Jan 20, 2016, 9:14 am
Last edit by: Palal
Brief History
On 6 January, a fare appeared for a few hours on Ethiopian Airlines (ET) and online travel agencies (OTAs) offering BRU-ADD-(GBE)-CPT r/t in fully refundable business (C-Class) for 530.
Several days later, many members got e-mails stating that they "actually booked economy tickets" and were downgraded from fare basis CRTBE (fully refundable business) to TLES6MBE (economy). Some who booked through OTAs have yet to receive this downgrade, and some have been downgraded with no notification from OTAs.
Several people have also successfully flown already.
Next Steps
1. It's (now) safe to call/email the airline.
2. It seems 2 options are given: travel in economy, or full refund.
--> those who have chosen a refund have mostly gotten it promptly.
--> those who have contested the e-mail have not received any type of response.
--> other options were presented here, although others have not seem to replicated the result.
3. Contacting any Ethiopian offices (London, Vienna, etc.) have resulted in being redirected to the Ethiopian Brussels office.
4. For those who plan to fight it, see below. Note that no one has had a successful outcome yet.
5. Update: Some users are reporting getting the offer of 75% refunds to travel in economy as per EC 261.
Avenues of contest:
1. Try Art. 10 (2) lit. c of the Flight Delay Compensation Regulation 261/2004. It may be possible to get up to 75% of the ticket price back, although this is unconfirmed and debatable.
2. Befriend a Belgian lawyer with a penchant for pro bono work
Kidding aside, it is not wise to go the legal route.
You should email the Belgian enforcement body at: [email protected]
In the email state your name, eticket, travel date, attach ticket receipt.
State that your ticket has been purchased and issued in business class and that the airline is offering to either cancel or downgrade without compensation. Politely ask for their help in enforcing EU Reg 261/2004 Art.10 2(c).
Planned Trips:
early February OwlMan
early April mattking2000
March-End Culture Guru
late April Palal
Further/concurrent reading (for the German-inclined):
http://www.vielfliegertreff.de/first-business-class-tarife/91159-et-bru-cpt-524-euro.html
On 6 January, a fare appeared for a few hours on Ethiopian Airlines (ET) and online travel agencies (OTAs) offering BRU-ADD-(GBE)-CPT r/t in fully refundable business (C-Class) for 530.
Several days later, many members got e-mails stating that they "actually booked economy tickets" and were downgraded from fare basis CRTBE (fully refundable business) to TLES6MBE (economy). Some who booked through OTAs have yet to receive this downgrade, and some have been downgraded with no notification from OTAs.
Several people have also successfully flown already.
Next Steps
1. It's (now) safe to call/email the airline.
2. It seems 2 options are given: travel in economy, or full refund.
--> those who have chosen a refund have mostly gotten it promptly.
--> those who have contested the e-mail have not received any type of response.
--> other options were presented here, although others have not seem to replicated the result.
3. Contacting any Ethiopian offices (London, Vienna, etc.) have resulted in being redirected to the Ethiopian Brussels office.
4. For those who plan to fight it, see below. Note that no one has had a successful outcome yet.
5. Update: Some users are reporting getting the offer of 75% refunds to travel in economy as per EC 261.
Avenues of contest:
1. Try Art. 10 (2) lit. c of the Flight Delay Compensation Regulation 261/2004. It may be possible to get up to 75% of the ticket price back, although this is unconfirmed and debatable.
2. Befriend a Belgian lawyer with a penchant for pro bono work
Kidding aside, it is not wise to go the legal route. Code:
Article 10: Upgrading and downgrading 1. If an operating air carrier places a passenger in a class higher than that for which the ticket was purchased, it may not request any supplementary payment. 2. If an operating air carrier places a passenger in a class lower than that for which the ticket was purchased, it shall within seven days, by the means provided for in Article 7(3), reimburse (a) 30 % of the price of the ticket for all flights of 1500 kilometres or less, or (b) 50 % of the price of the ticket for all intra-Community flights of more than 1500 kilometres, except flights between the European territory of the Member States and the French overseas departments, and for all other flights between 1500 and 3500 kilometres, or (c) 75 % of the price of the ticket for all flights not falling under (a) or (b), including flights between the European territory of the Member States and the French overseas departments.
In the email state your name, eticket, travel date, attach ticket receipt.
State that your ticket has been purchased and issued in business class and that the airline is offering to either cancel or downgrade without compensation. Politely ask for their help in enforcing EU Reg 261/2004 Art.10 2(c).
Planned Trips:
early February OwlMan
early April mattking2000
March-End Culture Guru
late April Palal
Further/concurrent reading (for the German-inclined):
http://www.vielfliegertreff.de/first-business-class-tarife/91159-et-bru-cpt-524-euro.html
[PREMIUM FARE GONE] Ethiopian Airlines-Brussel to CPT (r/t) in J on 787 for 530 in J
Feb 3, 2016, 8:38 am
#601
Join Date: Jan 2016
Posts: 39
OwlMan reporting in from Stellenbosch SA.
Bad and good news. Bad news Business no go, if you have been switched on the ET web site to eco then eco it is. If you turn up at ET Cloud Nine Check In deck in BRU you will show up as ECO and be referred to the Booking Office nearby.
Now the good news by agreeing to travel ECO in advance at the booking Office, when really there was only ever one option open to us, we were offered and accepted 75% off FULL fare paid. Confirmed full fare not just the normal % off fare left after taxes element removed. So for us BRU to CT ECO return for around £100 each, refund to be arranged through our original booking OTA when we return.
For us who were committed to a holiday in SA that is a great deal, but I'm sure the Business or nothing contributors will not be happy and I fully understand. Yesterday if we could have travelled business then we would have, it was always our preferred option.
So basically as it now stands, accept a very cheap ECO trip to South Africa (under EU Regulation (EC No. 261/2004, Article 10 compensation), ask for full refund, or continue to challenge by what ever means if you believe there is still scope.
Flights combination to CT were 777-200 and 787, ECO service was much on par with other airlines, so no complaints there.
Bad and good news. Bad news Business no go, if you have been switched on the ET web site to eco then eco it is. If you turn up at ET Cloud Nine Check In deck in BRU you will show up as ECO and be referred to the Booking Office nearby.
Now the good news by agreeing to travel ECO in advance at the booking Office, when really there was only ever one option open to us, we were offered and accepted 75% off FULL fare paid. Confirmed full fare not just the normal % off fare left after taxes element removed. So for us BRU to CT ECO return for around £100 each, refund to be arranged through our original booking OTA when we return.
For us who were committed to a holiday in SA that is a great deal, but I'm sure the Business or nothing contributors will not be happy and I fully understand. Yesterday if we could have travelled business then we would have, it was always our preferred option.
So basically as it now stands, accept a very cheap ECO trip to South Africa (under EU Regulation (EC No. 261/2004, Article 10 compensation), ask for full refund, or continue to challenge by what ever means if you believe there is still scope.
Flights combination to CT were 777-200 and 787, ECO service was much on par with other airlines, so no complaints there.
Last edited by OwlMan; Feb 4, 2016 at 8:11 am
Feb 3, 2016, 8:45 am
#602
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Netherlands
Programs: TK Elite, QR Gold
Posts: 1,272
Hello Owlman,
we were anxious to hear from you.
Sorry to hear that you could not fly in business. However, it seems you are happy with the outcome as you could fly for 100 pounds to SA and back.
However, I am not happy with this. If I would have known, I could have booked Qatar 750 eur fare to BKK.
anyways, you gotta play the game. You win some and you lose some
Enjoy the trip ^
we were anxious to hear from you.
Sorry to hear that you could not fly in business. However, it seems you are happy with the outcome as you could fly for 100 pounds to SA and back.
However, I am not happy with this. If I would have known, I could have booked Qatar 750 eur fare to BKK.
anyways, you gotta play the game. You win some and you lose some
Enjoy the trip ^
OwlMan reporting in from Stellenbosch SA.
Bad and good news. Bad news Business no go, if you have been switched on the ET web site to eco then eco it is. If you turn up at ET Check In deck in BRU you will show up as ECO and be referred to the Booking Office.
Now the good news by agreeing to travel ECO in advance at the booking Office and following confirmation by call to ET office we have been offered 75% off FULL fare paid. Confirmed full fare not just the normal % off whats left after taxes. So for us BRU to CT ECO for less than £100 each. Our flights to BRU from MAN UK cost more than that!!
For us who were committed to a holiday in SA that is a great deal, but I'm sure the Business or nothing mile high contributors will not be happy.
Flights combination of 777-200 and 787, eco service was much on par with others, so no real complaints, and lets face it would you complain for those fares.
Bad and good news. Bad news Business no go, if you have been switched on the ET web site to eco then eco it is. If you turn up at ET Check In deck in BRU you will show up as ECO and be referred to the Booking Office.
Now the good news by agreeing to travel ECO in advance at the booking Office and following confirmation by call to ET office we have been offered 75% off FULL fare paid. Confirmed full fare not just the normal % off whats left after taxes. So for us BRU to CT ECO for less than £100 each. Our flights to BRU from MAN UK cost more than that!!
For us who were committed to a holiday in SA that is a great deal, but I'm sure the Business or nothing mile high contributors will not be happy.
Flights combination of 777-200 and 787, eco service was much on par with others, so no real complaints, and lets face it would you complain for those fares.
Feb 3, 2016, 10:37 am
#603
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: London
Programs: Hilton, IHG - BA, GA, LH, QR, SV, TK
Posts: 17,008
Enjoy the sunshine
Feb 4, 2016, 4:48 pm
#607
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: Belgian in Dublin
Programs: *A Gold, IHG Spire AMB, Ryanair Platinum
Posts: 157
In the end I got in touch with all of these as they kept cc'ing my mails to everyone.
Basically ET had to give tripsta access again and then it worked out fine. Good luck!
Last edited by rcs85551; Feb 8, 2016 at 4:09 am Reason: Airline contact details edited out in accordance with Flyertalk TOS
Feb 5, 2016, 6:54 am
#608
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: 🇸🇬 🇭🇰 🇫🇷
Programs: Many
Posts: 4,749
I guess it will took some days to get it visible on the Amex statement.
Feb 8, 2016, 1:18 am
#609
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: 🇸🇬 🇭🇰 🇫🇷
Programs: Many
Posts: 4,749
Feb 8, 2016, 8:13 am
#610
Join Date: Jan 2016
Posts: 8
Feb 10, 2016, 6:10 am
#611
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Germany
Posts: 136
Still got a Business Ticket. But due to a schedule change I was rebooked on the evening flight from CPT to ADD 22:55 instead of 09:00. However they didn't change my onward flight from ADD to BRU so I am arriving in ADD after the departure of the ADD-BRU leg.
What would you do? Should I call the OTA to rebook me on other flights or is there any chance this will be fixed automatically with the next schedule change?
What would you do? Should I call the OTA to rebook me on other flights or is there any chance this will be fixed automatically with the next schedule change?
Feb 15, 2016, 5:36 am
#613
Join Date: May 2005
Location: 1A
Posts: 1,350
I'm thinking to take just the BRU-ADD-CPT-ADD (arriving ADD @ 10:05pm).
I want to buy a separate ticket ADD-TLV & continue on this flight (11:30PM) instead of ADD-BRU (same time)
Will this be possible? Can I just get to the gate & catch the TLV flight? (I can definitely make an OLCI 24h before)
THX
I want to buy a separate ticket ADD-TLV & continue on this flight (11:30PM) instead of ADD-BRU (same time)
Will this be possible? Can I just get to the gate & catch the TLV flight? (I can definitely make an OLCI 24h before)
THX
Feb 15, 2016, 5:42 am
#614
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Netherlands
Programs: TK Elite, QR Gold
Posts: 1,272
I'm thinking to take just the BRU-ADD-CPT-ADD (arriving ADD @ 10:05pm).
I want to buy a separate ticket ADD-TLV & continue on this flight (11:30PM) instead of ADD-BRU (same time)
Will this be possible? Can I just get to the gate & catch the TLV flight? (I can definitely make an OLCI 24h before)
THX
I want to buy a separate ticket ADD-TLV & continue on this flight (11:30PM) instead of ADD-BRU (same time)
Will this be possible? Can I just get to the gate & catch the TLV flight? (I can definitely make an OLCI 24h before)
THX
Feb 15, 2016, 5:53 am
#615
Join Date: May 2005
Location: 1A
Posts: 1,350