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[PREMIUM FARE GONE] Ethiopian Airlines-Brussel to CPT (r/t) in J on 787 for €530 in J

Old Jan 20, 2016, 9:14 am
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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.

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.
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
Print Wikipost

[PREMIUM FARE GONE] Ethiopian Airlines-Brussel to CPT (r/t) in J on 787 for €530 in J

Old Jan 6, 2016, 2:15 am
  #1  
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[PREMIUM FARE GONE] Ethiopian Airlines-Brussel to CPT (r/t) in J on 787 for €530 in J

BRU-CPT with good connections in ADD for only €530...

*A member and all 787 flights for some dates. Other dates give you routings with 3 or more stops on their 737. It is bookable directly on their website and fully flexible (Cloud Nine Deluxe fare - gotta love it).

Seems widely available.

Have fun!

Last edited by henkybaby; Jan 6, 2016 at 5:03 am Reason: Deal gone
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Old Jan 6, 2016, 2:20 am
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Good catch Henky! And JNB also available for eur 858...
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Old Jan 6, 2016, 2:32 am
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Great fare!
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Old Jan 6, 2016, 2:36 am
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J'burg €791, Durban €761, Dar-es-Salaam €783, Mombassa €840, Botswana €665, Mount Kilimanjaro €882, Goma €822

Maybe some more to be found. Probably a flash sale.

Last edited by henkybaby; Jan 6, 2016 at 3:38 am
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Old Jan 6, 2016, 2:36 am
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Incredible fare!

Any idea of book by date and travel dates?
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Old Jan 6, 2016, 2:37 am
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My advice: book asap, fly asap. For now it is wide open for 2016 and the tickets are fully flex according to their website.
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Old Jan 6, 2016, 2:38 am
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Great find henkybaby , there's a few other african destinations to be had to competitive prices (a little higher than CPT) , JNB as Stewie suggested , but also DAR , DUR .
Books into restricted/unrestricted Business "Cloud 9" class , fare class C or J .
Flights are mostly on Dreamliner :-)
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Old Jan 6, 2016, 2:42 am
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Originally Posted by Stewie Mac
Good catch Henky! And JNB also available for eur 858...
Sorry my friend, missed your post. Yes, indeed. And some other destinations as well. CPT is 787 all the way, JNB is 787/777. The others have lots of 737s..
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Old Jan 6, 2016, 2:45 am
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3 of these returns would (almost) net you Senator status in M&M

Any ideas for better crediting in *A for decent status?
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Old Jan 6, 2016, 2:56 am
  #10  
 
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Originally Posted by henkybaby
BRU-CPT with good connections in ADD for only €530...

*A member and all 787 flights for some dates. Other dates give you routings with 3 or more stops on their 737. It is bookable directly on their website and fully flexible (Cloud Nine Deluxe fare - gotta love it).

Seems widely available.

Have fun!
Great fare. Thanks op! Too bad the 787s are not available in peak season Oct-Nov
mlqsko is offline  
Old Jan 6, 2016, 3:02 am
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Thanks for sharing OP
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Old Jan 6, 2016, 3:05 am
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AMAZING deal. Thanks OP.

What months do they have 787 all the way? I've checked JUL-SEP and can only find 737 between ADD and CPT.
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Old Jan 6, 2016, 3:08 am
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Great find. Thanks OP. This is about 13K miles in C. Should earn 26K in *A for basic status.
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Old Jan 6, 2016, 3:08 am
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Originally Posted by bananahead
AMAZING deal. Thanks OP.

What months do they have 787 all the way? I've checked JUL-SEP and can only find 737 between ADD and CPT.
Most of the flights in March, April and May.
Thanks for sharing OP!
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Old Jan 6, 2016, 3:13 am
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Originally Posted by mlqsko
Great fare. Thanks op! Too bad the 787s are not available in peak season Oct-Nov
For that period I recommend JNB for €791. 787/777 and good connections. Lots of cheap flights available between JNB and other SA destinations. ^

Their 777 J class cabin is quite ok!
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