BA 2689 25th August.

[boguing]

Slim chance I know, but if any crew on the above flight could wish my Daughter a Happy Birthday, you'd make me very happy!

pm for her name if you can help.

[Cloud Bunny]

Mate, just pass a note to the Cabin Crew who will pass it onto the Flight Crew when you get on. We get them all the time and just read out the message when we do the PA. No worries!

[Hotel Tango]

Did you not consider that perhaps boguing isn't on the flight himself and thus cannot pass a note to the CC?

[Capetonian]

Another option would be to ask whoever made the booking, or a BA office, to have an SSR CKIN (Special Service Request) in the PNR so that the check in people would know and wish her, and/or possibly pass that request to the crew. You may also be able to request, as a chargeable service, a cake or bottle of bubbly, but as it's a short haul flight I don't know if that will be possible.

If none of the above works, you could call BA at Genova and ask if they can do something, but if it's a handling agent that might not work.

[HEATHROW DIRECTOR]

Crews usually play along. Two ex-ATC colleagues went on Honeymoon so we passed the info to the crew, hoping they might have some fun. We later heard that soon after the doors closed there was a PA call for "Mr Smith" to make himself known. He stood up, waving his arms...... the lady on the PA said something like "OK, Mr Smith. We have a message from your wife and children to say enjoy your business trip"!

[west lakes]

I do know of certain ATCOs who, if they have a friend on-board a flight, inform the crew on first contact about, usually non-existent, birthdays!

[Pistonprop]

Many moons ago when we were all one big family and aviation was still fun, I informed the Captain of an aircraft flying through our air space that my mum & dad were on board and to wish them a fun holiday, give them a bottle of champers and send me the bill. This, by the way, was done on a discreet frequency which the crew had been asked to call on their 2nd box and not on an active sector frequency. Next thing I knew was that mummy was on the r/t saying hello to me and we had a nice little chat for 5 mins. I was never charged for the full bottle of champagne they received! Those were the days. What a sorry state the industry is in now. I'm glad that I'm no longer a part of it.

[boguing]

Hotel Tango is spot on. If I was on the flight she'd probably not get on!

I'd follow Capetonians' advice if I knew where to start. A bottle or a cake would be brilliant, and am obviously happy to pay. She's 19 so no probs with booze.

I'd have guessed (never having flown to from Genoa) that it would be an agent. So hoping to find an insider on here.

Thanks for the tips folks, keep 'em coming. She's my favourite daughter.

[boguing]

Slightly disappointed. Just come off the 'phone from BA. A very nice girl has done the SSR thing, but I can't pay for bottles or even cakes.

I can buy her a better seat, so I'll do that. (Via web).

Just a bit sad because it's not the BA of old in which nothing was too much trouble.

[boguing]

Yep. That is fairly typical spoil-sport behaviour.

At what point did I ask for an announcement? Whilst I admit that my post can be read that way, what I intended it to mean was 'say hello to her at the door, find her a nice seat and a glass of something'. I really didn't think I'd need to spell it out in small words for the hard of thinking.

Have a nice day now.

[WillDAQ]

They didn't want to listen to an after-dinner speech in flight!It's the pre-recorded one just before take off that annoys me, flew four United flights in one day and by the end of it wanted to cause serious harm to Jeff Smisek.

jdI7kA2YqTw

[Shack37]

Yep. That is fairly typical spoil-sport behaviour.

At what point did I ask for an announcement? Whilst I admit that my post can be read that way, what I intended it to mean was 'say hello to her at the door, find her a nice seat and a glass of something'. I really didn't think I'd need to spell it out in small words for the hard of thinking.

Have a nice day now.


Boguing
Agreed, always beware of someone who starts by apologising for maybe being a "spoil-sport", it usually means they enjoy it.
I hope you managed to get a message to your daughter.

[MIDLGW]

I'm going to be a spoil sport as well. Sorry.

We get so many requests every day, we just can't do a "favour" for everyone. Announcements, special greetings, getting a better seat*, a glass of something** or anything else people might ask for. Birthdays, weddings, engagements, anniversaries, retirement, stag/hen dos, graduation, passing driving test and not forgetting "Just because". Where does it end?

*Seems to me you're hinting for an upgrade in your post. We're not allowed to do that.

**A glass of something? Like what? Champagne? No can do, I'm afraid. All drinks are free on BA so I'm sure your daughter didn't go thirsty.

As an aside, I hope you only have the one daughter, due to your comment about this one being your favourite.

Having said all that, I hope your daughter had a lovely birthday.

[boguing]

Well thanks for that guidance.

I have two children.

I've paid for an upgraded seat.

Didn't know that drinks were free in coach. I've only travelled First on BA.

Didn't want free Champagne/cake, wanted to pay for it, but can't, apparently.

Oh. And it's not actually her Birthday. That's in April. Just a joke, but I get the feeling that I'm going to have to explain that concept.

So you have a nice day too.

ps. The other child is a boy. And he's not my favourite daughter.

pps. If you're a trolley dolly with BA, it would fit with my experience so far, and if I were to hazard a guess, yellow wrist band?

[west lakes]

I've paid for an upgraded seat.

A nice gesture that I'm sure a lot of folk would appreciate
If upgraded to the appropriate class champagne is free and
available

Didn't know that drinks were free in coach. I've only travelled First on BA.

Lucky for you, some can't afford that, but hey it's well known that BA is a full service airline.

Most folk can appreciate a joke, but rather that wait till late in the thread it would be nice if folk could try to tell the full story upfront, saves on confusion and reduces the risk of adverse comments

At least one of those who replied is probably one of the most customer careing cabin crew I know. But having said that one who will not shirk from telling it is how it is!

[boguing]

Not lucky at all. Dad was an RR designer so we got pretty good treatment when I was a kid. Old boy thing (and his hard work) rather than money.

As a paying passenger, I've flown BA a a bit. Employer paid. Not luck. I worked hard. Honeymoon. Precursor to the brats. Fab, Rome to home, that one sealed it for me. Hotel owner had forgotten to deliver our passports, BA cc got us through emigration without us having to pay Italian Customs what would probably have been 'quite a lot' of cash. Brilliant. UK Customs just smiled and said that we were 'obviously' English. (Probably meaning 'twats that left their passports behind').

Kai Tak to Heathrow for work, top deck and 3 exit seats on a 747 - not actually First, but my two co-directors and I certainly felt First. 3 seats each and as many meals and drinks as we could consume. Just five px on the top deck, and that the cc should hoist the screens and have the night off. Excellent atmosphere. Original flight over booked, and my lazy check-in strategy worked!

I am a huge BA fan, and despite having spent hours on the 'phone and web over the last few days to achieve one little thing, I'm exhausted.

Oh. And. Update.

ps. I thought that I was paying for an upgrade, but have just seen that I've got her into a wing exit row free. Upgrade to Business was E900. Not really up for E90 let alone that. That makes me happy. Yes. Happy. Please note.

pps. F'r Heavens sake, I love BA. I'm British and hugely supportive. I just asked for a bit of help from nice people and seem to keep having to explain myself.

ppps. I hope that I'm not coming across as a whiner. The ONLY airline that has ever concerned me was JAT back from Dubrovnik. Walk/board through rear centre steps. The oil dripping down from the centre engine was definitely fresh.

[boguing]

How very sad.

She got the exit seat that I booked.

And nothing else.

How sad that air travel has got to the point where the aircraft and flight itself are so safe, but the experience so utterly awful by way of check-in times etc etc, and that the Airlines themselves are doing nothing about making the experience memorable.

The England to France ferries twigged this years ago. To appeal to Chunnel users they had to create an experience that camouflaged the fact that it took multiples of Chunnel time to get across on water. They went a bit 'cruise' like. Tacky in some ways but not awful. Nipping out on deck for a cigar beats standing by your car inside a train wishing for something to look at.

What a wasted opportunity. They have a captive audience but fail to take any initiative to make the punter feel special.

Offered a glass of free wine? Nope, she didn't realise that it was available, so the BA pitch must be 'anything to drink?', which to a mere mortal will imply 'can you afford one?'.

Honestly, I feel like starting a proper airline.

And I think that I might be starting to whine.

[Bealzebub]

How sad that air travel has got to the point where the aircraft and flight itself are so safe, but the experience so utterly awful by way of check-in times etc etc, and that the Airlines themselves are doing nothing about making the experience memorable.

Welcome to the world of mass air travel where it is the common expectation that an international airline ticket should cost less than the same person might spend on a pair of jeans.

I thought it was very nice of you to sort out a better seat for your daughter, and I hope she had a nice birthday (whether it was her birthday or not?)

The problem with mass transportation by air these days, is that the yields are wafer thin because the price competition is so intense. I know you were prepared to pay for an extra service, but the truth is very few people are. As such, providing what in effect is a "bespoke" service, simply isn't cost effective.

As far as the death of the nostalgic "glamour" of air travel is concerned, that ship was launched three decades ago to the chants of "Laker, People Express" and well and truly sailed under the banner of "Ryanair, Southwest, easyjet" and others.

Anything approaching "bespoke" these days, is going to come at a significant price point, and in the pointy end of the plane.

I know it probably seems sad that announcements and other social banter is often met with a distinct lack of enthusiasm, but by and large it simply no longer fits in with the culture of the product.

Different people have different attitudes, but when I get requests to make this or that announcement, I don't want to be perceived as some sort of "disc jockey" and as result won't do it. I know it seems miserable, but in truth I need to maintain an authority where the next announcement I make might require an evacuation. I cannot have people wondering whether I am being serious or not.

Similarly, these days everybody is attached to a video camera and a voice recorder, and to that end I need to be satisfied that any announcements I make are not going to potentially cause either me, my crew, or my employer any embarrasment, taken in or out of context.

The hassle factor isn't constrained simply to those taking a path to the passenger cabin. The crew are working to tight report schedules, often minimum rest, the same intrusive (and often nonsensical) security searches, random DfT inspections, rapid turnaround times, slot restrictions, etc. There is very little time to deal with anything out of the ordinary, and few people have the time to entertain requests to that end.

Having laid down my credentials for "miseryguts of the year," we do still try and invite people to the flight deck on the ground for a quick visit when we haven't been able (or willing) to do anything else. I am happy to wish them a happy birthday, or answer any questions in the few minutes that can be squeezed into whatever time is available before the crew bus needs boarding (everybody is waiting!) or the fuel bowser needs attending to, or the agent needs some important information, or needs to impart same.

Such is the reality of mass air transportation in 2011!