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
Jan 6, 2016, 4:48 am
#62
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Netherlands
Programs: TK Elite, QR Gold
Posts: 1,272
Jan 6, 2016, 4:50 am
#64
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2007
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What you also can do is an 'open jaw'. Outbound to CPT and inbound from JNB. Price is €661, thus avoiding the 737 on the way back. You will get a 777 from JNB.
Jan 6, 2016, 4:50 am
#65
Join Date: Jul 2011
Programs: QF Plat, VA Plat, BA Gold
Posts: 528
Excellent fare OP, thank you for posting and sharing. It's also on a couple of blogs as well.
Booked three tickets because I stuffed up the dates for the first two, thank god for the fully flexible booking class
Booked three tickets because I stuffed up the dates for the first two, thank god for the fully flexible booking class
Jan 6, 2016, 4:57 am
#67
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: The Hague, NL
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Posts: 22,911
Jan 6, 2016, 4:58 am
#68
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: North-West Europe
Programs: Flying Blue, BA Executive Club, LH Miles & More, Air Asia BigShot, Les Collectioneurs
Posts: 268
How to cope with the other half? Only questions about " is it a direct flight?" " how long?" "not for a couple of day's" " can we decide in the next couple of days?"
Can't people see an opportunity when it appears!
Can't people see an opportunity when it appears!
Jan 6, 2016, 5:03 am
#72
formerly mattking2000
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: DXB
Programs: BA|AC|AZ|SPG|H|FPC
Posts: 1,184
Jan 6, 2016, 5:08 am
#74
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: North-West Europe
Programs: Flying Blue, BA Executive Club, LH Miles & More, Air Asia BigShot, Les Collectioneurs
Posts: 268
Thanks OP for posting! And good luck to all who have booked.
Could not get the stars aligned here at home for the last hour.
Could not get the stars aligned here at home for the last hour.