What is wrong with BA?

[Vortex what...ouch!]

Why is it that BA still insists on pushing customers away?

Today I tried to book a return flight from Manchester to Amsterdam. I presently fly this route (well Liverpool – Amsterdam) regularly with easyJet. A slightly different Friday night departure would suit me better, and BA fly it.

So I log onto the Internet fill everything out and then it tells me I cannot book it using a credit card from outside the UK when travelling from the UK. WHAT? I ring up and the guy says no he cannot do it either you will have to go to the BA office in Manchester and do it in person and be charged an additional £10 for the privilege. For my own security they say. Bollix I say, BA is the only airline who do this. It is just plain stupid. The better convenience of the BA flight is more than lost when I have to go to so much trouble to book it. How many foreign business travellers must be using other airlines because BA is pushing them away with this idiotic booking system? A perfect example of globalisation, not!

So back to easyJet it is for me. Nothing like making it easy for your competitors. Madness.

[MR WIBBLE]

Q: What is wrong with BA?
A: Rod Eddington.

[Avman]

Not just BA. Living in the deep south of NL my nearest international gateways are BRU and DUS. I had the same problem trying to book a flight on the internet from DUS to VIE with Austrian. I called reservations and complained about their discriminatory policy. They took my booking and dropped the booking charge! At least they showed some common sense.

[Carnage Matey!]

Every tried booking a ticket in the USA using a UK credit card? You'll need to show up at the nearest ticket office to pay for and collect the ticket every time. Its a pain in the rear but BA aren't the only airline doing it and I suspect it has something to do with credit card company rules rather than airline rules.

[zed3]

Had tha same problem trying to book South African internal flights via the internet a few weeks ago - only a South African credit card accepted so had to go to a travel agency here! Actually fare was cheaper still !!!

[Hobo]

BA is getting very ragged round the edges, I wanted to book Florence from their Cities and Short Breaks brochure for my daughter. They advertise a 24 hour booking service. For 3 days there was no answer (not even an answerphone) 7am-7.30am. The number for Cities on the BA website is "no longer in use" and gave the first number I had tried. Ringing it again I had to listen to music for 35 minutes around midday before giving up, ringing the customer service line, being given another number and to my surprise being answered "Welcome to Thomas Cook Travel".

As a concerned BA shareholder I rang the website Customer Service Number and guess what, 10 minutes of Music before I gave up. Rod should try contacting BA as an anonymous punter to see how it is all going downhill rather than relying on the sycophantic assurances of his managers.

[Boss Raptor]

and the moral of this story is...

do as I do, haven't let BA have any of my business for over 5 years...many, many deep seated complaints and reasons!

[str12]

About two years ago I flew up to Edinburgh and on the return leg I was at the airport about 4.5 hours early due to a free lift.

I asked BA if I could take the earlier flight to save me waiting but BA flatly refused, even after confirming both flights were almost empty. They said that my economy ticket wouldn't allow any changes.

I tried 'as a good will gesture' and argued logic but they said I would have to sit and wait for 4.5 hours and watch the almost empty earlier flight leave without me.

Thanks BA, you were so helpful :rolleyes:

[skybird]

Oh the joys of booking a ticket with BA... my mother in law regularly travels to visit us (MAN-LGW rtn). She's in her 60's and not sure how to use the Internet, so I do it for her. The BA website won't let me book a ticket for her on my credit card - it 'reserves' it for you so you can call up and book it over the phone. For the privilege of an extra £10 charge. There is no extra security over the phone than on the Internet (that's why so many other companies have succesful online booking systems). Oh, and they only take credit cards - not debit cards.
For BA as the flag carrier for the UK they certainly don't carry the flag when it comes to their technology. Not v good.

Come on BA - it's so simple, you could fix it - or would that make you lose lots of lovely £10 fees!

Does anyone know anyone else who flies MAN-LGW?:rolleyes:

[bealine]

It's becoming increasingly difficult to keep on apologising all the time for the company who, until recently, were the undisputed market leaders of the airline industry and Britains most desireable employer......However.....

1. Answering telephones, letters, faxes or e-mails has never been a strong point of BA - despite possessing every technological gadget known to mankind..............sorry!

2. British Airways Holidays and Thomas Cook Holidays joined forces a few years ago, (whether BA Holidays bought Thomasd Cook Holidays or vice versa I'm not certain, but I did read something about it a few years ago) but haven't really publicised the fact.........sorry!

3. Changing flights on a non-flexible ticket is a definite no-no - otherwise everyone would buy low cost non-flexible tickets and change flights. Unfortunately, the "one-off goodwill gesture" doesn't work - after all, the Railways will not let you use a peak hour train with an off-peak ticket regardless of whether or not the train was empty - why should BA?

4. To the unknown passengers the other day who wanted to pay £5000 at the gate to upgrade and Reservations refused to do the transaction 'cos they couldn't see the Credit Card - (Even when you suggested paying cash in US Dollars, reservations refused saying there wasn't enough time before pushback to process the booking change!!! - You knew, and I knew, how ridiculous that was - we could easily change your seat on the aircraft and process the computer entries later) - sorry!


To the shareholders (for turning away £5000 extra revenue) - sorry!

That having been said, the shareholders must also take some responsibility for allowing the BA Board of Comedians to continue in office - AGM after AGM, the same jokers are returned!

ROD EDDINGTON + ANSETT = CATASTROPHE

ROD EDDINGTON + BRITISH AIRWAYS = DISASTER


:eek:

[cargosales]

Boss Raptor:

SNAP. Never give them any business if I can possibly help it.

Bealine:

Gawd you must be frustrated. Catch22 to some extent. Lots of us out here would like BA to be the brill national flag carrier that it could be. But we won't use BA because of the appalling systems in place and the dreadful attitude of a small but significant number of people who work there. Even if things do improve, we're not going to know about it at first hand. Vicious circle methinks. Sorry.

Question to all: The low cost guys have all got great online booking systems so why can the 'real' airlines not do the same?

As an aside, why oh why will an airline not allow someone to travel on an earlier flight, even if they are on a cheapie ticket? Just seems plain daft. Takes a few seconds admin on the PC and would have GREAT PR value! Judging by this thread, BA could do with some of that!

[bealine]

Cargosales, you're dead right! I AM frustrated because I know that BA has good people, a modern aircraft fleet and the most up to date gadgetry and wizardry available to it! We have the ability to be the world's Number One, but are being let down by a handful of Senior Management who, in Biblical terms, are squandering their birthright!

I have never worked with better colleagues than those I work with at LGW, and I have to say, we all share the same frustrations and empathise with our customers! :cool:

[mainfrog2]

Is there any way we can e-mail this to Rod ( the whole thread and the one above it) these guy's are fiddling while Rome burns.

Quite honestly it looks to me like the board don't want BA as a shorthaul operator to succeed and seem to be doing a good job of achieving that goal. Then they can turn round in a couple of years time and say it can't work any more and cut it all and concentrate on longhaul.


I'm also getting sick of read the continued aren't we marvellous sicophants (spelling) who keep sending letters to BA news telling us it's all starting to get better and how good things look. I didn't realise we employed so many ostriches in our company.

[DistantRumble]

Regarding the Credit card from outside the country.

Is there a possibility that this is to avoid a person from outside the country buying a cheap ticket ?

[bealine]

I'm not sure, Distant Rumble, but it is a distinct possibility.

Equally, it could be the fear of lost/stolen/cloned cards being used- at least on Home Ground, there is a certain swiftness in the circulation of dodgy card numbers!

Thanks for your comments mainfrog2 - Unfortunately, I think if Rod got hold of these threads, Bealine might be in the aviation job market again soon (possibly even mainfrog2 too!) - accoriding to my M.P., Rod Eddington is a very "tough cookie"!

[Hobo]

Skybird, I've had no trouble using my debit card for booking BA tickets on the web....In fact in spite of the trouble in my post above I have recently booked to Pisa and Helsinki for travel in August and BA were the cheapest by far on the dates I wanted. (NOT the case to AGP where they were the most expensive by far)So it's not all bad news.

[DX Wombat]

If I may make an observation as a passenger. Mainfrog, your thoughts on BA shorthaul would seem to fit in with what I found recently. In November last year I flew out to Oz by my preferred route Manchester - Frankfurt-etc. The Manchester to Frankfurt sector was flown by BA using a 757 (I read my safety card so I know that's what it was) as it had been on several previous occasions. The aircraft was pretty full, only three or four empty seats. In April this year I set off again, same route, same operator. I got to the gate and waited for the 757 to arrive. It didn't. When I asked where the 757 was I was told "Oh we always use the Embraear 145" I wondered how long that had been going on but didn't ask. The Embraear, I was told, took 38 passengers and it was not full, there were several empty seats. BA would appear to have lost in the region of 60 - 70 passengers (sorry, I can't remember how many fit on a 757) on that flight alone. If they are losing passengers at this rate it is quite alarming.

[Pax Vobiscum]

On the positive side:

2 hours early for my 19:30 flight to LHR, waiting for check-in at Milan (LIN) with a '£25 to change' economy ticket. BA staff ask for anyone with a Club ticket and hand baggage onlywanting to change to earlier (17:30) flight (I guess the 19:30 was full/overbooked). Nothing ventured - show them my ticket.

Result - I get home 2 hrs early with an upgrade to Club and no charge for changing flight. BA get an extra seat on the later flight. Everybody happy.

[World Traveller]

More comments about BA in the BHX Eurohub thread a few weeks back.

WT

[Crepello]

The websites of some airlines (e.g. SWA) have a separate booking form for foreign credit cards, so I doubt there's a legal barrier to booking with overseas plastic. Organisational barriers may be harder to tackle... :rolleyes:

I'm amazed at BA turning down cash for an upgrade. Suspect they've lost a lot more than the five grand in question. However, I still think they're better than a certain Dutch airline. A colleague recently checked in at AMS to the following welcome:

"No sir, you didn't book business class. You booked 'business economy'. It's like an economy class seat at a business class price."

I wonder if Basil Fawlty considered a spell in aviation...

[bealine]

............Hope it's not the same Dutch outfit Rod Eddington keeps trying to get BA to climb into bed with!!!

[ST.CRISPIN]

What is wrong with BA? They got themselves into a pickle over 11/09/01 with the result that more employees left either for good or on 3/6/9/12 month unpaid leave. the result that there are not enough people to deal with what was already a stretched system.
Debit Cards-Visa debit and the like accepted but switch/ delta not as "Administrative cost is too high".
Ticket Changes-You but £79 midweek roundtrip incl taxes and you want to change. Mr Bloggs buys, by choice, a £300 midweek roundtrip incl taxes and he wants to change. If we let you change, even for £25, is that fair or justifying the high fare and loung access and interline capability and higher Exec club miles and higher exec club points and use of fast track lanes (if open!)?
Of course not. Thems are the rules. No airline operates a single aircraft with a single fare ever.. even the Frill-less ones. The less you pay the less you can do..not customer friendly if you need to amend your plans, but extremely customer friendly if you can from Lhr/gla tues-thurs for less then the lhr express 1st class!

I wish that our beloved leaders would come to the regions so that they can see exactly whats going on in the offices off the phones and behind the ticket desks. The proletariat are trying their bloody damnest to give everything a professional air, which is bloody nigh impossible when new systems do not work and of course you have 30 people in a q or up to 200 on the phone trying to get through ALL comlaining about the wait.
I suppose i shall wait in vain

[Sharjah Night Shift]

I have never had a problem getting on an earlier BA flight using a ticket from Air Miles by asking nicely at check in. Sometimes I have only been able to get a booking on the busiest flight due to the way seats are allocated to Air Miles. On one occasion I flew on the half empty 15.00 BFS-LHR service when the 17.00 I was booked on was oversold. This was after the sales desk had told me I would not be allowed on the earlier flight.

Sadly for BA I have never paid to fly with them as most of my trips are planned in advance and often don't include a Saturday night away making the low cost carriers my first choice.

[Tiger]

The BA 757`s are on there way out. ie they are being retired after along 20 year service with the airline. Smaller Airbus 319/320 aircraft are re placing them.

As the MAN-FRA is operated by BA regional ie 737 aircraft. The MAN based 757`s were main line a/c which up and downed on the LHR route. The Embraer aircraft may operate less dense routes and a times of day.
Its like the BHX-GLA route its shared with A319 operated by BA crew whilst some flights may be done with EMB a/c at less busy times operated by Brymon now CitiExpress.

[Shadowpurser]

Hmmm reading all this it does seem we at B.A. have a way to go. Unfortunately with a big comany come big problems, and solutions take a long time to come around because they have to aproved by so many managers.

Don''t worry - the staff are disparing at the situation as well. I am constantly writing reports on things I find that are wrong but nothing seems to get done.

All I can say is PUT PEN TO PAPER AND WRITE IN!! If more of you do it the more notice they will take. It's all about numbers, nothing gets done until a certain amount of complains comes in on a certain issue.

That's all I can say - sorry no more answers for you except we're trying our best on-board for you but we can only work with the tools we're given.

[Land After]

Last night (29/7) the last BA LHR to MAN was delayed due to weather – initially showing one hour. No problem I think – not worth moving to BD who were leaving (about) to schedule. Then, 20 minutes before the departure of the BD, the delay is posted at 2 ¼ hours. We’re given this information when it’s too late to hop on to the competitors service. Coincidence – I think not. Did BA know that the delay was going to be > 1 hour? Given that the operating aircraft did not leave MAN until 22:25, I think people could have made an educated guess. A cynical attempt to keep the revenue, I think so.

However, I was not as unhappy as the lady & her daughter seated next to me on the delayed flight (at least I had the benefit of free BA Gin and Butties for a couple of hours). They arrived early from a connecting flight from Egypt, and had walked their bags through rather than trusting the LHR baggage transfer system (once bitten….). Ask if they can go on the earlier flight. No can do says BA. Seats available, PAX willing to pay for difference on restricted ticket. Still no can do. They reluctantly check in for later flight and are suitable annoyed at extended delay, as they watched the earlier service leave with empty seats. I sure that’s another lot of revenue off to BD next time.

Surely decent service is just common sense? Are people sticking religiously to the rules because:
· They’re told to and no longer have any discretionary powers
· They just don’t care
· Management has no idea what it is doing to the paying PAX?

[bealine]

It's a mixture of all three!

- If, as a lowly Customer Service Agent or Ticket Sales Agent, you allow someone to switch flights on a restricted ticket, you can (and do) receive warnings on your personnel record. (It could be construed as fraud, say the mnagement - nice guys - not!!!)

- The management don't care - even six months ago, if we delayed a flight by as much as two minutes, we'd have to file a report explaining the circumstances. Now, we can delay flights by an hour or more and no-one bats an eyelid!

- The Senior Management don't know, and don't care, what happens. After all, to date, Rod Eddington has received £480,000 since coming to office for achieving - NOTHING!!!

Sincere apologies to our clients, the people at operational level DO care!

[PAXboy]

We know that you care (or most of you do!) because we can see that on your faces across the counter or the sound of your voice on the phone. Ultimately, we make the choice next time we travel.

I strongly believe that the forced marriage of BOAC and BEA was wrong and that many of the problems stem from that.

When the 'Right Size' report (or whatever it was called) came out it was no surprise that they avoided the option of selling off the short haul and using the One World to act as the feeder. Makig your company smaller is always looked upon as 'failure' and we know that big boys don't like that.

It takes a REALLY big boy to make the company smaller and admit past mistakes.