Do BA have their own check in staff at foreign airports?

elleroo

Reason I ask is that when we flew back from Tenerife last week I asked the check in guy if there were any spare seats on which to put our car seat for our infant (was told to ask by BA before we left). Anyway, he replied that the flight was full and said no. (This was after he'd made a big fuss of my infant's name not being inputted into his computer properly and demanded an extra ticket be bought for her - we didn't do this as it was his mistake and in the end we went through but he was very nasty with us).

Anyway, when we boarded the flight there were literally about ten spare seats dotted around the plane. It was a night flight and i had to sit with my daughter on my knee the whole way despite there being all these spare seats everywhere.

i'm just wondering where I would direct my complaint to really....?

Thanks in advance!

bap98189

They do in some airports, but in others use local staff. If you flew with BA, you should write to them in the first instance and it is up to them to action the complaint whether it is with one of their own staff or with a sub-contractor.

richardw

Couldn't you have taken it with you to the gate and then down to the aircraft and then ask the cabin crew at the aircraft door?

elleroo

richardw wrote:

Couldn't you have taken it with you to the gate and then down to the aircraft and then ask the cabin crew at the aircraft door?

I would have done - I've done this before on a monarch flight, but the nasty little man held out his hand for the seat to check it in once he'd said that it was a full flight.

don't get me wrong I know I could have bought an extra seat prior to travel for my daughter and i knew before I went that I would be holding her, it's just this guy's apparent fib about the aircraft being full meant that I didn't take the seat to the gate as I normally would, and had to hold the child while witnessing so many empty seats...

lily_the_pink

Hi Elleroo

I am really surprised by this problem - I have usually found that staff at foreign airports are really helpful when you have a baby or toddler (eg trying to make sure that no-one else gets the 3rd seat in the row if there are 2 of you travelling). I would definately make a written complaint to BA about this (not because you have a right to anything but because the guy was unpleasant and told a lie).

I am also very surprised that the BA cabin crew did not shift people around to try and get you the extra seat - this has always happened to me whenever I have flown and there has been spare capacity in economy class.

Have a look on the BA website - customer relations would be the people you should contact I imagine. ( web link:
http://www.britishairways.com/travel/ctclist/public/en_GB/About_Country=GB )

Lady_E

We flew back from Tenerife at half term , week before you, I think the check in staff were from Iberia who do a double act with GB Airways (BA). We found our check in girl to be quite abrupt and initially refused to change our seats,anyway a supervisor was called and we were changed. We then asked the staff on board, how full the flight was and they were brill , and we ended up with 2 x 3 seats for 2 adults and 2 x kids which meant they were able to sleep. I guess it is the luck of the draw really .

richardw

If you are going to complain also complain to the operator of the flights which is GB Airways http://www.gbairways.com/customer-care/contact-us/

The boss is Kevin Hatton.