[Ori]

It’s more to stop you paying for goods that are for resale. Ie if you are a sales business and pay your supplier with your Amex card then that’s a no no.

[Ori]

I think the weather had settled by Monday evening. Which makes it even more strange that my 21:00 flight was cancelled from Geneva. I doubt I will get compensation for that flight, but I’ve put one in anyway. They still have to pay for the hotel though.

[Ori]

dougzz99 wrote:

@Ori I think the tone wasn’t great, but @Andrew’s point is not invalid. Now I’m happy to be savaged by parents, but if you take kids to a foreign country, there is parental responsibility to have to means to deal with situations that may occur.

Well yes and no. Geneva no issue. Have you tried to book a hotel in Denmark when a flight is cancelled. Good luck with that.
I believe that any airline has a duty of care to its passengers and when flights are cancelled it should be a clear procedure which check in should be able to help with and sort.

@JDB pretty much nails it.
I think the reality is you have to adjust what you expect from BA, because if you continue to use them, they’ll continue to perform as in this example. If you choose to use someone else you’ll generally find that BA standards of customer service are the norm.

You may be right here. I will say I have much better luck getting hold of other carriers than I do BA. I understand everyone is moving to an online model, but certain issues need a human to help with.

[Ori]

Lady London wrote:

@Ori thank you for mentioning that. I would definitely be vulnerable in such a position. I’m sure it’s nicer to sleep on the floor of Geneva airport than some third world airport, but still $hitty. One can take precautions but no one can cover everything, And as you said, what about non-rich families with young children?

I was staying with a friend who had a brain injury from a car crash and while she functions well, she does suffer massively from anxiety when situations change and becomes overwhelmed. My thoughts were, what if she was there. She wouldn’t be able to handle it.
Not everyone is just able to book a hotel on their Amex and not worry about the ramifications.

And as has been pointed out that this was in Geneva, there are plenty of airports where the situation would have been a lot harder to deal with and the lack of help from BA is concerning.

[Ori]

JDB wrote:

@Ori – you are correct in that the system only works for those with means and some nous. Some people would argue whether BA is a ‘premium’ airline but you will find that most of the time, most European legacy carriers will adopt exactly the same policy as BA – sort yourself out and we’ll consider your claim later. It’s been the case for 10+ years. Airlines no longer wish to be in the business of booking / paying directly for hotels, taxis etc. even at their home basis and they don’t have sufficient or sufficiently trained staff anyway. It’s very common to outsource agents at outstations and they may wear BA uniforms but they are not employees, are paid peanuts, have no authority to agree any payments and probably don’t care too much either. Welcome to real world European air travel.

Very true what you say here. However, if we are getting easyJet service (not putting Eastjet down as they are low cost plus in my book, but getting premium prices…….

BA is our national carrier no?

[Ori]

dougzz99 wrote:

I don’t think there are any premium airlines when it comes to customer service, the way of the world now it seems. Apologies for getting the downgrade refund wrong.

The problem with weather delays is things become hard to prove. If an airport restricts flow as a result of wind, like LHR yesterday, then airlines choose which flights to cancel, so even if others flew it doesn’t prove it wasn’t weather related. BA typically cancels domestics first, then moves the higher frequency short haul destinations.

Honestly hard to imagine anyone ‘stranded’ in Geneva, given the price of anything there. I get the broader point, but some personal responsibility needs to be exercised by people too.

Truth be told, the fare refund isn’t that big a deal for me. Might feel different if it was a long haul flight.

Reality is that Geneva isn’t really a problem. Lots of airport hotels, but I can think of plenty of airports like in Denmark, where one would really struggle during holiday season.

The main point is just the poor customer service and no one to talk to. I just expect more from
British airways. I mean they guy just said. Book yourself a hotel and I said what’s the budget “I don’t know. I don’t work for BA”.

[Ori]

stevenhp1987 wrote:

Ori wrote:

You think I can claim for the extra parking fine at airport? Just realised I’m going to be hit with that when I land later today

Are you parked in official LHR car parks? I’ve never been hit with the daily charge for being a day late due to flight delays. It’s just opened the barrier and let me through.

Even if you are charged, it’s one for your travel insurance and not BA.

Spot on as it turns out. Barrier just opened up without issue.

[Ori]

Andrew. wrote:

Ori wrote:

Thanks. EasyJet, and in fact BA had a flight land and hour before mine was scheduled to land, but it was my flight that was cancelled 7 hours before so can’t be because of weather…..well maybe indirectly as they had staffing issues that couldn’t be moved?

I’m just not impressed with BA leaving people stranded with no way of actually speaking to them. It’s very poor.

I was travelling alone. What if I was a family of 4 or 5. Stranded in Geneva and just told “book yourself a hotel”. What if I couldn’t afford it?

BA Is supposed to be a premium airline.

You were in a first world City on a day when high winds made landing safely difficult at your destination, a major international airport airport.

Lots of anxious “what ifs” there.

Given what you have written, if you were asked if you were “resilient” at a job interview do you feel now you could honestly reply “yes”?

What a patronising comment.
Yes it’s first world problems. However, my point was of poor customer service.
Yes I was able to quite happily sort my situation out because I have the means and ability, but others aren’t always able to. A large family or maybe someone vulnerable?

British airways is a premium brand and to just not help people when they cancel flights is shockingly poor.
Phone lines that you can’t get through. As I said, I’m fine, but where is the help for those who aren’t able?

[Ori]

Thanks. EasyJet, and in fact BA had a flight land and hour before mine was scheduled to land, but it was my flight that was cancelled 7 hours before so can’t be because of weather…..well maybe indirectly as they had staffing issues that couldn’t be moved?

I’m just not impressed with BA leaving people stranded with no way of actually speaking to them. It’s very poor.

I was travelling alone. What if I was a family of 4 or 5. Stranded in Geneva and just told “book yourself a hotel”. What if I couldn’t afford it?

BA Is supposed to be a premium airline.

[Ori]

Thanks for replies. Was basically after some sympathy! 😉

30% avios fare refund is about the same as the difference between economy and business.

You think I can claim for the extra parking fine at airport? Just realised I’m going to be hit with that when I land later today.

I’m not sure I’ll be entitled to compensation as they said due to weather. Don’t understand as easyJet and other airlines were still flying and the flight 1 hour before mine left on time. They cancelled my flight 7 hours before it was scheduled to depart which indicates to me it’s more of a staffing issue?

[Ori]

What’s the uk number to make amendments to avios flights? Is it the executive club or BA bookings?

[Ori]

Interesting. What they’ve offered me is £40 and the 40,000 points will be credited when they fix their system. Think I will message them back and say I want the £400

[Ori]

I need 180 tier points by jan and I have no way of getting them.
Cheap fares are only 5 tp each way.

[Ori]

I didn’t realise I can upgrade my flight after booking on avios? Which call centre do I call to upgrade? There are business class seats available on my flight.

[Ori]

I always assumed that the points companies make money out of wastage more than anything else.
My friends dad have 300,000 avios when he died and the mum refused to transfer them so they just got wasted.

I wasted points on a flight to Sofia this coming Xmas.
I had to book fully flexible fares as I didn’t know if my son could make it. Avios booking gave me that flexibility.
My mistake was booking economy, but I used a 241 as I don’t want them going to waste and my logic was better to use it on something than nothing.

Saying that, economy flights were £300 each so for me using 27,000 avios saved me £600.
Most efficient use? Nope, but it worked for me because of flexibility.

Reality is, you can send your mind into a twist constantly trying to maximise the return from avios points, but what ends up happening to a lot of people is that just end up accumulating them. I have friends with millions of avios points. They can never use them due to not knowing exactly where family holidays are going and can’t book that far in advance!

Couple of years ago, I had no avios points, but thanks to websites like this, I have been carefully accumulating points to do a dream trip long haul with my son.

[Ori]

Today I received my 25,000 avios prize. Everyone else get theirs too?

[Ori]

JFK has a centurion lounge no? If it does you can just present your Amex card.

[Ori]

Alas ovo don’t take Amex, but I can still earn avios by using my HSBC premier card. Not as good as my Amex, but better than nothing.

[Ori]

I hit my limit for referrals bonus this year.
Is it per calendar year or per account year? My account renews shortly, but if it’s per calandra year I’ll wait until Jan.

[Ori]

Is the additional card also come as a metal
Card or plastic?

[Ori]

No am mean actually receiver the avios. Not the email saying you’ve won.

[Ori]

I’ve always had the premium card. Didn’t realise that on the standard card you can’t use the 241 on business fares.

My gf has the basic card so should she upgrade and will it uograde the vouchers or only new vouchers?

[Ori]

Anyone received their prizes yet?

[Ori]

I reached my maximum for the year on referrals. I think it resets every calendar year?

[Ori]

Thanks! Just got 10,000 avios for 3k spend.