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Forums › Frequent flyer programs › The British Airways Club › A nightmare at check in
I think the solution is simple
When you buy a ticket all you should have to do is check you get eticket receipt email , with a eticket number .
When you make any changes , to different flight you should get another eticket receipt with eticket number (it may be the same) . If you don’t follow it up.
You should check you get these emails. You should have to do anything else more complicated .
No, it’s not the customer’s responsibility to do these checks. Their ticket notifications should check whether the PNR they are reporting on has related e-ticket records and if not, send an email along the lines of “Your reservation has been held while we process your payment. You will receive further confirmation of a valid ticket within X days.”
No customer-friendly organisation should send misleading confirmations if they know there is a significant risk of confusion.
What do you mean customer shouldn’t do this very basic check. All I am saying that they check the get the confirmation eticket email. When they buy or change a ticket. Surely when you buy anything on line you check the confirmation email.
I’m not saying they go into complicated checks on other oneworld airlines to retrieve eticket. Just they read the email receipt.
I think the solution is simple
When you buy a ticket all you should have to do is check you get eticket receipt email , with a eticket number .
When you make any changes , to different flight you should get another eticket receipt with eticket number (it may be the same) . If you don’t follow it up.
You should check you get these emails. You should have to do anything else more complicated .
No, it’s not the customer’s responsibility to do these checks. Their ticket notifications should check whether the PNR they are reporting on has related e-ticket records and if not, send an email along the lines of “Your reservation has been held while we process your payment. You will receive further confirmation of a valid ticket within X days.”
No customer-friendly organisation should send misleading confirmations if they know there is a significant risk of confusion.
The problem is that BA isn’t currently a “customer-friendly organisation” and I wouldn’t expect that to change in the near future. It pays to know what sort of creature you are dealing with so one can act accordingly and take one’s own precautions to avoid the types of airport incidents reported on these pages all too often.
@JDB it’s been pointed out to you repeatedly why your stance isn’t reasonable on the subject of flight ticketing.
Well, I’m happy to invest the couple of minutes it takes to make up for BA’s ticketing shortcomings!
Some people are tripping on this forum lately … well … the same one as always blaming the OP for not checking he was properly ticketed because of course that is a skill all of us BUT the person doing the actual airport checkin and working for the airline should know.
When you buy a ticket these days you provide email and phone numbers. However it now seems we need to follow the airline schedule and aircraft changes, become expert in their systems and proactively chase them to fix stuff.
People may spend time researching about their seats, food and all that because it is the bit they enjoy and can understand. Why some expect passengers to have to proactively make sure their existing ticket has not disappeared in BA’s IT ether is only known to them.
PS: BA sent me today an email for a future flight inviting me to order food or other extras. When you click on any of the link my browse opens with the message “link is invalid”. But I am supposed to be able to know my ticketed fight has not been incorrectly amended. Give us a break!
@yonasl – well, as it happens, I’m not one of those blaming the OP although I too noted several people have so I trust you are referring to them not me, your bête noire.
I’m afraid I make no apologies for checking all my travel plans well before departure to make sure everything is correct and that would include (re)checking the flight ticket(s) and times as well as other types of tickets, hotel and car hire bookings, restaurants etc. With so many cultural venues now requiring pre-booking that’s an added layer of things to check. From the tone of posts, that’s obviously a totally abnormal thing to do!
I’m currently on a very busy Balkan trip that I decided was beyond my organisational abilities and I’m delighted that the organiser has been checking every few days that all is well and reconfirming all the various arrangements for the following couple of days. Obviously he’s HfP abnormal as well, but I think he’s just very thoughtful and professional which is why I booked with him.
I always check that I get confirmation emails for airlines, hotels , car hire , every element I buy. I read them in detail to ensure it’s what I bought. I do this again if I make changes.
However that’s all I do and all I think that you need to do.
From the tone of posts, that’s obviously a totally abnormal thing to do!
It is — @Garethgerry’s approach is more typical. Having worked in user centred IT system design for many years it is wrong to be blaming the customer for failing to understand your business or navigate your systems. Make things simple for the user — “do the hard work so the users don’t have to” is the mantra at gov.uk. This approach is standard practice for competently run businesses and public services.
I have a friend who started work for BA/IAG a few weeks ago. She says the internal facing systems have reduced her to hysterical laughter between fits of rage and slack-jawed disbelief. I am not in the least bit surprised.
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