why oh why

[realthog]

This morning I've spent some considerable while tussling with both the Virgin Atlantic and British Airways sites (for price comparison) in order to book tickets for Pam and myself to go to the UK for Fantasycon in Nottingham in September, staying en route with friends in Reading. I'm now sitting here with sweat pouring off me, and this is before I've even had time to tackle my morning mayhem on the famous Heart-Healthy Exercise Machine (Doris).

Many of the reasons for the complication of the process are perfectly reasonable ones, but one of them -- which I recognize applies to relatively few people, but still must turn up fairly often -- leads me to want to bang a few fatcat executive heads against the wall.

I live in the US. As a UK citizen, I retain a UK bank account for occasional use -- as when traveling to the UK, duh. It would suit me, on this occasion, to pay our plane fares out of that UK account, which recently received some juicy royalties.

Both Virgin and BA seem never to have conceived such possibility, and have rendered it impossible to effect a transaction like this.

Two or three trips ago I phoned up Virgin Atlantic in a similar situation, and discovered that, even when dealing with human beings rather than a website, nothing could be done to let me pay out of my UK account. I asked if this were a matter of law. The very helpful lady at Virgin was pretty certain it wasn't. So I asked if she had any idea why this effective prohibition existed. She said she was as baffled as I was, and that I was far from the first person to ask her.

This morning, I discovered that British Airways split their booking site into two, one for US and one for UK customers. A cunning lightbulb lit up my study! I got all the way through the booking to the end, where I discovered that the site refused to believe that my UK bank account could have anything other than a UK billing address for me. I had to start all over again with the US section, which of course refused to accept payment from a UK bank account . . .

My, was I cheerful by this time. Pam joined the cats cowering under the spare bed. Having bought the tickets I then had to arrange for a transfer of funds to my US account from my UK one. Another fiddly procedure. There was snarling, and even oathery.

Oh, well . . .

The big surprise was that British Airways proved cheaper than Virgin Atlantic -- even after I'd volunteered to pay an extra 82 bucks or so as a contribution to a UN agency dedicated to reducing carbon emissions. Usually it's the other way round, and by quite a wide margin. The saving wasn't huge -- about $150 -- but, looked at another way, that's approaching 10%. While Virgin's in-flight service and general efficiency isn't bad, BA's -- at least the last time I flew with them -- is even better, so it really wasn't hard to make a choice.
 

Comments

[sarcobatus.livejournal.com]

Virgins are always more expensive.

[realthog.livejournal.com]

Not always.

[fledgist.livejournal.com]

Virgins are always more annoying.

[al-zorra.livejournal.com]

Runs away screaming!

This can't have been good for your blood pressure.

Incidently, friend Larry Blumenfeld writes of Irma Thomas in The Village Voice this week -- she's performed at Joe's Pub last night, and will be at Lincoln Center the 23:

http://www.villagevoice.com/2008-08-12/music/irma-thomas-escapes-monotony/

Love, C.

Love, C.

[realthog.livejournal.com]

I'd never heard of Thomas (remember: UK background, not much of a fan of soul) before giving her a try on msn.music.com, where one can listen to the CD for free this week. I've been doing that a lot! I think a trip to an online store may be called for.

[al-zorra.livejournal.com]

Irma Thomas is indeed very USian.

O, she was a staple of that wonderful radio program, "Harlem Hit Parade," hosted by Ruth Brown, who also did the even more wonderful radio program, "Blues Stage," when public radio was real radio and real good too.

Ned and I were newly marrieds, with little money, but a wildly social life that was lived much after hours, as he was indeed a working musician (though one that didn't get paid much -- but nobody did, and back in those days that didn't matter so much -- and besides, I had 9-to-5 jobs), on the nights we weren't out, we'd go to bed, shut off the lights and listen in awe and delight to Ruth Brown giving us all that history, with all those great artists of American music.

Love, C.

[eglady.livejournal.com]

I'm sure you've considered this, but is there anyway you could get a debit or credit card with automatic payment from your UK account? Would the US/UK site division know what system your credit card operates under?

--M, who realizes simple solutions have likely all been tried but you never know ...

[realthog.livejournal.com]

The UK bank uses Maestro, which is a division of Mastercard and "can be used anywhere you see the Mastercard sign". Anywhere except on airline websites, that is.

Flying to the UK

[teacher-bear.livejournal.com]

Can't say I'm surprised. Airlines don't want to make it easy for the traveler - their customers! LOL! BTW, being nosy, how much were the tickets in the end? Will you be flying coach? (Reply privately if you prefer!) MY ex was raised in Nottingham, an interesting city. My ex mother-in-law still lives there, if she hasn't passed on. I wouldn't put it past my kids not to tell me.

Re: Flying to the UK

[realthog.livejournal.com]

Of course we're flying coach!

"how much were the tickets in the end"

About $750 apiece.

The great thing about Nottingham, I think, is that about every fourth building you pass (or don't pass) is a pub, while many of the remainder are Indian restaurants. A little view of Paradise for us still here on Earth . . .