Is British Airways telling me the truth about a flight for tomorrow?
They say the SFO Airport is "holding the flight for security reasons".
What does THAT mean?

Here's the scoop ... 
I've been trying to obtain seats for a flight tomorrow (less than 18 hours
away) for the past five hours, all to no avail. It seems British Airways
doesn't separate the task of obtaining a seat assignment from checking in,
contrary to what all other airlines do. So, in order to obtain a seat
assignment, one must check in online at www.ba.com (which can only be done
24 hours or less prior to the flight departure time).

However, when I check in at -24 hours, -23 hours, -22 hours, -21 hours,
etc., British Airways' web site says repeatedly (and insultingly) "Sorry,
we are unable to offer you Online Check-in for this flight. We recommend
that you review the status of your booking. Manage My BookingTo check in
and receive your boarding pass, please proceed to the airport."

Numerous calls to British Airways at 1-800-AIR-WAYS get me a variety of
mis-information, and get me confirmation that the "status of my booking" is
fine. After a few exasperating hours, the best I can do after speaking to
their "supervisor" is obtain the web-help hotline number 800-403-0882.

Calling that "hotline" is an exercise in near futility, as the wait is
greater than 20 or 30 minutes each time. Thank God for unlimited cellphone
minutes and earbuds. Twice I get the same guy who tells me there's nothing
wrong with my reservation but that the "airport" is not allowing check in
for "security reasons". He says "call back later" which I do but get the
same answers. Asking for what I should do, he says "call the airport
authority" at 650-821-8211.

I call the "airport authority", only to get a woman and then her supervisor
whom I have to basically teach the basics of British Airways check-in
procedures. They just can't fathom why I would want to check in 24 hours
early saying the airline isn't there - and I can't fathom why they can't
understand that British Airways is different than all the rest in that they
don't separate seating from checkin so to get seating you have to check in
but that you check in online without actually checking in any baggage or
physically being at the airport. The supervisor tells me I've been misled,
adding that he's there for emergencies and this isn't one so we hang up.

I go back to the British Airways web site to obtain my seat arrangements
(aka to "check in"), and still, it says I can't - even almost six hours
into my 24-hour period, even tho we're traveling with children between the
ages of 2 and 11 (BA advertises falsly that we get seat assignments 3 days
prior but obviously that is not true).

My question:
Is this BA check-in experience common and ... more importantly ... what
could possibly be the "security concerns" that the "airport" could have for
holding up the check-in process for this British Airways flight to
Heathrow?

johac wrote:

> 
> My question:
> Is this BA check-in experience common and ... more importantly ... what
> could possibly be the "security concerns" that the "airport" could have for
> holding up the check-in process for this British Airways flight to
> Heathrow?

I had the same experience on Virgin out of JFK last week.

I expect the "security concerns" might have something to do with 21st 
century events of recent times but of course they may not. It could just 
be the same as saying 'computer error' used to be in the 80's to mask a 
whole set of other issues.

I just checked in perfectly normally at the airport.

mf

johac wrote:

> 
> My question:
> Is this BA check-in experience common and ... more importantly ... what
> could possibly be the "security concerns" that the "airport" could have for
> holding up the check-in process for this British Airways flight to
> Heathrow?

I had the same experience on Virgin out of JFK last week.

I expect the "security concerns" might have something to do with 21st 
century events of recent times but of course they may not. It could just 
be the same as saying 'computer error' used to be in the 80's to mask a 
whole set of other issues.

I just checked in perfectly normally at the airport.

mf

In article <R6_mi.9240$eY.3204@newssvr13.news.prodigy.net>,
 johac   wrote:

> what could possibly be the "security concerns" that the "airport" could
> have for holding up the check-in process for this British Airways flight
> to Heathrow?

Probably, somebody in your party is flagged for a more-thorough search
(SSSSS on the boarding pass for most airlines).  TSA doesn't allow such
boarding passes to be home-printed, fearing that a bad-guy would just edit
the graphic to eliminate the visible cues that trigger TSA to perform that
more-thorough search.

You can ask the BA clerk by phone to pre-assign seats for you, or ask her
supervisor.  They must have the capacity, as (for example) some people have
disabilities that require or prevent assignments to particular seats.

If they can't do it by phone, you'll probably have to get to the airport
early and do it there.

-- 
Randy Hudson

On Jul 17, 8:22 am, johac  wrote:
> Is British Airways telling me the truth about a flight for tomorrow?
> They say the SFO Airport is "holding the flight for security reasons".
> What does THAT mean?
>
> Here's the scoop ...
> I've been trying to obtain seats for a flight tomorrow (less than 18 hours
> away) for the past five hours, all to no avail. It seems British Airways
> doesn't separate the task of obtaining a seat assignment from checking in,
> contrary to what all other airlines do. So, in order to obtain a seat
> assignment, one must check in online atwww.ba.com(which can only be done
> 24 hours or less prior to the flight departure time).
>
> However, when I check in at -24 hours, -23 hours, -22 hours, -21 hours,
> etc., British Airways' web site says repeatedly (and insultingly) "Sorry,
> we are unable to offer you Online Check-in for this flight. We recommend
> that you review the status of your booking. Manage My BookingTo check in
> and receive your boarding pass, please proceed to the airport."
>
> Numerous calls to British Airways at 1-800-AIR-WAYS get me a variety of
> mis-information, and get me confirmation that the "status of my booking" is
> fine. After a few exasperating hours, the best I can do after speaking to
> their "supervisor" is obtain the web-help hotline number 800-403-0882.
>
> Calling that "hotline" is an exercise in near futility, as the wait is
> greater than 20 or 30 minutes each time. Thank God for unlimited cellphone
> minutes and earbuds. Twice I get the same guy who tells me there's nothing
> wrong with my reservation but that the "airport" is not allowing check in
> for "security reasons". He says "call back later" which I do but get the
> same answers. Asking for what I should do, he says "call the airport
> authority" at 650-821-8211.
>
> I call the "airport authority", only to get a woman and then her supervisor
> whom I have to basically teach the basics of British Airways check-in
> procedures. They just can't fathom why I would want to check in 24 hours
> early saying the airline isn't there - and I can't fathom why they can't
> understand that British Airways is different than all the rest in that they
> don't separate seating from checkin so to get seating you have to check in
> but that you check in online without actually checking in any baggage or
> physically being at the airport. The supervisor tells me I've been misled,
> adding that he's there for emergencies and this isn't one so we hang up.
>
> I go back to the British Airways web site to obtain my seat arrangements
> (aka to "check in"), and still, it says I can't - even almost six hours
> into my 24-hour period, even tho we're traveling with children between the
> ages of 2 and 11 (BA advertises falsly that we get seat assignments 3 days
> prior but obviously that is not true).
>
> My question:
> Is this BA check-in experience common and ... more importantly ... what
> could possibly be the "security concerns" that the "airport" could have for
> holding up the check-in process for this British Airways flight to
> Heathrow?


Within the US, I have been told a similar story when trying to obtain
seat assignments on 2 different US airlines - the seat assignements
were being held for security reasons. In both cases, the planes were
overbooked, and I was one of those without a seat, although in both
cases I did eventually get a seat.

I also once had this happen on SAS from London to Copenhagen, this was
because they changed the meal options between my booking and my flight
and I had to get information about that and this could for some reason
only happen at physical check-in. But at least they didn't claim it
was a security issue, just that I could not check in/assign a seat on-
line.

Hanne

On Tue, 17 Jul 2007 07:48:05 +0000 (UTC), Randy Hudson wrote:
> Probably, somebody in your party is flagged for a more-thorough search
> (SSSSS on the boarding pass for most airlines).  TSA doesn't allow such
> boarding passes to be home-printed, fearing that a bad-guy would just edit
> the graphic to eliminate the visible cues that trigger TSA to perform that
> more-thorough search.

Hi Randy,
Thanks for the suggestion.

According to "Chris" at BA web support 800-403-0882, NOBODY on that plane
is allowed to check in to Heathrow from SFO. So, if it's someone, it's
everyone. What I was wondering is if this happens all the time with BA or
if this is unusual for BA to have the vaunted online-checkin held up "by
the airport".

Notice BA doesn't ever tell me that it's held up by BA; on the contrary,
they say "the airport authorities have not released the flight for online
checkin due to security concerns".

What I'm trying to find out is whether or not this is BA BS. For example,
given that British Airways is different in this no-seating-without-checkin
policy, perhaps with an orange alert level, no BA flights are allowed to
have online seating (i.e., online checkin). 

If that is the case though, BA has been lying to me in every phone call;
that is why I ask YOU (the people at large) ... is this "normal"?

> You can ask the BA clerk by phone to pre-assign seats for you ...
They say they can't do that. I don't believe them, but that's what they say
time and time again when I call 800-AIR-WAYS and ask.

> If they can't do it by phone, you'll probably have to get to the airport
> early and do it there.

Sigh. Yes. But is this normal? Does BA ALWAYS force you to check in and
obtain your seat at the airport or is it this only this one flight that is
held up "by the airport" for online seating for security reasons?

On Tue, 17 Jul 2007 02:42:20 -0700, hago@dcs.qmul.ac.uk wrote:
> Within the US, I have been told a similar story when trying to obtain
> seat assignments on 2 different US airlines - the seat assignements
> were being held for security reasons. In both cases, the planes were
> overbooked, and I was one of those without a seat, although in both
> cases I did eventually get a seat.
> 
> I also once had this happen on SAS from London to Copenhagen, this was
> because they changed the meal options between my booking and my flight
> and I had to get information about that and this could for some reason
> only happen at physical check-in. But at least they didn't claim it
> was a security issue, just that I could not check in/assign a seat on-
> line.

Thank you Hanne for describing your experience. In our case, we are flying
BA to Heathrow so we're not switching airlines; but it is interesting to
see that it's not just us that BA is yanking around by the collar.

Thank you for your insight. In this case, the British Airways operators
tell me NOBODY is allowed to check in for this flight yet (800-AIR-WAYS)
which is confirmed by the British Airways web-support team (800-403-0882).

They say online checkin (hence seating arrangements for anyone, including
families with small children) has been held up by the "airport
authorities". British Airways every time I call blames it on the "airport
authorities" and not on them or their funky system that doesn't allow
seating without checking (unlike all other airlines other than Soutwest).

If anyone else can tell me whether this is "normal" for British Airways or
not, that would set my mind at ease.

Thanks!

> On Jul 17, 8:22 am, johac  wrote:
>> Is British Airways telling me the truth about a flight for tomorrow?
>> They say the SFO Airport is "holding the flight for security reasons".
>> What does THAT mean?
>>
>> Here's the scoop ...
>> I've been trying to obtain seats for a flight tomorrow (less than 18 hours
>> away) for the past five hours, all to no avail. It seems British Airways
>> doesn't separate the task of obtaining a seat assignment from checking in,
>> contrary to what all other airlines do. So, in order to obtain a seat
>> assignment, one must check in online atwww.ba.com(which can only be done
>> 24 hours or less prior to the flight departure time).
>>
>> However, when I check in at -24 hours, -23 hours, -22 hours, -21 hours,
>> etc., British Airways' web site says repeatedly (and insultingly) "Sorry,
>> we are unable to offer you Online Check-in for this flight. We recommend
>> that you review the status of your booking. Manage My BookingTo check in
>> and receive your boarding pass, please proceed to the airport."
>>
>> Numerous calls to British Airways at 1-800-AIR-WAYS get me a variety of
>> mis-information, and get me confirmation that the "status of my booking" is
>> fine. After a few exasperating hours, the best I can do after speaking to
>> their "supervisor" is obtain the web-help hotline number 800-403-0882.
>>
>> Calling that "hotline" is an exercise in near futility, as the wait is
>> greater than 20 or 30 minutes each time. Thank God for unlimited cellphone
>> minutes and earbuds. Twice I get the same guy who tells me there's nothing
>> wrong with my reservation but that the "airport" is not allowing check in
>> for "security reasons". He says "call back later" which I do but get the
>> same answers. Asking for what I should do, he says "call the airport
>> authority" at 650-821-8211.
>>
>> I call the "airport authority", only to get a woman and then her supervisor
>> whom I have to basically teach the basics of British Airways check-in
>> procedures. They just can't fathom why I would want to check in 24 hours
>> early saying the airline isn't there - and I can't fathom why they can't
>> understand that British Airways is different than all the rest in that they
>> don't separate seating from checkin so to get seating you have to check in
>> but that you check in online without actually checking in any baggage or
>> physically being at the airport. The supervisor tells me I've been misled,
>> adding that he's there for emergencies and this isn't one so we hang up.
>>
>> I go back to the British Airways web site to obtain my seat arrangements
>> (aka to "check in"), and still, it says I can't - even almost six hours
>> into my 24-hour period, even tho we're traveling with children between the
>> ages of 2 and 11 (BA advertises falsly that we get seat assignments 3 days
>> prior but obviously that is not true).
>>
>> My question:
>> Is this BA check-in experience common and ... more importantly ... what
>> could possibly be the "security concerns" that the "airport" could have for
>> holding up the check-in process for this British Airways flight to
>> Heathrow?
>

johac wrote:

> 
> My question:
> Is this BA check-in experience common and ... more importantly ... what
> could possibly be the "security concerns" that the "airport" could have for
> holding up the check-in process for this British Airways flight to
> Heathrow?

I had the same experience on Virgin out of JFK last week.

I expect the "security concerns" might have something to do with 21st 
century events of recent times but of course they may not. It could just 
be the same as saying 'computer error' used to be in the 80's to mask a 
whole set of other issues.

I just checked in perfectly normally at the airport.

mf

In article <R6_mi.9240$eY.3204@newssvr13.news.prodigy.net>,
 johac   wrote:

> what could possibly be the "security concerns" that the "airport" could
> have for holding up the check-in process for this British Airways flight
> to Heathrow?

Probably, somebody in your party is flagged for a more-thorough search
(SSSSS on the boarding pass for most airlines).  TSA doesn't allow such
boarding passes to be home-printed, fearing that a bad-guy would just edit
the graphic to eliminate the visible cues that trigger TSA to perform that
more-thorough search.

You can ask the BA clerk by phone to pre-assign seats for you, or ask her
supervisor.  They must have the capacity, as (for example) some people have
disabilities that require or prevent assignments to particular seats.

If they can't do it by phone, you'll probably have to get to the airport
early and do it there.

-- 
Randy Hudson

On Jul 17, 8:22 am, johac  wrote:
> Is British Airways telling me the truth about a flight for tomorrow?
> They say the SFO Airport is "holding the flight for security reasons".
> What does THAT mean?
>
> Here's the scoop ...
> I've been trying to obtain seats for a flight tomorrow (less than 18 hours
> away) for the past five hours, all to no avail. It seems British Airways
> doesn't separate the task of obtaining a seat assignment from checking in,
> contrary to what all other airlines do. So, in order to obtain a seat
> assignment, one must check in online atwww.ba.com(which can only be done
> 24 hours or less prior to the flight departure time).
>
> However, when I check in at -24 hours, -23 hours, -22 hours, -21 hours,
> etc., British Airways' web site says repeatedly (and insultingly) "Sorry,
> we are unable to offer you Online Check-in for this flight. We recommend
> that you review the status of your booking. Manage My BookingTo check in
> and receive your boarding pass, please proceed to the airport."
>
> Numerous calls to British Airways at 1-800-AIR-WAYS get me a variety of
> mis-information, and get me confirmation that the "status of my booking" is
> fine. After a few exasperating hours, the best I can do after speaking to
> their "supervisor" is obtain the web-help hotline number 800-403-0882.
>
> Calling that "hotline" is an exercise in near futility, as the wait is
> greater than 20 or 30 minutes each time. Thank God for unlimited cellphone
> minutes and earbuds. Twice I get the same guy who tells me there's nothing
> wrong with my reservation but that the "airport" is not allowing check in
> for "security reasons". He says "call back later" which I do but get the
> same answers. Asking for what I should do, he says "call the airport
> authority" at 650-821-8211.
>
> I call the "airport authority", only to get a woman and then her supervisor
> whom I have to basically teach the basics of British Airways check-in
> procedures. They just can't fathom why I would want to check in 24 hours
> early saying the airline isn't there - and I can't fathom why they can't
> understand that British Airways is different than all the rest in that they
> don't separate seating from checkin so to get seating you have to check in
> but that you check in online without actually checking in any baggage or
> physically being at the airport. The supervisor tells me I've been misled,
> adding that he's there for emergencies and this isn't one so we hang up.
>
> I go back to the British Airways web site to obtain my seat arrangements
> (aka to "check in"), and still, it says I can't - even almost six hours
> into my 24-hour period, even tho we're traveling with children between the
> ages of 2 and 11 (BA advertises falsly that we get seat assignments 3 days
> prior but obviously that is not true).
>
> My question:
> Is this BA check-in experience common and ... more importantly ... what
> could possibly be the "security concerns" that the "airport" could have for
> holding up the check-in process for this British Airways flight to
> Heathrow?


Within the US, I have been told a similar story when trying to obtain
seat assignments on 2 different US airlines - the seat assignements
were being held for security reasons. In both cases, the planes were
overbooked, and I was one of those without a seat, although in both
cases I did eventually get a seat.

I also once had this happen on SAS from London to Copenhagen, this was
because they changed the meal options between my booking and my flight
and I had to get information about that and this could for some reason
only happen at physical check-in. But at least they didn't claim it
was a security issue, just that I could not check in/assign a seat on-
line.

Hanne

On Tue, 17 Jul 2007 07:48:05 +0000 (UTC), Randy Hudson wrote:
> Probably, somebody in your party is flagged for a more-thorough search
> (SSSSS on the boarding pass for most airlines).  TSA doesn't allow such
> boarding passes to be home-printed, fearing that a bad-guy would just edit
> the graphic to eliminate the visible cues that trigger TSA to perform that
> more-thorough search.

Hi Randy,
Thanks for the suggestion.

According to "Chris" at BA web support 800-403-0882, NOBODY on that plane
is allowed to check in to Heathrow from SFO. So, if it's someone, it's
everyone. What I was wondering is if this happens all the time with BA or
if this is unusual for BA to have the vaunted online-checkin held up "by
the airport".

Notice BA doesn't ever tell me that it's held up by BA; on the contrary,
they say "the airport authorities have not released the flight for online
checkin due to security concerns".

What I'm trying to find out is whether or not this is BA BS. For example,
given that British Airways is different in this no-seating-without-checkin
policy, perhaps with an orange alert level, no BA flights are allowed to
have online seating (i.e., online checkin). 

If that is the case though, BA has been lying to me in every phone call;
that is why I ask YOU (the people at large) ... is this "normal"?

> You can ask the BA clerk by phone to pre-assign seats for you ...
They say they can't do that. I don't believe them, but that's what they say
time and time again when I call 800-AIR-WAYS and ask.

> If they can't do it by phone, you'll probably have to get to the airport
> early and do it there.

Sigh. Yes. But is this normal? Does BA ALWAYS force you to check in and
obtain your seat at the airport or is it this only this one flight that is
held up "by the airport" for online seating for security reasons?

On Tue, 17 Jul 2007 02:42:20 -0700, hago@dcs.qmul.ac.uk wrote:
> Within the US, I have been told a similar story when trying to obtain
> seat assignments on 2 different US airlines - the seat assignements
> were being held for security reasons. In both cases, the planes were
> overbooked, and I was one of those without a seat, although in both
> cases I did eventually get a seat.
> 
> I also once had this happen on SAS from London to Copenhagen, this was
> because they changed the meal options between my booking and my flight
> and I had to get information about that and this could for some reason
> only happen at physical check-in. But at least they didn't claim it
> was a security issue, just that I could not check in/assign a seat on-
> line.

Thank you Hanne for describing your experience. In our case, we are flying
BA to Heathrow so we're not switching airlines; but it is interesting to
see that it's not just us that BA is yanking around by the collar.

Thank you for your insight. In this case, the British Airways operators
tell me NOBODY is allowed to check in for this flight yet (800-AIR-WAYS)
which is confirmed by the British Airways web-support team (800-403-0882).

They say online checkin (hence seating arrangements for anyone, including
families with small children) has been held up by the "airport
authorities". British Airways every time I call blames it on the "airport
authorities" and not on them or their funky system that doesn't allow
seating without checking (unlike all other airlines other than Soutwest).

If anyone else can tell me whether this is "normal" for British Airways or
not, that would set my mind at ease.

Thanks!

> On Jul 17, 8:22 am, johac  wrote:
>> Is British Airways telling me the truth about a flight for tomorrow?
>> They say the SFO Airport is "holding the flight for security reasons".
>> What does THAT mean?
>>
>> Here's the scoop ...
>> I've been trying to obtain seats for a flight tomorrow (less than 18 hours
>> away) for the past five hours, all to no avail. It seems British Airways
>> doesn't separate the task of obtaining a seat assignment from checking in,
>> contrary to what all other airlines do. So, in order to obtain a seat
>> assignment, one must check in online atwww.ba.com(which can only be done
>> 24 hours or less prior to the flight departure time).
>>
>> However, when I check in at -24 hours, -23 hours, -22 hours, -21 hours,
>> etc., British Airways' web site says repeatedly (and insultingly) "Sorry,
>> we are unable to offer you Online Check-in for this flight. We recommend
>> that you review the status of your booking. Manage My BookingTo check in
>> and receive your boarding pass, please proceed to the airport."
>>
>> Numerous calls to British Airways at 1-800-AIR-WAYS get me a variety of
>> mis-information, and get me confirmation that the "status of my booking" is
>> fine. After a few exasperating hours, the best I can do after speaking to
>> their "supervisor" is obtain the web-help hotline number 800-403-0882.
>>
>> Calling that "hotline" is an exercise in near futility, as the wait is
>> greater than 20 or 30 minutes each time. Thank God for unlimited cellphone
>> minutes and earbuds. Twice I get the same guy who tells me there's nothing
>> wrong with my reservation but that the "airport" is not allowing check in
>> for "security reasons". He says "call back later" which I do but get the
>> same answers. Asking for what I should do, he says "call the airport
>> authority" at 650-821-8211.
>>
>> I call the "airport authority", only to get a woman and then her supervisor
>> whom I have to basically teach the basics of British Airways check-in
>> procedures. They just can't fathom why I would want to check in 24 hours
>> early saying the airline isn't there - and I can't fathom why they can't
>> understand that British Airways is different than all the rest in that they
>> don't separate seating from checkin so to get seating you have to check in
>> but that you check in online without actually checking in any baggage or
>> physically being at the airport. The supervisor tells me I've been misled,
>> adding that he's there for emergencies and this isn't one so we hang up.
>>
>> I go back to the British Airways web site to obtain my seat arrangements
>> (aka to "check in"), and still, it says I can't - even almost six hours
>> into my 24-hour period, even tho we're traveling with children between the
>> ages of 2 and 11 (BA advertises falsly that we get seat assignments 3 days
>> prior but obviously that is not true).
>>
>> My question:
>> Is this BA check-in experience common and ... more importantly ... what
>> could possibly be the "security concerns" that the "airport" could have for
>> holding up the check-in process for this British Airways flight to
>> Heathrow?
>

"johac"  wrote in message 
news:R6_mi.9240$eY.3204@newssvr13.news.prodigy.net...
> Is British Airways telling me the truth about a flight for tomorrow?
> They say the SFO Airport is "holding the flight for security reasons".
> What does THAT mean?
>
> Here's the scoop ...
> I've been trying to obtain seats for a flight tomorrow (less than 18 hours
> away) for the past five hours, all to no avail. It seems British Airways
> doesn't separate the task of obtaining a seat assignment from checking in,
> contrary to what all other airlines do. So, in order to obtain a seat
> assignment, one must check in online at www.ba.com (which can only be done
> 24 hours or less prior to the flight departure time).
>
> However, when I check in at -24 hours, -23 hours, -22 hours, -21 hours,
> etc., British Airways' web site says repeatedly (and insultingly) "Sorry,
> we are unable to offer you Online Check-in for this flight. We recommend
> that you review the status of your booking. Manage My BookingTo check in
> and receive your boarding pass, please proceed to the airport."
>
> Numerous calls to British Airways at 1-800-AIR-WAYS get me a variety of
> mis-information, and get me confirmation that the "status of my booking" 
> is
> fine. After a few exasperating hours, the best I can do after speaking to
> their "supervisor" is obtain the web-help hotline number 800-403-0882.
>
> Calling that "hotline" is an exercise in near futility, as the wait is
> greater than 20 or 30 minutes each time. Thank God for unlimited cellphone
> minutes and earbuds. Twice I get the same guy who tells me there's nothing
> wrong with my reservation but that the "airport" is not allowing check in
> for "security reasons". He says "call back later" which I do but get the
> same answers. Asking for what I should do, he says "call the airport
> authority" at 650-821-8211.
>
> I call the "airport authority", only to get a woman and then her 
> supervisor
> whom I have to basically teach the basics of British Airways check-in
> procedures. They just can't fathom why I would want to check in 24 hours
> early saying the airline isn't there - and I can't fathom why they can't
> understand that British Airways is different than all the rest in that 
> they
> don't separate seating from checkin so to get seating you have to check in
> but that you check in online without actually checking in any baggage or
> physically being at the airport. The supervisor tells me I've been misled,
> adding that he's there for emergencies and this isn't one so we hang up.
>
> I go back to the British Airways web site to obtain my seat arrangements
> (aka to "check in"), and still, it says I can't - even almost six hours
> into my 24-hour period, even tho we're traveling with children between the
> ages of 2 and 11 (BA advertises falsly that we get seat assignments 3 days
> prior but obviously that is not true).
>
> My question:
> Is this BA check-in experience common and ... more importantly ... what
> could possibly be the "security concerns" that the "airport" could have 
> for
> holding up the check-in process for this British Airways flight to
> Heathrow?


I'm inclined to believe BA that *something* is unusual about that flight. 
I've used their online checkin on both sides of the Atlantic and never had 
this kind of issue.   Now whether it's the airport authorities (which I take 
to mean the people who run SFO) or other authorities at the airport (e.g. 
the TSA) is perhaps questionable but I wouldn't get into a flap (although I 
would be irritated).

When you do get on the online checkin system you find that a seat has 
already been allocated to you.   Depending on the load (are there any 
unallocated seats) and what fare you've paid (if its very cheap options may 
not be available) you will probably be able to change your seat.   Provided 
the whole family made one booking the pre allocated seats will (famous last 
words) be togther.   The only time I've had an issue is when my wife and I 
travelled out separately and were therefore seen as separate passengers on 
the way home and got separated seats - but we resolved that using not online 
but machine based checkin at the airport.   The preallocation process will 
have taken place by the time you get to SFO so unless a real snafu has 
occurred just relax - you'll be OK.

johac wrote:

> 
> My question:
> Is this BA check-in experience common and ... more importantly ... what
> could possibly be the "security concerns" that the "airport" could have for
> holding up the check-in process for this British Airways flight to
> Heathrow?

I had the same experience on Virgin out of JFK last week.

I expect the "security concerns" might have something to do with 21st 
century events of recent times but of course they may not. It could just 
be the same as saying 'computer error' used to be in the 80's to mask a 
whole set of other issues.

I just checked in perfectly normally at the airport.

mf

In article <R6_mi.9240$eY.3204@newssvr13.news.prodigy.net>,
 johac   wrote:

> what could possibly be the "security concerns" that the "airport" could
> have for holding up the check-in process for this British Airways flight
> to Heathrow?

Probably, somebody in your party is flagged for a more-thorough search
(SSSSS on the boarding pass for most airlines).  TSA doesn't allow such
boarding passes to be home-printed, fearing that a bad-guy would just edit
the graphic to eliminate the visible cues that trigger TSA to perform that
more-thorough search.

You can ask the BA clerk by phone to pre-assign seats for you, or ask her
supervisor.  They must have the capacity, as (for example) some people have
disabilities that require or prevent assignments to particular seats.

If they can't do it by phone, you'll probably have to get to the airport
early and do it there.

-- 
Randy Hudson

On Jul 17, 8:22 am, johac  wrote:
> Is British Airways telling me the truth about a flight for tomorrow?
> They say the SFO Airport is "holding the flight for security reasons".
> What does THAT mean?
>
> Here's the scoop ...
> I've been trying to obtain seats for a flight tomorrow (less than 18 hours
> away) for the past five hours, all to no avail. It seems British Airways
> doesn't separate the task of obtaining a seat assignment from checking in,
> contrary to what all other airlines do. So, in order to obtain a seat
> assignment, one must check in online atwww.ba.com(which can only be done
> 24 hours or less prior to the flight departure time).
>
> However, when I check in at -24 hours, -23 hours, -22 hours, -21 hours,
> etc., British Airways' web site says repeatedly (and insultingly) "Sorry,
> we are unable to offer you Online Check-in for this flight. We recommend
> that you review the status of your booking. Manage My BookingTo check in
> and receive your boarding pass, please proceed to the airport."
>
> Numerous calls to British Airways at 1-800-AIR-WAYS get me a variety of
> mis-information, and get me confirmation that the "status of my booking" is
> fine. After a few exasperating hours, the best I can do after speaking to
> their "supervisor" is obtain the web-help hotline number 800-403-0882.
>
> Calling that "hotline" is an exercise in near futility, as the wait is
> greater than 20 or 30 minutes each time. Thank God for unlimited cellphone
> minutes and earbuds. Twice I get the same guy who tells me there's nothing
> wrong with my reservation but that the "airport" is not allowing check in
> for "security reasons". He says "call back later" which I do but get the
> same answers. Asking for what I should do, he says "call the airport
> authority" at 650-821-8211.
>
> I call the "airport authority", only to get a woman and then her supervisor
> whom I have to basically teach the basics of British Airways check-in
> procedures. They just can't fathom why I would want to check in 24 hours
> early saying the airline isn't there - and I can't fathom why they can't
> understand that British Airways is different than all the rest in that they
> don't separate seating from checkin so to get seating you have to check in
> but that you check in online without actually checking in any baggage or
> physically being at the airport. The supervisor tells me I've been misled,
> adding that he's there for emergencies and this isn't one so we hang up.
>
> I go back to the British Airways web site to obtain my seat arrangements
> (aka to "check in"), and still, it says I can't - even almost six hours
> into my 24-hour period, even tho we're traveling with children between the
> ages of 2 and 11 (BA advertises falsly that we get seat assignments 3 days
> prior but obviously that is not true).
>
> My question:
> Is this BA check-in experience common and ... more importantly ... what
> could possibly be the "security concerns" that the "airport" could have for
> holding up the check-in process for this British Airways flight to
> Heathrow?


Within the US, I have been told a similar story when trying to obtain
seat assignments on 2 different US airlines - the seat assignements
were being held for security reasons. In both cases, the planes were
overbooked, and I was one of those without a seat, although in both
cases I did eventually get a seat.

I also once had this happen on SAS from London to Copenhagen, this was
because they changed the meal options between my booking and my flight
and I had to get information about that and this could for some reason
only happen at physical check-in. But at least they didn't claim it
was a security issue, just that I could not check in/assign a seat on-
line.

Hanne

On Tue, 17 Jul 2007 07:48:05 +0000 (UTC), Randy Hudson wrote:
> Probably, somebody in your party is flagged for a more-thorough search
> (SSSSS on the boarding pass for most airlines).  TSA doesn't allow such
> boarding passes to be home-printed, fearing that a bad-guy would just edit
> the graphic to eliminate the visible cues that trigger TSA to perform that
> more-thorough search.

Hi Randy,
Thanks for the suggestion.

According to "Chris" at BA web support 800-403-0882, NOBODY on that plane
is allowed to check in to Heathrow from SFO. So, if it's someone, it's
everyone. What I was wondering is if this happens all the time with BA or
if this is unusual for BA to have the vaunted online-checkin held up "by
the airport".

Notice BA doesn't ever tell me that it's held up by BA; on the contrary,
they say "the airport authorities have not released the flight for online
checkin due to security concerns".

What I'm trying to find out is whether or not this is BA BS. For example,
given that British Airways is different in this no-seating-without-checkin
policy, perhaps with an orange alert level, no BA flights are allowed to
have online seating (i.e., online checkin). 

If that is the case though, BA has been lying to me in every phone call;
that is why I ask YOU (the people at large) ... is this "normal"?

> You can ask the BA clerk by phone to pre-assign seats for you ...
They say they can't do that. I don't believe them, but that's what they say
time and time again when I call 800-AIR-WAYS and ask.

> If they can't do it by phone, you'll probably have to get to the airport
> early and do it there.

Sigh. Yes. But is this normal? Does BA ALWAYS force you to check in and
obtain your seat at the airport or is it this only this one flight that is
held up "by the airport" for online seating for security reasons?

On Tue, 17 Jul 2007 02:42:20 -0700, hago@dcs.qmul.ac.uk wrote:
> Within the US, I have been told a similar story when trying to obtain
> seat assignments on 2 different US airlines - the seat assignements
> were being held for security reasons. In both cases, the planes were
> overbooked, and I was one of those without a seat, although in both
> cases I did eventually get a seat.
> 
> I also once had this happen on SAS from London to Copenhagen, this was
> because they changed the meal options between my booking and my flight
> and I had to get information about that and this could for some reason
> only happen at physical check-in. But at least they didn't claim it
> was a security issue, just that I could not check in/assign a seat on-
> line.

Thank you Hanne for describing your experience. In our case, we are flying
BA to Heathrow so we're not switching airlines; but it is interesting to
see that it's not just us that BA is yanking around by the collar.

Thank you for your insight. In this case, the British Airways operators
tell me NOBODY is allowed to check in for this flight yet (800-AIR-WAYS)
which is confirmed by the British Airways web-support team (800-403-0882).

They say online checkin (hence seating arrangements for anyone, including
families with small children) has been held up by the "airport
authorities". British Airways every time I call blames it on the "airport
authorities" and not on them or their funky system that doesn't allow
seating without checking (unlike all other airlines other than Soutwest).

If anyone else can tell me whether this is "normal" for British Airways or
not, that would set my mind at ease.

Thanks!

> On Jul 17, 8:22 am, johac  wrote:
>> Is British Airways telling me the truth about a flight for tomorrow?
>> They say the SFO Airport is "holding the flight for security reasons".
>> What does THAT mean?
>>
>> Here's the scoop ...
>> I've been trying to obtain seats for a flight tomorrow (less than 18 hours
>> away) for the past five hours, all to no avail. It seems British Airways
>> doesn't separate the task of obtaining a seat assignment from checking in,
>> contrary to what all other airlines do. So, in order to obtain a seat
>> assignment, one must check in online atwww.ba.com(which can only be done
>> 24 hours or less prior to the flight departure time).
>>
>> However, when I check in at -24 hours, -23 hours, -22 hours, -21 hours,
>> etc., British Airways' web site says repeatedly (and insultingly) "Sorry,
>> we are unable to offer you Online Check-in for this flight. We recommend
>> that you review the status of your booking. Manage My BookingTo check in
>> and receive your boarding pass, please proceed to the airport."
>>
>> Numerous calls to British Airways at 1-800-AIR-WAYS get me a variety of
>> mis-information, and get me confirmation that the "status of my booking" is
>> fine. After a few exasperating hours, the best I can do after speaking to
>> their "supervisor" is obtain the web-help hotline number 800-403-0882.
>>
>> Calling that "hotline" is an exercise in near futility, as the wait is
>> greater than 20 or 30 minutes each time. Thank God for unlimited cellphone
>> minutes and earbuds. Twice I get the same guy who tells me there's nothing
>> wrong with my reservation but that the "airport" is not allowing check in
>> for "security reasons". He says "call back later" which I do but get the
>> same answers. Asking for what I should do, he says "call the airport
>> authority" at 650-821-8211.
>>
>> I call the "airport authority", only to get a woman and then her supervisor
>> whom I have to basically teach the basics of British Airways check-in
>> procedures. They just can't fathom why I would want to check in 24 hours
>> early saying the airline isn't there - and I can't fathom why they can't
>> understand that British Airways is different than all the rest in that they
>> don't separate seating from checkin so to get seating you have to check in
>> but that you check in online without actually checking in any baggage or
>> physically being at the airport. The supervisor tells me I've been misled,
>> adding that he's there for emergencies and this isn't one so we hang up.
>>
>> I go back to the British Airways web site to obtain my seat arrangements
>> (aka to "check in"), and still, it says I can't - even almost six hours
>> into my 24-hour period, even tho we're traveling with children between the
>> ages of 2 and 11 (BA advertises falsly that we get seat assignments 3 days
>> prior but obviously that is not true).
>>
>> My question:
>> Is this BA check-in experience common and ... more importantly ... what
>> could possibly be the "security concerns" that the "airport" could have for
>> holding up the check-in process for this British Airways flight to
>> Heathrow?
>

"johac"  wrote in message 
news:R6_mi.9240$eY.3204@newssvr13.news.prodigy.net...
> Is British Airways telling me the truth about a flight for tomorrow?
> They say the SFO Airport is "holding the flight for security reasons".
> What does THAT mean?
>
> Here's the scoop ...
> I've been trying to obtain seats for a flight tomorrow (less than 18 hours
> away) for the past five hours, all to no avail. It seems British Airways
> doesn't separate the task of obtaining a seat assignment from checking in,
> contrary to what all other airlines do. So, in order to obtain a seat
> assignment, one must check in online at www.ba.com (which can only be done
> 24 hours or less prior to the flight departure time).
>
> However, when I check in at -24 hours, -23 hours, -22 hours, -21 hours,
> etc., British Airways' web site says repeatedly (and insultingly) "Sorry,
> we are unable to offer you Online Check-in for this flight. We recommend
> that you review the status of your booking. Manage My BookingTo check in
> and receive your boarding pass, please proceed to the airport."
>
> Numerous calls to British Airways at 1-800-AIR-WAYS get me a variety of
> mis-information, and get me confirmation that the "status of my booking" 
> is
> fine. After a few exasperating hours, the best I can do after speaking to
> their "supervisor" is obtain the web-help hotline number 800-403-0882.
>
> Calling that "hotline" is an exercise in near futility, as the wait is
> greater than 20 or 30 minutes each time. Thank God for unlimited cellphone
> minutes and earbuds. Twice I get the same guy who tells me there's nothing
> wrong with my reservation but that the "airport" is not allowing check in
> for "security reasons". He says "call back later" which I do but get the
> same answers. Asking for what I should do, he says "call the airport
> authority" at 650-821-8211.
>
> I call the "airport authority", only to get a woman and then her 
> supervisor
> whom I have to basically teach the basics of British Airways check-in
> procedures. They just can't fathom why I would want to check in 24 hours
> early saying the airline isn't there - and I can't fathom why they can't
> understand that British Airways is different than all the rest in that 
> they
> don't separate seating from checkin so to get seating you have to check in
> but that you check in online without actually checking in any baggage or
> physically being at the airport. The supervisor tells me I've been misled,
> adding that he's there for emergencies and this isn't one so we hang up.
>
> I go back to the British Airways web site to obtain my seat arrangements
> (aka to "check in"), and still, it says I can't - even almost six hours
> into my 24-hour period, even tho we're traveling with children between the
> ages of 2 and 11 (BA advertises falsly that we get seat assignments 3 days
> prior but obviously that is not true).
>
> My question:
> Is this BA check-in experience common and ... more importantly ... what
> could possibly be the "security concerns" that the "airport" could have 
> for
> holding up the check-in process for this British Airways flight to
> Heathrow?


I'm inclined to believe BA that *something* is unusual about that flight. 
I've used their online checkin on both sides of the Atlantic and never had 
this kind of issue.   Now whether it's the airport authorities (which I take 
to mean the people who run SFO) or other authorities at the airport (e.g. 
the TSA) is perhaps questionable but I wouldn't get into a flap (although I 
would be irritated).

When you do get on the online checkin system you find that a seat has 
already been allocated to you.   Depending on the load (are there any 
unallocated seats) and what fare you've paid (if its very cheap options may 
not be available) you will probably be able to change your seat.   Provided 
the whole family made one booking the pre allocated seats will (famous last 
words) be togther.   The only time I've had an issue is when my wife and I 
travelled out separately and were therefore seen as separate passengers on 
the way home and got separated seats - but we resolved that using not online 
but machine based checkin at the airport.   The preallocation process will 
have taken place by the time you get to SFO so unless a real snafu has 
occurred just relax - you'll be OK.

"johac"  wrote in message 
news:R6_mi.9240$eY.3204@newssvr13.news.prodigy.net...
> Is British Airways telling me the truth about a flight for 
> tomorrow?
> They say the SFO Airport is "holding the flight for 
> security reasons".
> What does THAT mean?
>
> Here's the scoop ...
> I've been trying to obtain seats for a flight tomorrow 
> (less than 18 hours
> away) for the past five hours, all to no avail. It seems 
> British Airways
> doesn't separate the task of obtaining a seat assignment 
> from checking in,
> contrary to what all other airlines do. So, in order to 
> obtain a seat
> assignment, one must check in online at www.ba.com (which 
> can only be done
> 24 hours or less prior to the flight departure time).
>
> However, when I check in at -24 hours, -23 hours, -22 
> hours, -21 hours,
> etc., British Airways' web site says repeatedly (and 
> insultingly) "Sorry,
> we are unable to offer you Online Check-in for this 
> flight. We recommend
> that you review the status of your booking. Manage My 
> BookingTo check in
> and receive your boarding pass, please proceed to the 
> airport."
>
> Numerous calls to British Airways at 1-800-AIR-WAYS get me 
> a variety of
> mis-information, and get me confirmation that the "status 
> of my booking" is
> fine. After a few exasperating hours, the best I can do 
> after speaking to
> their "supervisor" is obtain the web-help hotline number 
> 800-403-0882.
>
> Calling that "hotline" is an exercise in near futility, as 
> the wait is
> greater than 20 or 30 minutes each time. Thank God for 
> unlimited cellphone
> minutes and earbuds. Twice I get the same guy who tells me 
> there's nothing
> wrong with my reservation but that the "airport" is not 
> allowing check in
> for "security reasons". He says "call back later" which I 
> do but get the
> same answers. Asking for what I should do, he says "call 
> the airport
> authority" at 650-821-8211.
>
> I call the "airport authority", only to get a woman and 
> then her supervisor
> whom I have to basically teach the basics of British 
> Airways check-in
> procedures. They just can't fathom why I would want to 
> check in 24 hours
> early saying the airline isn't there - and I can't fathom 
> why they can't
> understand that British Airways is different than all the 
> rest in that they
> don't separate seating from checkin so to get seating you 
> have to check in
> but that you check in online without actually checking in 
> any baggage or
> physically being at the airport. The supervisor tells me 
> I've been misled,
> adding that he's there for emergencies and this isn't one 
> so we hang up.
>
> I go back to the British Airways web site to obtain my 
> seat arrangements
> (aka to "check in"), and still, it says I can't - even 
> almost six hours
> into my 24-hour period, even tho we're traveling with 
> children between the
> ages of 2 and 11 (BA advertises falsly that we get seat 
> assignments 3 days
> prior but obviously that is not true).
>
> My question:
> Is this BA check-in experience common and ... more 
> importantly ... what
> could possibly be the "security concerns" that the 
> "airport" could have for
> holding up the check-in process for this British Airways 
> flight to
> Heathrow?

Best guess:  Based on U.S. practices, there's no security 
reason I know of for that kind of treatment, they probably 
oversold the flight - a distressingly common practice 
nowadays - and are hoping to sort it out at the gate.  The 
security bit may just be some really creative tap dancing by 
some corporate suit based on the slimmest of pretences.  On 
U.S. carriers, if you booked well in advance and were on a 
Don't Fly list you'd probably have been notified of that by 
now.

U.S. airlines are always trying to foist off delays due to 
their own screw-ups as "weather delays" so they don't have 
to give any compensation.  Same difference.

johac wrote:

> 
> My question:
> Is this BA check-in experience common and ... more importantly ... what
> could possibly be the "security concerns" that the "airport" could have for
> holding up the check-in process for this British Airways flight to
> Heathrow?

I had the same experience on Virgin out of JFK last week.

I expect the "security concerns" might have something to do with 21st 
century events of recent times but of course they may not. It could just 
be the same as saying 'computer error' used to be in the 80's to mask a 
whole set of other issues.

I just checked in perfectly normally at the airport.

mf

In article <R6_mi.9240$eY.3204@newssvr13.news.prodigy.net>,
 johac   wrote:

> what could possibly be the "security concerns" that the "airport" could
> have for holding up the check-in process for this British Airways flight
> to Heathrow?

Probably, somebody in your party is flagged for a more-thorough search
(SSSSS on the boarding pass for most airlines).  TSA doesn't allow such
boarding passes to be home-printed, fearing that a bad-guy would just edit
the graphic to eliminate the visible cues that trigger TSA to perform that
more-thorough search.

You can ask the BA clerk by phone to pre-assign seats for you, or ask her
supervisor.  They must have the capacity, as (for example) some people have
disabilities that require or prevent assignments to particular seats.

If they can't do it by phone, you'll probably have to get to the airport
early and do it there.

-- 
Randy Hudson

On Jul 17, 8:22 am, johac  wrote:
> Is British Airways telling me the truth about a flight for tomorrow?
> They say the SFO Airport is "holding the flight for security reasons".
> What does THAT mean?
>
> Here's the scoop ...
> I've been trying to obtain seats for a flight tomorrow (less than 18 hours
> away) for the past five hours, all to no avail. It seems British Airways
> doesn't separate the task of obtaining a seat assignment from checking in,
> contrary to what all other airlines do. So, in order to obtain a seat
> assignment, one must check in online atwww.ba.com(which can only be done
> 24 hours or less prior to the flight departure time).
>
> However, when I check in at -24 hours, -23 hours, -22 hours, -21 hours,
> etc., British Airways' web site says repeatedly (and insultingly) "Sorry,
> we are unable to offer you Online Check-in for this flight. We recommend
> that you review the status of your booking. Manage My BookingTo check in
> and receive your boarding pass, please proceed to the airport."
>
> Numerous calls to British Airways at 1-800-AIR-WAYS get me a variety of
> mis-information, and get me confirmation that the "status of my booking" is
> fine. After a few exasperating hours, the best I can do after speaking to
> their "supervisor" is obtain the web-help hotline number 800-403-0882.
>
> Calling that "hotline" is an exercise in near futility, as the wait is
> greater than 20 or 30 minutes each time. Thank God for unlimited cellphone
> minutes and earbuds. Twice I get the same guy who tells me there's nothing
> wrong with my reservation but that the "airport" is not allowing check in
> for "security reasons". He says "call back later" which I do but get the
> same answers. Asking for what I should do, he says "call the airport
> authority" at 650-821-8211.
>
> I call the "airport authority", only to get a woman and then her supervisor
> whom I have to basically teach the basics of British Airways check-in
> procedures. They just can't fathom why I would want to check in 24 hours
> early saying the airline isn't there - and I can't fathom why they can't
> understand that British Airways is different than all the rest in that they
> don't separate seating from checkin so to get seating you have to check in
> but that you check in online without actually checking in any baggage or
> physically being at the airport. The supervisor tells me I've been misled,
> adding that he's there for emergencies and this isn't one so we hang up.
>
> I go back to the British Airways web site to obtain my seat arrangements
> (aka to "check in"), and still, it says I can't - even almost six hours
> into my 24-hour period, even tho we're traveling with children between the
> ages of 2 and 11 (BA advertises falsly that we get seat assignments 3 days
> prior but obviously that is not true).
>
> My question:
> Is this BA check-in experience common and ... more importantly ... what
> could possibly be the "security concerns" that the "airport" could have for
> holding up the check-in process for this British Airways flight to
> Heathrow?


Within the US, I have been told a similar story when trying to obtain
seat assignments on 2 different US airlines - the seat assignements
were being held for security reasons. In both cases, the planes were
overbooked, and I was one of those without a seat, although in both
cases I did eventually get a seat.

I also once had this happen on SAS from London to Copenhagen, this was
because they changed the meal options between my booking and my flight
and I had to get information about that and this could for some reason
only happen at physical check-in. But at least they didn't claim it
was a security issue, just that I could not check in/assign a seat on-
line.

Hanne

On Tue, 17 Jul 2007 07:48:05 +0000 (UTC), Randy Hudson wrote:
> Probably, somebody in your party is flagged for a more-thorough search
> (SSSSS on the boarding pass for most airlines).  TSA doesn't allow such
> boarding passes to be home-printed, fearing that a bad-guy would just edit
> the graphic to eliminate the visible cues that trigger TSA to perform that
> more-thorough search.

Hi Randy,
Thanks for the suggestion.

According to "Chris" at BA web support 800-403-0882, NOBODY on that plane
is allowed to check in to Heathrow from SFO. So, if it's someone, it's
everyone. What I was wondering is if this happens all the time with BA or
if this is unusual for BA to have the vaunted online-checkin held up "by
the airport".

Notice BA doesn't ever tell me that it's held up by BA; on the contrary,
they say "the airport authorities have not released the flight for online
checkin due to security concerns".

What I'm trying to find out is whether or not this is BA BS. For example,
given that British Airways is different in this no-seating-without-checkin
policy, perhaps with an orange alert level, no BA flights are allowed to
have online seating (i.e., online checkin). 

If that is the case though, BA has been lying to me in every phone call;
that is why I ask YOU (the people at large) ... is this "normal"?

> You can ask the BA clerk by phone to pre-assign seats for you ...
They say they can't do that. I don't believe them, but that's what they say
time and time again when I call 800-AIR-WAYS and ask.

> If they can't do it by phone, you'll probably have to get to the airport
> early and do it there.

Sigh. Yes. But is this normal? Does BA ALWAYS force you to check in and
obtain your seat at the airport or is it this only this one flight that is
held up "by the airport" for online seating for security reasons?

On Tue, 17 Jul 2007 02:42:20 -0700, hago@dcs.qmul.ac.uk wrote:
> Within the US, I have been told a similar story when trying to obtain
> seat assignments on 2 different US airlines - the seat assignements
> were being held for security reasons. In both cases, the planes were
> overbooked, and I was one of those without a seat, although in both
> cases I did eventually get a seat.
> 
> I also once had this happen on SAS from London to Copenhagen, this was
> because they changed the meal options between my booking and my flight
> and I had to get information about that and this could for some reason
> only happen at physical check-in. But at least they didn't claim it
> was a security issue, just that I could not check in/assign a seat on-
> line.

Thank you Hanne for describing your experience. In our case, we are flying
BA to Heathrow so we're not switching airlines; but it is interesting to
see that it's not just us that BA is yanking around by the collar.

Thank you for your insight. In this case, the British Airways operators
tell me NOBODY is allowed to check in for this flight yet (800-AIR-WAYS)
which is confirmed by the British Airways web-support team (800-403-0882).

They say online checkin (hence seating arrangements for anyone, including
families with small children) has been held up by the "airport
authorities". British Airways every time I call blames it on the "airport
authorities" and not on them or their funky system that doesn't allow
seating without checking (unlike all other airlines other than Soutwest).

If anyone else can tell me whether this is "normal" for British Airways or
not, that would set my mind at ease.

Thanks!

> On Jul 17, 8:22 am, johac  wrote:
>> Is British Airways telling me the truth about a flight for tomorrow?
>> They say the SFO Airport is "holding the flight for security reasons".
>> What does THAT mean?
>>
>> Here's the scoop ...
>> I've been trying to obtain seats for a flight tomorrow (less than 18 hours
>> away) for the past five hours, all to no avail. It seems British Airways
>> doesn't separate the task of obtaining a seat assignment from checking in,
>> contrary to what all other airlines do. So, in order to obtain a seat
>> assignment, one must check in online atwww.ba.com(which can only be done
>> 24 hours or less prior to the flight departure time).
>>
>> However, when I check in at -24 hours, -23 hours, -22 hours, -21 hours,
>> etc., British Airways' web site says repeatedly (and insultingly) "Sorry,
>> we are unable to offer you Online Check-in for this flight. We recommend
>> that you review the status of your booking. Manage My BookingTo check in
>> and receive your boarding pass, please proceed to the airport."
>>
>> Numerous calls to British Airways at 1-800-AIR-WAYS get me a variety of
>> mis-information, and get me confirmation that the "status of my booking" is
>> fine. After a few exasperating hours, the best I can do after speaking to
>> their "supervisor" is obtain the web-help hotline number 800-403-0882.
>>
>> Calling that "hotline" is an exercise in near futility, as the wait is
>> greater than 20 or 30 minutes each time. Thank God for unlimited cellphone
>> minutes and earbuds. Twice I get the same guy who tells me there's nothing
>> wrong with my reservation but that the "airport" is not allowing check in
>> for "security reasons". He says "call back later" which I do but get the
>> same answers. Asking for what I should do, he says "call the airport
>> authority" at 650-821-8211.
>>
>> I call the "airport authority", only to get a woman and then her supervisor
>> whom I have to basically teach the basics of British Airways check-in
>> procedures. They just can't fathom why I would want to check in 24 hours
>> early saying the airline isn't there - and I can't fathom why they can't
>> understand that British Airways is different than all the rest in that they
>> don't separate seating from checkin so to get seating you have to check in
>> but that you check in online without actually checking in any baggage or
>> physically being at the airport. The supervisor tells me I've been misled,
>> adding that he's there for emergencies and this isn't one so we hang up.
>>
>> I go back to the British Airways web site to obtain my seat arrangements
>> (aka to "check in"), and still, it says I can't - even almost six hours
>> into my 24-hour period, even tho we're traveling with children between the
>> ages of 2 and 11 (BA advertises falsly that we get seat assignments 3 days
>> prior but obviously that is not true).
>>
>> My question:
>> Is this BA check-in experience common and ... more importantly ... what
>> could possibly be the "security concerns" that the "airport" could have for
>> holding up the check-in process for this British Airways flight to
>> Heathrow?
>

"johac"  wrote in message 
news:R6_mi.9240$eY.3204@newssvr13.news.prodigy.net...
> Is British Airways telling me the truth about a flight for tomorrow?
> They say the SFO Airport is "holding the flight for security reasons".
> What does THAT mean?
>
> Here's the scoop ...
> I've been trying to obtain seats for a flight tomorrow (less than 18 hours
> away) for the past five hours, all to no avail. It seems British Airways
> doesn't separate the task of obtaining a seat assignment from checking in,
> contrary to what all other airlines do. So, in order to obtain a seat
> assignment, one must check in online at www.ba.com (which can only be done
> 24 hours or less prior to the flight departure time).
>
> However, when I check in at -24 hours, -23 hours, -22 hours, -21 hours,
> etc., British Airways' web site says repeatedly (and insultingly) "Sorry,
> we are unable to offer you Online Check-in for this flight. We recommend
> that you review the status of your booking. Manage My BookingTo check in
> and receive your boarding pass, please proceed to the airport."
>
> Numerous calls to British Airways at 1-800-AIR-WAYS get me a variety of
> mis-information, and get me confirmation that the "status of my booking" 
> is
> fine. After a few exasperating hours, the best I can do after speaking to
> their "supervisor" is obtain the web-help hotline number 800-403-0882.
>
> Calling that "hotline" is an exercise in near futility, as the wait is
> greater than 20 or 30 minutes each time. Thank God for unlimited cellphone
> minutes and earbuds. Twice I get the same guy who tells me there's nothing
> wrong with my reservation but that the "airport" is not allowing check in
> for "security reasons". He says "call back later" which I do but get the
> same answers. Asking for what I should do, he says "call the airport
> authority" at 650-821-8211.
>
> I call the "airport authority", only to get a woman and then her 
> supervisor
> whom I have to basically teach the basics of British Airways check-in
> procedures. They just can't fathom why I would want to check in 24 hours
> early saying the airline isn't there - and I can't fathom why they can't
> understand that British Airways is different than all the rest in that 
> they
> don't separate seating from checkin so to get seating you have to check in
> but that you check in online without actually checking in any baggage or
> physically being at the airport. The supervisor tells me I've been misled,
> adding that he's there for emergencies and this isn't one so we hang up.
>
> I go back to the British Airways web site to obtain my seat arrangements
> (aka to "check in"), and still, it says I can't - even almost six hours
> into my 24-hour period, even tho we're traveling with children between the
> ages of 2 and 11 (BA advertises falsly that we get seat assignments 3 days
> prior but obviously that is not true).
>
> My question:
> Is this BA check-in experience common and ... more importantly ... what
> could possibly be the "security concerns" that the "airport" could have 
> for
> holding up the check-in process for this British Airways flight to
> Heathrow?


I'm inclined to believe BA that *something* is unusual about that flight. 
I've used their online checkin on both sides of the Atlantic and never had 
this kind of issue.   Now whether it's the airport authorities (which I take 
to mean the people who run SFO) or other authorities at the airport (e.g. 
the TSA) is perhaps questionable but I wouldn't get into a flap (although I 
would be irritated).

When you do get on the online checkin system you find that a seat has 
already been allocated to you.   Depending on the load (are there any 
unallocated seats) and what fare you've paid (if its very cheap options may 
not be available) you will probably be able to change your seat.   Provided 
the whole family made one booking the pre allocated seats will (famous last 
words) be togther.   The only time I've had an issue is when my wife and I 
travelled out separately and were therefore seen as separate passengers on 
the way home and got separated seats - but we resolved that using not online 
but machine based checkin at the airport.   The preallocation process will 
have taken place by the time you get to SFO so unless a real snafu has 
occurred just relax - you'll be OK.

"johac"  wrote in message 
news:R6_mi.9240$eY.3204@newssvr13.news.prodigy.net...
> Is British Airways telling me the truth about a flight for 
> tomorrow?
> They say the SFO Airport is "holding the flight for 
> security reasons".
> What does THAT mean?
>
> Here's the scoop ...
> I've been trying to obtain seats for a flight tomorrow 
> (less than 18 hours
> away) for the past five hours, all to no avail. It seems 
> British Airways
> doesn't separate the task of obtaining a seat assignment 
> from checking in,
> contrary to what all other airlines do. So, in order to 
> obtain a seat
> assignment, one must check in online at www.ba.com (which 
> can only be done
> 24 hours or less prior to the flight departure time).
>
> However, when I check in at -24 hours, -23 hours, -22 
> hours, -21 hours,
> etc., British Airways' web site says repeatedly (and 
> insultingly) "Sorry,
> we are unable to offer you Online Check-in for this 
> flight. We recommend
> that you review the status of your booking. Manage My 
> BookingTo check in
> and receive your boarding pass, please proceed to the 
> airport."
>
> Numerous calls to British Airways at 1-800-AIR-WAYS get me 
> a variety of
> mis-information, and get me confirmation that the "status 
> of my booking" is
> fine. After a few exasperating hours, the best I can do 
> after speaking to
> their "supervisor" is obtain the web-help hotline number 
> 800-403-0882.
>
> Calling that "hotline" is an exercise in near futility, as 
> the wait is
> greater than 20 or 30 minutes each time. Thank God for 
> unlimited cellphone
> minutes and earbuds. Twice I get the same guy who tells me 
> there's nothing
> wrong with my reservation but that the "airport" is not 
> allowing check in
> for "security reasons". He says "call back later" which I 
> do but get the
> same answers. Asking for what I should do, he says "call 
> the airport
> authority" at 650-821-8211.
>
> I call the "airport authority", only to get a woman and 
> then her supervisor
> whom I have to basically teach the basics of British 
> Airways check-in
> procedures. They just can't fathom why I would want to 
> check in 24 hours
> early saying the airline isn't there - and I can't fathom 
> why they can't
> understand that British Airways is different than all the 
> rest in that they
> don't separate seating from checkin so to get seating you 
> have to check in
> but that you check in online without actually checking in 
> any baggage or
> physically being at the airport. The supervisor tells me 
> I've been misled,
> adding that he's there for emergencies and this isn't one 
> so we hang up.
>
> I go back to the British Airways web site to obtain my 
> seat arrangements
> (aka to "check in"), and still, it says I can't - even 
> almost six hours
> into my 24-hour period, even tho we're traveling with 
> children between the
> ages of 2 and 11 (BA advertises falsly that we get seat 
> assignments 3 days
> prior but obviously that is not true).
>
> My question:
> Is this BA check-in experience common and ... more 
> importantly ... what
> could possibly be the "security concerns" that the 
> "airport" could have for
> holding up the check-in process for this British Airways 
> flight to
> Heathrow?

Best guess:  Based on U.S. practices, there's no security 
reason I know of for that kind of treatment, they probably 
oversold the flight - a distressingly common practice 
nowadays - and are hoping to sort it out at the gate.  The 
security bit may just be some really creative tap dancing by 
some corporate suit based on the slimmest of pretences.  On 
U.S. carriers, if you booked well in advance and were on a 
Don't Fly list you'd probably have been notified of that by 
now.

U.S. airlines are always trying to foist off delays due to 
their own screw-ups as "weather delays" so they don't have 
to give any compensation.  Same difference.

johac wrote:

> 
> My question:
> Is this BA check-in experience common and ... more importantly ... what
> could possibly be the "security concerns" that the "airport" could have for
> holding up the check-in process for this British Airways flight to
> Heathrow?

I had the same experience on Virgin out of JFK last week.

I expect the "security concerns" might have something to do with 21st 
century events of recent times but of course they may not. It could just 
be the same as saying 'computer error' used to be in the 80's to mask a 
whole set of other issues.

I just checked in perfectly normally at the airport.

mf

In article <R6_mi.9240$eY.3204@newssvr13.news.prodigy.net>,
 johac   wrote:

> what could possibly be the "security concerns" that the "airport" could
> have for holding up the check-in process for this British Airways flight
> to Heathrow?

Probably, somebody in your party is flagged for a more-thorough search
(SSSSS on the boarding pass for most airlines).  TSA doesn't allow such
boarding passes to be home-printed, fearing that a bad-guy would just edit
the graphic to eliminate the visible cues that trigger TSA to perform that
more-thorough search.

You can ask the BA clerk by phone to pre-assign seats for you, or ask her
supervisor.  They must have the capacity, as (for example) some people have
disabilities that require or prevent assignments to particular seats.

If they can't do it by phone, you'll probably have to get to the airport
early and do it there.

-- 
Randy Hudson

On Jul 17, 8:22 am, johac  wrote:
> Is British Airways telling me the truth about a flight for tomorrow?
> They say the SFO Airport is "holding the flight for security reasons".
> What does THAT mean?
>
> Here's the scoop ...
> I've been trying to obtain seats for a flight tomorrow (less than 18 hours
> away) for the past five hours, all to no avail. It seems British Airways
> doesn't separate the task of obtaining a seat assignment from checking in,
> contrary to what all other airlines do. So, in order to obtain a seat
> assignment, one must check in online atwww.ba.com(which can only be done
> 24 hours or less prior to the flight departure time).
>
> However, when I check in at -24 hours, -23 hours, -22 hours, -21 hours,
> etc., British Airways' web site says repeatedly (and insultingly) "Sorry,
> we are unable to offer you Online Check-in for this flight. We recommend
> that you review the status of your booking. Manage My BookingTo check in
> and receive your boarding pass, please proceed to the airport."
>
> Numerous calls to British Airways at 1-800-AIR-WAYS get me a variety of
> mis-information, and get me confirmation that the "status of my booking" is
> fine. After a few exasperating hours, the best I can do after speaking to
> their "supervisor" is obtain the web-help hotline number 800-403-0882.
>
> Calling that "hotline" is an exercise in near futility, as the wait is
> greater than 20 or 30 minutes each time. Thank God for unlimited cellphone
> minutes and earbuds. Twice I get the same guy who tells me there's nothing
> wrong with my reservation but that the "airport" is not allowing check in
> for "security reasons". He says "call back later" which I do but get the
> same answers. Asking for what I should do, he says "call the airport
> authority" at 650-821-8211.
>
> I call the "airport authority", only to get a woman and then her supervisor
> whom I have to basically teach the basics of British Airways check-in
> procedures. They just can't fathom why I would want to check in 24 hours
> early saying the airline isn't there - and I can't fathom why they can't
> understand that British Airways is different than all the rest in that they
> don't separate seating from checkin so to get seating you have to check in
> but that you check in online without actually checking in any baggage or
> physically being at the airport. The supervisor tells me I've been misled,
> adding that he's there for emergencies and this isn't one so we hang up.
>
> I go back to the British Airways web site to obtain my seat arrangements
> (aka to "check in"), and still, it says I can't - even almost six hours
> into my 24-hour period, even tho we're traveling with children between the
> ages of 2 and 11 (BA advertises falsly that we get seat assignments 3 days
> prior but obviously that is not true).
>
> My question:
> Is this BA check-in experience common and ... more importantly ... what
> could possibly be the "security concerns" that the "airport" could have for
> holding up the check-in process for this British Airways flight to
> Heathrow?


Within the US, I have been told a similar story when trying to obtain
seat assignments on 2 different US airlines - the seat assignements
were being held for security reasons. In both cases, the planes were
overbooked, and I was one of those without a seat, although in both
cases I did eventually get a seat.

I also once had this happen on SAS from London to Copenhagen, this was
because they changed the meal options between my booking and my flight
and I had to get information about that and this could for some reason
only happen at physical check-in. But at least they didn't claim it
was a security issue, just that I could not check in/assign a seat on-
line.

Hanne

On Tue, 17 Jul 2007 07:48:05 +0000 (UTC), Randy Hudson wrote:
> Probably, somebody in your party is flagged for a more-thorough search
> (SSSSS on the boarding pass for most airlines).  TSA doesn't allow such
> boarding passes to be home-printed, fearing that a bad-guy would just edit
> the graphic to eliminate the visible cues that trigger TSA to perform that
> more-thorough search.

Hi Randy,
Thanks for the suggestion.

According to "Chris" at BA web support 800-403-0882, NOBODY on that plane
is allowed to check in to Heathrow from SFO. So, if it's someone, it's
everyone. What I was wondering is if this happens all the time with BA or
if this is unusual for BA to have the vaunted online-checkin held up "by
the airport".

Notice BA doesn't ever tell me that it's held up by BA; on the contrary,
they say "the airport authorities have not released the flight for online
checkin due to security concerns".

What I'm trying to find out is whether or not this is BA BS. For example,
given that British Airways is different in this no-seating-without-checkin
policy, perhaps with an orange alert level, no BA flights are allowed to
have online seating (i.e., online checkin). 

If that is the case though, BA has been lying to me in every phone call;
that is why I ask YOU (the people at large) ... is this "normal"?

> You can ask the BA clerk by phone to pre-assign seats for you ...
They say they can't do that. I don't believe them, but that's what they say
time and time again when I call 800-AIR-WAYS and ask.

> If they can't do it by phone, you'll probably have to get to the airport
> early and do it there.

Sigh. Yes. But is this normal? Does BA ALWAYS force you to check in and
obtain your seat at the airport or is it this only this one flight that is
held up "by the airport" for online seating for security reasons?

On Tue, 17 Jul 2007 02:42:20 -0700, hago@dcs.qmul.ac.uk wrote:
> Within the US, I have been told a similar story when trying to obtain
> seat assignments on 2 different US airlines - the seat assignements
> were being held for security reasons. In both cases, the planes were
> overbooked, and I was one of those without a seat, although in both
> cases I did eventually get a seat.
> 
> I also once had this happen on SAS from London to Copenhagen, this was
> because they changed the meal options between my booking and my flight
> and I had to get information about that and this could for some reason
> only happen at physical check-in. But at least they didn't claim it
> was a security issue, just that I could not check in/assign a seat on-
> line.

Thank you Hanne for describing your experience. In our case, we are flying
BA to Heathrow so we're not switching airlines; but it is interesting to
see that it's not just us that BA is yanking around by the collar.

Thank you for your insight. In this case, the British Airways operators
tell me NOBODY is allowed to check in for this flight yet (800-AIR-WAYS)
which is confirmed by the British Airways web-support team (800-403-0882).

They say online checkin (hence seating arrangements for anyone, including
families with small children) has been held up by the "airport
authorities". British Airways every time I call blames it on the "airport
authorities" and not on them or their funky system that doesn't allow
seating without checking (unlike all other airlines other than Soutwest).

If anyone else can tell me whether this is "normal" for British Airways or
not, that would set my mind at ease.

Thanks!

> On Jul 17, 8:22 am, johac  wrote:
>> Is British Airways telling me the truth about a flight for tomorrow?
>> They say the SFO Airport is "holding the flight for security reasons".
>> What does THAT mean?
>>
>> Here's the scoop ...
>> I've been trying to obtain seats for a flight tomorrow (less than 18 hours
>> away) for the past five hours, all to no avail. It seems British Airways
>> doesn't separate the task of obtaining a seat assignment from checking in,
>> contrary to what all other airlines do. So, in order to obtain a seat
>> assignment, one must check in online atwww.ba.com(which can only be done
>> 24 hours or less prior to the flight departure time).
>>
>> However, when I check in at -24 hours, -23 hours, -22 hours, -21 hours,
>> etc., British Airways' web site says repeatedly (and insultingly) "Sorry,
>> we are unable to offer you Online Check-in for this flight. We recommend
>> that you review the status of your booking. Manage My BookingTo check in
>> and receive your boarding pass, please proceed to the airport."
>>
>> Numerous calls to British Airways at 1-800-AIR-WAYS get me a variety of
>> mis-information, and get me confirmation that the "status of my booking" is
>> fine. After a few exasperating hours, the best I can do after speaking to
>> their "supervisor" is obtain the web-help hotline number 800-403-0882.
>>
>> Calling that "hotline" is an exercise in near futility, as the wait is
>> greater than 20 or 30 minutes each time. Thank God for unlimited cellphone
>> minutes and earbuds. Twice I get the same guy who tells me there's nothing
>> wrong with my reservation but that the "airport" is not allowing check in
>> for "security reasons". He says "call back later" which I do but get the
>> same answers. Asking for what I should do, he says "call the airport
>> authority" at 650-821-8211.
>>
>> I call the "airport authority", only to get a woman and then her supervisor
>> whom I have to basically teach the basics of British Airways check-in
>> procedures. They just can't fathom why I would want to check in 24 hours
>> early saying the airline isn't there - and I can't fathom why they can't
>> understand that British Airways is different than all the rest in that they
>> don't separate seating from checkin so to get seating you have to check in
>> but that you check in online without actually checking in any baggage or
>> physically being at the airport. The supervisor tells me I've been misled,
>> adding that he's there for emergencies and this isn't one so we hang up.
>>
>> I go back to the British Airways web site to obtain my seat arrangements
>> (aka to "check in"), and still, it says I can't - even almost six hours
>> into my 24-hour period, even tho we're traveling with children between the
>> ages of 2 and 11 (BA advertises falsly that we get seat assignments 3 days
>> prior but obviously that is not true).
>>
>> My question:
>> Is this BA check-in experience common and ... more importantly ... what
>> could possibly be the "security concerns" that the "airport" could have for
>> holding up the check-in process for this British Airways flight to
>> Heathrow?
>

"johac"  wrote in message 
news:R6_mi.9240$eY.3204@newssvr13.news.prodigy.net...
> Is British Airways telling me the truth about a flight for tomorrow?
> They say the SFO Airport is "holding the flight for security reasons".
> What does THAT mean?
>
> Here's the scoop ...
> I've been trying to obtain seats for a flight tomorrow (less than 18 hours
> away) for the past five hours, all to no avail. It seems British Airways
> doesn't separate the task of obtaining a seat assignment from checking in,
> contrary to what all other airlines do. So, in order to obtain a seat
> assignment, one must check in online at www.ba.com (which can only be done
> 24 hours or less prior to the flight departure time).
>
> However, when I check in at -24 hours, -23 hours, -22 hours, -21 hours,
> etc., British Airways' web site says repeatedly (and insultingly) "Sorry,
> we are unable to offer you Online Check-in for this flight. We recommend
> that you review the status of your booking. Manage My BookingTo check in
> and receive your boarding pass, please proceed to the airport."
>
> Numerous calls to British Airways at 1-800-AIR-WAYS get me a variety of
> mis-information, and get me confirmation that the "status of my booking" 
> is
> fine. After a few exasperating hours, the best I can do after speaking to
> their "supervisor" is obtain the web-help hotline number 800-403-0882.
>
> Calling that "hotline" is an exercise in near futility, as the wait is
> greater than 20 or 30 minutes each time. Thank God for unlimited cellphone
> minutes and earbuds. Twice I get the same guy who tells me there's nothing
> wrong with my reservation but that the "airport" is not allowing check in
> for "security reasons". He says "call back later" which I do but get the
> same answers. Asking for what I should do, he says "call the airport
> authority" at 650-821-8211.
>
> I call the "airport authority", only to get a woman and then her 
> supervisor
> whom I have to basically teach the basics of British Airways check-in
> procedures. They just can't fathom why I would want to check in 24 hours
> early saying the airline isn't there - and I can't fathom why they can't
> understand that British Airways is different than all the rest in that 
> they
> don't separate seating from checkin so to get seating you have to check in
> but that you check in online without actually checking in any baggage or
> physically being at the airport. The supervisor tells me I've been misled,
> adding that he's there for emergencies and this isn't one so we hang up.
>
> I go back to the British Airways web site to obtain my seat arrangements
> (aka to "check in"), and still, it says I can't - even almost six hours
> into my 24-hour period, even tho we're traveling with children between the
> ages of 2 and 11 (BA advertises falsly that we get seat assignments 3 days
> prior but obviously that is not true).
>
> My question:
> Is this BA check-in experience common and ... more importantly ... what
> could possibly be the "security concerns" that the "airport" could have 
> for
> holding up the check-in process for this British Airways flight to
> Heathrow?


I'm inclined to believe BA that *something* is unusual about that flight. 
I've used their online checkin on both sides of the Atlantic and never had 
this kind of issue.   Now whether it's the airport authorities (which I take 
to mean the people who run SFO) or other authorities at the airport (e.g. 
the TSA) is perhaps questionable but I wouldn't get into a flap (although I 
would be irritated).

When you do get on the online checkin system you find that a seat has 
already been allocated to you.   Depending on the load (are there any 
unallocated seats) and what fare you've paid (if its very cheap options may 
not be available) you will probably be able to change your seat.   Provided 
the whole family made one booking the pre allocated seats will (famous last 
words) be togther.   The only time I've had an issue is when my wife and I 
travelled out separately and were therefore seen as separate passengers on 
the way home and got separated seats - but we resolved that using not online 
but machine based checkin at the airport.   The preallocation process will 
have taken place by the time you get to SFO so unless a real snafu has 
occurred just relax - you'll be OK.

"johac"  wrote in message 
news:R6_mi.9240$eY.3204@newssvr13.news.prodigy.net...
> Is British Airways telling me the truth about a flight for 
> tomorrow?
> They say the SFO Airport is "holding the flight for 
> security reasons".
> What does THAT mean?
>
> Here's the scoop ...
> I've been trying to obtain seats for a flight tomorrow 
> (less than 18 hours
> away) for the past five hours, all to no avail. It seems 
> British Airways
> doesn't separate the task of obtaining a seat assignment 
> from checking in,
> contrary to what all other airlines do. So, in order to 
> obtain a seat
> assignment, one must check in online at www.ba.com (which 
> can only be done
> 24 hours or less prior to the flight departure time).
>
> However, when I check in at -24 hours, -23 hours, -22 
> hours, -21 hours,
> etc., British Airways' web site says repeatedly (and 
> insultingly) "Sorry,
> we are unable to offer you Online Check-in for this 
> flight. We recommend
> that you review the status of your booking. Manage My 
> BookingTo check in
> and receive your boarding pass, please proceed to the 
> airport."
>
> Numerous calls to British Airways at 1-800-AIR-WAYS get me 
> a variety of
> mis-information, and get me confirmation that the "status 
> of my booking" is
> fine. After a few exasperating hours, the best I can do 
> after speaking to
> their "supervisor" is obtain the web-help hotline number 
> 800-403-0882.
>
> Calling that "hotline" is an exercise in near futility, as 
> the wait is
> greater than 20 or 30 minutes each time. Thank God for 
> u