NABAFWBAFNFWBACF - the return check-in

There is a bit of a problem with  some BA flights NotABAflightwithaBAflightnumberforwhichBAcollectfare (NABAFWBAFNFWBACF for short ) as described here and here and here.

Briefly

• A flight with a BA flight number that is booked, and the fare paid to BA  through the BA website is not a BA flight.
• Online check-in is not available through BA website  for non-BA flights.
• BA don't tell you how to book online for a NABAFWBAFNFWBACF

So I have a journey  in 2 steps

• BA3296 from London (City) to   Aberdeen
• BA4040 , a NABAFWBAFNFWBACF from Aberdeen to Kirkwall.

I couldn't check in through the BA website for the NABAFWBAFNFWBACF travelling down to London. This is the screenshot.
And coming back ?

You can !.

Just to check , I logged in to the Flybe website, with my BA booking reference

and the flight is listed. And I have the option to check in online for this NABAFWBAFNFWBACF.

Check in for the NABAFWBAFNFWBACF flight through the BA website ( which BA Customer Relations have told me I can't do, or check in through the BA flight reference put into the FlyBe website ?

 ,

So I checked in for the NABAFWBAFNFWBACF, through the BA website. It seemed to be OK. They gave me the option of printing off a Boarding pass as well.

And  having completed that I went back to the BA fight reference login the FlyBE webite on the FlyBe website , and I'm checked in.

 

So the online check-in is different if the NABAFWBAFNFWBACF is the first or second flight .

Confusing ?

Whats the chance that I get any sense out of BA Customer Relations  when I point this out to them ?

Checking in for NABAFWBAFNFWBACF

So the time has come - what happens when you try and check in  online for NABAFWBAFNFWBACF flight.

Log in to the BA website

 On-line check in is open - for the flight that is listed

Departs Kirkwall Fri 20 Jun 17.25 

Arrives Aberdeen. 

But remember this is NABAFWBAFNFWBACF. Its not a BA flight. 

But I can't check in  to the flight that is listed ( the NABAFWBAFNFWBACF flight). They tell me I have to go to the airport. 
But i can check in for the BA flight 

So I now have a boarding card for a BA flight. But BA  tell me that for the check- in and Boarding card  for a NABAFWBAFNFWBACF flight I have to go to the Kirkwall airport.

But  the NABAFWBAFNFWBACF flight is provided by Flybe.  So what happens if I put by BA  booking reference number ( 7xxxxxC ) into the Flybe website ?

It logs me in !

And I haven't got a BA booking reference, I've now got a completely different Flybe booking reference.

And the Flybe website tells  me that I have to  check in for my Aberdeen -London flight at the airport.

And heres the proof - a Boarding card for a NABAFWBAFNFWBACF, produced from the Flybe website with the BA flight number listed 

BA expecting me to turn up at Kirkwall airport  to check in is not unreasonable ( even though i don't have to ).

Flybe expect me once Ive arrived in Aberdeen 

• to go to the baggage carousel  to retrieve any hold luggage
• leave the departures area and go to Aberdeen Arrivals hall 
• Go to a BA check-in Desk 
• Go back through security
• Go and wait in the Departures area that I have just left. 

Joined up thinking and planning to make travelling easy ? 


We shall have to see what happens on the way back when the NABAFWBAFNFWBACF is the second stage of the journey. 

BA and the missing flight

The missing flight ? 

Flying from Orkney to anywhere outside Scotland  involves 2 flights.

Flybe go to Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Inverness.  So to go to eg London  involves 2 flights, usually Kirkwall (KOI) to Aberdeen (ABZ) and then ABZ to London (LON).

And its convenient that its possible to book from KOI to LON , all through the BA website.

And here is a recent booking

The email acknowledgement  is this : The subject line is the  KOI - ABZ flight .

 So where has the ABZ-LON flight gone ? Its here , listed in the Itinerary

And the same thing happens when I log into my BA account  and see what I've booked .

I don't want to 'Manage My Booking ' , I want to verify that the flights I think I have booked ( and paid for) . Nevertheless , its the only link to follow  and if I then go on to 'Manage my booking', its all there.

So I think its OK. What's going to happen when online check-in opens ?

Online check-in available for  the KOI -ABZ flight ?  Probably
Online check-in available for the ABZ-LON flight ? Have a guess.

And what do you think will happen for the return flight ?

Watch this space.