Xandrios

So I have an old booking in U class that has a 92 euro (Flex) fare. I'd like to change that flight to another date. New date also has U (Flex) availability...but the price for U has gone down to 72 euro.

Called in to make the change, twice, and was told to pay 21 euro fare difference plus callcenter fees. Their explanation is that because the price has gone down I cannot rebook into U...because this would be considered a 'downgrade'. I have to buy up to a fare that is higher value than the 92 euro already paid. In this case S-class at 113 euro.

In my opinion this does not make sense. I've already paid 92 euro, which is 20 euro more than the current price for the same class. And the fare rules are pretty clear in my opinion:
Bolding mine. In my opinion this means that changes in the same booking class (U in this case) are free. Aegean seems to be refering to the second rule under the bolding?

Looking at the penalties for the change:

I read this as: The new ticket needs to have the same or higher fare value (which is the case - higher). The difference would be ignored ('Ignore residual')... they will not pay that 20 euro that I already paid 'extra' back to me.

Am I missing something? I called twice, even asked where in the fare rules it says that the new fare amount needs to be higher than what's already paid. They couldn't show me (even though she put me on hold for 15 minutes to look it up).

I've never heard about this kind of rebooking before. It seems rediculous to ask for more money when I have, effectively, already paid 20 euros more than the current price for this flight (92 vs 72). I know that we are only talking about 21 euro price difference...but I feel that Aegean is now just trying to take advantage...

giorginho

​​​​​​I can't point you to an exact post right now, but I am pretty confident, that I've read the same kind of complaint more than once in this subforum. The inability of the system to make such rebookings is as inexplicable as it is ridiculous. Depending on how much of a rush you are, you could get rebooked for that extra money and then request/demand that difference refunded. This irritating issue needs to be exposed and fixed.

keitherson

This is also hardly unique to Aegean, and why the vast majority of the flying public finds airlines deceptive with poor customer service. It's also why people are flying LCCs: why bother paying for a premium if you will just be shortchanged the same way? At least easyjet's website works and you can even change tickets online most of the time...

irishguy28

That's preposterous.

There's no question of refunding you the €20 difference, but to charge you the difference when moving to a more expensive to a less expensive flight is just preposterous.

I think this is a case of hang up and call again - any decent agent should know that you can move in the manner you wish without additional penalty (and without recourse to a refund, which of course you have not asked for!)

(Incidentally - is there no mechanism to change this booking yourself online? It would be quite useful for everyone if they would allow customers to re-book themselves online in ways that would minimize the need for customers to call in!)

Xandrios

Yes agreed. I called twice; both agents came back with the same. I've asked the second agent to show me where it says this in the fares rules, she could not, but she did tell me that her system does not let her rebook to a fare with a lower value than the current fare. Its absolutely ridiculous because basically I lose out twice: Once for already having paid more than the current rate...and second because I have paid more, I have to upgrade to an even higher fare.

This was an upgraded Economy fare..and unfortunately those cannot be changed online. I did since hear about other people having the same issue when trying to change tickets online, too, though

So in the end I decided to not do this particular change out of principle. I did search for alternative dates and finally did decide on another date that actually suited me better, where the lowest available fare was S-class anyway. So I paid the 21 euro fare difference to rebook to that day instead. It's a little slim pickings to find I-class availability early August, but in the end that worked out.

SPLP007

I have an award FLEX ticket that I wanted to change to business class willing to pay all the adt'l costs
The original terms that showed before I bought the ticket :
UNLIMITED TICKET CHANGES WITH NO FEE
REFUND WITHOUT A FEE
called 4x each said the same party line--- not allowed to upgrade and if cancel can only do with call center and the charge is 20 euros per ticket
why people do not trust airlines

KLouis

Which airline were you booked on, and was there still availability in business for your flight?

SPLP007

A3--ATH-CFU--YES THEY HAD AT LEAST 2 SEATS -(-lousy value for miles) -- but - wanted to be in biz and was willing to pay what they wanted

I LOVED A3 - AND DO UNDERSTAND THAT THEY HAVE A PROBLEMS AS ALL THE AIRLINES DO ---but you still need to "respect" customers --

After they refused refunds on ALL my flights that "they canceled" and site the "GREEK LAW" AND DISREGARD E.U. LAW - I will now try to find other airlines to fly -- what a shame-- they are worst than the "old" Olympic --and we all know the old OA IS DEAD

THEY ACT NOW JUST LIKE SHOPS DID IN THE OLD DAYS-- IF WANTED TO MAKE A RETURN IN MOST SHOPS -- NO MONEY BACK AND LUCKY IF YOU EVEN GOT A STORE CREDIT AT FULL VALUE.

KLouis

Oh, it's an A3 flight! Well, A3 states in its site:
(highlighted by red coloured font by me)
In other words, award tickets can't be upgraded. Perhaps a stupid rule but, still, published by A3, and easily found on their site with one single, simple google search, though. The old OA had no upgrade possibilities, no C on domestic flights and no real internet pages...

NextWhiteDeath

I think that a lot of people nowadays don't get what fees get withheld. In this case you don't have to pay a fee to change or refund the ticket but what you are paying a fee for is using the call center. That is going to cost disrespectful of what ticket rules says.
It basically on the same lines as you don't have to pay to withdraw cash from an ATM but the ATM operator can still charge a fee.
Of course it is a big annoying that you have to pay a fee to change awards but those are all known rules. The same as said above about A3 awards just not being upgradable.
​​​​​​​I would say that this time it less A3 trying to pull a fast on but just you trying to do something that is well know to not be possible.

SPLP007

12345

giorginho

@SPLP007 Please tell me you already knew that an award ticket cannot be "simply" upgraded....! (Not sure if the "upgrade bid" offer is available, I think it might be, but even so that's just about it. No way to "directly" upgrade a ticket in X)

Xandrios

No need to use ALL CAPS If you are booked with an award there is only one thing you can do:

- Cancel award
- Rebook into business, either as an award or paid ticket

Upgrading economy awards to business class is not allowed, and I believe that it pretty well documented. Regarding the refunds - this is a difficult time for everybody, including the airlines. Don't freak out, you will get your money or credits one way or the other. And as a frequent fliers, practically, it shouldn't really matter in what form you'd get those credits right?

SPLP007

Sorry about the caps--I have very.very poor eyesight plus when I was in public school the boys never learned to type it was girls only -- that was back a very very long time ago( 1950's) and I am the worlds worst typist

As far as refunds no one can convince me that it is right not to offer the refund or that I have to help finance a large corporation or I need to understand --they could have offered a "choice" --full refund or X% over face value or convert to points at a special rate and let the consumer decide and not force clients to swallow -- I am not a bank or stockholder have no vested interest in A3 that I "must" support them because they need capital --yes I can easily survive without the refund and I am not as upset as it may appear when you read my post

Did any of the management loan money to the corp interest-free? did they put up real estate or other personal collateral so the banks will feel secure -- I would guess not (I did all my life when I was in business I never asked my customers or suppliers to finance me ) - did they take large pay cuts?

BUT they did run an excellent airline and the airline business has to be one of the most difficult businesses to run properly

just my point of view

TravelA2

I got Flex fare few days ago and my reservation showed total i paid in USD. So I called and requested detailed receipt which I did get in EURO...

Today, ComfortFlex is 20 euro cheaper than what I paid but if I try to upgrade from Flex to ComfortFlex - they try to charge me extra 140 Euro.
They said, they charge difference in class, but difference with Light is only 45 and difference with Flex that I booked in is 33, so how do they calculate 140 euro ?

Outbound flight - ComfortFlex is actually cheaper than Flex, what is point of offering ticket change if new price for the ticket is random ?

By the way, buyer be aware - Aegian appears to have charged me 20 USD extra over regular conversion rate which is probably why my receipt only had TOTAL paid rather than break-down. Nothing on their website indicated that tickets bought in currency other than EURO will incur foreign fees. Yes, I always charge in local currency when overseas but now I apparently have to watch for major airline tricks online. That might explain why my first receipt only showed total and not a break-down. The most amazing part, if you ask help desk based on what you see I paid in EURO, how much does my ticket cost in USD - they will tell number based on regular conversion rate and will not mention any charges. I have requested receipt with break-down in USD via website (help - contact us - via email) - curious what that receipt will show.