nihonto

I have an Aeroplan ticket booked about six months back, and I'm on TG975 from Moscow to Bangkok.

Or... was on this flight.

The flight no longer exists since Thai went through its restructuring. In March.

I found out just now because I saw I had seat 12A on my itinerary and I was curious where that was on the plane. Went to setguru... couldn't find the flight. Went to Thai... couldn't find the flight. Went... uh oh, googled it and found a news article from March saying that this route and other unprofitable Thai routes were now gone.

I'd have gone to the airport that day and been unpleasantly surprised that I had no flight. Great heads up service from Aeroplan on this one.

Trying to call Aeroplan now but the line is coming up busy for the last half hour. What's the protocol when a route is dropped like this? Aeroplan website is not showing me anything on that day in business that has a less than 30 hour transit time and this was an 8 hour flight. Groan.

dafonz

I had something similar happen to me. What happened there was there was no space on ap but they opened up space on another *a flight. Had to get it escalatd though

DaveTO

It's been a while since it happened to me, but Aeroplan was able to open up revenue space on another *A carrier.

I got miles + Class of Service bonus!

nihonto

Phone has been coming up busy for 2 hours. But the fast busy tone like there's something really wrong.

A reorder tone, sometimes called a fast busy signal, indicates that no transmission path to the called number is available. This is usually because the Inter-LATA trunk is busy at the time of the call. Usually, this clears in a few seconds, if one redials.

Ugh.

Not my day.
.

nihonto

Aeroplan's answer was:

"The carrier can do whatever they want and there is nothing we can do about it. We cannot open up tickets on other carriers."

They are telling me I have to accept the options available on the website (30 hours) or downgrade into economy or else change my travel dates.

Agent was pushing me hard to accept a flight on Lufthansa and Thai which is probably going to increase my taxes too. I said I didn't want to accept it and left it at that for now.

Anyone know of what I should point to to get something better than "oh, tough luck" out of them?

PLeblond

To my knowledge they will offer you space on other flights, since it is not your choice, but the operating carrier who changed the flight.

I would ask to speak to a higher-up. But always keep calm and polite. Look for suitable alternatives, ideally 2 or 3 options. Look up J cabin space on those alternatives (not R space but any J space)

You can say, that you have an even you need to attend at X time and date. The flight was cancelled, not my choice or doing. Here are other *A alternatives that would work with my schedule. There is J cabin space on these flights I have spoken to people who have been accommodated in the past under similar circumstances. I am open to alternatives, but they need to be timely.

nihonto

Definitely keeping calm.

I know I will not have a direct anymore, 30 hours and 2 connections is out of the question though.

Possibly HUCA is going to get a different result here but I think it is going to have to go to a supervisor. The only one connection flight within +/- 1 day is via Munich, so they're going to want to add more fees (I already paid $800 in fees on this ticket), plus it has a 9am departure from Moscow.

With the hell that is Moscow traffic (can be traffic jams at 3am) it means departing minimally at 5am in order to get onto a 9am flight at DME.

I suggested Swiss as I know, no extra fees, plus they have a good overnight flight to BKK, and I could depart in the afternoon from Moscow.

*Edit*: looks like Swiss also leaves at 9am so that is no win, argh.

Schedules can change I think on the ticket legal language is about just that, changing schedules. If they would have told me about this 3 months earlier when it happened then I'd have had more "a la carte" options to pick from as well and maybe not be in this situation.

So I think they should do something, or I hope they will anyway, as there are no decent options.

They suggested going through Cairo (would have me leaving the day before too) but I have not experienced Egyptair and I have zero desire to go through Cairo.

PLeblond

There should not be any additional fees or points. Like a schedule change that creates a missed connection, they should reroute you through to a reasonable alternative without additional fees. On that level, to my knowledge, an AE ticket is the same as a paid ticket.

If you look up flights on EF for the dates you want, there should be alternatives on NH, OZ, SQ, LH, LX, SAS, etc. or a combination thereof. Maybe even BR or the other Chinese airlines. I find it very improbable that an alternative flight cannot be found.

That being said, in this case, you should not be limited to R space (what is available on AE website) but to any J seat available. A quick search in this forum should offer you many, many examples that support this.

Stranger

I don't think they would recalculate "taxes" on an involuntary change.

nihonto

I'm on the second call right now, agent immediately said the first agent was wrong and they had to buy a revenue ticket if necessary to get me there. Said she was sending me to a supervisor before I even asked anything.

So I breathed a sigh of relief.

Then she came back 5 minutes later and said ooops, no because Thai dropped the route, that I indeed had to pick from whatever was currently available on the website and I was not eligible for any flexibility.

I asked anyway to talk to a supervisor so now I'm waiting.

I'm open to them refunding me some points too and letting me buy a revenue ticket out of pocket.

Why I think they'd want to recalculate taxes is that they have this kind of hand-washing approach, that they're not responsible for a booked and paid ticket (nor does anyone think there is anything unusual about the flight being cancelled for 3+ months and nobody telling me about it). I just found out because I was trying to check the seatmap.

Anyway that's why I think they'd try to stick me with bonus Lufthansa "tax" if I take that Munich route. (*Edit* which is also only available on a different day).

Anyway 20 mins on hold waiting for the supervisor.

*Edit* one hour on hold now. Argh.

There is a decent route through IST but since it's not showing as available on the website this is one of the things I'm now allowed to use so far.

pilotboy1985YYC

Unreal!

I've had schedule changes that makes me arrive 4+ hour later than originally scheduled, so I was able to call in and they opened up a revenue seat and booked me on it.

I'm very surprised to hear they aren't doing this for you. Ask the supervisor if this is some kind of new rule?

echino

Try getting on SQ flight DME-SIN-BKK. There is no award space, but they might buy you a ticket. Also check SVO-PEK-BKK. There should be no additional taxes or fees for involuntary schedule change.

shawneve

I would really stress the point that even though it was the carrier that dropped the route, AP should have notified you immediately (and not you finding out yourself) and you would have a lot more options available to you at that time.
Therefore they should not be holding you to only currently available award space.

canadiancow

I think you mean I space, not R space.

Was that on an AC flight? They have a lot more power to do things on AC than on other airlines.

I would still think they're responsible for buying a revenue ticket for you though.

Just pick the flights you want, and say you have to be in Moscow 12 hours before that flight leaves, and you have to be in Bangkok, rested, 12 hours after that flight arrives. Tell them you've looked around, and found an option that works. And just keep escalating.

nihonto

OK, 1 hour and 10 minutes, got a supervisor.

I suggested resolving it by refunding me 50k miles on the 150k ticket and the taxes, so I could book a direct out of pocket. They offered me 34,000 aeroplan miles which represents the percentage of distance this was on my ticket, plus the taxes for the leg which is about $240. I accepted and basically I think it works out best for both them and me.

I can get a direct flight one way now on Aeroflot which are currently not too expensive all things considered, and I'll earn miles on Delta for that. They don't have to buy a more expensive revenue ticket on another Star Alliance carrier. And I fly a shorter, better route with a better schedule.

So I'm pleased, this was a win/win resolution I think.

*Edit* also I got to tuck in a change to the last flight to get me home at the end of the schedule.