Involuntarily forced from business to economy

[Red Roo]

Hi Mark3000,

We'd like to look into this, please check your Inbox.

Many thanks, Red Roo

 

[SydneySwan]

Hi Mark3000,

We'd like to look into this, please check your Inbox.

Many thanks, Red Roo

Well done Red Roo - let us hope this leads to a fair settlement.

 

[TheRealTMA]

Was that from 1A to somewhere else in F, or downgraded to J or W or Y?

If so, then how long ago was this? If on or after 2004 then under EU261/2004 you were entitled to "75% of the cost of the ticket"; which at worst means ¾ the of total amount paid for the ticket pro-rated by the distance of LHR-SYD and the total distance of the ticket.

I suspect that would have been more than £500 ... if a reward redemption then it still holds but points/miles and/or value thereof needs to be taken into consideration.

Yes I'm aware that that socialist EU organisation has made decent rules to stop airlines getting away with overbooking and shrugging their shoulders like they do here. We couldn't be bothered arguing with them once we returned. I did email them our displeasure and vowed never to fly BA To Europe again.

It was downgraded to steerage (J). I refused to fly and told them to put us up in the Savoy until they honours the contract for F, but MrsTMA needed to be back for work so I accepted the downgrade grudgingly. They returned the F seat at the boarding gate in SIN for the SIN-SYD leg so it wasn't as bad as first thought.

 

[thehound]

I cannot believe that someone is that important they have to get back to work the next day.

EH

Come off it EH. There are plenty of people in positions of responsibility where other people rely on them. In this case the OP's friend was a doctor with either a clinic of patients to see, or possibly even surgery scheduled. Having to reschedule a full clinic of medical patients, or even worse people on a surgical list (who've likely taken leave not just for the day but for rehabiliation/recovery), could cause significant inconvenience to those affected. So yes, I think in this case the OP's friend is important enough that he was forced to accept getting onto that plane, no matter what the cabin.

 

[DC3]

The trouble is, Emily, that there are people who believe that they are that important. LOL.

Edit: Giving the doc the benefit of the doubt, maybe he just made a rookie mistake in not allowing for an unexpected delay in his return travel. In my case, I never plan on retuning to work for several days after a big trip, but I understand that we are not all in a position to do that.

 

[suze2000]

If he was a surgeon, I wouldn't have wanted to be one of his patients that day. Sleep deprivation can severely impair a person.

 

[ellen10]

The trouble is, Emily, that there are people who believe that they are that important. LOL.

Edit: Giving the doc the benefit of the doubt, maybe he just made a rookie mistake in not allowing for an unexpected delay in his return travel. In my case, I never plan on retuning to work for several days after a big trip, but I understand that we are not all in a position to do that.

If you work for NSW Health and they are paying for the airfares e.g. attending a conference, then you are not allowed to add on extra days e.g. a few days holiday etc. You are expected to return to work the next day unless it is a weekend.

 

[farstar]

If people need to be back they need to be back. It could be for a number of reasons both work related or even legal, why should anyone have to justify why they need to get home, if a business wants to overbook people and don't care then I say make laws that fine them heavily with no get out clauses. Contracts should never be one sided.

 

[Pushka]

Everyone understands delays due to weather etc. but overbooking? No.

 

[Hvr]

If people need to be back they need to be back. It could be for a number of reasons both work related or even legal, why should anyone have to justify why they need to get home, if a business wants to overbook people and don't care then I say make laws that fine them heavily with no get out clauses. Contracts should never be one sided.

There is a very easy way to stop overbooking. No more changeable fares or compassion if you miss your flight due to no fault of the airlines.

Refused boarding due to overbooking is rare enough that it makes headlines here given the number of people who fly daily.

Be careful of what you wish for because there will be adverse consequences.

 

[DC3]

Does anyone remember the Eyjafjallajokullz (Iceland) volcano eruption in 2010? Try gettingo back to work the next day with that sort of thing, if flying anywhere near that region.

In the real world, there are delays for all sorts of reasons, regardless of overbooking or rookie mistakes.

 

[trippin_the_rift]

There is a very easy way to stop overbooking. No more changeable fares or compassion if you miss your flight due to no fault of the airlines.

Refused boarding due to overbooking is rare enough that it makes headlines here given the number of people who fly daily.

Be careful of what you wish for because there will be adverse consequences.

I see a mountain of airline data and can tell you some flights routinely oversell by 20%. Oversubscribing in all industries has been around for a long time.

Essentially airlines are making a data-driven bet that x% of pax won't show up.
I agree with farstar, there needs to be a minimum compensation rule if pax are bumped out of class/off flight due to overbooking. This way the airline can continue to place bets on overbooking, but if they lose the bet and more pax turn up than seats available - the penalties are such the passenger has a positive experience. Perhaps to the tune of 200% refund for that segment, calculated at the most expensive rate for that segment in that cabin class over the past 12 months, plus assocaited costs.

 

[JohnK]

The trouble is, Emily, that there are people who believe that they are that important. LOL.

Edit: Giving the doc the benefit of the doubt, maybe he just made a rookie mistake in not allowing for an unexpected delay in his return travel. In my case, I never plan on retuning to work for several days after a big trip, but I understand that we are not all in a position to do that.

The doc didn't make any mistakes.

The compensation offered at the gate should be identical to the compensation received if they accept a downgrade.

The doc should not be out of pocket. The airline should not be allowed to profit if they cannot meet the original contract. Pay up and try not to stuff up next time.

 

[esseeeayeenn]

The doc didn't make any mistakes.

The compensation offered at the gate should be identical to the compensation received if they accept a downgrade.

The doc should not be out of pocket. The airline should not be allowed to profit if they cannot meet the original contract. Pay up and try not to stuff up next time.

What is this word "should"?

 

[Princess Fiona]

If you work for NSW Health and they are paying for the airfares e.g. attending a conference, then you are not allowed to add on extra days e.g. a few days holiday etc. You are expected to return to work the next day unless it is a weekend.

If you are referring to Training Education and Study Leave then you can build in some annual leave into the trip as long as the total other leave does not exceed the actual time spent at the conference and traveling to and from it.

 

[ellen10]

If you are referring to Training Education and Study Leave then you can build in some annual leave into the trip as long as the total other leave does not exceed the actual time spent at the conference and traveling to and from it.

No, my son works at a large hospital and the area health service who approve and organise the travel will not allow him to add any extra days at all. They do all the bookings and will not approve any additional days. He is holidaying in South America at present and was asked to present his research paper at an international conference in Spain and wanted to fly to Spain direct from South America paying all flights himself and they still would not approve the arrangements and leave. They wanted him to fly home and then fly to Spain the next day.

 

[Princess Fiona]

No, my son works at a large hospital and the area health service who approve and organise the travel will not allow him to add any extra days at all. They do all the bookings and will not approve any additional days. He is holidaying in South America at present and was asked to present his research paper at an international conference in Spain and wanted to fly to Spain direct from South America paying all flights himself and they still would not approve the arrangements and leave. They wanted him to fly home and then fly to Spain the next day.

I can see why that would be an issue. Likely falls into the "too many days" and complex itinerary. They are pretty inflexible. You can definitely build in an extra day for contingencies using your annual leave if you travel from your place of work to a conference and return.

 

[Altair]

As the ticket is QF marketed it is up to QF to provide compensation and IME you need to be proactive about it as QF will not be initiating compensation themselves.
Chargeback on CC, why just because they did not get the COS in all segments? Partial delivery of service or disputes is not supposed to be a valid reason for a bank to do the chargeback and it may either be reversed or not processed.
IME when I was bumped from EK First on a QF ticket to economy on QF EK at check in was adamant that I have to deal with QF regarding compensation, which I thought was the general rule regarding codeshares. The only options I was given was delay travel a day to fly in the class I booked or fly on the flight offered at no time was it discussed that flying would impact compensation levels or waiting a day would entitle me to accommodation as it was my first sector.
Anyway QF did provide compensation but only awarded me the QFFP and SC for Flexible Economy and stated if I wanted the First Class QFFP/SC I would not get the financial compensation offered.

 

[JohnK]

What is this word "should"?

Common sense.

Pay for business class, forced to sit in economy then get your money back.

 

[esseeeayeenn]

Common sense.

Pay for business class, forced to sit in economy then get your money back.

I agree with most points except:

The compensation offered at the gate should be identical to the compensation received if they accept a downgrade.

I don't see anything wrong with them offering a greater incentive at the gate, provided the compensation is otherwise adequate.