[tiggerbrown]

@VintageKrug – hilarious!

[Hicham10]

Think that VK deserves an honour for the humour and factual posts here, especially when you consider some of the tosh posted by others.

[HKGdirector]

The only way BA will learn to reduce their over booking profile and honour all reservations made will be if passengers vote with their feet. Do not fly BA and try other airlines. On the LON-DEL sector you have a choice of Jet Airways and Kingfisher Airlines, both excellent. I fly Hong Kong-London and always avoid BA because of their attitude. CX is my first choice, Virgin second on this route.

[VintageKrug]

HKGDirector, are you Airpocket’s brother by chance?

All airlines overbook when demand is strong; it is inevitable that some people, for whatever reason, simply will not turn up for a flight, and managing this process is an essential part of keeping fares as low as possible.

Plenty of examples on the net of people being offloaded, never mind downgraded, from Jet and Kingfisher flights, as will be the case with all airlines.

Given BA’s larger fleet (which makes substitutions from 777 to larger 747 possible, as happened on my flight last week, and most recently eamples of 747s being used between London and Paris) and more regular daily frequencies to many destinations, as well as oneworld partners for alternative routings, flying BA is a good option when compared to alternatives.

BA has several options available to it to avoid downgrading/offloading which smaller carriers simply cannot provide.

[HKGdirector]

VintageKrug, I am afraid I don’t know Airpocket and am unable to lcate his post on this thread ? I am a frequent flyer with a One World Emerald status. Overbooking practices bear no relation to keeping fares low. Fares are by and large determined by the market. If the market can support higher fares, airlines will gladly raise their fares. It is after all, a low margin business.

Whilst all airlines engage in some form of overbooking, the difference lies in their individual policy particularly, their “overbooking profile”. This can be aggressive or passive and it is up to the inidividual carrier to consoder the ramifications of off loading passengers.

My perception is BA is aggressive in this and hence, I recomend carriers on the LON-DEL sectot who appear less likely to off load passengers. Also, I prefer cabin crew who are happy to “serve” and satisfied with their employers. The threat of cabin crew strikes does little to foster a positive impression. Happy landings !

[Wildgoose]

I think you will find that the Gulf carriers, especially QR and EK (I’m selecting these two purely on the relatively high standards of service they provide), are unlikely to suffer from industrial action. We may not agree with the employment laws (if they can be referred to as that) of the UAE and Qatar, and the lack of recourse available to staff in all sectors in these countries is regrettable, but the airlines themselves endeavour to run as smoothly as possible.
My aunt once got bumped off a BOM-CCU flight on 9W but they were apologetic and provided her with a cab fare home!
As one who flies frequently between the Sub-Continent and the UK, I would say the best choices for this route are EK, QR, IT, and 9W (although, 9W can be a bit hit-and-miss at times).
Happy landings indeed. What’s good for the wild goose will be good for the wild gander!

[HKGdirector]

Thank you Wildgoose….your recomedations will be acted on when I fly this sector. Happy New Year to all !

[Inquisitive]

For the London-Delhi sector, Jet airways and Kingfishers (and even Virgin) are far better product than BA with additional price advantage. During my several check-in with Jet, I have not seen any argument regarding overbooking. Moreover, Jet will send an e-mail alert in advance to check on line and reserve the seat. In that case, no question of downgrading or off loading. Come out of old loyalities, try new players, thay are very good and getting better.

[NTarrant]

ALL airlines, including Jet et al overbook and the amount that is overbooked will depend on the average number of no shows on a particular route. In most cases the formulars used work out but alas with any formular of this kind it can be thrown out of the window if everyone shows up.

It is unlikely that the majority of passengers would see other passengers being denied boarding due to overbooking, again on any airline.

[ivornomates]

checking in online and pre reserving a seat should help, I used to be a PLat customer if KLM racking up in excess of 250 000 miles a year and got bumped 3 times out of busness clas for staff who were flying on crew tickets, the third time was the last for me and I have never flown with them again

[Author]

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