CanuckFlyer

Due to a delayed (for mechanical reasons) outbound AC flight originating in Canada, the aircraft arrived in Munich too late to catch a connecting Lufthansa flight. Consequently my (paid, not upgraded) business seat on the next flight was converted to economy. Since I was seated in the last row of the plane next to the lavatory, I couldn't see whether business was full on that flight, but I do know another SE passenger was put in business on the same flight. Could someone tell me what is normally offered by AC in this circumstance? The flight was sold and ticketed by AC. Thank you.

okazon69

I would definitely have gone to check, possibly to strengthen your argument later.

My one experience in this regard where AC forgot to ticket a segment on another carrier, was a full refund of the fare difference for that segment along with a profuse apology. This was also nine years ago, and with the enhanced customer service you may just get a 5% code instead.

montrealer

Not sure how helpful this will be for you, but about 2.5 years ago something very similar happened to me (paid J ticket to the Middle East via Frankfurt on AC/LH, ticketed on AC). I ended up in economy on the 5 hr flight to the Middle East after being offloaded due to late connection -- but running and showing up well in time at the gate anyway. LH flurried about and were able to get me back on, but said my seat in business was now full and nothing was available.

I notified my corp travel department who had booked the ticket, and a few days later from the flurry of auto-generated notifications and receipts I got in my email I concluded that they somehow retroactively refunded my ticket and rebooked it on a different fare basis reflecting the economy leg I had flown, resulting in a net refund. I don't remember the amount precisely but I know I felt it was less than I thought a fully fair pro-rating would be but still fairly sizeable (this was a fully refundable J ticket).

In addition, some time later I received a courtesy credit of 2000 or 3000 aeroplan points without explanation. I assumed it was due to this (whether automatically or due to my travel dept kicking up a fuss I don't know) but could have been compensation for a seat or IFE problem on some other flight - this was my one nearly 400,000 status mile year (shudder) so I paid little attention to the details.

CanRulez

Can't blame you for forgetting the details...400K in one year...

Everywhere I turn, I uncover another AC FF who flies a crazy amount.
I'm flying about 150k this year with many nights outside the country...just that is driving me insane.

Often1

As the late delivering carrier it was AC's obligation to rebook OP in J. If J was not available on the next flight, it would have been OP's choice to wait for the next flight with J or accept Y. Either way, AC should have consulted OP. LH, of course, simply seated OP as ticketed.

At a minimum, OP is owed a refund of the fare difference for the segment.

Water under the bridge for OP, but asking the right questions at the rebook is important. There is tremendous pressure because agents are harried rebooking others and those in line behind you are staring daggers at your back, but the fact is that this is the place to deal with issues.

Do not simply accept a BP. Take the initiative by proposing what you want (it's always important to have researched alternatives because misconnects happen). If the agent proposes the next flight in Y, ask why not J. It's entirely possible that the agent made a mistake or it may have been conscious because there was no J availability.

Only you as the pax know whether scheduling trumps comfort. Are we talking about connecting to an intra-Europe micro-haul or to long-haul J? Perhaps 45 minutes of less comfort trumps a three hour delay, but not 15-hours of that discomfort.

RZR

Not sure how someone flies 400K per year.

Every 11 days in paid J NA to EUR would probably yield around 400K , but that includes COS.

CanuckFlyer

The second flight was only an hour, so the discomfort was not a big deal (the lav notwithstanding). I was handed the new boarding passes by the concierge and didn't think to look at specific seat assignments until she was gone. Normally, when on the phone or face-to-face with rebooks, I'm more quick-witted and ask questions. In this case I'm not even sure which fare class I was rebooked into.

YOWgary

YYZ-HKG, return J, every other week.

Or YVR-YYZ, return J, once a week, with a few side trips.

Stranger

Might not amount to all that much though.

yyznomad

Welcome to our small-ish fraternity of 400K+ AQMers

yyznomad

I do TATL or TPAC mixed in with transcons and intra-Europes every single week... a mix of paid J, paid Flex with upgrades, Latitude FPs, regular Flex bookings, some PE, etc.
This doesn't even count all the flying on AE bookings (around 100K miles) plus non-Star alliance carriers like KLM that I fly yearly.

This year I will exceed 500K+ AQMs easily.

wrp96

There's a guy who flies United that did 1 million BIS one year. He's a FTer. I know one of his very regular routes is NA-SYD.

CanRulez

You spend more time flying to and from your destination than with your client


It must be your own business...

yyznomad

1 Million anything in a year is impressive, but 1 Million BIS in a year is even more impressive. So how much did this person get in status miles that year?

yyznomad

Maybe.