British Airways Delays Left Me Stranded in London! How I Made It Home
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- Опубліковано 2 вер 2023
- #britishairways #stranded #greygapyear
In this video I'll tell the story of how I was stranded in London after my flight from Edinburgh was delayed and how I eventually made it home, it was not plain sailing!
I had missed my connecting flight to Athens and I was so fed up I just abandoned my trip (for a full refund!)
I had my passport, my wallet and the clothes I stood up in. My car was in Edinburgh and my home is in the Midlands.
Although BA offered me a flight back to Edinburgh the next day it was a late flight in economy which I assumed would be delayed or cancelled leaving me either still stranded or very tired in Edinburgh with a long drive home, so I decided to make my own way to Edinburgh on the Avanti West Coast train.
When I went to bed there were lots of trains, but when I woke up…
0.00 Intro
0:23 Recap of Part 1
1:05 Getting a Cab
1:32 The Moxy Hotel Heathrow Review
2:43 The Next Morning
3:52 Avanti West Coast Standard Premium Seat Review
5:35 Did I Get to Edinburgh?
6:20 Did I Get My Bag Back?
8:24 Did I Get Compensation?
10:32 Did I Get BA Gold Status?
My original plan was three European Trips with BA Holidays to earn enough BA status points (called Tier Points) to reach BA Gold in a budget of £3000 or £1000 per holiday including flights and hotels.
But with this missed flight, I failed.
Join me as I scramble to get to Edinburgh to retrieve my car and watch as I do an impromptu review of the Moxy Hotel that BA put me up in and take a look at what the Standard Premium Seat is like on Avanti West Coast. Is it worth paying the upgrade fee?
Did I get to Edinburgh? Did I get my bag? Did I get compensation and did I finally make it to BA Gold Status?
If you’d like to follow me on my travels, please subscribe to the channel to get updates when I release new videos,
And thank you for joining me on my grey gap year.
Phil
Phil, the algorithm has put your channel on my feed and I’m so glad it has. As a 21 year old travelling solo frequently it’s fantastic to hear of your experiences here and a cracking video!
Thank you for your kind comments, I'm glad you enjoyed the video and thank you for the sub. I hope I get to hear about your travels some day
Amazing video!
Thanks son :)
Really enjoyed this video despite your difficulties! Thanks for a great watch.
Thank you so much, I'm glad you enjoyed it.
Liked your channel a lot. BA lost our luggage twice last year to and back from our cruise holiday. We were offered little help and no ground staff. We were and are still furious.
Glad you're enjoying the channel, less happy about BA losing your bags. Must have been a huge pain if you were then cruising afterwards.
This channel is great. I'm doing some solo travel myself, so glad to watch your videos. Keep up the nice work 👍
Thank you for your kind comments, I'm really happy you're enjoying the videos.
@@mygreygapyear just wondering, what do you use for your video editing?
@@neilpa I'm a Windows FanBoi so I have a PC and I use Davinci Resolve.
@mygreygapyear haha! Nothing wrong with being a Windows Fan Boi. I'm the same...
Great channel subbed today!
Thank you Julian, I really appreciate your comment, your sub and your support.
I've slept at lhr few times.found a quiet place and slept . Police came by a few times,showed them my boarding pass and they were cool! Got home next day! In Arizona,US
Thank you for your comment, I think I may be a bit long in the tooth for sleeping on the floor (I consider Holiday In Express as camping), but it sounds like an adventure for sure.
Enjoying your videos. Just subscribed
Thank you, it's wonderful to here you're enjoying them, and thank you for your support.
Really enjoy your videos Phil. You tell the story very well, quite organized. Kudos and thumbs up. btw, will you be sharing more about your stay in Morocco?
Thanks for your kind comment, I've reviewed the hotel I stayed at in Morocco but I pretty much on resort chilling.
Congratulations ! I was waiting for a new video to say you'd achieved Gold later in your tier point year. Meanwhile the BA Silver/One World Sapphire probably still came in useful on your trip to Australia
Thank you for your kind comments, the Qantas First Class Lounge in Melbourne has an absolutely superb a la carte restaurant and (spoiler alert!) access to the Golden Lounge in Kuala Lumpur when I was delayed was very welcome too...
@@mygreygapyearThat's great ! You got your Gold in time in time for the return trip from Australia, right ? That hotel in Marrakesh set me thinking about a possible future trip...
It was the Iberostar Palmeraie Marrakech and the staff really couldn't do enough for you.
Only discovered your channel recently. Great videos, very useful. Silver is on my bucket list to achieve at some point.
Thank you for your kind comments, and welcome to the channel. I've had a few comments asking for a specific "going silver" video as it is a nice sweet spot to hit, so if you subscribe and click to get notifications then UA-cam will let you know when that comes out, I think late March or Early April sounds favourite.
With double tier points on BA Holidays, now is the time to do it!
@@Locutus Good advice
Hi, just came across you channel and happily subscribed. Thanks for the content. For the EDI departures do you just drive up to EDI, I notice you are also from the Midlands
Welcome and thank you for your support. I'm based in the West Midlands so I drove to Edinburgh. The train requires a change at Crewe and it's expensive, but I think if I lived any closer to London I'd fly from Heathrow. The issue with trains to Heathrow is it's one train to London then public transport from Euston to the airport which is a major pain with a suitcase.
Now I'm intrigued about the trip to Marrakesh :D
Thank you for your comment, a few people have asked about the trip to Marrakesh, I have recently released a video about the Iberostar hotel I stayed at there 😊
May 2023 ....30 hour flight from Australia into Heathrow.
No flights anywhere from terminal 5.
First flight to Belfast was 2 days later,which I booked.
Bag turned up 4 days later.
1000gbp out of pocket for the accomm in London.
Have not heard from B/A .You were very lucky 😊
Oh wow that is absolutely horrid, I'm really sorry to hear about that. I'm assuming you were caught up in the May Bank Holiday "technical issues" disaster. Assuming you've put your claim in with the correct receipts you might want to try the social media platform formally known as twitter.
The very best of luck to you,
Phil
Very kind😊
Always keep emergency shirt/undies/socks in hand luggage.
Well done getting over the line.
😂 Thank you for your comment and suggestion, it's appreciated, not sure if I want that much stuff in my carry on though.
Tbh BA should have just flown you back the next day as per EU/UK requirement at no cost to you and you would have got the full refund plus the compensation for the delay. Claiming for expenses is always a faff. But glad you got there with them.
Thanks for your comment, in BA's defence it was a very busy and difficult time in the industry as everyone tried to ramp back up and they offered me an economy seat at around 7pm the next day, which would leave me driving home late from Edinburgh the next day and delays would have made this even worse. I wanted to take control of the situation so I thought, just "Get a train", without really thinking about the consequences of there being cancelled or limited trains.
The sigh of relief when I got on the train was loud.
Thanks,
Phil
Been flying with BA using my own money for over 30 years and they've never lost a bag of mine yet. Hope I'm not tempting fate as I'm flying with them for the first time this year next month. Most recent issue I had was when their computer system crashed in 2018 (?) and I was in Philadelphia due to fly back that morning. As I was on a BA Holiday I had the dedicated phone number to call in the UK. I was told to go to the airport as normal but a little early and I should be re-booked with another airline. This indeed happened, I arrived back at Heathrow, different terminal and a couple of hours later than my original time. I claimed the differnece in price between Premium Economy and AA Cattle Class that I flew back on, no idea what the value was because it was a package, and was OK with the amount I was refunded, which was within a few days. Just a shame that BA has cut back so much on the service you now get compared to what you used to get, especially the Hot Breakfast on domestic routes 😞
Thank you for sharing your experiences, it's much appreciated. Although the video is about a BA issue, like you, I do find then to be a good airline and the cabin crew are first class all the way. I was on a BA holiday too, which is why they booked the Moxy for me, otherwise that part would have also have been "fend for myself". I think if I was going to ask BA to spend money somewhere it would be improving their IT. Thanks for your comment, Phil
Glad you made gold in the end! Though, what are the advantages of Gold over Silver (never having had any BA status)? Thanks!
Thanks for the comment and the support. Funny you should ask about benefits... I have a video being released at 10am tomorrow that talks about this very subject so do look out for it. The benefits that I really enjoy at Gold level are 1) the lounge access (and Melbourne's Qantas First Class Lounge has been the best so far), 2) Line skipping, I get a bit smug when I waltz past everyone in the Economy line and then sit next to them on the plane, 3) Priority Bags which should come off first at the other end, apparently there are issues with this but when my bag has a priority sticker on it it always seems to be one of the first off?
@@mygreygapyear I'll watch out for it!
@@mygreygapyearwith gold, you get access to the First Wing at Heathrow, with its own private security channel. It really makes a difference. There are also some equivalents elsewhere, like American Airlines flagship first at Los Angeles, where it's a really personal service (and you can enjoy the Qantas first class lounge there, which is excellent).
Thank you for the comment and the brilliant tip, First Wing and LA Flagship sound fantastic. One of the things I really love about status is that it's across the alliance, it blows my mind
I was sat in terminal 5 for 7 hours last week after a 7 hour flight because i missed my connecting flight through no fault of my own. Even though my flight to Manchester was delayed they wouldn't let me board. The flight only took 40 mins if that. My first and last time flying with BA
Oh no, 7 hours in Heathrow after a 7 hour flight? That is absolutely horrid, I feel for you. Did you have any access to a lounge? It can really make the difference? Thank you for your comment and all the best, Phil.
Same thing happened to me missed flight to Manchester travelling from Miami because classic BA flights are always delayed… queue the classical music 🎶 Waited 1hr and 30 mins to be put on standby at 2pm instead of 8pm. I was soooo happy when I got onboard at 2pm correction another delayed flight at 3pm. 😂 add on to that suitcase left in London.
@@mygreygapyearI did see the lounge there but wasn't sure how to access it
@@Musa93You're lucky you were out on standby! I had a horrid experience
In March 2024, BA didn't deliver my bag for about 2 days to my final inbound destination (JER). I had arrived into LHR with QR, and had a 5 hour wait until my JER flight. Apparently, that wasn't enough time for BA to load my bag! 🤦🏼♂️😂
Oh man, that was last month, I could understand the issues when they were happening to me in September 2022, but there really is no excuse now, especially with 5 hours to spare, I feel your pain (assuming your laughing emoji is ironic)
Thanks for your comment, all the best,
Phil
The Heathrow baggage handling team that BA use are sometimes dreadful. I've had the issue three times where my bags haven't made the final flight. I use LHR as a connecting hub. Even with enough time between flights, the bags still remain at LHR. Not as bad when it's on the return leg home, but when it's your first day of holiday it is somewhat annoying. Last year we went and collected our bags from MAN airport and paid £12 for the privilage.
No baggage when you arrive in your outgoing destination must be awful. That they charged you to send it to Manchester is beyond the pale. Our flag carrier really needs to sort these ongoing issues out. It's embarrassing. Looking back I'm glad that I abandoned that Athens trip, who knows what else would have gone wrong.
Good luck with your future travels.
Phil
Thank you! They didn't charge us, it was parking fee for less than half hour parking at Manchester! We gave up waiting for the bags to be delivered as had been four days since we arrived back home, and they were just sat and Manchester. Look forward to seeing more of your content.
Im coming over to the UK 🇬🇧 next year what is my best avenue to get to Oxford or Bicester please 🙏 😊love from Perth Australia 🇦🇺 😊
There's are busses direct from Heathrow T2/T3/T5 to Oxford, if you're flying in with Qatar to Terminal 4 you'll need to take the underground to T3. Getting to Bicester from Oxford, there'll be a bus but you might want to pay the extra and get a taxi.
The real alternative though, depending on your plans and length of your stay, would be to hire a car. If you're touring the UK then this will be preferable to taking trains.
I hope you have a wonderful trip to the UK, Perth is one of my favourite places on earth, I worked in Moora, about an hour north for 3 months then drove all the way up the west coast.
Phil
If this happened to me I would just start crying 😢
The magic of editing, I cut the parts where I got weepy. When I got to the car I was so grateful to be back in control of the situation and I did feel a bit emotional.
I think you should have just went on with your holiday, when they offered it to you. Would have saved a lot of time and bother. However I understand when you are tired and frustrated, how you can make rash discissions. I do it all the time, but trying to learn from it.
Thanks for your comment and support. It could have worked out if I'd pushed on but then again it could have got worse (I'll never know), but the refund in full plus repayment of any expenses swung it for me.
The thing I was most upset about was that my video idea (Gold in three trips) wouldn't work out anymore because I failed 😀
Thanks
Phil
@@mygreygapyear It was an honest account. so in those aspects you never failed. Thanks for making the video. Always look forward to your new ones. .
Which hotel did you stay at sir? Looks great...
I was at the Moxy on Bath Road. It was nice, smallish rooms but I would definitely stay there again, thanks
@@mygreygapyear sorry In Marrakesh
Sorry Richard, the Hotel in Marrakesh was the Iberostar Club Palmeraie. I've just looked online and it's around £100 per night in November this year. Iberostar recently became in some way associated with Intercontinental Hotels Group and this might be the cause of the increase.