BA Staff Travel
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Join Date: Oct 2007
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BA Staff Travel
Evening all,
New to BA staff travel and have a question.
Looking to book LHR - DOH in the next few days. The loads show Traveller and WT+ as pretty much full (2 seats on WT+ and one in Traveller) and 14 available in Club.
Do you guys who are possibly more experienced with BA staff travel know if I booked on in Traveller whether we could get Club? Or if Travaller and WT+ is completely full then would we be told to come back next day despite seats being available in Club. Or would involuntary upgrades be given to fare paying pax on WT+ and we'll be given the Traveller seats!?
Is it common to be bumped up to Club with Basic Standby or the only way to Club is with the purchase of Premium Standby?
Sorry for the long spiel, help appreciated!
New to BA staff travel and have a question.
Looking to book LHR - DOH in the next few days. The loads show Traveller and WT+ as pretty much full (2 seats on WT+ and one in Traveller) and 14 available in Club.
Do you guys who are possibly more experienced with BA staff travel know if I booked on in Traveller whether we could get Club? Or if Travaller and WT+ is completely full then would we be told to come back next day despite seats being available in Club. Or would involuntary upgrades be given to fare paying pax on WT+ and we'll be given the Traveller seats!?
Is it common to be bumped up to Club with Basic Standby or the only way to Club is with the purchase of Premium Standby?
Sorry for the long spiel, help appreciated!
Join Date: May 2011
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Normally, depending on your seniority and the number of other staff travellers, you'll be given a seat in any cabin. If there is space onboard and you are on standby, you'll get on, regardless of cabin eligibility.
It is not unusual to be upgraded depending on how much of a nuisance you make of yourself or the friendliness or otherwise of the CSD.
It is not unusual to be upgraded depending on how much of a nuisance you make of yourself or the friendliness or otherwise of the CSD.
Join Date: Jan 2000
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They normaly overbook the flights by 10% as many don't show. If it only shows near full you probably won't have a problem, there could however be many more than you on sby tickets, not shown in the figures you are looking at. If there are seats in any cabin they will load all the pax including the staff. They will decide on who to upgrade and it may or may not be the staff. They look at gold card holders etc first, and if it's evident there will be upgrades, they may even start to do this before check in starts based on frequent flyers etc. dress smartly, be polite, and you may well get moved up. Unlikely if you have small children with you though.
Many SLF - paying Gold card holders - come on here and have a look around.
I imagine they would not be happy bunnies to discover quite how often Crew are upgraded when paying customers are not.
I imagine they would not be happy bunnies to discover quite how often Crew are upgraded when paying customers are not.
Join Date: Apr 2004
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There is no mystery or conspiracy about ST. ALL commercial passengers are looked after first. ALL op upgrades due to oversales are dealt with before staff are looked at. Only when all the commercial passengers are dealt with are staff even considered, they are then loaded in precedence and seniority in the space available. It is BA policy not to upgrade commercial passengers into a class they have not paid for unless there are operational reasons to do so - like oversales profiles, then members of the BAEC will be looked at first again in order of commercial importance to BA - so Prems first then Gold Card holders etc. Most frequent flyers are well aware of this and there are websites dedicated to the various FF programmes.
Join Date: May 2011
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Ancient Observer - You're right, they wouldn't be happy bunnies. Presumably though, they are intelligent people and I would imagine that they are able to look around and see the various incongruities dotted around premium cabins on BA. Last time I was on a ST ticket, there were people wearing velour tracksuits with tatoos in Club making it quite clear to every man and his dog that they were staff. Perhaps the airline could also help by not requiring staff travellers to refuse wash bags and engage in other behaviour that marks them out clearly as airline employees? I think PPRUNE is the least of your worries in this regard...
Two Tone-7
May I suggest that as a newcomer to Staff Travel you approach it with the attitude that you will get only what you are entitled to. Then if an upgrade comes up it is an unexpected but welcome bonus. The way the system works, it is out of your hands. As Juan Tugoh has pointed out BA has its priorities for staff just as it has for commercial passengers, and staff will be onloaded on that basis. I would call it bad advice to suggest that you will get something more than your entitlement by making a nuisance of yourself.
Unofficially of course friends of crew sometimes get upgraded after departure if space is available but I would not rely on that.
A Premium Standby ticket gives you a better but not guaranteed chance of a Club seat in that you have priority over those who have only purchased a basic standby ticket.
May I suggest that as a newcomer to Staff Travel you approach it with the attitude that you will get only what you are entitled to. Then if an upgrade comes up it is an unexpected but welcome bonus. The way the system works, it is out of your hands. As Juan Tugoh has pointed out BA has its priorities for staff just as it has for commercial passengers, and staff will be onloaded on that basis. I would call it bad advice to suggest that you will get something more than your entitlement by making a nuisance of yourself.
Unofficially of course friends of crew sometimes get upgraded after departure if space is available but I would not rely on that.
A Premium Standby ticket gives you a better but not guaranteed chance of a Club seat in that you have priority over those who have only purchased a basic standby ticket.
Join Date: Aug 2008
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Sorry to revive this thread, but as ex-BA with Staff Travel expiring in 2 years, I am less than gruntled to discover that ex-employees of other airlines with interline agreements with BA will still be entitled to Staff Travel with BA (ID90?) until they die. So we now have ex BA employees denied staff travel after the appropriate period, while ex-employees of other airlines are entitled to it. This is absolutely disgraceful, and I wonder what the BA unions will say when the reality sinks in.
