A woman was not allowed to board flight because her cello didn’t have a visa

Pre discussion questions

Why would someone not be allowed onto an airplane?

Why do you think a musical instrument would need a visa?

An amateur concert cellist was not allowed to take her cello onto a British Airways (BA) flight. This happened even though she had booked a separate seat for it. She was told the cello did not have the ESTA travel permit required to travel to the USA. An ETSA is a permit for all eligible international travelers who wish to travel to the United States under the Visa Waiver Program.

Jane Bevan was flying from Zurich – where she lives – to Baltimore to attend a course with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. Jane had used a price comparison site to book her tickets. She had also booked a seat for her cello – under the name Chuck Cello. The price comparison website she used, GoToGate, told Jane to contact BA to talk about the cello’s booking.

“I rang BA about a month before the flight and spoke to a customer service agent in one of their call centers,” said Jane.

BA told Jane that her second seat booked for the cello followed airline rules. And that there was nothing Jane needed to do and that she should check-in as normal.

However, when she arrived at Zurich Airport, check-in was a big problem. At check-in Jane was told of a problem with the booking. After a nail-biting half-hour wait, the reason for the problem became known.

“I waited for half an hour while she spoke with her supervisor and was then told the check-in for the extra seat could not be done because the computer needed an ESTA visa,”

Jane spoke to GoToGate, but they also said that it was a problem for BA to solve.

Jane was not able to board her flight that day. She said that as a solution BA told her to re-book the flights. They said it would cost $4,900. British Airways offered her no refund or compensation.”

Jane declined this solution. Instead she flew to Baltimore the next day with United Airlines.

Jane said she chose BA because she trusted their brand. But the check-in problem was very poor.

She said it took BA over one month to reply to her complaint. And they wrote back advising her not to book seats online. 

Jane said with other airlines like EasyJet, online booking is these days standard procedure. She is very disappointed by BA's approach."

British Airways said in a statement: that this was a very unusual situation which happened after the customer booked a seat for her cello using a name.

This is what triggered the requirement for an ESTA permit from the US government. The ticket the customer booked was non-refundable.

Try to guess the meaning of the words in bold and match them with their closest meaning from the choices in the right. Some of the answers are very close and have similar meaning. The meaning of these words is how they are used in the reading. Some of these words have different meanings in the dictionary depending on how they are used.

 The answers are below the table.

A=4, B=1, C=8, D=2, E=7, F=5, G=6, H=3

Some example sentences using the new words or phrases from the meaning of how they are used in the reading to help you understand better.

1.      He was not eligible to vote because he was not yet 18.

2.      It was a nail-biting game between the two teams, but finally our team won.

3.      Global warming is a big problem to solve.

4.      Here is $200 compensation for your work.

5.      The ATM declined my card.

6.      You must follow correct procedure when you apply for the scholarship.

7.      You will need to approach this problem from a different way to solve it.

8.      The earthquake triggered a tsunami.

Some questions using the new words/phrases. Try to use the words/phrases in your answer.

1.      How old must you be in your country to be eligible to drink alcohol?

2.      Describe one of the most nail-biting days in your life.

3.      Do you agree that it was BA’s problem to solve and not the online booking company? Why?

4.      Do you think BA or Go-to-Gate should compensate the traveler? Why? Do you think that the traveler followed correct procedure?

5.      How would you feel if you were declined entry to the airplane like this woman?

6.      How should BA or Go-to-Gate have approached this problem?

7.      Do you think this news event has triggered bad advertising for BA or the online booking company? What feelings do you think it has triggered?