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Due to snow slowing progress i wa later than normal to bag drop this morning.
Id checked in online last night . Folk to the left and right of me at the check in /bag drop desk were getting into very heated arguements about how he was about to loose his international flight back to canada:/
" standard policy " says the desk woman ....
How/why are they allowed to over sell - seems like madness - they get their money anyway wether i turn up for flight or not!
So glad i remembered to check in last night.
[url= http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oversold_flights#Transportation_and_hotels ]Explained here.[/url]
Where you being sent this time terry?
You getting to go somewhere with normal food?
He doesn't go anywhere, he hides under his stairs giving some illusion of leading an international playboy lifestyle.
BA have done it to me twice, both times after booking the flight only a few hours previously.
Houston for 2 days of meetings that need about 15 minutes of my input.
Could do without it but it beats sitting in the office and i have some chrimbo shopping to do and need some new carharrts ( and they are so bloody expensive in aberdeen - 65 quid in that shop down castlegait as oppose to 15-20 in states. - just nice to find a company that makes - 32w 34 leg that doesnt look like you dads jeans.)
Must admit this overselling practice is a bit shit , couldnt help but overhear the fella next to me had booked onward from heathrow with another airline at a cost of 3k. He was being put on the next flight which meant he missed this flight and ba offered no compensation for that. He also said he booked his flights weeks ago. He was not a happy bunny.
Coincidently - that was the worst flight ive ever been on - including ukraine national and turkmen air ...... Even easy jet was a better experiance - least you can buy comfort on their flights.
We will give you a news paper but dont expect to read it ad the seats are too small - not only that it was the daily fail ....
It was about 1 billion degrees and they had no water on board and the toilets were broken.
Got to Hong Kong airport one evening to be told business was oversold would you consider moving to economy. Not really but then they mentioned compensation. I enquired as to how much and they gave me a figure in Hong Kong dollars which didn't mean much to me so I asked for it in Sterling. £2,400 sir in cash in your hand. So I sat in the lounge researching what bike for £2,400 but sadly as usual not everyone turned up for the flight so I stayed in business.
Ah so its comes to you then and not your company ..... Hmmm should have offered to swap , theres a flight to houston i could have got on at 2pm
How/why are they allowed to over sell - seems like madness - they get their money anyway wether i turn up for flight or not!
If they weren't allowed to oversell, there would have been flights you wanted to get on but couldn't even though there would have been empty seats on it.
Ill stick to checking in early then, which is fine in theory but if theres an issue on the way to the airport it has its own hassle in that once you check in your flight is redeemed and the ticket spent.
Im sure you could argue the toss on that one but its happened to one of our lads , there was a bulliten through the company saying dont check in early - all hell broke loose and now the company will take it on the chin.
And while im being a grumpy gus this morning
Why is it folks insist on crowding the check in desk to be first on the plane ? On an easy jet i can understand but your seats allocated , itll still be there when you get on the plane. - im sat against the window in t5 gate c53 and they are queing way back past the elevators past the boots for the plane , most leaving perfectly good seats to stand.
The mind boggles. Ill get up im 15 minutes once the queue goes
Can you tell i got about 2 hours sleep last night and have not yet managed to get a decent cuppa.
I'm guessing it was one of the US carriers? United?
BA ( baracus)
Cant moan " toooo much" i got an free upgrade last time i flew this route to something resembling economy on an amirates a380.
On an easy jet i can understand
easyjet now have seat allocation from bristol at least.
I thought that was only if you paid.
Last time i flew to france they ****ed it up all the way and lost* 4 out of 10 bikes but it was still a more pleasurable experiance than abz to lhr on the flying pencil.
* by lost - i knew they never left glasgow as they over booked and if they told me this id have been happy , instead making me hang about feeding me storys about not knowing where it is and delaying the whole trail addiction mini bus grrr
I was similarly disappointed when i was offered a night in a hotel, $600 dollars and a seat on the following days flight and then they had space after all.
I thought that was only if you paid.
you can pick your seat if you pay. something like £12 to get row 1 which is useful when I'm transfering through schipol on a tight transfer.
This happened to mrshora once. Someone kicked off bigtime in HK and the staff were trying to find a solution... So they said to her 'would you like to move upto First class on a different airline direct flight a couple of hours from now'?
Guess what she did.
My work make you go business class, some guys were off to Florida for a conference and wanted to cash in tickets so they could take their Mrs ( 2 cattle class was cheaper than one business class) so a few partners ended up in economy whilst their OH was in business. Probably H&S for extra leg room or summit.
Gettin ready to catch some zzzzzs once we get a shift on
Back of the coach and 3 seats to stretch out in. Same happened going to ashgabat - its a tried an tested technique 🙂
Why is it folks insist on crowding the check in desk to be first on the plane
On a busy flight (particularly with some types of aircraft) boarding early (although not necessarily first) can be the difference between having your bag in the overhead locker and having the bag under the seat in front of you. I'd rather spend 10mins longer on the plane before departure and spend the flight in greater comfort, but everyone is different.
Guess it depends what you take as hand luggage - folk insist on takin the world.
I like easy jets policy - if it doesnt fit it doesnt go
I have a rucksack - remove book , ipad and headphones - then cram the bag in anywhere!
I had it on easyjet once flying to Spain. Staying clam and polite to the girls at the customer services desk works, whilst the guy next to me tried his best get his 15minutes of fame on one of those airline TV shows, by becoming "Mr Angry is angry because he can't get to the hotel bar before last orders". The poor customer services people must get that crap a lot so keeping quiet, polite and cheery got me 4 places up the que past Mr Angry after being asked to wait round the back of the kiosk as they didn't want to upset Mr Angry any furter.
Ended up geting on the next flight, £250 in compensation (on a £70 flight), breakfast, and a £150 taxi from Malaga to Bubion paid for by easyjet.
I'd almsot be tempted to cut it fine for check in again if i'm not in a hurry!
I'm sure they know what they're doing and oversell just enough so that on average the compensation is less than they lose through empty seats due to people not turning up.
I like easy jets policy - if it doesnt fit it doesnt go
One full face helmet. Hold? No thanks. Put it in my hand luggage/holdall? Nope cos it wont fit into the measuring device...
So... 'ok I'll wear it then, like a hat'.
Conflag goes on......come back to smiling 'sure'!
I was like off road Stig
😆
Yep I'm always keen to be on early to get my stuff in the locker and my meeting notes out. Only exception is Melbourne jestar when my handluggage is over weight as they have a habbit of weighing it if your early. Quite easy as the bar overlooks the gate.
Ratty, heading there myself on Wednesday for a few days. If you want a tip for a place to eat try this place, http://uchirestaurants.com/houston/ the food is fab and much less fussy than usual Houston eateries.
Allocated seating on easyjet sucks. The numpties still queue, but they can also reserve *MY* seat too 😈
The worst bit, is that it's the leisure traveller (replete with Daily Mail and M&S sandwiches) that have booked their flights and reserved with seats 3 months in advance that can take best advantage.
We the poor workers being dragged down to London for the 6th time in the same month, have to put up with whatever seats are left.....grrrr
I've goof mind to send my easyJet Plus card back to them with a horses head!
Why is it folks insist on crowding the check in desk to be first on the plane
I'd much rather get to my seat ASAP, settle in without having to hurry, get my pre takeoff drink, read, stow my bag in the locker etc. than sit in a miserable departure lounge and then be hurried when I get on the plane.
I appreiciate the folks who do the opposite as it means they don't get in my way!
Last time i flew to france they **** it up all the way and lost* 4 out of 10 bikes but it was still a more pleasurable experiance than abz to lhr on the flying pencil.
Well, what did you expect when you booked 10 bikes + bags on the same flight? It's not because it was overbooked per se, it's because there physically wasn't space in the hold.
They're (the holds) only about 3 feet high, not very long (the wheels and various other components fill up the belly) and are somewhat limiting due to C of G issues.
If I was a passenger on that flight I'd not be impressed to be told my bag was left behind so someone could get their bike on.
Although arguably the airline should have put two and two together and spotted that there were 10 bikes on the flight, typically the computer system sees "sporting goods" as skis, which don't present the same problem.
Although arguably the airline should have put two and two together and spotted that there were 10 bikes on the flight, typically the computer system sees "sporting goods" as skis, which don't present the same problem.
Sounds like they need a better computer then
Easyjet have had 15 years to figure out sporting goods flying to Geneva/ Lyon in middle of summer are mountain bikes, its half their business on those flights and they're happy to charge handsomely for it (bike cost more than my ticket last time). Allocated seating is being rolled out as standard by sleazyjet after successful trials.
Airlines take overselling seriously; a mate with a PhD in maths works for BA calculating the optimum % for each flight.
And while im being a grumpy gus this morningWhy is it folks insist on crowding the check in desk to be first on the plane ? On an easy jet i can understand but your seats allocated , itll still be there when you get on the plane. - im sat against the window in t5 gate c53 and they are queing way back past the elevators past the boots for the plane , most leaving perfectly good seats to stand.
The mind boggles. Ill get up im 15 minutes once the queue goes
Can you tell i got about 2 hours sleep last night and have not yet managed to get a decent cuppa.
I always do this as anything saves sitting on a plane longer than necessary. If there is no room in teh OH lockers then i just move other peoples bags till it fits.
It did catch me out though last month in Istanbul airport when i waited at the wrong gate in the middle of the night and when i went to board i was told it was the wrong airline. If i was at the front of teh que i would have been able to hot foot it to the right gate, as it was i missed my flight, had to buy two more and my luggage got lost! Wont make that mistake again!
Why is it folks insist on crowding the check in desk to be first on the plane ?
Mostly because they're lemmings, but on some flights it makes a difference. Try a full Friday night short haul flight back from Brussels/Amsterdam/etc. Everybody will be travelling hand luggage only with a roller bag that is the maximum size allowed. They don't fit under the seats, and there's only enough room in the lockers for four such bags for every six seats. Get on last and at best your bag will end up 10 rows behind you, and at worst they'll take it off you and stick it in the hold.
If I was a passenger on that flight I'd not be impressed to be told my bag was left behind so someone could get their bike on.
What a strange way of thinking, you would be upset if you were put out but not bothered if others were? Both people paid to have their luggage transported and entered into a contract with the airline, why are your pants more important than somebodies bike?