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I need to call BA from Japan. Silver status. Get the ‘log in to find the number’ message.
Utterly impossible to find the silver status number… nor the Japan number… nor any number currently open…
Of all businesses in the world, surely BA is one of the few that truly should offer a single number that’s open 24/7!!
I don’t even need the status number. Just any number that will work for me right now at this point in time.
That chat bot can’t even give me a single working number for Japan.
I have given up, and reverted to a good old fashioned moan. Apologies for ruining everyone’s Sunday.
Ps. came across the offers for what I need to do to retain Silver, it was hilariously impossible for me. On the flip side, the most recent lounge experience was hopeless. Queues for the toilets, and toilets dirtier than probably the ordinary public toilets in t5. Disgrace.
I think I posted this in the wrong place… sorry about that. Was posting from Japan so the Sunday Chat thread wasn’t up and running + just my bad for not realising how this works…
Anyhow – Here’s my update:
Found the silver number (easier on iPad than my phone). Called and as we made Avios bookings for the adults, went through that route. 16 minutes of waiting… Only to be told my daughter’s flight was a cash booking and that they couldn’t help me. Not even with a seat change?!
No ability to transfer me to the right people, and so.. Now back to the beginning of the queue…….. oh gosh, they answered after 11 minutes!!
But no – apparently after round 1 of security checks, I wasn’t the authorised person. Luckily wife was present, so after not one but two more security checks (multiple questions each) we finally got to the bottom of the issue and got the seat changed.
Although they answered in 11 minutes it took another 24 minutes of security faf, investigation, checking with superiors, etc, to get the seat changed.
They then told us they would waive the supposed £93 seat booking fee (never got a satisfactory answer on what this was exactly… but didn’t want to push my luck!).. Kind of crazy to be told this when my 3 year old is clearly not going to be sitting separate to us!
All up – some 1 1/4 hours spent on this malarkey. All to make sure we avoid row 31 and have a few inches of spare space for our legs under the seat in front (row 31 on the 787 is to be avoided as we learnt coming over to Japan, it has several inflight entertainment boxes underneath and in the way, including the ones for the bulkhead seats in front).
Next time we might just fly JAL instead…
First of all. Your 3 year old was never going to sit alone, as what kind of parents would dump their 3 year old while they sat together? So less drama. This is not the Sun looking for a headline.
The security stuff, while very inconvenient is important.
You got it resolvedThe security stuff, while very inconvenient is important.
BA Customer Service, in a few recent calls I made, will not help when a booking made by A for passenger B needs to be dealt with. They expect and only wish to deal with B, and need to “validate you on the booking” (what kind of English is this?) which fails as A is not the passenger. This includes trying to complete a booking where taxes/fees/charges are outstanding on an Avios booking half-way through the booking/ticketing process using A’s Avios balance. That is absurd and in no way required by GDPR.
Their training needs to cover cases where the booker is not the passenger. This is hardly a rare occurrence.
Their training needs to cover cases where the booker is not the passenger. This is hardly a rare occurrence.
Better hope that you never have to deal with HMRC!!!
The security stuff, while very inconvenient is important.
BA Customer Service, in a few recent calls I made, will not help when a booking made by A for passenger B needs to be dealt with. They expect and only wish to deal with B, and need to “validate you on the booking” (what kind of English is this?) which fails as A is not the passenger. This includes trying to complete a booking where taxes/fees/charges are outstanding on an Avios booking half-way through the booking/ticketing process using A’s Avios balance. That is absurd and in no way required by GDPR.
Their training needs to cover cases where the booker is not the passenger. This is hardly a rare occurrence.
Agreed. Called to make a change on behalf of partner and despite being the 3rd party nominee, faced multiple issues. The staff said the same – “need to validate the booking” and after a few questions, they needed to “validate the account”. Again same questions and same answers, but stumbled upon a new issue claiming they couldnt find the booking! Not sure how related to this – i guess changing the frequent flyer program made the booking disappear from the account. Simple changes take 30-40 mins. At the end they told me that it can take up to 7 days for the change to be confirmed!
I dont remember it being this bad or may be i have been fortunate not to call them often!
This is also the once Worlds Favourite Airline that intentionally reduced website functionality (further from its already limited offering) so everyone HAD to call into and speak to their overworked call centre staff during Covid.
they would waive the supposed £93 seat booking fee (never got a satisfactory answer on what this was exactly… but didn’t want to push my luck!).. Kind of crazy to be told this when my 3 year old is clearly not going to be sitting separate to us!
Count yourself lucky the fee was waived for 2 adults + 1 child.
BA refused to allocate the 2nd kid (no status) on separate PNR a seat near myself + 1st kid (seats picked at reservation). It was escalated and advised to either pay, try at T-24 (wrong advice as cannot online check in for standalone child PNR), or at airport check in.
Didn’t sweat & left it til the airport as although I was confident BA aims To Fly, To Serve but may just stop at providing childcare. We ended up together.
First of all. Your 3 year old was never going to sit alone, as what kind of parents would dump their 3 year old while they sat together? So less drama. This is not the Sun looking for a headline.
The security stuff, while very inconvenient is important.
You got it resolvedThere is a real risk of being aeparated from a child on BA. As I have posted before, on multiple occasions, including in Club Europe, BA deliberately moved our pre-reserved seats (when I was EC Silver) and separated us from our 2-4 year old, and claimed ground staff were powerless to do anything about it; they argued it was the flight crew’s responsibility to ensure compliance with regulations regarding children sitting near responsible adults, not check-in staff (this has happened multiple times, so not just a particular agent or flight situation). In contrast, on a recent booking Jet2 actively (and successfully) tried to move us together after we had booked late and seats together were not available for pre-booking.
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