A fed-up flyer was almost grounded after a bust-up with British Airways over a Scottish £20 note.
Holidaymaker Jim Dunbar said he was left fuming after airline staff at Gibraltar refused to take payment of an excess baggage charge in firstly euros and then a Bank of Scotland note, leading to a boarding gate row which almost led to the 56-year-old being refused a seat on the plane.
Last night BA said they could not understand why the Scots note would have been rejected but an offer to fully investigate the incident looks set to be rejected by Mr Dunbar, who has vowed not to travel with the airline again.
“I was flying back to Heathrow from Gibraltar when I got to the check-in and was a couple of kilos over with my baggage,” said Mr Dunbar, from Forfar, who suffers from health difficulties and was in a wheelchair at the airport last weekend.
“I offered them euros, but they said they could not accept those and so I had to go to a bureau de change.”
Mr Dunbar then offered a mix of cash including the Bank of Scotland £20 he already had, but was told that also was unacceptable, sparking a scene at the counter.
“They told me it would cost money for them to change the Scottish money and refused to accept it,” said Jim. “I stuck to my guns and told them to take it or leave it, but they said they would refuse to let me board the plan and have my bags taken off the aircraft.
“In the end I had to back down because I was worried about being stranded in Gibraltar, but I was absolutely raging about their refusal to take the Bank of Scotland note,” added Jim.
“Making a complaint now isn’t going to make up for what happened there, but I couldn’t believe they were willing to leave a disabled man stranded there over a Scottish note.”
A spokesman urged Mr Dunbar to follow the company’s formal complaint procedure, saying that it would allow them to fully investigate the incident.
“It is easy to make a complaint to us, either online or through a call to our customer relations department and I would advise him to do that so we can look into it properly. “
They added: “A note that is legal tender should be accepted, and if it has not been then we can only apologise.”