ianp

I am at Heathrow and have been denied boarding on my dividend miles award ticket on Thai.

My partner and I were due to fly on TG911 in F connecting in BKK to BNE , when we went to check in we were told that there was a problem with the ticket and they needed to speak to a supervisor , 30 mins later they tell me the tickets have been cancelled , I was on the phone to US and before I could get a answer from US.. I was told the flight was closed as it was only 35mins to departure.

I have now gone to terminal 3 and spoke to US award desk They are saying THAI cancelled the flights but they dont know why., they can only get me the a340 tonight in C ..

I dont want to spend 12 hours in the rubbish a340 business on a night flight .

Can anyone suggest who I can speak to to get a a F flight even if it is tomorrow ?

Sorry for the crap post but I am a bit stressed ....

Update.
US are saying Thai cancelled the booking via Armadeus at 10.28 am today , 122mins before departure ...

iztok

US is the only one that can help if TG is unwilling to. So call your preferred line (from skype?) and let them help you.

Unterwegs

Friends of mine had a similar situation in the past (KLM cancelled their tickets for award flights). They just bought new tickets on a different airline (last minute, expensive), flew out a few hours later. It took a bit of work and a lawyer, but at the end KLM paid for the tickets, the lawyer and some other expenses.
If you want to take some risk and are willing to fight this thru with US that is another possibility.

In any case you should document as much as you can.

arlflyer

In my understanding this has to go through US. Don't do anything until you speak to US. It's not quite the same situation, but don't end up like this guy.

Often1

This is a terrible idea without knowing the facts or the law. Not just risk, but in many circumstances the almost certainty that OP gets some miles back for his award and pays for F tickets at walkup prices and sees no rebate.

This is a he said/she said. TG blaming US and US blaming TG. Only way to resolve this is to do a three-way call with TG and US (or have US call TG with you present since you are at LHR).

The real question is not who cancelled the tickets, but why they were cancelled. Get to the bottom of that and you will have a better understanding of what it takes to fix it.

In the end, if you cannot fix this, you will need to decide whether: 1) to accept the C flight and fight about a refund and EC 261/2004 IDB and DG compensation after you have returned from your trip; 2) purchase new F tickets for cash and engage in the same fight afterwards.

Again, the risk of laying out cash without knowing why the tickets were cancelled and who is responsible is that you may never recover anything and have to ask yourself whether it is better to be out the cash price of the F ticket or to fly in C.

Also, remember that if your outbound was cancelled, if you hold any return/onward segments, those were likely cancelled too. Thus, important to get that fixed in short order as well.

ianp

Update.

US have given me 2 options take the business class seats on tonights A340 or get a partial mile refund and make my own way home.

I have no choice but option 1 to get us home.

US are telling me Thai cancelled my ticket at 10.28 am today via Armadeus which US have no access to 122mins before departure , they have no idea why , I have been talking to Thai reservations in the UK who claim they are going to investigate and tell me what happened.( I doubt it !! )

What really annoys me is the that check in staff did not tell me what the problem was until it was to late to sort it out , by the time they told me my ticket had been cancelled it was to late to sort it out and get to the gate.

So here i am in Costa coffee waiting for the check in to open so I can get rid of my bags.

I am going to be at the first class check in when it opens and try and get some answers and also try and get a first class lounge pass in BKK

arlflyer

Are you on the return of a round trip itinerary? Has the outbound already been flown (I see you are from Australia so it makes me guess so). Did you have ticket numbers for the return?

I would imagine that this is complicated by the fact that this is a legacy *A reservation. Frankly I'm surprised that we haven't seen more of this type of things with the switch of alliance and old outstanding reservations. These ex-partners don't have much incentive to work for each other anymore.

ianp

Yes on the last leg home , LHR-BKK-BNE.

I think we may have been bumped for fee paying passengers as a party of 4 were rushed through while we are waiting and the ticket was cancelled so close to departure.

Like you say I am sure Thai dont give a toss about US award tickets ..

arlflyer

Oy, that doesn't sound good. While one can't say that correlation is causation, it does seem mighty a coincidence.

As suggested, though, the path forward remains the same. You'll have to lean on US as you're their customer at the end of the day. Whatever they have to do with TG is their business, but (on paper at least) the incentive on US is to get you from A to B as promised.

MSPeconomist

Try to find out how full the flight was. Can you see the seat map on line now or can you check their numbers on EF, flightstats, etc.? Alternatively, is there a nice agent at the airport who will tell you? This might be an IDB where TG wants to avoid paying the required EC261 compensation.

OTOH, did you fly each and every segment on your itinerary so far? Keep all documents such as boarding passes. Is there any chance that an airline marked you as a no show for a previous segment, such as a boarding pass not scanning correctly and the GA doing something by hand?

Were these tickets from your own US account? Have you ever done anything questionable with that account? AA has been very aggressive about account audits, including freezes and canceling previously ticketed award tickets.

Often1

1. Focus on getting yourself into F one way or the other.

2. If you can't, grin and bear it in C.

3. When you get home, sit down and take a hard look at EC 261/2004. You may be entitled to none, some or all of:

A. Delay compensation of EUR 600
B. DG comprensation of 75% of at least the value of the segment (maybe more)
C. Duty of care (not a biggie for a few hours)

You are not likely to get to the factual bottom of this yourself. As others point out, these orphaned *A bookings are problematic, hard to fix and the carriers no longer work together. But, there are services which will take up your claim for a percentage of the take. Given your location and the opaque nature of the problems, letting someone else handle this is better.

ianp

Everything was normal , all flights taken , ticket booked on my own account with my own miles.

I dont know how I could find out how many were in F as the flight has gone and no seat map on line .

Us had no knowledge about the cancellation until 10.28 today.

MSPeconomist

Try ASAP asking the US people who seem to be helping you whether they are able to see loads or the seat map for the TG flight. Ask lounge agents who seem friendly and competent. Say that you're trying to understand what happened to your booking. If you had assigned seats, ask whether they flew empty or were occupied.

Try to see whether the TG flight was still selling F tickets on EF, flightstats, etc. Look for F0 versus F > 0.

ianp

Just to add insult to injury , Thai have informed me the flight I was booked in F on left with 4 empty seats.

And to put the icing on the cake I will not be allowed in the first class lounge in BKK as I will have a C boarding card !!!!

Often1

And, add to that the fact the flight was not oversold in F and thus, OP was not IDB. Still leaves EC 261/2004 DG compensation.