In this post:
BA Domestic flight ID update
Yesterday I wrote about BA’s domestic ID enforcement which will start tomorrow 1 September. It has always been recommended to carry ID for domestic flights anyway. I spoke to British Airways this morning to ask a few questions. Here is an update:
- The list published on the website is not exhaustive, other officially recognised forms of photographic ID will be accepted. There should be a list on gov.uk for other accepted official forms of ID.
- Customers will be emailed two days before about the requirements
- There will be some discretion on forms of ID for those in difficulty providing it due to short notice as the new rules bed in.
- In extreme circumstances, someone could be denied boarding, but BA usually would rebook them free of charge.
Part or all of Fairmont Windsor could have to be demolished
In one of the most extraordinary items I have written, it appears that the Fairmont Windsor Park hotel was built without the correct planning permissions for an extension and an entire wing of the hotel. Runnymede Borough Council has issued a planning enforcement notice for the Fairmont Windsor Park Hotel last month which they have until 7 October to comply with or appeal. The council stated that the hotel had a “harmful effect on the green belt”.
The owner, Surinder Arora of Arora Hotels has now been told to demolish all or part of the hotel in Egham, Surrey to remedy the parts that there is no planning permission for.
In a statement, Mr Arora said: “We are truly sorry for the mistakes made during the construction of the Fairmont Windsor Park.
“It was a highly challenging construction site being developed in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We are now constructively engaging with Runnymede council and other local stakeholders to find mutually acceptable solutions to the planning concerns which have been raised.
American Airlines flight attendants vote to strike
AA cabin crew have voted to take strike action over pay and conditions with 99.47% of the flight attendants represented by the union voting in favour. That equates to 26,000 cabin crew.
The rules are slightly different from the UK, and they now have at least 30 days before they can strike. If the company and the union are unable to reach an agreement in federal mediation, the union can then request to be released into a 30-day cooling-off period, after which they can strike. I think it is unlikely that they will strike, and this is more of a warning shot. AA recently settled pay with their pilots are they threatened to strike. That may be wishful thinking though as I have an AA flight in 6 weeks’ time!
Jet Blue business class to New York from £1,376
I am due to take my first Jet Blue flight next week and am very excited about it. Jet Blue fly transatlantic from Heathrow to JFK and Boston and is launching the same service from Amsterdam. There is now a good sale on flights from Amsterdam.
Like Heathrow routes, Jet Blue uses new A321NEOs, which have business class seats in a 1-1 configuration. They also have the Jet Blue Mint Studio at the front of the cabin, which you can book for around £250 extra during seat selection. This is substantially bigger. (see featured picture).
You can earn Avios on JetBlue if you credit your flights to Qatar’s Privilege Club.
Prices:
- Amsterdam to
- New York £1367
- Boston £1365
- Chicago £1471
- Miami £1521
- Orlando £1528
If you choose one of the indirect flights (anything other than Boston or JFK) the connecting flight will be in economy.
The prices are available until 31 August and available from November to February.
You can check prices on JetBlue here.
7 comments
Re: Jet Blue, you said ‘The prices are available until 31 August’ but this email was sent 01Sep, so have they gone?
Also what’s the lounge situation with these tickets?
No Jet Blue tickets have lounge access. Yes it was a very short lived offer that was only found yesterday. Unfortauntely a lot of the best fares only last a few hours which is why I always advise those interested in cheap fares to follow on social media as well as email. The article was publishedon the website yesterday as well as on social media but the email only gets sent every morning so as not to bombard people with too many emails. If there is an amazing deal from the UK I very occasionally send out an extra email.
Anyone who needs photo ID for domestic flights can get a free CitizenCard (a Home Office approved Voter ID) using code BA at http://www.citizencard.com
Thanks Andrew. I think once people know about the requirement it won’t be too bad, it will just be while people get used to it.
RE BA ID Checks on domestic flights.
I flew from LHR – MAN on 1/9, the first day that the checks were starting.
I was travelling with hand baggage only and had checked in via the app on my mobile device so was expecting the passport check to just happen at the gate as per a normal international departure to europe.
As a GCH I was able to use the First Wing for security and was taken unawares when asked at the BA counters just before First Wing security where they scan your boarding pass and check your lounge status to be asked for my passport there. I presented it and assumed that would be it. But no, when I got to the gate the agents were queue combing to also request to see passports then the auto gates were used with the boarding pass.
So, in short had more passport checks on a domestic flight than I normally would on an international one.
Wow that is very odd. I’m guessing it is to stop people going through without a passport as it is all new? Be interesting to see if that continues.
I had a hand baggage only return from Edinburgh to Southampton, out on the Friday 1st, back today. No auto gates at either of course, but there was a 100% check of IDs at boarding. No obvious sign of it causing any problems, but I was Group 1 (from Edinburgh – they didn’t bother with Groups at Southampton as it was less heavily loaded) so could have missed any later difficulties. I used my Driving Licence, but many were cruise passengers who had their passports with them anyway. I’ll be interested to see how things work out at Heathrow. Boarding busy domestic flights there has become a pretty chaotic process at times without an added ID check.
Comments are closed.