British Airways pilots strike – what you need to know for Monday, Tuesday and 27th September

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

• Doug M says:

  25 Aug25 August 10:19

  I get they’ve screwed up on the email, that really was stupid of them. But I can’t see how they can be expected to have a standby call centre with trained operators ready for a situation like this. The hangup is if the estimated wait time is over a certain limit, which I think is 1 hour.
  Using the best airline available for your flight is a good strategy, can’t be faulted. But if you’re 12 miles from LHR you may find that’s frequently BA. I’d also add that in times like this I believe status passengers are treated with more understanding than non-status, which maybe a reason to fly with an alliance if not an airline.
  Finally in situations like this of major disruption I highly recommend FT, it’s a much better mechanism for gaining help than the HfP comments, I don’t think Rob would dispute this and posts there himself. FT has some very experienced posters that often know more about how BA works than BA staff.
  I was lucky with this disruption as my flight was a return from Berlin, and I easily booked a London City alternate. When it came to cancelling the original return which couldn’t be done online without cancelling the outbound too, I called this morning and waited maybe 5 minutes, probably less.

  • Lady London says:

    25 Aug25 August 11:46

    sorry @Doug M the hang ups do occur when you dial in after a “we’re busy call back later” message.

    However unfortunately many, many of us, on many, many occasions over many, many months and years, have frequently got through the opening messages, been accepted in the queue, and held in the queue listening to tired British Airways muzak for timings like 40 minutes or even 50 or 55 minutes, repeatedly, repeatedly, before suddently being cut off.

    I don’t blame the poster for saying “****f you” to British Airways permanently. Unfortunately too many who say “I’m done with BA” you will see later still giving them business.

    • Doug M says:

      25 Aug25 August 13:27

      Of course they do, these phone system use software, it’ll be full of bugs and problems will occur. Those problems will almost certainly increase in number when the system is over capacity. They’ll be series of routings and actions, and when the number of people calling and already on hold hugely exceeds the usual number calls just get dropped. You also have the call centre staff probably stressed and more likely to just drop a call than take it.
      BA will make commercial decisions about phone capacity, and the consequential effect of losing calls. As you say yourself many who say I’m done with BA will be back, so where’s the downside for BA?
      I’m not defending BA, I’m just trying to see reason in the situation here, when I read someone say I called 75 times, my thought is after 8 or 10 what did you think was going to happen?

• Alan says:

  25 Aug25 August 12:37

  An easy solution:
  Cost to BA/IAG to resolve this dispute £5m per annum
  Cost to BA/IAG of employing Messrs Walsh and Cruz £10m per annum
  Answer:
  Half a million people travelling as planned and BA/IAG £5m a year up on the deal!
  Simples.

• Jamie says:

  25 Aug25 August 12:53

  O/T if I want to book an Emirates business class flight with points, can I do this whilst travelling with a baby say at 6 months old?

  I have heard that Emirates do not let you book a reward flight if you are travelling with an infant.

• Andy S says:

  25 Aug25 August 13:42

  I have an idea for a comedy sketch. But I’m thinking its so utterly far fetched nobody would want to make it

  An airline with a history of shocking IT f@@k ups and shocking customer service tells passengers their flights are cancelled. No ifs, buts or maybes “your flight has been cancelled don’t turn up at the airport”

  Having done this there is no back up plan for the barrage of calls about to swamp them (understandably so), from people who are looking at ruined plans for weddings, funerals, honeymoons, holidays of a lifetime etc etc

  It then takes 18 hours yes thats right 18 hours to send out another e-mail telling people that it was all a little mistake, a bit like a spelling mistake

  Then no doubt it will absolve itself of any responsibility to fix the damage that has been caused in the interim, because nobody could actually speak to anyone and desperately tried making alternative plans to salvage some alternative.

  No what would be the point, who would believe that any airline could treat its customers as utter CU@@S

  • Alan says:

    25 Aug25 August 14:18

    It’s not pinin’! It’s passed on! This airline is no more! It has ceased to be! It’s expired and gone to meet it’s maker! It’s a stiff! Bereft of life, it rests in peace! If you hadn’t nailed it to the perfectly reasonable request of paying quite a bit of money upfront for a confirmed flight it would be pushing up the daisies! It’s metabolic processes are now ‘istory! It’s off the runway! It’s kicked the bucket, it’s shuffled off it’s mortal coil, run down the curtain between Club and the back of the bus and joined the bleedin’ choir invisible!! THIS IS AN EX-AIRLINE!!

  • Lady London says:

    25 Aug25 August 17:07

    Er…. was that “plans for funerals….” this far ahead of the strike ?
    Is there something we need to know, here ? 🙂

• Andy says:

  25 Aug25 August 17:40

  I take it BA aren’t obliged under ‘Duty of Care’ to put you up overnight at a hotel if you are at the start of your trip, with your rearranged flight scheduled for the day after you planned to travel? Transport has already been booked to Heathrow for the Strike Date.

  Also does anyone know please if you have a domestic transfer at T4 Madrid from LHR on Iberia if you need to go through security again? Thanks

  • Shoestring says:

    25 Aug25 August 17:47

    yes, they are obliged to pay for the hotel, food etc – slam dunk absolutely clear point

    many of us would prefer to stay in the comfort of our homes but that’s not what the law says

    you can save the cost of re-arranging your transport up to LHR & get a free night in a £200 hotel on BA, with reasonable food & drink refunded as well (no booze) + comms such as internet connection – keep receipts

    • Andy says:

      25 Aug25 August 17:59

      That’s great news. Thanks Shoestring. I think we will book Premier Inn at T4 because it’s not expensive (£56 flexible rate) and we can get a meal deal included for a reasonable amount. Hilton is coming up at £188 which, although under £200, is a bit out of my comfort zone haha Will keep all the receipts. Thanks for the advice.

    • Terri says:

      25 Aug25 August 21:15

      I was flying on the 9th, which I rearranged quite easily online to the 8th. However, I cannot now stay at the non refundable hotel booked for 8th at heathrow, I also need to book an extra night at my destination as arriving a day earlier than booked. I guess the duty of care does not cover expenses from having to fly earlier rather than later.

      • Shoestring says:

        25 Aug25 August 21:26

        it doesn’t

        it’s either swallow the loss/ claim on insurance/ claim on Section 75 if you paid by credit card and the transaction was over £100 – if you paid on Amex Plat, you might also be covered

        • Terri says:

          25 Aug25 August 23:50

          That’s what I thought. That’s a couple of hundred £’s extra not planned for in the ex EU budget. Heading to a QR flight so little choice but to fly the day before. Thank you for your time replying.

• TokyoFan says:

  25 Aug25 August 19:34

  Very quick through to BA today to switch my LHR-FRA on the 27th September to the LCY flight half an hour before. No quibble, no bother, straight through and a very helpful chap on the end of the phone.

• mutley says:

  25 Aug25 August 19:51

  41 comments on one thread shoestring , must be close to a record for you!

  #get a life

  • Shoestring says:

    25 Aug25 August 20:16

    you probably make a very good point

    not particularly wishing to defend myself, but it’s a subject that interests me; many of the posts were in a long 8 hr slot around fetching my wife from the airport, ie hanging around with nothing to do then recovering from the caffeine & adrenaline until about 3am; maybe I helped somebody; I don’t recall posting anything on (say) the Hilton Honors thread.

    • Lady London says:

      27 Aug27 August 14:21

      hmmm…whose posts do I learn more from ?

      even if one or two of them around 7pm or 8pm at holiday time when wives etc are not around, could possibly reflect the addition of some spirit…!!!:-)

  • Anna says:

    26 Aug26 August 00:20

    I think I would need to get a life if I found myself counting Shoestring’s posts 😂

• mutley says:

  25 Aug25 August 20:33

  Fair enough

  • Aliks says:

    26 Aug26 August 08:21

    Your web browser can do a search of the web page for the word ‘Shoestring’ which does the counting for you. Its not so hard.
    Maybe we should start a thread on the most nerdy thing you do each day on Head for Points??

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.