Tag Archives for british airways.
British Airways canceled a Barbados–London flight after crew reportedly got drunk during their layover, leaving the airline short of legal staffing. Passengers are owed about $165,000 in UK261 compensation, plus meals and hotels.
After a British Airways London–Chicago flight diverted to Cincinnati during storms, one passenger says BA left him to figure out his own way home. A helpful airport employee got him onto a delayed United flight to Chicago, and by the time it finally departed, every other passenger had disappeared, leaving him with an entire Boeing 737, first class, snacks, cockpit photos, and announcements all to himself.
British Airways is now allowing flight attendants to sleep in empty first and business class passenger seats on long-haul aircraft that lack proper crew bunks. Passengers are not supposed to be moved, and crew are told to stay inconspicuous, but the change highlights BA’s penny-wise aircraft layouts and the awkward reality of using premium cabins as staff rest areas.
Wheelchair user Samanta Bullock says British Airways denied her boarding on a New York–London flight because she was traveling alone and might need help reaching the lavatory. She says American Airlines asked a similar question but still let her fly, while BA appears to have confused required aisle-chair assistance with prohibited personal care.
British Airways is fighting a U.K. tax demand over London hotel rooms provided to flight attendants between back-to-back trips. The dispute turns on whether the rooms were necessary operational rest or taxable lodging near the crew’s normal base. The U.K. governmnet argues flight attendants should have just gone home.
Climate advisers in the U.K. have floated restrictions on frequent flyer rewards as an “easy” way to reduce emissions, and commentators are now using that to explain why British Airways Avios keep getting worse. That gets the story backwards: BA is devaluing because loyalty is profitable, while bigger, fixable aviation emissions problems—from Europe’s fractured air traffic control system to contrail avoidance—are treated as an afterthought.
A British Airways flight attendant has been suspended after reportedly getting drunk at a hotel in Belfast during a layover and offering a sexual proposition to an employee in exchange for wine after the bar closed. And given cabin crew layover culture at the airline, this is the most British Airways story ever.
British Airways already charged some of the highest cash surcharges in the award world. Now it is raising the cash element on Avios redemptions by as much as 33%, while giving members almost no detail beyond a few London-origin examples — because apparently paying hundreds of dollars on top of your points still was not enough.
Philadelphia’s tiny Centurion Lounge may finally be getting the expansion it desperately needs. A document describing an Amex PHL lounge extending into lower-level space — matching reports that American Express is taking over the British Airways lounge below.
British Airways is cutting one of the last visual cues that Club Europe is supposed to be business class. Starting this week, the airline is removing fabric headrest covers from intra-Europe business class seats — a small premium touch BA says will save cleaning time and help punctuality.
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
