Hey Joe...
Same types of thing have happened to me. I've flown almost weekly for the
last four years.
One time, a Delta agent did not want to let me board with two laptops and my
camera bag. I explained that I realized it was one bag too many, but that I
was flying for business and that many passengers were going to bring single
bags on board that took up 2-3 times the space of my one. That did not
matter. I asked her which $3000 item she would like to stow in the cargo
hold and have Delta pay for. As I was already walking down the jetway when
she was scolding me, she continued, "OK, well you'll have to deal with the
stewardesses when you board". I walked on with no questions asked.
Another time I saw a photographer in front of me ask to get his film
handchecked. The TSA agent gave all the usual rhetoric about film speed,
blah, blah, blah and was reticent about handchecking it. So I started
telling the TSA agent what I knew regarding the topic. The exchange started
getting loud and unpleasant and the TSA agent said he "always believes what
his government tells him". I said "You believe what the GOVERNMENT tells
you? Ha ha ha ha ha!". As people were starting to look I decided to shutup
so that I could get home that night.
You may not need to take it out on British Airways... I know the feeling,
but you'll find people like that in most any group.
Tom C.
From: Jostein <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Reply-To: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: Need to Vent
Date: Tue, 10 Jan 2006 19:37:46 +0100
Hi Joe,
I felt really sorry for you reading about the BA attendant spilling coffe
all over you. One would have thought you had got enough already by
then...:-(
I've been in and out of Heathrow 8-10 times per year for five years now.
Sometimes everyone's smiling and all is OK, but there are times when all
the ground staff seem to sulk at once. And they really know how to spoil a
man's good day. I haven't noticed the staff at Terminal 4 to be any worse
than at the other terminals, though. I think it's mostly airline
independent even if all the BA flights are from terminal 4...
Jostein
----- Original Message ----- From: "Joseph Tainter"
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[email protected]>; "Michele M Schoeneberger"
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "Carol B Raish" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>;
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>;
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "Bonnie Bagley"
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Tuesday, January 10, 2006 4:51 AM
Subject: OT: Need to Vent
This one goes into my "How did the human species ever survive?" file.
Yesterday I got to Heathrow Terminal 4 early for my flight. After leaving
off my big suitcase I dutifully stepped up to the checkpoint that you must
pass before you are admitted to the security screening area. One woman is
checking boarding passes, while two others intercept passengers who are
trying to carry on the allowed carry-on bag. The woman wants to weigh my
suitcase. It weighs a bit under 15 kg, so she tells me I must check it.
Well, it contains $3000 worth of digital photo gear, medications, and
documents, and I am not about to check it. So a row begins. She tells me
that I am allowed only 6 kg in one bag, and that I must repack everything
into multiple bags. At this point the illogic of her demand had not sunk
in. I asked to see her supervisor, who duly came along. This woman gave me
the same story. I was allowed only 6 kg in any one bag. Both women
suggested that I repack the contents into multiple bags. Now the absurdity
started to sink in. The objection was not that I wanted to carry 15 kg on
board, but that I wanted those 15 kg in one bag (in which they fit just
fine). If I carried the same 15 kg in multiple bags, that would be okay. I
tried to explain to the supervisor that this was ridiculous: the overhead
bin carries the same weight regardless of whether it is in one bag or
several. Her reply: "Sorry, sir, that is the rule."
Both women asked me several times if I was in Business Class or Economy. I
was in Economy, of course. I asked why it made a difference. The
supervisor insisted that that in Economy, the bins would not handle the
weight. This was a 747. I pointed out that all sections of the plane have
the same overhead bins. This logic didn't matter. I also pointed out that
I had flown on the same British Airways 747 coming from Phoenix. That
logic didn't matter either. All that mattered was that only 6 kg would be
allowed Economy Class passengers in any one bag.
At this point I realized that the people who run and work for British
Airways are about as intelligent as American Educators -- the kind who
suspend kids from school on the grounds of no-drugs-tolerated when the kid
shows up with a cold, cold medication, and approval from the parents.
So I trekked down to the end of the terminal, removed the contents of my
suitcase, and proceeded back to the entrance. Now my 15 kg were in 4
parcels rather than one. At the entry I saw that the gatekeepers were
harassing some Middle Eastern-looking fellows. So while they were
distracted, I walked right up to the woman checking boarding passes,
showed her mine, and walked on through. Of course, once on the other side,
I proceeded to repack everything into the original suitcase.
Once past security, I spent 20 minutes walking around the vast duty-free
mall just to bring my blood pressure down. When I was rational again, I
thought about the several times that I was asked if I was in Business or
Economy. Apparently, in Business Class I could carry the 15 kg in one
suitcase. In Economy I had to carry the same 15 kg in several bags. They
even had the nerve to claim that the Economy overhead bins were somehow
less able to carry such a concentration of weight. At that point I
understood that my real offense had been against the British class system.
Those in Business Class had paid for the privilege of carrying 15 kg in
one bag. Those of us in Steerage had not. We could only carry our 15 kg in
several bags. I never asked whether they provide enough life preservers
for everyone in Economy.
Other than that, it was actually a very interesting flight. Going over the
Atlantic usually isn't, and I've now done it 42 times. But that's another
story, and tonight I just need to rant. And I will never willingly fly
British Airways again. Last June, flying Berlin to Heathrow (on my way
back to Albuquerque), the British Airways attendant threw coffee all over
me right at the start of 24 hours of travel.
Joe
