[sgp2011]

I dont know where to begin with what I am going through right now. I had booked a BA world traveler round trip for my mother using my husband's US credit card from MAA (india) to JFK through the BA website . However I had to call the next day to change the destination to EWR instead of JFK an paid the change fare and got the confirmation.The credit card was charged 3 days after the booking was done. Everything seemed to go on well until I tried to check in online 24 hrs prior to departure where the system went through the check in process completely and an email confirmation was sent as well. Called the US BA support to know why the check in detail is not showing on the website was told could be a problem with the system and to proceed to the airport for check in as there was no problem with the ticket which was booked as a third party ticket.

However when my mother reached the airport she was asked to wait at the check in counter and after couple of hours was told that they are not able to check in online and she had to go back home and call the toll free number to see if they can rebook her. Contacted the US BA support and they were unable to understand the reason for denial. They said everything is fine with the ticket. Spoke to the BA manager on duty at the airport who tried to check in again after the BA rep in US re validated the ticket but it failed. according to him it does not allow to check in online as its failing a credit card check. The BA rep in US said there was no need to do a credit card check as it was booked as third party and it shows in their system as booked for a third party.

However after standing at the airport for nearly 4 hours was asked to return home with no alternative give except to call the India ticketing toll free number which does not open until Monday. This happened on Sunday morning. She was accompanied by my dad who had come to see her off. He is a heart patient and was waiting all the while to know what was happening. We were calling all numbers to see if it could be sorted out. As the manager mentioned credit card issue my husband double checked the credit card statement and it shows money paid out to BA a fortnight ago itself.

I called the US BA support and tried to book it for monday which was not possible as it was booked so got it for tuesday. However when i try to do a online check in it still gives the same message

Sorry, we can't check you in at the moment but don't worry, if you give us a call, our agent may be able to 're-validate' or 're-issue' the ticket. Otherwise, we can fix it at the airport.

I am at a loss here as I am not sure what to do next. This has caused immense stress and strain for us as I had to make all these calls with a unwell toddler at hand. Hubby had travelled from his workplace to home to pick her up and was taking care of our son. Now he has gotten permission to work from home till tuesday however going by the error message I am not sure if she will be allowed to board. Could anyone help as to how to get this issue addressed and what kind o compensation can I receive for all this trouble and boarding denial for no fault of ours.

Thanks
psg

[TAPAN]

I was travelling with my wife from ROME (Fiumicino, ITALY) to Boston, USA by British Airways on 7th September 2012. I arrived at the check-in at 12.30 (noon) and my flight was schedule to depart at 1.35pm. But the people at the check in desk didn't accept my baggage and told me to talk to the people at BA ticket counter. When I asked, for what reason they didn't allow me to check in my stuff, they told me that due to insufficient time, we can't check-in. Then when I went to the ticket counter of BA, the people sitting over there started misbehaving me and forced me to cancel my previous ticket and purchase the new ticket from them. When I mentioned that I have already tickets in your BA, so you should allow me to take the next flight, if one hour duration is not sufficient for you to check-in in 1.35pm flight. Moreover, they mentioned that as I had booked my ticket through American airlines, so they can't help me out. Finally I had to pay 518 Euro for two tickets extra to get the next flight. Now the people of BA are acting like goons to force traveler to pay more money otherwise, they are harrasing a lot. I was with a big mental trauma that how I would be able to reach Boston with my wife. If any body has similar experience, please let me know the legal procedure.

[Chandu]

Ticket Reference #63AIIS
Passenger: Ms. Shailee Shah
Online complain #11848996

I Chandu Shah, father of Shailee Shah purchased using a Chase/BA VISA Cr Card (#4226.ending with.0647 Exp. 05/14 Sec code 431 issued in my name- Chandu Shah) a round trip ticket online on July 22nd 2013, for British Airways from Boston to Mumbai via London for travel dates Boston to Mumbai on Jan 2nd 2014 and returning on Jan 18th 2014.

I went to Boston Airport to drop her off on Jan 2nd for Boston to London and was asked to produce the card – which I did and was told she is all set to fly and ticket is good. Ms. Shah reached Mumbai via London on Jan 3rd as scheduled.

Ms. Shah checked online for her return flight on 18th Jan 2014 leaving Mumbai at 13:50 in the afternoon. When she reached the check in counter at Mumbai Airport – she was asked to produce the card again – (obviously since I was in Boston she did not have the card with her) the agent called me in Boston from Mumbai at 1:36am (about noon time in Mumbai) via phone#91.9930306134 and confirmed the card information with me and told me she is all set to fly. Few minutes before the check in closed she was told she couldn’t fly as she could not produce the Cr card leaving no time for her to present any arguments the counter was closed and she was sent back home without offering any alternate booking on British Airways. A 21yr old US Citizen was left on her own to make alternate arrangements.

This left me no choice but to book her a one way ticket on another airline for flying to Boston at a later time since she had to attend the school here in Boston.

Since British Airline denied her the flight on a PAID ticket without a substantial reason, I hereby request a 50% refund of the round trip portion of the total fare; $1,467.39 as charged by BA. Attached please find a copy of the itinerary, boarding pass from BOS to BOM and a copy of the cr card used to purchase the ticket.

NO RULES ON BA WEBSITE MENTIONS THAT A PHYSICAL CARD NEEDS TO BE PRESENTED TO BOARD FLIGHT. / BOARDING WAS DENIED INSPITE OF CARD WAS PRESENTED AT THE BEGINING OF THE JOURNEY !

[anonymouscomments]

I cant state how important this is but when you are purchasing a ticket online you absolutely must make sure to select the option which says that the person paying isnt travelling. This option is found just below where you enter the passengers name before payment. Otherwise the website will default to entering the passengers name as though they were the card holder, but money is still taken on someone elses card. If this happens or BA think there is the possibility of fraud then they can ask for the card. If the correct option was selected BA would be aware someone else was paying and would know not to ask for the card.

[AirlineSympathizer]

Originally Posted by Chandu

NO RULES ON BA WEBSITE MENTIONS THAT A PHYSICAL CARD NEEDS TO BE PRESENTED TO BOARD FLIGHT. / BOARDING WAS DENIED INSPITE OF CARD WAS PRESENTED AT THE BEGINING OF THE JOURNEY !

Actually, it does say exactly that above the button you click to proceed with payment. You also have two radio buttons to select if the person paying will be travelling or not.