BA didnt let my parents on the plane.. any ideas what to do?

[Mehdi]

Parents were off to see my dads family in africa, they were departing from heathrow. they checkd in today, and got to the security check at 6.47 and they were told they were 2minutes too late, so they couldnt board the plane.
their tickets are non-refundable or even transferable... they have tried to speak to a manger but no joy. so now they have to wait untill their luggage is removed from the plane and then have to take a taxi home as my sister is now home from dropping them.
is there anything they can do? as i thought it is a bit harsh that they didnt let them in let alone transfer their tickets to a later plane.
any ideas? as my mum hasnt visited my dads family before(family issues recently resolved)
Mehdi

[Johnny]

I find it hard to believe they would refuse for being 2 minutes late... It wastes far more time to remove bags and would only be a last resort...

[Mehdi]

lol their still in heathrow airport if you dont believe me lol

[Johnny]

lol etc.

No, I mean they must have been far more than 2 minutes late to be refused entry to a plane their bags were already on.

HTH

Edited by Johnny on Thursday 29th April 19:37

[Psychobert]

T5 in particular are very tight on this - you have to be through security 45 minutes before the gate closes, (itself I think a while before the flight leaves). Has happened to me - checked in, dropped a bag and had a coffee whilst the huge queue at security cleared. Except it didn't, so I made some calls, had another coffee, joined the queue and they said the same thing. A lot of people were caught the sme way - it was just after they introduced the rule and not a lot of sinage around.

The fact that I was pleasant and didn't start ranting at the staff got me a seat on the next plane and as i recall an upgrade FOC..

[tinman0]

I don't get it. They were checked in but were late for the gate? Or delayed getting through security?

How come they were late for the plane? They always advise to be at the airport 2-3hours before departure to check in???

[Benjurs]

Whilst I have some sympathy for your parents, I do have some experiance of T5 ops.

They may have been only 2 mins late to security but there has to be a cut off point. Else how can they manage people who turn up 1 min late or 5 mins, if you move the cut off it creates problems.

However as a previous poster has said the computer may say no but it's how you interact with the human operating the computer that counts...maybe you may want to ask your parents how they handled the situation?

Also what were they doing between check in and going through security? Surely if they were pushing the time at check in then it would have been in their best interests to push on straight to security? Alternativly if they checked in with plenty of time then why be so late to security?

The check in terminals all state you have to be through security 45 mins before the departure time.....

Sorry to hear that they've missed their trip, maybe this will be an important lesson as to how mondern airports work.

Maybe a call to the airline will allow a credit of the flight cost to a new ticket? But you'll probably find the airline blaming the airport for the 45 mins, again diplomacy may be the better option when dealing with them.

Sorry to hear about your tale of woe.

Benjurs

[TimJMS]

I've had my bags slung off before now with Ryanair. There has to be a cutoff point. I no longer travel to airports with friends who simply cannot get their act together.

[Puggit]

Money needs to be made in Duty Free - it is paramount that people get through security in time to spend cash.

[Mehdi]

just spoke to my sister who dropped them off, and she cant understand why they were late to get to security as they checkd in intime. there are no more flights tonight, and BA said they would get them on a flight tomorrrow for an extra £750 for both...
real shame, there goes my plans for whilst they were away lol.
think they will ring up BA tomorrow morning and try and get something sorted hopefully...

[tinman0]

Mehdi said:

just spoke to my sister who dropped them off, and she cant understand why they were late to get to security as they checkd in intime. there are no more flights tonight, and BA said they would get them on a flight tomorrrow for an extra £750 for both...
real shame, there goes my plans for whilst they were away lol.
think they will ring up BA tomorrow morning and try and get something sorted hopefully...

I hate to say it, but sounds like they brought this one on themselves. Get tickets and go straight to security.

[anonymous-user]

tinman0 said:

I hate to say it, but sounds like they brought this one on themselves. Get tickets and go straight to security.

Either that or stay in Britain more, i've gone from approx 4 trips abroad to 0-1 because i cannot be bothered with the farce that is security/massive queues in confined space=prime time to let bomb off before scanners/x ray machines.

Airlines/tourist industry 0 Terrorists/carbon footpint 1.

Of course i may start travelling again if/when security gets more sensible again/profiliing passengers etc

[Mehdi]

yeh just spoke to my dad and he was saying that its just one of those things, they checkd in an hour before, but there were very long ques which just pushed it out of time.they got refused through security even though the gates were still open...
looks like im going to have to cancel that house party now lol

[tinman0]

Mehdi said:

yeh just spoke to my dad and he was saying that its just one of those things, they checkd in an hour before, but there were very long ques which just pushed it out of time.they got refused through security even though the gates were still open...
looks like im going to have to cancel that house party now lol

time to start bhing at BA then! not your fault if there are queues.

[Racefan_uk]

Mehdi said:

yeh just spoke to my dad and he was saying that its just one of those things, they checkd in an hour before, but there were very long ques which just pushed it out of time.they got refused through security even though the gates were still open...
looks like im going to have to cancel that house party now lol

If that's correct then they should be complaining to BA (or T5 staff) it's definately not their fault if the queues were that bad they couldn't get through security. :S

However, if they were just late, then a time-keeping lesson might be in order for them!

[Mehdi]

they did have a word with some BA staff, and one of the staff said that "it isnt worth her job" to try and get them on the plane or sort something out. i didnt know if that means she was too lazy or it was too risky

[MVDD]

They probably had people on standby and gave the tickets to them (double profit for the airline - as your parents will not get their money back). In this situation if you are 1 minute late, it's all the excuse they need. This is how it works with "Fly and Dare" but I guess BA use this too now to maximise profits.

Edited by MVDD on Thursday 29th April 21:07

[Nickyboy]

Mehdi said:

they did have a word with some BA staff, and one of the staff said that "it isnt worth her job" to try and get them on the plane or sort something out. i didnt know if that means she was too lazy or it was too risky

It means if they continue to ask the flight despatcher they can face disiplinary action as after a certain time that is it, no leway

Still don't understand why they thought an hour before a long haul flight was adequate time to get checked in and through security. I'm always there at least 3 hours before, saves all the rushing and i can have a drink/meal and relax

[anonymous-user]

Nickyboy said:

Still don't understand why they thought an hour before a long haul flight was adequate time to get checked in and through security. I'm always there at least 3 hours before, saves all the rushing and i can have a drink/meal and relax

This.

Sorry, but why would anyone think one hour is enough to check in for a long haul flight, to Africa (it always takes longer to check in on flights to Africa), from T5 (which I agree is a nightmare for a new terminal, unless you're doing first, then it is merely OK), is unfortunately asking for trouble.

It doesn't take much to be there a little earlier, and relax, ease through the whole stressful airport thing.... air travel can be quite relaxing, but the secret to this is to give yourself plenty of time at both sides...

I hope the folks got/get there...

Edited by anonymous-user on Thursday 29th April 21:55

[HereBeMonsters]

Mehdi said:

they did have a word with some BA staff, and one of the staff said that "it isnt worth her job" to try and get them on the plane or sort something out. i didnt know if that means she was too lazy or it was too risky

No they didn't. What a fking cliché line. Your parents were embarrassed at not leaving enough time to get to the gate (ALWAYS check in at least two hours before your flight. It says so when you book ffs. You can check in online 24 hours in advance now. It's not rocket science.) so they've projected an attitude onto the member of staff. It is in NO WAY the airline's fault. They could possibly have allowed some leeway, but with having to deal with the recent disruption why should they complicate things for themselves when the policy is clearly set out for each and every passenger?

If they're nice about it, they might get some goodwill gesture. Sounds like with their attitude they've already burned those bridges. No sympathy for them whatsoever.