In many ways, this British Airways trip to Bucharest, Romania, was no different from others I have written about. However, due to unexpected circumstances, it appears that this will be another constructive appraisal of British Airways as well as the system at airports in general. I, Amuthan Chandrarajan, a travel blogger, will shed light on my experience of the trip to Bucharest. As it wasn’t something I would say was 100% satisfactory for travel, as the outward journey had certain issues, and so did the return, this feature aims to give scope for both airlines and airports to improve their treatment of customers.
Outward Journey
On this British Airways trip to Bucharest, I travelled with my parents for a one-week holiday, and they accompanied me on both the outward and return journeys.
In terms of our outward leg of our British Airways trip to Bucharest, we embarked from London Heathrow on the 23rd July. The first mishap took place when we went to the airport. We were told by British Airways staff that we would have to wait for one hour before we could check in. As a result, we went to Café Nero and had some beverages to kill the time. Afterwards, we went back only to find that we could have checked in earlier, as we were Blue Badge Holders. If we had known this earlier, we would have saved on those beverages and, in addition, had more time to relax in our airport lounge.
As far as feedback goes, it is important for airlines to check if passengers are on a preferential list so that they can take advantage of any opportunities given to them. In this case, therefore, our tickets should have been checked by British Airways to see if we were eligible to check in early. This, in my opinion, is essential to ensure that passengers are able to make the maximum use of any privileges awarded.
The rest of the outward journey went smoothly. This time, we used Number One Lounge, which gave us a chance to sample their beverages and food. I had a delicious Mexican chicken with rice washed down with two cups of hot chocolate, which was also delicious. The flight had no issues, and as per usual, British Airways offered a small snack (two oatmeal biscuits) as well as a bottle of water.
Return Journey
The return journey was also marked by unfortunate incidents in the airport as we ended our British Airways trip to Bucharest on the 30th July. As we were waiting at Bucharest Airport, we were approached by airport security who asked us to show them our passports. They looked at them carefully and took pictures. They were quite hostile and did not treat us well.
Even after this ordeal had finished, as we were moving through the airport, we got approached again by security staff who effectively did the same as what had been done before. We were all upset by both incidents, and my parents felt that they would not want to come to Romania again!
All in all, therefore, both outward and return journeys were marked by unfortunate incidents. Firstly, we were not identified by British Airways as having the facility to check in early, which resulted in needless waiting around and less time in our airport lounge. Secondly, on our return journey, we received hostile treatment from Romanian security staff.
We hope that both British Airways and Bucharest Airport improve in the way they treat their customers. We have to wait to see how this progresses.
