staff travel for life you naturally assume that this will be so. There is no need for a lecture on staff travel is a privilege not a right - it would just be nice to know that what the company said to you was actually a fact.

That is why the people that moved to the Antipodes did so knowing ( wrongly it would seem) that they would be safe.

Because I left BA early having been assured that Staff travel was available till I was in my mid 80's I have now forfeited even Hotlines - along of course with everyone else that did so - Flying Staff, Office staff, Ground Staff as well.

[BOAC73]

Tercarley,
Don't take this the wrong way......but retired in your late 40's! Your BOAC pension is obviously serving you well.
When I retire at 65, I'll have 49 years worth of staff travel to look forward to......and also "great health and a massive pension".....I don't think!
cheers,
B73

[Tercarley]

Didnt say I stopped flying then, too young, but did BA a favour by taking early retirement then.

Went to SIA and then later onto another long haul flag carrier in the UK!!!!

[Private jet]

Tercarley,

When you joined the company you were told that you would get staff travel for life. Was that fact in print on your contract of employment? No. I doubt you have an argument legally, and morally you come across as greedy and self righteous. My Dad flew for BOAC/BA for 30 years, hes not moaning about the changes, in fact his comments were "well, thats fair enough"

All the best,
PJ.

[Tercarley]

Really he must be in the minority because the Association of British Airways Pensioners is full of exstaff complaining and contesting it. There are obviously a lot of self righteous people about.!!!!!!

By the way not only were people told when they joined the company that they would get staff travel for life, but when I left I had written and signed documents by the then Personnel Officer to the effect that there would be staff travel for life and my entitlements.

I think that if you were in the same situation - exstaff with entitlements running out you might feel differently - perhaps your father doesnt want to travel any longer but I do.

[boris]

Tercarley

Of course you can travel - get your card out and buy a ticket!

Many of us who are former staff do just that simply to guarantee our travel when we want to and ensure that we are able to moan if we feel a moan coming on.

[Tercarley]

Yes, I do, get my card out, I buy hotlines. Wont be able to though soon. When concessions finish there is no access to them.

[Gatwickba]

People who took the ERVS packages may well have been told they would get staff travel for life, but it aint worth a pinch if its not in writing, but then it can never be in writing because its not part of a contract, its a concession.

I've just got my staff travel back for the next 11 years or so, which is great as I am only 36 with 2 young kids. I've been paying full fare for the last 7 years so every little helps.

I know of quite a few cabin crew who got pensioned off due to "duty related illness" and were expecting to have staff travel for ever, and now will lose it in 5yrs or so but hey ho, it was never guaranteed. Maybe they can flash the cash and buy a ticket on BA.com after all its only 10% more expensive than hotline ;-)

[BOAC73]

.....you did BA a favour!!???
B73.

[hautemude]

Tercarley

Do you also remember when you signed your contract that you were told that if you left early to join a competitor, then you would lose your concessions immediately.

I don't know why you think you have lost Hotline unless you have no friends among the serving or retired staff. All you have to do is ask them and then re-imburse them, since they must pay with their credit card.

What about SIA and the other flag carrier I think you said you worked for, don't they offer concessional travel?

I will lose my BA concessions when I'm 89, but I gave them my life and what fun it all was!

[Tercarley]

Yes , thats exactly what happened and I got them back when I ceased working in the Far East and the other flag carrier. I naturally didnt need them with BA when I was working for the other airlines. I bet there were other people that broke that rule though! And still do.

Yes, I agree it was fun - the whole airline career.