Group bookings

Definition

In our World Traveller and Euro Traveller cabins, a Group is 10 or more people travelling together, to the same destination. This requirement differs by cabin:

Class	Cabin or flight type	Minimum number of passengers
Economy	World Traveller, Euro Traveller, UK Domestic	10 passengers*
oneworld and Joint Business	All	10 passengers*
Premium & Business	World Traveller Plus, Club World, Club Europe & Club on Domestic	7 passengers*

 *Excluding infants under 2 years of age at time of travel

 

Benefits

Our Group booking process puts you in control.

It provides you with access to an automated booking tool 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and enables instant quotations to be received. We also offer an automated payment facility via your entry of specified remarks in the booking. Subject to departure date we allow a generous deposit period with a late full payment requirement at 8 weeks before travel.

In addition to the above, preferential contract terms include late names at 5 days before travel with name changes permitted. We also offer Seat Map and Automated Groups Pre-seating for your Group.

To take advantage of these terms, bookings must be made via your GDS and can’t be made via the telephone. Within these information sections we’ve included some prompt sheets to help you to make your Group booking via your GDS. The GDS prompt sheets will provide you with the entries required by British Airways to complete your Group booking, but should you have any specific queries relating to standard GDS entries then you will need to speak to your GDS Helpdesk for support as the Groups Team are unable to help.

British Airways Executive Club membership benefits are NOT applicable on Group bookings, this includes Executive seating and baggage allowance. Executive Club membership numbers should not be added to Group bookings and should only be presented to a staff member at the departure airport. Any claims for Avios for Group travel must be retrospectively made by the member, after they’ve completed their trip, and processed by the member themselves via the tracking facility within the online membership area of the Executive Club website. 

If you have Executive Club Members travelling as part of your Group, they’ll be able to earn the usual amount of Avios and Tier points applicable to the route that they’re travelling on. Avios cannot be redeemed on Group bookings. To help you calculate the applicable Avios and Tier Points for your Executive Club Members, please use our handy tool on ba.com

Calculate Avios and Tier Points on ba.com
 
Group bookings are not eligible for On Business points.

 

Names

When travel is on British Airways, passenger names are required no later than 5 days before travel.

If your itinerary includes a flight on a oneworld carrier then names are required no later than 30 days before travel. For bookings made within 30 days of departure you’ll need to provide all passenger names before we’re able to request confirmation of the space from the other carrier. Name changes are not permitted on bookings containing oneworld carriers.

When your itinerary includes flights on one of our Joint Business routes and is made 30 days or more before travel, names are required no later than 5 days before travel. For bookings made on Joint Business routes within 30 days of departure you’ll need to provide all names before we’re able to request confirmation of the space from the other carrier. 

Name changes are permitted on bookings containing travel on Joint Business routes.

 

Baggage allowance

All Group fares come with baggage included and the allowance will be appropriate to the cabin of travel. Find out the baggage allowance for each of our cabins on ba.com

 

Can I book as a Preferred Groups Partner?

You can confirm if you are a Preferred Groups Partner by:

• contacting your company head office who will have been notified if you are
• being nominated as a Preferred Groups Partner
• speaking to your BA account manager

If you aren’t already one of our Preferred Partners, we do regularly evaluate our Groups bookings and if your Groups Travel business is significant, then your status may be reviewed.

 

How does the Groups process work?

All Group quotes can be obtained via our automated Groups booking system. As a Preferred Partner you’ll have access to this.

A quote or response will automatically be sent back to you in the booking within a short time. The response or quote you receive is final and cannot be over-ridden or appealed.

Please be aware that Group bookings will no longer queue to you and so it’s essential that you continue to check your booking for a quote, response or update. These updates include changes to the itinerary, messages from the airline as well as the time limits that must be met for your booking. If you fail to adhere to one of these time limits then your booking will automatically cancel.

Should you have any specific queries relating to specific GDS entries or information, you’ll need to speak to your GDS Helpdesk for support as the Groups Team aren’t able to help with GDS queries.

If your quote takes longer than a few minutes then don’t worry, the automated bookings system is processing your request and you will receive a response in your booking.

Bookings involving other carriers will take longer to obtain a quote or response and you will receive a response in your booking. Again, this is your responsibility to check for a response.

You do not need to call our Groups Team to chase a quote or response. All quotes and replies will be provided in your booking and calling will not speed up the process.

Group bookings can be a complex process and so we’re able to offer you experience and guidance when you book through one of our specialist agents.

They’re experienced in all aspects of Group bookings and will be able to manage your requirements and requests through an automated booking process.

Below are the contact details of our specialist agents who will be able to assist you.

UK and Northern Ireland
Lime Management	Wholesaler Agent & Drop through ticket provider	0151 350 1185 email: groupsales@lime-management.co.uk Find out more and register at www.lime-management.co.uk
Gold Medal	Wholesaler Agent	0800 054 6866 email: groups@goldmedal.co.uk
Republic of Ireland
World Travel Centre	Wholesaler Agent	353 1 4825950 (opening hours Monday- Friday 09:30-17:30) email: groups@worldtravel.ie
Club Travel	Wholesaler Agent	353 1 5005566 email: groups@clubtravel.ie

 

Information about our Groups Trade Terms & Conditions

If you have any queries or questions in relation to the Groups Trade Terms & Conditions or the booking processes, please refer to the holder of the Groups Trade Terms & Conditions within your own organisation. This could be your Line Manager, MD or Head Office.

Highlights and changes to our Groups Terms & Conditions

Some of the key changes and highlights of our Groups Terms & Conditions: 

• Club on Domestic is now available for Group bookings
• Bookings will now be updated with automated time limits for Deposit, Full Payment, Names and Ticketing deadlines. These will no longer be queued to you and so it is your responsibility to check the bookings for these time limits to ensure the deadlines are met.
• As well as automated time limits, your booking will also be updated with automatic reminders to fulfil a deadline a week before it is due. Again, these reminders will not be queued to you.
• The automation of these time limits will ensure that BA space is automatically cancelled if the time limit is not fulfilled. Due to automated cancellation, we’ll no longer issue an ADM to Agents who don’t cancel unwanted space before their deposit commitment due date. Failure to fulfil other time limits will result in the issuance of an ADM. It is your responsibility to cancel any unwanted space on other airlines as this will not be automatically cancelled.
• There are now unlimited deviations available for Groups as long as the minimum group size for the cabin of travel is met and passengers are travelling together in at least one direction on the same flight.
• Itinerary change fees have now been removed, only the applicable fare difference will be collected.
• A £50.00 name change fee is applicable per change.
• Another positive move is that there have been enhancements to the messaging which we supply via the BA Groups booking system which will better supports the Group booking process.
• Our GDS prompt sheets have been changed and updated to support you in booking Groups.
• Enhancements to the messaging supplied by our Groups booking system has been completed to better support you in the Group booking process.
• Group space has been increased on the majority of our flights and routes. Due to this increase we are unable to accept appeals for space or rates.
• Our commitment timescales for Groups have changed and the commitment matrix has been updated to reflect this.
• There have been changes to the format of the remarks that need to be submitted for Deposit and Full Payment commitment. You’ll need to refer to the GDS prompts provided to ensure you submit the correct remark and to avoid automatic cancellation.
• Agents must cancel any unwanted space booked on other Airlines to avoid any penalties.
• Umbrella Deal numbers have been removed and are no longer valid for any new bookings created from 28 November 2017. 
• The ticketing processes for Group tickets has changed (to be finalised)

 

Payment for Group bookings

Groups Payment Commitment Automation - for bookings created via the drop through  the Groups booking system

Prior to adding your mandatory commitment remark and keyword for a British Airways Groups booking, you must cancel any unwanted space and enter the appropriate remark into the PNR as detailed below. This is the only way for the trade to commit to holding Groups space and prevent the booking from cancelling.

The mandatory remark and keyword will be accepted at deposit and full commitment stages and must be entered exactly as detailed below.

If your commitment is not added in the exact format and by the specified date, the space will be automatically cancelled and an ADM will be raised accordingly for the appropriate amount of all passengers' relevant deposit or full commitment, in line with the Groups terms and conditions.

You must only work to the Deposit, Full Payment, Names and Ticketing BA time limits that are advised to you within the booking and no other BA reviews that may be visible as these are for BA internal use only.

Commitment for Deposit stage and Full Payment stage is required before the deadline shown to you in your booking. If you fail to meet this deadline then your booking will automatically cancel.

Deposit Stage

Enter a remark detailing the organiser's name committed to deposit of GBP deposit value (or EUR value as applicable) x number of passengers e.g. A.N.OTHER TRAVEL COMMITTED TO DEPOSIT OF GBP20.00 X 20

The deposit amount is a minimum of GBP20.00 (EUR25.00) or 20% of the nett fare, whichever is the higher.
Deposit amounts should be rounded up or down to the nearest £ (or €). E.g. £22.50 should be rounded up to £23.

A new keyword is a further mandatory requirement to complete your commitment and prevent your booking from automatically cancelling and is DEPS RCVD. The format in which you need to add the keyword is shown in the prompt relevant to your GDS below.

Full Commitment Stage

Enter a remark detailing the organiser's name committed to full payment of GBP nett rate value per passenger (or EUR nett rate value per passenger as applicable) x number of passengers e.g. A.N.OTHER TRAVEL COMMITTED TO FULL PAYMENT OF GBP123.00 X 20

A new keyword is a further mandatory requirement to complete your commitment and prevent your booking from automatically cancelling and is BAL RCVD. The format in which you need to add the keyword is shown in the prompt relevant to your GDS below.

Our commitment matrix has been revised and so it’s important that you check timeframe information. The following matrix provides you with a quick and easy reference guide to booking and payment commitment and naming for your Group.

View our payment commitment matrix

If there’s a fare change and you need to amend either your deposit or full commitment remark, the original remark must be completely removed and a new remark entered within 24 hours of the change being made or there is a risk to cancellation of your booking. This is because the Groups booking system can’t recognise original remarks unless its at the same fare.

 

GDS Prompts

Amadeus reference guide

Sabre reference guide

Galileo reference guide

Worldspan reference guide

 

BT ticketing for Groups

All Groups nett tickets are issued as BT (bulk ticketing) and will need to be issued against a specific reference detailed in each booking that must be included as the Tour Code on the ticket.

All agency staff should be made aware of the changes to issuing Group tickets by their line manager or trainer when they are using BT ticketing.

You can refer to the GDS prompt applicable to your GDS for further assistance on ticketing a Group that is travelling on BA along with the mandatory information that needs to be included within the ticket.

Unfortunately the Groups Team cannot assist you with any queries in relation to ticketing entries for your GDS, These need to be discussed with your GDS Helpdesk. Please refer to your GDS prompt for further assistance with ticketing a Group booking.

 

Important things to note

• There will be no fare on the ticket - the total will show as BT
• The specific reference number contained within the remarks field of each booking must be included within the Tour Code (FT) section of the ticket you're issuing
• Failure to include all of the mandatory requirements detailed when creating your fare and issuing your tickets may result in an ADM being raised to the agent. 

 

Mandatory items to include in the fare and on the ticket

It’s mandatory that you ensure the following items are completed within your fare and on the ticket.

1. Modification of the Fare Basis code
2. Modification of the Carrier Imposed Charges
3. Modification of the Endorsement line
4. Modification of the Tour Code line

 

Format of mandatory fares and ticketing requirements

1 Fare basis
GUQ TUQ IUQ AUQ	Fare basis for an adult travelling in Domestic, Euro Traveller or World Traveller Fare basis for an adult travelling in World Traveller Plus Fare basis for an adult travelling in Club on Domestic, Club Europe or Club World Fare basis for an adult travelling in First Class
GUQ CH	Fare basis for child (2 to 11 years) travelling in Domestic, Euro Traveller or World Traveller
GUQ YP	Fare basis for young adult (12 to 15 years) travelling in Domestic, Euro Traveller or World Traveller
GUQ IN	Fare basis for infant (under 2 years) travelling in Domestic, Euro Traveller or World Traveller
2 Modification of Carrier Imposed Charges (YQ)
This must be modified to the date of guarantee, in line with the terms of your contract
3 Endorsement
It is essential that your endorsement line includes the following information in the exact format 153678/L/7799 NON REF/NON END/VALID BA ONLY/UPLIFT RESTRICTED/VALID FLT DATES ONLY
4 Tour Code
It is essential that your tour code box should include the unique reference that is applied to your booking and can be found in the remarks and tour code line of the PNR. An example of this would be: RM BA0123456 FT BA00123456 The Tour Code MUST be 8 digits, so you may need to add an additional zero after BA to increase the code to 8 digits e.g. the reference from RM BA0123456 will need to be added to the tour code as BA00123456

If you’re a Preferred Groups Partner booking through your GDS, please check that the entries that you use are accurate. Please also read the responses that you receive tback in your booking as these are very informative and may identify where you need to take corrective action on an entry. Our Groups Team are unable to assist you with any GDS related entries.

One you have submitted a request through your GDS, providing you have entered the request accurately, you’ll receive a response back in your booking. There’s no need to chase a response or call the Groups Team because the booking is the primary channel for all communication.

Provided below are some GDS prompts to help you with the basic of making Groups bookings and servicing them. If you require any specific support with your GDS or assistance with entries, then you’ll need to contact your own GDS Helpdesk

Amadeus reference guide

Sabre reference guide

Galileo reference guide

Worldspan reference guide

The Groups booking system is the primary channel of contact between the trade and our Groups team and should be used for all booking processes, service and support requests.

The Groups booking system is able to support you with booking your Group and any servicing requests you may have so please check that the entries you use are accurate as detailed in the prompt sheets contained within these pages. Any response to you will be automatically sent to you in your booking and so it’s vital that you continue to end your reservation and retrieve it to check for any update or responses. Once you’ve submitted a request, there’s no need to chase a response or call us, you’ll receive a response in the booking.

If you want to know more about a response you’ve received, please refer to our frequently asked questions and troubleshooting guide

Industry standard entries

Group bookings have specific GDS entries to provide Advance Passenger Information (API) for multiple passengers on a booking. It’s a mandatory requirement to use the industry standard entries for this data to be inserted into the PNR. These entries will enable you to provide all API data:

• SRDOCS
• SRDOCA
• SRDOCO

The SRDOC entries replace the original RMPSPT formats that were previously used.

All API entries can be found in the respective GDS quick reference guides found in Group Booking GDS Prompt section above.

Some or all of the following details will need to be supplied dependant on the country of travel:

• passenger's full name (as it appears on your passport)
• passenger's date of birth
• passenger's gender
• passenger's nationality
• passenger's passport number
• passenger's passport expiry date
• country that issued the passenger's passport
• passenger's country of residence

Additionally, when travelling to the US, the following information will also need to be provided for each passenger:

• destination address of your passenger's first night’s stay
• Alien Registration Number (Green Card) for those who have US residency
• Traveller Redress Number if they have one (this enables travellers who have experienced problems entering the US to avoid future difficulties)

If a booking is made within 72 hours of departure, full API data must be provided at the time of booking. If API data is not provided at least 72 hours before departure, the passenger may be refused for the flight by the Transport Security Administration (TSA) of the USA.

For further information on TSA requirements, please visit the TSA website

 

Travelling to the US - ESTA

If your Group are citizens of a country covered by the Visa Waiver Programme (such as the UK) then they’re able to travel to the USA without a visa provided they hold a valid Electronic System Travel Authorisation (ESTA) and meet the requirements of the programme.

In addition, they’ll need to have a valid e-Passport along with their ESTA. e-Passports include an integrated computer chip capable of storing biographic and biometric information, such as the digital photograph of the holder. An e-Passport can be identified by the 'chip' symbol on its front cover.

There are a few instances where passengers are unable to travel to the USA with an ESTA and information should always be checked before applying or travelling.

Further information on Passport, Visa and Health requirements, the Visa Waiver Programme and ESTAs can be found on ba.com 

Travelling to Canada—eTA

Unless a passenger is a US citizen or they need a visa to enter Canada, they’ll need to apply for an Electronic Travel Authorisation (eTA) before they travel. This requirement includes all British citizens. There’s a ’per person cost’ of an eTA and the validity is five years, or until their passport expires.

Further information on Passport, Visa and Health requirements, the Visa Waiver Programme and ESTAs can be found on ba.com

 

Splitting PNRs

Special Service Request fields (SSR) are used for various information that is essential for a Group booking e.g. baggage requests, special meal requests, ticket numbers etc.

The SSR count in Amadeus allows a maximum of 127 lines per PNR, excluding seating.

The number of SSR lines can be exceeded very quickly on a Group booking as each passenger requires at least one SRDOC for Secure Flight Passenger Data (SFPD), for each airline that’s included within their itinerary as well as up to four SRDOC lines per passenger for full API details of a US journey to be provided to each airline in the itinerary. To avoid exceeding the maximum number of SSR lines it may be necessary to split bookings into smaller groups of passengers.

For groups that are travelling to the US we recommend that you don’t exceed a passenger count of 20 passengers per booking.

For groups that are travelling to other destinations that require API data we recommend that you don’t exceed a passenger count of 50 passengers per booking.

Please note that the above recommendations are subject to number of existing SSR lines that are already present in the PNR.

The booking process remains exactly the same up until the names deadline. Once names have been entered into the PNR, the booking can be split if necessary to the above recommended passenger count volumes. This will then allow you to successfully add all of the API information for each passenger using the SRDOCS / SRDOCA / SRDOCO entries detailed in the prompt to
support you using your GDS.

If you’re unsure of the appropriate entries to use to split your PNR, please refer to your GDS helpdesk for support.

Group customers can now access MMB and use on-line check-in via ba.com.

PLEASE NOTE THIS IS FOR TICKETED PNR’s ONLY & the following must be strictly adhered to:

• Ensure all APIS data etc is entered before ticketing.
• Split the PNR down to volumes of 1-9 passengers. If there are Young Adults, Children or Infants travelling then these must be split to so that they are travelling on the same PNR as Adults, they cannot be on a PNR of their own. If there’s an infant travelling that’s not occupying a seat, then only the associate Adult counts towards the 1-9 passenger restriction.
• All passengers must have given consent to the agent that other passengers can see their details, irrespective if they know each other or not.
• The agent has to enter the YLDD keyword in the group PNR (Passenger Name Record). The keyword should be entered in the following formats:

 

GDS	Entry	Comment
Amadeus	SK YLDD BA-text
Galileo	SI.BA*YLDD.text	[note dot after YLDD]
Sabre	3OSI BA YLDD.text	[note space after 3OSI & dot after YLDD]
Worldspan	3OSI BA YLDD.text	[note space after 3OSI & dot after YLDD]

 

 

 

 

 

 

• The free-format TEXT portion of the keyword is not mandatory but does allow the agent to record their own details of who has provided consent, if required.
• By entering the YLDD keyword this indicates that the Travel Agent has secured consent from the passengers and was provided permission for personal details to be shared with others in the same group PNR.
• When trying to access MMB and the booking is less than 9 passengers but does not have the specified keyword the customer will see a trade specific messaging informing them to speak to their agent to be able to gain access.
• When accessing MMB, so long as the booking is ticketed, a trade group booking should work in a similar way as a standard trade booking does today with similar restrictions.
• BA Executive benefits do not apply to Group bookings and so Executive Cards should not be added to PNRs. All customers can use MMB to check in.
• The BA Groups and Allocations teams are not able to support with any queries or faults that arise through the use of MMB or OLCi.

Group Seating:

• The FREE Groups/Allocations seating proposition is still available - the details of which can be found on batraveltrade.com/groups.
• The Free Groups/Allocations seating proposition is not combinable with paid seating and failure to adhere to this this will result in any seats purchased being removed by the seating robotic tool. Should this occur you will still be liable for the cost of the seats.
• Should you split your group down to allow access to MMB then it is unlikely that your whole group will be seated together under the FREE Groups/Allocations seating proposition.
• If you opt to utilise the FREE Group Seating proposition (Seat Block or Seat Map), and then split the PNR to groups of 9 or less (as per the instructions above) the passengers will be able to access MMB for on-line check-in only.
• If a customer wishes to purchase PAID for seating, you MUST SPLIT these passengers off the main PNR before you Q the remaining passengers/PNRs to BA groups for seating. Once you have Q’d a PNR (for Seat Block or Seat Map) you CANNOT then split the PNR to enable anymore passengers to purchase seats. Failure to do this could result in any purchased seats being cancelled in the system.

Summary of MMB Group Functionality:

When accessing MMB so long as the booking is ticketed, a trade group booking should work in a similar way to a standard trade booking does today with similar restrictions.

Functionality	Comment
Paid seating	A limitation of seating online is you have to purchase seating for all customers within the booking per segment.
Add EC number	Executive Cards cannot be added to Groups bookings as Exec Benefits are not available.
OLCI	So long as the customer meets the eligibility criteria and they have an e-ticket they will be able to check-in.
Baggage	Baggage will be available, but the availability of this functionality is based on existing rules. This is also restricted if a customer does not have an e-ticket.
APIS	A pop up asks if you have consent from all passengers.
Special meals	Follow instructions on batraveltrade.com
Paid / Pre-order meals	If the booking is greater than 30 days out, paid/pre order for meals will not be applicable. There is other eligibility criteria such as route and availability of meal choices.

 

Customers travelling on Group bookings are not able to purchase seats in Manage My Booking functionality on ba.com. Due to this constraint, we have specific guidelines for seating on Group bookings.

View our seating reference guide for more information on seating for Groups

How to book extra seats (e.g. for a Cello or personal comfort):
If you need to book an extra seat e.g. for carriage of a cello of for the passenger’s personal comfort, you’ll need to use the CBBG keyword to request the extra seat. 

• Enter the customer’s name with the extra seat keyword in the passenger identifier e.g. NM1SMITH/JOHNMR(ID/CBBG)
• If you need to add the CBBG keyword as an identifier to an existing name you can do this by adding the identifier to the appropriate passenger number e.g. 1/ID(CBBG) where 1 is the passenger requiring the extra seat or 2/ID(CBBG) where 2 is the passenger requiring the extra seat etc.

Other musical instruments that don’t require an extra seat but do require clearance due to their size and/or weight should be booked using the process steps contained in the Groups Excess Baggage or Special Clearance Items section below.

Ticketing extra seats:
The details of the extra seat also need to be added to the ticket issued for each passenger that an extra seat has been booked for.

Mandatory items to include in the fare and on the ticket for extra seats

It’s mandatory that you ensure the following items are completed within your fare and on the ticket.

1. Modification of the Fare Basis code
2. Modification of the Carrier Imposed Charges
3. Modification of the Endorsement line
4. Modification of the Tour Code line
5. Modification of Linear Format Fare to include Q Surcharge

Format of mandatory fares and ticketing requirements

1 Fare basis
GUQ CB	Fare basis for an adult travelling in Domestic, Euro Traveller or World Traveller with an extra seat for Cabin Baggage
TUQ CB	Fare basis for an adult travelling in World Traveller Plus with an extra seat for Cabin Baggage
IUQ CB	Fare basis for an adult travelling in Club on Domestic, Club Europe or Club World with an extra seat for Cabin Baggage
AUQ CB	Fare basis for an adult travelling in First Class with an extra seat for Cabin Baggage
GUQ CH CB	Fare basis for child (2 to 11 years) travelling in Domestic, Euro Traveller or World Traveller with an extra seat for Cabin Baggage
GUQ YP CB	Fare basis for young adult (12 to 15 years) travelling in Domestic, Euro Traveller or World Traveller with an extra seat for Cabin Baggage
GUQ IN CB	Fare basis for infant (under 2 years) travelling in Domestic, Euro Traveller or World Traveller with an extra seat for Cabin Baggage
2 Modification of Carrier Imposed Charges (YQ)
This must be modified to the date of guarantee, in line with the terms of your contract
3 Endorsement
It is essential that your endorsement line includes the following information in the exact format 153678/L/7799 NON REF/NON END/VALID FLT DATES ONLY/Q SURCHARGE FOR 1 X CBBG FOR CELLO
4 Tour Code
It is essential that your tour code box should include the unique reference that is applied to your booking and can be found in the remarks and tour code line of the PNR. An example of this would be: RM BA01234567 FT BA01234567
5 Q Surcharge in linear fare
The Q Surcharge for the extra seat should be added into the linear fare breakdown as 0.00 value e.g. MAN BA LON Q0.00 M/BT END

You’ll need to refer to your own GDS Helpdesk for any specific entries to assist you in doing this if you have any queries regarding the entries.

All requests for excess baggage or special clearance items should be made at the time you make your booking or as soon as you’re made aware of the requirement.

It is your responsibility as the booking agent to ensure that you have adequate time to ensure that your request for clearance can be approved. We cannot guarantee that clearance for any items requested within 30-days of travel will be approved for carriage.

Customers travelling on Group bookings are NOT able to purchase extra bags through Manage My Booking functionality on ba.com

If a Group has excess baggage totalling 150kgs or more then you must obtain advance clearance for the items. Advance clearance is subject to availability and aircraft capacity limits and needs to be requested at the time of booking. Clearance of special items requested within 30 days of departure may not be cleared and are again subject to availability and aircraft capacity limits.

Items of baggage that require special clearance e.g. sporting weapons, will also need to requested by the following process in line with the these same timescales.

To request clearance you need to add a Service Request entry to the PNR to summarise the total number of items and combined total weight e.g. SERVICE REQUEST-25 X SNOWBOARDS/163KGS. The Service Request keyword should be added appropriate to your GDS prompt.

We also need you to provide the full details of each separate item including the each items individual dimensions (height x length x depth) and individual weight of each item in kilos. Each item needs to be listed separately as a remark in the PNR.

Once you’ve submitted these details you’ll receive a response back in the booking stating RM SERVICE REQUEST RECEIVED. BA GROUPS WILL RESPOND TO YOUR REQUEST IN THIS PNR ASAP. DO NOT CALL TO CHASE. This means that the Groups Team are liaising with the British Airways Cargo Clearance Team and will reply to your request when we have a response from Cargo. You don’t need to call us and there is no need to chase a response but it is your responsibility to continue to check the booking for a reply.

Musical Instruments (other than cellos)

If you require clearance for a large quantity of musical instruments or a double bass, this will also be subject to advance clearance and subject to availability and aircraft capacity limits. These items should be requested in the same way as detailed above.

A double bass is only able to travel in the bulk hold and we are only able to load a maximum of 2 x double basses in our aircraft holds, irrespective of aircraft type.

Cellos should be booked as occupying an extra seat and clearance requested using the entries detailed in the Groups seating & booking extra seat (e.g. for cello) section above.

The Groups booking system is the primary channel for all contact between the Trade and Groups Team and should be used for all booking processes, service and support requests.

Our Groups team work outside of the hours of telephone contact and so you can receive a response to the request that you’ve submitted via the Groups booking system at any time.

All primary contact between the Trade and our Group Sales Team is to be made via the system. In the event that the travel date of your reservation is imminent (within 3 days of travel) and you require urgent support, please call our Groups team as detailed below.

Groups Sales - contact details (Monday to Friday 0830 - 1630)

UK (including Northern Ireland)	0344 493 0765
Republic of Ireland	015 319 039

Please note that our Groups team are unable to assist you with GDS related queries. These should be directed to your GDS Helpdesk.