Asking here, rather than int he BA forum:

We had booked a straightforward round trip from LHR T5. As it was a voucher, I paid for the seats in C that I wanted - out and back.
We had to postpone the trip, which I did and there was no indication that the seat reservations would / would not be carried forward.
Trip approaching and no sign of reserved seats - i am invited to select and pay.

Any suggestions for when we get to checkin agent?

BA regard their part fulfilled, you paid for a seat reservation on the original flight and that was provided. They don't refund the reservation fee on a cancellation, either. The options are find a friendly customer agent, or take them to MCOL.

Wow. Thank you for letting me know about the IAG scam! When we had to postpone the flight (it's the same Locator) was there something I should have done to move the seat reservations? When I had to postpone a flight in VS some while back, the seat reservation went with it.

IIRC ''paid''seats on BA are not refundable - nor do they get transferred over, however when you changed the booking (online I assume) you should have called BA Exec Club and got your seats moved over to the new flights - suggest you call them today and try that....usually they are pretty helpful on the phone.

Thanks for info rog747 and confirming the worst. I have just checked in online and had been allocated seats three rows behind where I had paid. Not ideal but at least still slightly forward of the wing. I am going to ask at the counter t'row about the return leg as the system won't tell me what it has done. Seat Guru did not know what aircraft it is, so could not show me any warnings.

The checkin page did not offer to send me the boarding cards by email. Said I could print them online but no option. Half an hour later, I checked my App to see that the boarding pass was there. It invited me to checkin. It also invited me to add my FF number. Given that it haws been there since before the App I was surprised but checked it was correct - it then said, 'FF number already entered for this flight! After another 10 minutes it agreed that I was checked in and had the boarding pass. Their IT systems are down to their usual standard. Which match their mgmt.

The flights worked out OK and we had resonable seats. The BA T5 South Lounge was good and both flights on time. On the return, the Saga lounge in KEF that (I think) most C class pax go, was one of the all time best I have ever been in. Space, comfortable, food and drink all good.

Overall, KEF is good, much expansion going on as their tourism continues to expand.

I won't bore you with the numerous glitches in the IT systems of BA. Sometimes, on their App - they cannot even log you in ...

BA Policy
 

Paid for seats are refundable when BA cancel your flight and that happened automatically to me last September. Fortunately the credit card used to pay for them was still valid because they didn't ask or tell me what was done.
Putting me in economy seats for a two leg replacement journey instead of the business seats on the cancelled direct flight did not generate a refund of the difference between business and economy. Apparently it is not BA policy to refund in this situation because 'we got you there, didn't we?'
I'm glad I didn't pay for first class seats!

Self Screening USA
The Independent

First ever time I flew was back in the early 80s, BA from MAN to ABZ with a colleague. When they x-rayed his carry-on bag they found a very bent and battered kitchen knife...explanation (true) - he'd had it in his bag for a court appearance in his ongoing and messy divorce, apparently his soon-to-be ex had tried to attack him with said knife but only succeeded in stabbing the wall. Needless to say the security guys told him they'd have to confiscate the knife, to which his cheerful reply was 'no problem, I don't need it any longer'. I imagine they laughed their socks off later and added the knife to their 'black museum'

I came up from Kenya to LHR and when changing planes for the shuttle and going through X Ray machine a group of school kids from a private school who had been doing some charity work in Kenya were in front of me . One of the group were pulled as they had knife with 6in blade in their carry on by accident. This was around 2012 and they would have been X Rayed 3 times in Nairobi !

I am currently in Lagos having flown down to Luanda with EK then up to Kinshasa after a few days, a day in Kinshasa, back to Luanda and then up to Lagos, all with Angolan carrier on Props and 737 and I have to say the Angolan carrier and Luanda were fine .

I have not been there before or used the carrier but ok. Kinshasa needs nothing more to be said and Lagos is Lagos. I haven’t been to either place in a number of years and nothing seems to change especially in Kinshasa apart from the skyline ! .

I fly to Morocco tomorrow at 05.00 with Moroccan Airways on another 737 which is another new carrier for me. Can’t say I am looking forward to Lagos airport at that time of night though 🙄🙄

Cheers
Mr Mac

Ye Gods!!

What terrible crime did you commit to be sentenced to that journey????

Asturias
No crime but South African client doing work in Luanda and she is a very good client and pays her bills promptly and in full. Earlier this year I was in Cape Town and she mentioned Luanda and possible other jobs in Lagos and Kinchasa and asked if I could look at those as well.

In the meantime we have another client who is going to near shore some factories to Morocco from China and again asked me to kick the tyres so to speak.

I brought my replacement down from Munich as her French is excellent so we have been here a few days then she flies to Dubai from Casablanca and my wife arrives for some winter sun for Easter so I do get a break and staying in a very nice hotel but unfortunately the weather is not so good unfortunately for her.

I have never been here surprisingly but would recommend it. As for Lagos and Kinchasa not ones for us !

Cheers
Mr Mac

"very good client and pays her bills promptly and in full."

now that is NOT common

I'd agree tho' Luanda isn't too bad (apart from the traffic) whereas Lagos & Kinshasa are... an aquired taste - tho' I have a mate who spent years in the later quite happliy

Asturias 56
I agree Luanda was ok, and yes there is a traffic issue. Also slightly more expensive than Kinshasa and Lagos I think, or it maybe just the hotels I was in down there.

Lagos is Lagos with the usual Nigerian issues of graft amongst other things. It maybe improving I was told but it’s from a very low base. As for Kinchasa I think they are still trying to find who stole the base !

Morocco is very different and almost European, and you can even use Euros rather than local currency which is surprisingly a closed currency.

Anyway I have a young French female PM who needs to spread her wings a little , who is coming off a project in the Netherlands who speaks French / English/ Arabic as she was brought up in Provence with Arab mother a French Father and this set of projects in Morocco would ideal to start her long haul career.

Cheers
Mr Mac

Morocco is rapidly becoming the Mexico of the EU - reasonable education system, good people, and you can cut your costs without hitting quality. A cousin of mine was involved in relocating some rag trade production from the UK & Germany to there and he raved about the place

Checking in for a BA flight, I see that they have still not updated this information. Comair has been gone three years? Sun-Air? The South African version must be more than 15? Not April 1st as I've seen this many times.
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Asturias56
We built a large factory complex in Istanbul for a German clothing manufacturer doing the same thing. As for Morocco there does seem to be quite a bit of near shoring going on. The sites I looked at in Tangiers were in Exportation Free Zone which is a special area close to the port 45 km East of Tangiers and there are a large number of companies coming out of China and moving there. It’s only 15km from Spain as the Crow flies.

Cheers
Mr Mac

Yeah - my cousin also finished up opening factories in Turkey - and Romania and Israel.................. Egypt & Tunisia he thought was too disorganised

The Sun-Air Franchise they are referring to is Sun-Air of Denmark, so still current. No idea why they haven't removed the mention of Comair though.

Thanks MAC 40612

Watching the ghastly scenes from the Taiwan earthquake, you can see people running for their life - and right next to them people stopping to look and behaving in ways we would not imagine. There are similarities to aircraft evacuations, when the brain does not react as instructed/trained.

Heathrow, Gatwick and Manchester airports not ready to lift liquids limit
BBC

Even if you could take more than 100ml liquid, for it to be really liberating, your destination and soon to be departure airport would need to have the same equipment to permit your liquids.
So far, there's not too many.

Interesting. At LHR T5 this week, I had taken off my boots (they always alarm the metal hoop) and my belt. I was still sent through the fancy wave machine and STILL said that I had to have a pat down AND the metal wand.

The interesting remark from the person was this: "The system shows your lower right leg." So he made careful inspect by hand and wand. Finding nothing, he concluded, "Your trousers were hanging down and sometimes the folds of the meterial on your foot can do it."

As I had to take my belt off, it is not surprising that my trousers were drooping! On my way back from EDI, after taking the belt off - I made sure to yank my trousers up. Went through just fine.

Depending on what the liquid was, and how much of it you planned to consume while on holiday. :O

This sounds like a new kind of misery being inflicted by the staff of the new scanners.
BBC Web News
... should have been handled better ...
Fabulous corporate speak.

PacBoy
I tend to do ok with scanners as a rule, however the belt rule does vary. Always off at Manchester and varied in Munich, always in Dubai for instance. Same with shoes, Deck Shoes waved through but if more formal take off. I do think there is a % stop rate.

Cheers
Mr Mac

For 25 years my mother lived on the Isle of Man in her retirment. It was my contention that, because they were a known pathway from Ireland (both sides) they were particularly vigilent. Leaving LHR or LTN, my boots never sounded the old style metalic hoop. Leaving IOM - went off every time. They swore blind that their system was set to the same tolerance as the mainland.

I've not been since 2017 when my brother and I took mother's ashes back to place in the top of the grave of her second husband.

more likely they didn't have much to do so they cranked up the sensitivity - used to be like that at Aberdeen - you'd sail though LHR/Bristol etc and in exactly the same clothes and the same briefcase you'd set off every alarm in the place in ABZ

Ah, interesting point, had not thought of that. They do need to be seen to do their job.

Just for fun: who has turned down an upgrade, and why.

Early morning in Abu Dhabi, business class to London. Wise old owl in the queue said ‘if they offer an upgrade, say ‘no’: it will be full of kids running around all night’. I took his advice, colleague didn’t. Guess what?

Nice story SLF3. That part of the world can often afford front cabin for the whole family. The times I've had an upgrade are horribly few, best was a VS JNB-LHR. I was in PE and then bumped to UC.

Which reminds me of another trip in VS. I was in the A of the second row PE and the first row A/C was two children around 10 or 12, boy and girl. Their parents were in the last row of UC in A/C. very sensible. After the meal, the children were playing the (at time) enhanced ICE games in UC and parents were sleeping in PE. To be fair the children were well behaved.

SLF3
I have only been upgraded a handful of times in my whole life so doubtful I would turn it down.

It’s odd to have kids coming out of the Middle East at this time, as I thought schools had already gone back following Easter Break in UK, and it’s way too early for the summer fleeing to Europe etc to avoid summer heat ? Also don’t ETIHAD have suites in Business Class so you would be insulated from Rug Rats ? I have never flown with them or if I have it’s along time ago so I maybe wrong on that point.

Cheers
Mr Mac

I really like UC, but more so, their Clubhouse at LHR, I think it beats BA's Concorde room hands down.

Trouble is, (and apologies I know I keep banging on about it), but I just can't use Virgin anymore down to JNB because of that damn 787 they operate with their centrally controlled dimming of windows. It annoys the hell out of me that airlines can even consider this as an option. At least BA is now operating the 777 for BA55 for summer (I think), and so hopefully lessening the chance of delays/canx that seem to happen on a regular basis with the A380!

Indeed Helol, as we have agreed in the past. Normally, we ride the wonderful A380 out and back. But, this year, we had run down our stock of Avios and accrued so many VS points that we had no choice.I agree that the UC lounge is breathtaking. We are doing a circular this time, with the daylight back from CPT, so will see what their UC lounge is like.

Time Out London

​​​​​​​Ryanair passengers will be able to identify with that.

Points / Cards: Whilst AmEx have a big tie-up with BA, is there a VISA or Mastercard that does the same? Used to be Tesco but they changed to VS.

PAXBOY
EK used to have a great one in the UK with MBNA and used to rack the points up very quickly. Unfortunately EK canned the card due to a change in governance on cards or some such thing in UK.
Cheers
Mr Mac