After arriving at London Heathrow from Phnom Penh via Doha (taking 22 hours at 11.30am) for a connecting flight BA1332 to Newcastle on 02 May 2014. British Airways refused to board us due to some computer ticketing glitch, insisting we had to contact our travel agent in Phnom Penh (by which time it was after 10,00 pm there) refusing to accept our printed itinerary booking or the copy of the payment and Visa vouchers showing we had fully paid for the booking with them. BA also insisted that they would not have our baggage, despite being checked through to NCL as denoted by the baggage labels, making us return to T5 for a fruitless effort back to Qatar Airways, when all the time it was on their stack at T5. The QA office, however gave us a print out to say that in fact we were booked on a later BA flight to NCL, but once again, BA ground staff…..eventually…. refused to board us. Some unnamed person, at the end of a telephone, simply informed the BA counter staff “there is nothing we can do!”. We left LHR by bus 6 hours after first landing there, and arrived in Newcastle 25 hours late after two bus journeys and an overnight stay.
BA has replied twice to us so far, but has still not explained what went wrong, who was to blame, or how any traveller can make sure it does not happen again. As I am from the UK, with access to my bank account, and a UK sim card for the phone, at least I knew how to get to my destination – how would BA and LHR deal with a foreign visitor? No-one offered any help whatsoever. The first reply from the Civil Aviation Authority suggests that what happened to us does not fit in with the “refused boarding” regulations!
