YOU WILL HAVE TO LIVE WITH IT BRITISH AIRWAYS EXPERIENCE SIMILAR TO MS.JAIN 4 DAYS AFTER SHE HAD THAT HORRIFYING EXPERIENCE: I was reading this travel blog article and felt I had a similar ordeal while flying british airways on May 24,2014 exactly 4 days after her experience. I decided to write to british airways. I was scheduled to fly from Chicago to Chennai via London by American airlines and british airways flights. Scheduled departure at Chicago: 9.35 PM. First flight - AA 98 The flight was scheduled to depart from one of the biggest airline hubs for American airlines(AA) - Chicago. I knew that I have only 1 hour and 40 min layover at London and from my previous experiences of flying through heathrow, knew it is going to be a difficult connection. In spite of the aircraft reaching the gate at 9 PM, none of the airline officials took any step to start boarding the aircraft until 9.30 PM. Frustrated by the delay, I spoke with the gate agent who assured that flight will catch up when it is in sky and still we will reach on time. everyone boarded the flight and we waited for another half an hour for the cabin crew to finish departure guidelines and finally departed at 10.15, 40 mins behind schedule. Most frustrating part is that the flight was originating from a hub and had ample time to depart on time. but none of the AA officials were even remotely interested on making sure that the flight departed on time. Once we were airborne, I had a conversation with the cabin crew about the odds of me missing my connection flight, only to be told that once the flight lands in london, gating agents will assist in finding a connection. We landed in London 55 mins behind schedule and once I exited the aircraft, there were 2 ticketing agents who gave a new ticket from London to Bangalore and Bangalore to chennai to complete my journey - no apology, no comforting words for an additional 6 hours of journey. She simply asked to run so that I do not miss my bangalore connection. Even worse part is that we landed in terminal 3 and our connecting flight was in terminal 5. transfer time between terminals is 30 mins(!!!) The real horror started at Terminal 5. The actual chennai flight was delayed by more than 45 mins from London and I still had time to catch my original flight. At terminal 5, there is no american airline counter and so I approached a british airways agent( American and british are founding partners of oneworld alliance and supposed to have good networking). The british airways agent simply said this new ticket was issued by american agent and he can do nothing to give me a new boarding pass for chennai flight. He asked me to go back to terminal 3 so that I can get a new boarding pass for chennai flight(!!). Everyone knew that I can never go back to terminal 3 and come back to terminal 5, it was a rude attempt to dismiss me from his presence. I argued that I will be never be able to get a new boarding card and his reply was You have to live with it. He refused to give access to lounges, refused upgrade to premium economy to compensate for the discomfort. He said he was happy to give a meal voucher which I refused. He then sarcastically said thank you for choosing one world alliance with a wry smile, indicating his inner thoughts. To my apathy, my Bangalore flight was delayed by 4 hours including 1 hour inside the aircraft and so we missed the chennai connection. Ultimate experience was the gating agent in bangalore who said she cannot give me a new boarding card for chennai and I have to buy on my own and ask british airways to reimburse. It took another 45 mins of arguing, calling customer care(??!!) to sort it out. Ultimately things worked when I told I will be booking a last minute business class ticket from bangalore to chennai and will ask for reimbursement. The gating agent freaked out and contacted her superiors over her phone for 30 mins to get us to our final destination - Chennai. Things that I learnt from this experience: 1. never fly british airways in the future 2. American and british airways do not care for indian passengers especially if you fly on economy class( which costs 1400$ roundtrip - not easy money) 3. When connecting in London, have at least 3 hours layover time 4. Never ever have my parents fly british airways to USA. They would have never made it to the destination if they flew in my place. 5. London heathrow should be rated the worst ever airport in the world. 6. I will have to live with it will be the tagline that I will remember for the rest of my life about british airways. I will never forget the rude customer agents face although I do not remember his name
Posted on: Tue, 03 Jun 2014 03:05:23 +0000
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