BA sadly has turned into Ryanair

[julieannexx]

Trying to keep my disappointment / devastation to just welling up with tears and not a volcanic explosion of frustration.....

So here's my story....
We are family of 5 ecstatically looking forward to a holiday at Oct half term in Barbados with extended family.
As school break up days worked out, it seemed like a good idea to send my DD1 (12yrs) out with my brother (her uncle) 2 days before the rest of us fly.
Flights were booked - restricted of course, but still mega bucks - what could go wrong - we were with BA !
My brother is no longer able to go (long story).
So rather than get cross - I thought I'd call up BA and use their Skyflier Solo service for DD1 (12yrs) as Granny will be there to meet her at the other end.

No they said - it's been discontinued as of Feb this year (despite most other airlines having this)
OK - Can we change the name on booking from Uncle to Dad?
No they said - No names changes allowed (despite most other airlines allowing this for an admin fee)
OK - Can we move Dad's flight by 2 days?
No they said - you have to cancel (no refund except half the taxes) and you have to buy a new ticket £1021.50.

I am not naïve enough to think that if you buy a restricted ticket and then change you mind, that an airline will accommodate.
However to discontinue a child safe guarding service and offer absolutely no flexibility whatsoever to a family who has spent £3.5k - I think stinks.
We are not asking for anything that we haven't already paid for.
In fact we are giving them back a seat !

So our choices are:
(1) our child travels completely alone on a long haul flight
(2) we don't get to go on holiday

So massively disillusioned with BA - which has this year turned into Ryanair :-(

I would have expected BA to be more accommodating too OP. I agree that their service has gone off.

We broke a habit of a lifetime and flew with a different airline for our Summer holidays. It was a great experience, we wont be rushing back to BA.

hi OP, I agree that BA has gone massively downhill and I now try to avoid using them where possible. However, in this case I don't think you can really blame them too much.

Without wanting to get into the ins and outs of whose fault it might be, my advice is that your daughter could fly alone. My DS has been doing so (albeit on short haul flights) for 2 years and he is now 14. He has flown from Gatwick, Heathrow & City airport alone.

What I do is sit in the departure area and keep tabs on him. I use the airport website or an airline app to check when the gate comes up and then call him to check he has seen it and is making his way there. He calls me when he gets to the gate, and then texts me when he is on board the plane. To be fair he has been travelling with me all his life but I was definitely more nervous than him the first couple of times he went off on his own.

You have to remember that a) airport staff will always help if they see a young person alone and b) cabin crew will always keep an eye on a young traveller so if they are sick etc. they will of course help out.

Frankly, give her an ipad with 10 hours worth of movies downloaded, a bagful of snacks and she will be happy as pie.

Don't think of it as ruining your holiday, think of it as an opportunity for her to show how sensible and grown up she is.

She'll be fine and you will all have an amazing holiday.

YANBU!

Let us know how you get on with the Gate pass idea

I flew by myself at the age of 13 (including navigating gatwick airport) and really was fine. No mobiles back then. You'll be able to call each other until she's actually sat on the plane and once the doors have closed there is zero chance of her getting lost.

I agree BA has been a bit shitty.

The concierge thing is worth looking into.