[Anonymous]

[SimonS1]

Security alert re unattended baggage.

[MartynSinclair]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3318312/Gatwick-North-Terminal-evacuated-armed-police-arrest-man-grenade-bag.html

None of the majors are reporting it yet…

[TiredOldHack]

So let me, as I was caught up in it and didn’t fly as a result.

They shunted all the pax to the South terminal and basically kept them there. No information was relayed. There was one guy with the sort of loudhailer you’d buy in a Maplins sale, trying to address a crowd of several thousand people, and failing, because unless you were standing within fifteen feet of him you couldn’t hear him.

The idea of strolling around and repeating messages obviously hadn’t occurred to him. Nor had it occurred to anyone to pass messages on via the PA.

Long story short, by the time they reopened the North Terminal there was a crush of several thousand people for the monorail. Having been forewarned by a kindly gent who’d walked from the North to the South when the evacuated the North, we slipped out the back way and walked.

Checked in (CW, flying to Punta Cana), and were told the flight was boarding. However, it hadn’t occurred to Gatwick to lay on any extra security screeners – only about half the machines were operational – so by the time we got to Gate 53, we’d missed the flight and our holiday.

The crush at the re-booking desk was epic, but luckily I’m BA Gold and so phoned through and was able to re-book our flights for next weekend and BA is going to try and sort out the accommodation.

They were powerless at South because they have no presence there. I did get the impression that EasyJet were handling things well.

However, Gatwick’s handling of the whole thing was utterly appalling. They simply lost it. We’re out of pocket to the tune of £100 – taxi home, lost bus transfer, etc etc – and are less than happy, but that wasn’t BA’s fault. And a big UP to BA’s gold card service – this is when you appreciate it.

Gatwick can suffocate in a steaming pile of their own poo, though.

[MartynSinclair]

@TOC

Sorry to hear about your missed trip and hope BA can sort it all out for you next weekend.

Out of interest, does your travel insurance policy kick in to cover this kind of peril and will your out of pocket expenses be covered?

In theory could the airline / holiday provider have walked away from this situation (not that they had or did)…. afterall, you were at the airport in sufficient time, but the problem appears that after the all clear, there was insufficient airport manpower to get you through the system…

[Cheeryguy]

I got caught up in the fog delays a couple of weeks ago. I share your sentiment re the Gold Line. When I’m asked about the benefits of BA Gold that’s at the top of my list. Twice this year their assistance has been invaluable.
Sorry to hear about your holiday woes though.

[TiredOldHack]

MartynSinclair – we’ve rebooked to Puerto Rico, travelling one week later. The DR accommodation we had booked with BA was full the following week, and all they could offer was an inferior resort. So we’ve DIY’d accommodation and taken a partial refund.

On the minus side, my luggage is in the DR (it managed to fly unaccompanied, which raises some other questions) and my wife’s is at Gatwick. Sigh.

Insurance – I checked my policy, and expenses for delayed/cancelled/missed flights. BUPA Travel Insurance refused to pay for the National Express coach to LGW and the taxi back (dear old RMT stopped the Gatwick Express as well).

I pointed out that we weren’t delivered to our destination by NE, and it was impossible to access the North by any form of public transport as it was blocked.

She said she’d get back to me. Nope, sorry, no payout because shuttle buses and monorails do not count as public transport. My reply to that was: “How much more ****ing public can you get than a bus?” and I hung up. An acid posting on twitter has brought a swift response, though, so I live in hope.

And again, BA’s Gold service is fabulous.

EDIT: The fact that my bag made an unaccompanied journey after a very high security alert is, um, disconcerting. What say you?

[SimonS1]

Yes, I would also be disconcerted by the bag incident. How would the airline know that you were not involved with the incident?

Suggests that BA’s own processes are not up to scratch.

Annoying about the insurance, typical of the way big insurers try to weasel out of things.

[Author]

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