Unaccompanied minors - UPDATE (British Airways in general)

Member Name: Aphrodite_ac

Product:	British Airways in general
Date:	01/08/02 (337 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: The kids will be fine, Supposed to be free

Disadvantages: None when it works

Several weeks ago, my partner booked 2 tickets for his daughter and her friend to visit us from Glasgow. After phoning around, we decided that British Airways was ideal, good price and arrives at Heathrow…perfect.

My partner phoned up to enquire how to book these 2 girls aged 12 & 14 as unaccompanied minors as it was their first flight into Heathrow. The unaccompanied minors service allows an adult to drop the children at the departure airport where a member of staff then stays with them until they are on the flight. At the other end, they are met by a member of staff and taken through baggage reclaim and customs before being handed over to another adult. Names have to be given of the adults when booking the tickets and the children have to be signed for at both ends. It is an excellent systems operatated by many airlines and saves on cost if there is no reason for the adult to travel with the children.

We know from past experience that most airlines allow us to book on-line and then call in to arrange the unaccompanied minor care. On this occasion, my partner was told he would have to book them over the phone thus incurring the £10 penalty on each ticket. They were booked but, a couple of days later, I phoned your customer relations department for an explanation of this. In effect we had been charged £10 per person for a ‘free service’.

I was told that it was because they were travelling as unaccompanied minors that we had to call and book over the phone, this means incurring the £10 charge. The person I spoke to did not seem to realise the irony in making us call in to book tickets for a free service but incur a £10 charge for doing so.

I called again a few days later and once again explained the situation and was this time told that it couldn’t be done over the internet because it was a 3rd party transaction. When I asked how many 12 year olds she knew with a credit card, she told me that a
12 year old wouldn’t be able to book her own flight anyway. I pointed out to her that in effect, I was paying £10 for a free service and she told me this wasn’t the case. Can no one understand that it amounts to the same thing?

Today I spoke to a supervisor who finally confirmed that I was given the wrong information and I should have been able to book via the internet and then just call to make arrangements for the unaccompanied minor care. Unfortunately, she was not in a position to do anything as the telephone booking system apparently has a different pricing structure from the internet booking system so the £10 is not an add-on charge but part of the actual fare price.

The children arrive on Friday, I am out of pocket and have been subjected to staff who (apart from the supervisor), appear disinterested, unable to grasp simple facts and have been generally unhelpful. I have lost note only in monetary terms but time (and more money) spent on calls desperately trying to get someone to understand the situation and at times, I feel I was in danger of losing my sanity.

I have sent off a letter of complaint. It will be interesting to see what response I get from the ‘World’s favourite airline’. I will let you know.

UPDATE 1

Well the girls arrived and thanks to Kim for the warning because sure enough, there was no one to see them onto the plane at Glasgow or off the plane at Heathrow. I tried to phone BA as soon as they got back but funnily enough, all there offices were closed. I called the handling agents at Glasgow and was told the girls were not registered as unaccompanied minors.

By this time I am spitting blood...admittedly, my bad mood was not helped by the fact I'd slipped over in the shower earlier that evening and was covered in bruises.

When I eventually spoke to someone the next day, (I went straight to the customer relations number... can't get a d
irect line number for them but customer services can put you through), I was promised that a full inquiry would take place. After calling everyone concerned myself, it appears to be a computer problem whereby children over 12, because the pay full fare, do not set off an automatic trigger saying they are unaccompanied minors (even though all the details were on the computer... Confused? Me too).

The findings of the full inquiry will be available by the end of the week (so they promised)... I will let you know the outcome.

To avoid this happening to you,

- ALWAYS double check that the children are registered as unaccompanied minors after you have booked the tickets.

- When you take the children to the airport, ensure you fill in a form with your name and address on (supplied by the airline) and make sure you hand them over to a member of staff.

Children between 12 and 15 are not automatically considered unaccompanied minors with British Airways.

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