MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
We will be in touch
I'll caveat this by saying I fly BA a lot and they've always been OK but yesterday was an absolute disaster...
Sorry for the long rant...
We were heading to Geneva yesterday from Glasgow via Heathrow. We get to Glasgow, check in and arrive at our gate for a 10:30 flight. The plane we're supposed to be on arrives but then they announce that because of the fire at Heathrow the day before, the pilot has worked too many hours and can't fly us down and we'll be delayed until 5:20 meaning we will miss our connection to Geneva. I was pretty calm and expected BA to sort us out...
We queued for an hour and a half at their customer service desk. When we got to the front we were told that the only flight to Geneva last night was full. We could go to Heathrow and hope for a no show or go home and come back to the airport on Sunday. We were willing to take the gamble so we agreed to go to Heathrow.
We sat back down and out of curiosity I tried to book seats on the Heathrow to Geneva flight and they were available. Back up to the customer service desk to highlight this to them. Lots of red faces and half-arsed apologies but they booked us on the flight. They can't give us a food voucher because the printer isn't working.
So now were set to go to Heathrow at 5:20pm then on to Geneva at 7:50pm...
10 minutes before we're due to leave Glasgow a woman comes on the tannoy and announces the flight won't go because they haven't got a flight crew. Mass riot erupts. They then decide to merge our flight with another to Heathrow so we all have to be checked into this new flight. Eventually we get on board...flights delayed for about 20 minutes as they can't find two passengers...we eventually take off about 6:15pm.
We land at Heathrow about 7:15pm giving us about 35 minutes to catch our connection. Through out the flight we were promised there would be a dedicated team of staff helping those of us with connections and they new where/when we were going. The plane taxis to the gate but there's no ground crew available. Its a 15 minute wait during which time I called everyone the "c" word
We eventually get to the terminal at 7:40pm and we sprint for the security gate. We get knocked backed there and sent to the BA desk where this alleged team were supposed to be waiting...2 out of 3 desks open, some bumbling idiot from BA trying to placate people and dozens of people waiting in a queue.
We ask about the Geneva flight and were told its gone and there's nothing they can do. I go on the Heathrow website and check the live departures and I can see its delayed. People start skipping the queue and I lose the rag big style. I'm screaming at the guy telling him our flight hasn't left yet. He then checks and discovers we're right, gets us boarding passes and we make the flight which is running about 2 hours late. We're assured our bags will be transferred...
So we arrive in Geneva and discover my bike never left Glasgow and my case is still in London. I'm now in morzine with no clothes or bike. I can't even hire one because all my riding gear isnt here.
Absolute shower of useless quarter-wits from start to finish. Short of the plane crashing, everything that could go wrong, did go wrong at every point of the journey.
That's the first two days of our week long holiday ruined. I'm assuming I can claim some kind of compensation from BA or is that way too much to expect???
Commiserations. This is why I always try to avoid relying on back-to-back connections when flying around Africa - got marooned in Addis once for similar reasons. Ground crew don't give a flying flip what happens to you.
Oh, and well done with the French accents!
Unfortunately I suspect that BA will take the view that they got you to Geneva so their responsibility extends to paying for a few odds and ends until your stuff arrives.
Clearly that's no help to you. Everything seemed to have gone into meltdown after Friday afternoon with lots of people stranded (I was lucky; was waiting to fly back to the UK from Mexico but our plane left Heathrow a couple of hours before the fire so we made it back OK). Given that you made it to Geneva you're one of the "lucky" ones, although that's not actually the case when your holiday is stuffed up.
Fingers crossed your bike + kit arrives promptly.
Have you got insurance? Similar happened to some mates of mine last year so they hired bikes and bought all the gear they needed. The insurance coughed up for the lot when they got back
There are one or two here that sneeringly suggest BA, when anybody tells of their woes with a "budget" airline. I only wish this had happened to them instead of the OP. Commiserations though - hope you get some kind of compensation. Best to write everything down now (I suppose you just have 🙂 ) and try and get yourself some recompense in time. Have a good holiday despite the shitty start. 🙂
There are one or two here that sneeringly suggest BA, when anybody tells of their woes with a "budget" airline.
While ive never done that, my experience with budgets airlines suggests that in the same situation budget staff would have flatly denied the existance of the other flights the OP managed to get on, even when waved in their face. Of course each flight/crew/staff is different, just the smaller airlines tend to go 'wrong' in more spectacular style when they do.
That was the reason for having faith in BA. At least they have alternative flights. Had it been easy jet from Edinburgh, they would have very little to offer as an alternative
I've stopped flying with BA as nothing but problems.
I have my own private jet and pilot ......
Arse. That us properly crap for you OP.
BoardinBob - MemberThat was the reason for having faith in BA. At least they have alternative flights. Had it been easy jet from Edinburgh, they would have very little to offer as an alternative
But on the other hand, simpler plans... I had a wee look at BA from Glasgow but I stress out enough about luggage/bikes getting lost or trashed on one flight let alone two.
OP sorrt to hear about the troubles. BA are good, miles better than the budget airlines and not more expensive I'd you book in advance and have check in bags (free with BA).
BA ****ed us over good & proper when the volcanic ash thing was going on - I'll do my best not to fly with them again
And you don't think that "calling everyone on board the c-word" and "screaming at the man behind the desk" had anything to do with you getting to Geneva sans-bike?
I work for a different airline but my experience is that if there's no ground crew there's little that can be done. The aircraft cannot be parked without electronic guidance (there's less than 1m wingtip clearance on some stands) and even if it could be driven on, without someone to chock it no one else will go near.
Heathrow apparently suffered three concurrent emergency situations on Friday which led to a huge number of aircraft diverting. The diverted aircraft hold your crew for the next flights, who are out of sequence and in the wrong place. What do you expect BA to do? Sprinkle some magic pixie dust and get some new aeroplanes to Glasgow? Or give the bus driver a 5 minute crash course and ask him to fly you to London?
Whilst I agree it's a terrible situation for you I don't see how calling 'everybody' the C word helped at all?!
It's not as if they knew a plane would catch fire.
Shit happens so make the bet of a bad situation.
There are one or two here that sneeringly suggest BA, when anybody tells of their woes with a "budget" airline.
BA have bent over backwards to help me when things go bad, with the details above I wouldn't expect any airline to get my bags with me with all those problems. Bags will follow, one of the problems with flying.
Well seems like as long as they say "we have good customer service" then that,s all they need to do now days. The amount of times I have heard "customer service is important to us" and then there is nothing we can do.
not quite true or just can't be bothered.we were told that the only flight to Geneva last night was full.
again not true, This is typical of customer service give the customer some b.s and hope they go away.We ask about the Geneva flight and were told its gone and there's nothing they can do.
Bike finally turned up at 1:30am. To add insult to injury the rear drop-out has been crushed at some point. Knackered and i cant get the rear axle in. Someone has opened the bag at some point. I had cable tied the bars to the top tube but they had all been cut off. Theyve also unscrewed the rear axle then tried to force it back in as theyve caught the wheel bag in the axle. 100% wasnt like that when i packed it. The bikes a month old. Absolutely raging.
Not good Bob, but time to hit the sack and leave it till the morning. Get on to your insurance company to give them the heads up and head down a bike shop after breakfast. Nothing much you can do while you're on holiday, try and file it away and enjoy your holiday.
Why not shout and insult a few more people? I'm sure it will make you feel better.
I avoid flying from Heathrow completely because the security wants to "probe" me ... 😆
I never encountered a single problem with BA domestic flights but then the flight crews could do with cutting down their lard intake.
However, if there is fire somewhere down the chain then the delay is inevitable which can be a pain in the backside. It does not help if the ground crews do not have up to date information.
🙂
I think ill drive with my bike in the van after reading that...
wrightyson - Member
I think ill drive with my bike in the van after reading that...
In comparison I have flown 3 times with bike I reckon in the UK with Easyjet and BA, both OK no issues BA got me back after the Fluid Bomb scare closed Heathrow on the same day I was scheduled to and everything made it in one piece.
It's a risk we take, 95% of the time a well packed bike will be fine, once you describe running down the terminal then you luggage is not leaving. Always fly with clean pants and sock in your hand luggage 🙂
I used to always fly out from Glasgow to Geneva going through Heathrow (BA), Luton (Easyjet), Brussels (Sabena RIP) or Amsterdam (KLM). The only one I didn't have issues with at some point are the (now dead) Sabena flights, which were incredibly efficient (half hour transfer time in Brussels and the bikes made it no problem)
Have now driven out (still from Glasgow) every year since 2005 and wouldn't go back to flying. So much easier to protect the bike, carry spares, carry tools, carry a spare bike even. I still shudder at the memory of my DH bike arriving with the front end hanging out of the freshly destroyed bag and a massive dent in the downtube of a previous machine!
Get on to the airline about your bike now, take lots of photos. Easyjet damaged a bike of mine in transit once and after a couple of letters to try and fob me off paid up for the damage. They are liable despite what they say to begin with.
This is the reason why I haven't used BA in 24 years of business travel. From Manchester I've always got to transit somewhere in Europe and I'd rather use CDG, Frankfurt, Schiphol, Brussells or Zurich any day.
I'd rather use CDG
😯
It's crap, but shit happens unfortunately whatever airline you use.
However, if you have a tight connection, your bike will ALWAYS miss it. Large items seem to need longer connecting times. Also, I wouldn't opt for a two-leg flight if I had an alternative. I'd have driven or got the train from Glasgow.
People start skipping the queue and I lose the rag big style. I'm screaming at the guy telling him our flight hasn't left yet.
If you're one of these scream at the service staff types, with a sense of entitlement as big as your ego, then you really need to learn to chill the **** out. Nothing's perfect, you're always at risk of delays or cock ups whenever you use ANY kind of service, so you just have to take it on the chin I'm afraid.
I've been delayed plenty of times but I've never screamed at anyone. Sometimes people make their own trouble.
Up to 4am trying to bodge a repair using what tools i had and some cutlery from the kitchen. Bike shop across the road let me use their vice at 7am so big shout out for DSV in Morzine.
For those moaning at me for losing my temper, i was perfectly calm up to a point. The fire was outwith their conrol and the legal working hours for the pilot are fine. After that point though it descended into incompetence and lies
A) Sending our cabin crew back down to london on earlier flights and having none available for our delayed flight = incompetence
B) telling us there were no seats available on the later geneva flight yet i was able to book them myself through the BA app on my phone = incompetence and/or lies
C) Having no ground crew waiting at heathrow = incompetence
D) Telling us we'd have a dedcated connections team to help = lies
E) Useless team on the ground at heathrow who were adamant our flight had left = incompetent and/or lies
F) bags lost in transit and damaged = incompetent
Im a patient guy and appreciate it was difficult for everyone but there was a point that diplomacy no longer worked. Hulk smash.
Never mind, todays riding was awesome
Well I'm glad the nasty man had a nice day on his push bike after shouting at another human being like they were dog excrement on his shoe.
I'm glad I'm out of the service industries now. Putting up with selfish, foul-mouthed, ignorant little twerps like you for 12 years who think they can behave how they like just because they have handed me a few coins.
What you don't realise is that every person who acts like you will ALWAYS be treated like crap once they reach the tantrum stage like you did. The staff will make it look like they are doing everything for you, and make sure that they, on the surface, play by the company rules, but will make sure your experience from then on is as miserable as they can make it. Treat someone like dirt and expect it back.
I've seen my staff in tears, drinking heavily, quitting their jobs because of the way some people treat customer service staff.
If you'd have come in my airport acting like that I'd have called the police, and you certainly would not have been flying off to your little cycling holiday.
It's a blessing that you've ^^ left the industry then. If bb was calling folk the c word to their faces or at the desk then yes he deserved no help, but it does sound like he had a pretty crap experience, especially re the damaged bike. Perhaps one of your ex staff damaged it accidentally on purpose 🙄
That's all terribly unfortunate BB, but let's not forget here that what actually caused all of this was Heathrow being closed due to a fire on an Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 787. A combination of an airport which is always at 99% capacity, and an aeroplane that has had a somewhat less than glittering introduction to service.
Sure, BA could have handled it better but their operation was in tatters all over the world at that point.
What you don't realise is that every person who acts like you will ALWAYS be treated like crap once they reach the tantrum stage like you did.
Epic fail for you. I was perfectly calm and reasonable for the first 5 hours. After that it was lies and bullshit every step of the way from BA and the ground staff. There was a point where the nice guy routine no longer worked and the only way to get something done was brutal honesty. As I told the bumbling fool at Heathrow, all I heard all day was excuses but now it was time for answers. The fact I could go on my iPad and find out more about the flights highlights how useless they were.
The Wrong Trousers - Member
That's all terribly unfortunate BB, but let's not forget here that what actually caused all of this
As above, the fire and the legality of the working hours were completely understandable but when we had a 5 hour delay and they sent our cabin crew away, that's just pisspoor customer service and lying to us and assuring everyone the flight would leave is weak
Best call them all c**** then. FFS.
robdob nails it for me.
How's your bike bob, any lasting damage?
Budget airlines dont have the same transit problems because they usually don't offer transit.
All airlines can be patchy but it's the incredible snootiness and arrogance of BA that gets my goat. They're no better than a zillion other first world airlines.
Epic fail for you.
Nope, epic fail for you. Your bike, your holiday, etc...
Robdob nails it.
A) Sending our cabin crew back down to london on earlier flights and having none available for our delayed flight = incompetence
B) telling us there were no seats available on the later geneva flight yet i was able to book them myself through the BA app on my phone = incompetence and/or lies
C) Having no ground crew waiting at heathrow = incompetence
D) Telling us we'd have a dedcated connections team to help = lies
E) Useless team on the ground at heathrow who were adamant our flight had left = incompetent and/or lies
F) bags lost in transit and damaged = incompetent
A)Sent Crew home so they could get home
B)When it's going mad like that the flights come and go as they try and reroute half of the flights through everywhere - cock up/balls up
C)Heathrows issue out of BA control, BA have the planes Heathrow have the ground crew
D)Fair point maybe they were busy dealing with everyone else by that stage
E)Information provided to them?
F)Nothing to do with BA once it goes down the line it's the ground crew provided by the airport.
This will be what they say about it when you write and complain. Chill out and enjoy the holiday, posting rants on here is not the best way to enjoy a holiday.
Swearing at people trying to do their job in difficult circumstances is very low. Once you stop ranting I hope you see that. It's not the single persons fault and they have been dealing with people all day trying to sort out their problems based on the guidelines they have been given. Dropping that sort of language in public is unacceptable.
A) Sending our cabin crew back down to london on earlier flights and having none available for our delayed flight = incompetence
Pretty sure that Cabin Crew have legal working hours that can't be exceeded as well as the Pilots.
Don't fly with BA much as most of the flights I want to take into Germany etc are better served direct from Manchester by Lufthansa, however, when I have flown BA they have always been fine. I've just jinxed my trip to Frankfurt via London next week though haven't I!
it's the incredible snootiness and arrogance of BA that gets my goat.
One woman was inconsolable at Glasgow. She'd already been delayed 24 hours and was now going to miss her sons wedding in Boston. She told the BA staff this and they replied "Everyone's got their own sob story"
Im a patient guy
No, you're not!
Pretty sure that Cabin Crew have legal working hours that can't be exceeded as well as the Pilots.
They do. I'm of sure of the exact times but once crews are over their hours they can't fly and in some cases after delays they will divert and land at another airport while a replacement crew is found.
BB put it behind you and enjoy the rest of your holiday and ignore those above who have criticised you getting 'upset', as in reality they would probably have a hissy fit if they got full cream in their skinny latte 😉
One thing I try* NEVER to do is get pissy with customer service staff. Especially when they have to deal with hundreds of screaming arseholes.
There is no reason ever to get angry with customer service staff. All you are doing is turning a difficult situation into an awful one, for no benefit. Someone has a difficult job to do because of things outside of their control, and you have absolutely NO excuse to make them feel worse just because you are upset. That's absoultely unacceptable.
* I once got cross with someone on the ticket desk at a station - I forget why, but the rules were daft for something.
I flew back overnight from JFK on Friday night to LHR.
I arrived at the airport at 6.30pm to find my 8.40pm flight was at least delayed by 2hours. Walked up to the check in and asked whether I could get on an earlier flight, hand luggage only, with a non changeable ticket. A bit of teeth sucking from the ticketing person....
Big smile from me, It would be great if I can get on, happy to go on wait list....She said oh I have 3 on list, not including you and only 2 seats left. Oh well thank you for checking I said, another big smile, hope the rest of your shift isn't too chaotic with all the LHR disruption.
Sir, Let me just check again, phones the supervisor, and a boarding pass for the 7.30pm (an hour earlier!)pops out of the printer. RESULT! Another big smile and Have a Nice day.
got home Saturday morning 3 hours that I would have done. Thank you BA!
What deadslow said. I've had excess luggage charges waived through smiling and being nice. Sure you were pissed off but blowing up at the customer service staff is not a good idea. By all means make sure they understand the situation but the way to do it is remain as calm as possible and then complain after the event and seek recompense.
I'll echo what deadslow and Coyote have said, I've been amazed at how far out of their way BA staff will go to help passengers out when they've ran into problems at Heathrow. I'm not talking once or twice either but dozens of times when I've been dealing with them.
I'd probably go as far as to say that I've only ever seen the staff be arsey with passengers once or twice and each time it was because the passenger was being a pain. Shouting and swearing at them won't get you anywhere either, some of the BA staff can be a bit precious and will get the Police or airport security out to you if they think you're being aggressive or abusive towards them.
It's crap, but shit happens unfortunately whatever airline you use.
Yep. It's why, if at all possible, I drive, take the train or boat when going abroad. Last week, I got to the Eurotunnel terminal at 9.15, was checked in automatically from my car numberplate, showed my passport, and we departed at 9.50.
As above, really.
On one flight home from IAD recently, I got a helpful alert text to tell me my 1030ish flight was delayed until 0100 the following morning. I was already in a cab en route to the airport, and resigned myself to a few beers in the lounge and a long wait.
Got to the gate, was greeted with, "Oh, I'm terribly sorry sir, but your flight has been delayed. Did you get a text?"
"Yes, I did, thanks. No need to worry, though, I'll just take longer over dinner!"
BA, "Hold on a minute, sir...." (Five minutes passed) "Aisle or window, sir?"
"Sorry? I've already booked in to my usual seat."
BA, "Yes, sir, but the earlier flight is a different plane, and I've got you a seat on that. And an upgrade to First"
Self - "Gosh, thank you, that's wonderful"
BA, "Well, it's such a refreshing change to have someone polite and friendly about a delay, rather than shouting and swearing at us. So, I thought I'd bend things a little for you. Can you get through security in 20 minutes? Have a nice flight!"
And, yes, I did write a note of thanks for that service, as I always do.
Getting all Samuel L Jackson on the staff will rarely get you anywhere but I have real sympathy for the OP. I'd be pissed off after that chain of events.
CFH - nice little anecdote but totally irrelevant. Its very easy to be relaxed travelling in Club and on the company expense account - this was the OP's holiday FFS.
More importantly, how do you do the accents?
cb, this was me coming home having been away from my family for a long period of time. I reckon that makes it just as important as a holiday.
Also, entirely relevant, as with others, above, as it's a case of showing that being polite and civil to customer service staff gets you far more than calling them all James Blunts.
when my dad died BA put my sister on a full flight back from Boston, at 30 minutes notice, in a stewerdess chair in the galley.
They didn't have to, but they did. always try to use BA on the back of that.
Flashy, you are a memeber of the wonderful club though, so your experience may not be reflected in that of us plebs.
we flew out to peru for our honeymoon a few years back
was just as snow chaos was starting so our plane was delayed by a day and connecting flight to peru from madrid missed
BA were pretty poor to be honest, we ended up an extra overnight at a hotel in madrid
it was just before xmas though and a lot of people would essentially be missing family xmas which was a shame, the BA staff at madrid were particularly grumpy, partly because a lot of very upset people were harassing them but we were polite and patient and still found them rude and unhelpful
still compared to bus and train journeys backpacking in peru it wasnt so bad
My initial anger has subsided considerably so I'll clarify a couple of points.
Calling everyone the "c" word was actually saying "what an absolute shower of useless c*nts" when we landed at Heathrow and they had no ground crew and we had to wait.
Shouting at the guy at Heathrow was because we were queuing for the customer service desk. All of a sudden someone barged from the back of the queue and the BA staff member started to help him. Everyone in the queue started shouting that he had skipped the queue. The queue skipper said he was trying to catch a connection. I said we all were. The BA guy asked where we were going and he said the flight was gone. At that point I raised my voice and told him he was wrong and showed him my iPad with the live departures on the Heathrow site. At that point he pulled everyone out the queue for Geneva and got us all through. So in actual fact, losing my temper actually solved the problem. Had we stood there quietly there's no way we would have made it.
It was disappointing that we were able to find out more about the flights using the internet than the BA staff were able to with direct access to their systems
Never mind, the weather and trails are amazing plus Hannah Barnes is here 8)
Oh, and by the way, ground staff at Glasgow aren't BA employees, they're handled there by a third party company.
There is no reason ever to get angry with customer service staff.
That's not true.
One woman was inconsolable at Glasgow. She'd already been delayed 24 hours and was now going to miss her sons wedding in Boston. She told the BA staff this and they replied "Everyone's got their own sob story"
All of a sudden someone barged from the back of the queue and the BA staff member started to help him.
See above.
Are you responding to me?
So in actual fact, losing my temper actually solved the problem. Had we stood there quietly there's no way we would have made it.
There's a million miles between being firm and assertive and shouting abuse like a lout.
One gets results; the other makes you look like a nobber.
To add insult to injury the rear drop-out has been crushed at some point. Knackered and i cant get the rear axle in.
When I've travelled with my bike, I got hold of a couple of bolt-through axles, and put those through the drop-outs, with nuts either side of the drop-out, done up tight, just to avoid any chance of the drop-outs getting crushed.
How much did it cost to get on your bike on with BA ? I cant info on the BA website for bikes. I'm going Glasgow via Heathrow / Geneva in a few months.
At least twice a year with a "delicate flower" roadbike in a soft bag for the last 5 or 6 years and not one problem with BA. I did once have a bag go missing on a weekend ski trip about 8 years ago but that was delivered to Morzine the following day.
I might be setting myself up for a fall here but I think they're pretty good.
Absolutely agree that getting all ar5ey isn't really a solution. I particularly love it when there are weather 'events' and people are getting irate - its not exactly controllable !
I use AirNZ a lot and they are exceptional. Emirates have also been superb, we were due to fly from NZ to Scotland to get married, for a number of reasons were had to cut things tight so were arriving the day before the wedding. We flew to Akl and the Emirates flight we were booked on was cancelled due to a plane problem. We tracked someone down and explained that we would miss our own wedding and could they help us out ! To be fair they asked for a bit of proof, i had to avert my eyes as my (now) wife showed them her dress and the booking info for the wedding reception etc. Next thing we were hot footed through security, onto a plane in First Class (and we had econ tickets) and boom on our way. The plane was rammed and the chap looking after us could not have been nicer. He said that there were 13 people already looking to fill 4 seats, they gave us 2. Nice work emirates and your champagne was lovely ! When my dad died I was in Akl for work, AirNZ let my wife drive to the airport and hand my passport and a bag of stuff to a flight crew member who then met me in Akl and i got on a flight to the UK - awesome service.
I use AirNZ a lot and they are exceptional.
For what you say, they sound great, and I've heard other positive stories too, but my own experience has been that they were pretty rude and unhelpful at chch - being really arsey about the fact my bag was 2kg over, whereas my wife's was 10 kg under (but also much much smaller). Apparently 'it doesn't work like that' when I pointed out that together, we were well under the 40kg allowance we had between us. She seemed perplexed when I replied that it did indeed work 'like that' with most proper airlines I've flown with.
Trivial, yes, but not really any need, and all she succeeded in was ensuring I look at Qantas or Virgin first in future.
Then there was the booking of the flights... It took them four weeks to get my wife's e-ticket sorted, whereas mine came straight away. I even had to send them a CC statement showing I had indeed paid! All perfectly pleasant sorting it out, but for a long time it looked like I'd be going alone. They never did come up with an explanation as to what went wrong, nor any compensation for the hours spent going round in circles on the phone.
Qantas and SIA, by comparison, have been faultless on the numerous times I've used them
Virgin & Air NZ code share these days Zokes, had a great trip with them last time, been caught with the piece based luggage thing on the last Qantas flight too which is perplexing at best...
The AirNZ/Virgin tie up is rubbish actually, its annoying that you need a PHd to understand the rules for lounge access etc if you are on different variants of flights, i totally agree on that one. I've had similar baggage challenges with Qantas and Virgin Au, never with AirNZ - its a bit hit and miss i think !
i navigated the Air NZ/Virgin one I reckon booking Air NZ for the virgin flights gets you more - I think... too many fare levels in there really.
Will find out who I'm booked on for August this week...
How much did it cost to get on your bike on with BA ? I cant info on the BA website for bikes. I'm going Glasgow via Heathrow / Geneva in a few months
Its free although it does use up your hold allowance but you could take the bike and a cabin bag and it won't cost any extra.
I have been lucky flying with BA, always found them pretty good. Have taken bikes to the US twice, but always made sure we did not have to transfer to an internal flight, to try and avoid the additional hassle.
Sorry to hear about the damaged bike and inconvenience on holiday, but I am definitely in agreement re: being polite but firm, rather than rude - most people in the service industry want to help where possible, but sometimes the situation is hard to manage. I have worked in the service industry and know the front line feeling.
I did have an unfortunate experience recently where a BA (work flight) back from Chicago was delayed, by 24 hrs. I rang my 8 month pregnant wife from the lounge (as were allowed to use the BA club/1st lounge), all seemed ok. Got on the plane (by this time a day late), went to sleep. On arrival at Heathrow I turned my phone on and I received a text to say she was not going to be able to pick me up from the airport and then immediately after another saying she was in the delivery suite. By this time we were taxiing on the way to the terminal and I was right at the back of the plane. When we stopped I asked the stewardess if she could help me off the plane quickly and she was great - she rang ahead to the front and literally walked me through everyone and I was first off. Taxi to Guildford hospital £120, but at least I arrived only just after the event, rather than another hour in security etc.
Wrote to BA re: compensation and have got the standard fee due, which is €600 for a delayed international flight of over a certain time and distance (regulations are on the Internet). Would rather have been at the birth of my first child, but instead I have a small savings pot to start her off (that should buy her something 'useful' like a mountain bike).