Cunard BA charter

[rog747]

edit

 

 

 

Cunard for many years now charters BA Boeing 767-300 262 seater jets for their Med cruises starting/ending in Venice Rome Athens and Barcelona from Heathrow.

these have BA flight numbers starting BA92xx

when they fill up, or if you ask them for specific flight times or to go the day before for instance then they will put you on BA scheduled flights from LHR or LGW usually at no supplement except if you want to upgrade to Club.

 

luggage allowance on the BA charters is 23kgs (you can pool allowance with companions and take more than one bag) and hand baggage on these flights is quite ''relaxed '' (no Ryanair stealth fees or Thomson 5 kgs nonsense here)

Bags are NOT usually taken direct to the ship upon arrival except sometimes at Venice due to ''bonded'' customs issues now not being available.

It used to happen but hardly now which is a shame.

 

Free snacks and food and free drinks on-board are offered by BA. (currently as the charterer Cunard asks for, and pays for this in their charter)

 

you cannot earn Avios nor use BA.com to check-in online nor use the lounges but if you are an Exec club member and if you flash your gold card you might just get access if ask nicely. but normally no.

 

Cunard also offer charters from other airport such as Bournemouth Manchester and Birmingham

these use Thomson airways, and Titian airways which are not so good as the BA ones and have stricter baggage rules and BOB food/drinks

 

seating on the BA 767's is wide body 2-3-2 and has good seat pitch

 

check in opens usually 3 hours before departure but I see above post now says they are open 4 hours before dep at T5.

the seats are all pre allocated by BA/Cunard the night before so there is no point getting their early to get better seats - it wont happen unless flight is not full (unlikely)

 

the 767's which have all been refurbed are due to go in next couple of years to the scrapyard so i guess they will use the new 787 or the A321 if they continue these long standing Cunard charters from LHR - watch this space

[rog747]

Could someone please advise if when checking in for a BA charter flight at Heathrow Terminal 5 you use the normal BA check in desks, or is there a dedicated check in desk for BA charter flights? Thank you

 

BA often has a dedicated check in area for the BA Cunard charters at LHR T5

 

look at departure boards if in doubt or ask BA staff who are floating round

 

BA Cunard charter flight numbers all start BA92xx

ie BA 9201

 

seats are pre allocated the night before by BA

you are normally seated together

you cannot use BA.com to check in online

 

the Cunard BA charter product is very nice - do not be daunted nor put off - it all works well and is quite civilised except maybe the arrivals hall and bag handling at FCO Rome which is not Cunard's fault

Edited October 16, 2016 by rog747

[rog747]

Thanks Gratter! Our VP was not explicit about how it worked with their BA charter but did state clearly that if you were on a scheduled flight or had arranged your own, that you should get your cases off the carousel etc. Doesn't sound as if there's any difference.

 

the LHR BA charter flights for Med cruises operated for Cunard all have flight numbers that start BA92xx

ie: BA9201

 

at the moment for all flights both charter (unless advised otherwise) and scheduled require you to reclaim your bags on arrival at VCE FCO ATH or BCN

you take them off the carousel and hand them to the Cunard transfer staff and your bags will be outside your cabin when you see them next :)

[Alibobs]

We had a really early charter flight from Heathrow to Istanbul last year and were advised by Cunard to get to Check in 3 hours before .....we did but the desk didn't open until 2 hours before .......airports at 4.30am are not the most enjoyable places to be.

We are on a similarly timed scheduled flight this year, again the instruction from Cunard is 3 hours but I shan't be there quite so early this time.

[delgirl]

We were on a ba charter flight in july this yr for queen victoria. Had to collect our luggage from the carousel and then when we got outside bags taken off us and put in a lorry we then had to proceed to coach. Didn't see bags again until in our cabin. Hope this helps.

[fantasy51]

Last year I flew from Heathrow into Rome by BA charter and then out of Rome again by BA charter. When we arrived in Rome, we took our suitcases from the carousel and looked for the Cunard representative and were directed to a bus where we left our luggage and then boarded. Being a rather meticulous person, I waited until my luggage was on the bus, and at the other end I waited to make sure it was unloaded and safe in the Cunard system.

 

Coming home by charter was a disaster. We were on the second-last bus from the ship, and were overtaken by the last bus. That meant we were at the end of a very long line of people waiting to check in for the same charter flight. There were only 2 desks operating at check-in so it took about 90 minutes. Once through security we sat at a bar waiting for our flight to come up on screen and went to the gate immediately, only to be told off because it was time for the last bus to the plane. Evidently the boarding notices had only been up in the gate area, not the rest of the airport. All of us on the last bus had been sitting in other areas. On board, the Captain said there would be a slight delay while we waited for the last of the luggage to be put aboard but he thought we would still get our take-off slot. We left shortly after. My friend and I were among the first to the carousel and waited ... and waited. It took over an hour before they admitted that if our bags were not there at that point, they were lost. We then joined a longish queue of people to report lost bags. All those I spoke to had been at the back of the Rome check-in line. It seems that Rome was so slow with the baggage that they just did not even attempt to get it to the plane. It arrived at our house 2 days later. I have since heard that this is typical of Rome airport and that there is a lot of problem with luggage.

 

One frustrating thing was that we were due to go to a dance that night, to be run by the friend with whom I was cruising. His good suits were in the lost suitcase but fortunately he had packed the last night's suit in his carry-on luggage. Unfortunately his partner had left his suitcase on the train from Wales to Oxford, so they had to share the suit. One wore the jacket with matching shorts; the other wore the trousers with a nice shirt. It livened up the dance night, as everyone was used to David having luggage trouble. He once left his Louis Vuitton make-up case on Brighton station and returned to find it had been blown up.

[tiggis]

Last year I flew from Heathrow into Rome by BA charter and then out of Rome again by BA charter. When we arrived in Rome, we took our suitcases from the carousel and looked for the Cunard representative and were directed to a bus where we left our luggage and then boarded. Being a rather meticulous person, I waited until my luggage was on the bus, and at the other end I waited to make sure it was unloaded and safe in the Cunard system.

 

Coming home by charter was a disaster. We were on the second-last bus from the ship, and were overtaken by the last bus. That meant we were at the end of a very long line of people waiting to check in for the same charter flight. There were only 2 desks operating at check-in so it took about 90 minutes. Once through security we sat at a bar waiting for our flight to come up on screen and went to the gate immediately, only to be told off because it was time for the last bus to the plane. Evidently the boarding notices had only been up in the gate area, not the rest of the airport. All of us on the last bus had been sitting in other areas. On board, the Captain said there would be a slight delay while we waited for the last of the luggage to be put aboard but he thought we would still get our take-off slot. We left shortly after. My friend and I were among the first to the carousel and waited ... and waited. It took over an hour before they admitted that if our bags were not there at that point, they were lost. We then joined a longish queue of people to report lost bags. All those I spoke to had been at the back of the Rome check-in line. It seems that Rome was so slow with the baggage that they just did not even attempt to get it to the plane. It arrived at our house 2 days later. I have since heard that this is typical of Rome airport and that there is a lot of problem with luggage.

 

One frustrating thing was that we were due to go to a dance that night, to be run by the friend with whom I was cruising. His good suits were in the lost suitcase but fortunately he had packed the last night's suit in his carry-on luggage. Unfortunately his partner had left his suitcase on the train from Wales to Oxford, so they had to share the suit. One wore the jacket with matching shorts; the other wore the trousers with a nice shirt. It livened up the dance night, as everyone was used to David having luggage trouble. He once left his Louis Vuitton make-up case on Brighton station and returned to find it had been blown up.

 

For what it is worth we did the same return journey last week and it was uneventful. There was quite a long queue to check in on the return journey but that was inevitable as all the buses arrived pretty much at the same time. Four desks (all dedicated to this flight) were open at FCO, though I can't say how long it took those at the back to be processed as we were near the front. We were called for boarding an hour before the scheduled take-off, which is unusual, but in the event didn't leave until the scheduled time.