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Toronto family out $8K after AC booking goes wrong in Iran

Toronto family out $8K after AC booking goes wrong in Iran

Old Jan 30, 2018, 8:40 am
  #16  
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Seems like the issue had to do with the infant's name? Would be good to know more.
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Old Jan 30, 2018, 12:11 pm
  #17  
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Originally Posted by Jagboi
Similarly, I have done in J:
YYC-YYZ (AC) YYZ-LHR; LHR-LIN (BA) for ~$2100, while YYC-LHR was ~$6K.
It is very common pricing not only on AC nor on international routes. Hence there are the term of "throw away segment" come about. A lot of people especially travel domestically use the throw away which of course airlines flown upon you. So if one wants to take price differential advantage, dont use the FFP number. Else if do it frequent enough you would get in trouble with the airlines.
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Old Jan 30, 2018, 12:58 pm
  #18  
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From the article: “The flight they had difficulties boarding was a British Airways flight.... ...Effectively, in these situations the ticket issuing carrier (here Air Canada) acts as an agent for British Airways selling the ticket. But British Airways alone is responsible for providing the transport. That said, our agent did contact British Airways on three occasions to assist this family while they were attempting to use their ticket out of Tehran but was unable to help them resolve the matter.”

I'm sure some twisted mind here might dream of Air Canada returning the favor. Like to somebody with a BA ticket, stuck in Goose Bay...
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Old Jan 30, 2018, 2:05 pm
  #19  
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Chegini says he offered to purchase a seat for his daughter in order to make it possible to board the flight; but he was told British Airways does not have a ticket office at the Tehran airport, only in the centre of the city. He says that was not a solution to the issue at hand.
This -> I cannot believe it.
Its not possible to buy a ticket at the airport or online. Maybe this is an Iran-specific issue, but it sounds very very troubling for me.
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Old Jan 30, 2018, 2:40 pm
  #20  
 
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Originally Posted by warakorn
This -> I cannot believe it.
Its not possible to buy a ticket at the airport or online. Maybe this is an Iran-specific issue, but it sounds very very troubling for me.
Yes, that's definitely a weird one, and I thought the same, but having never flown to or been in Iran I just kind of wondered about it.

Imagine going to an airport to buy a ticket and being told "Oops, we don't sell them here...they only sell them in the city centre and oh yes, the office closes sharp at 17:00".
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Old Jan 30, 2018, 3:07 pm
  #21  
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Originally Posted by mapleg
Yes, that's definitely a weird one, and I thought the same, but having never flown to or been in Iran I just kind of wondered about it.

Imagine going to an airport to buy a ticket and being told "Oops, we don't sell them here...they only sell them in the city centre and oh yes, the office closes sharp at 17:00".
With internet access, should even be possible online? But who knows, for departures from Iran, how these things work, what the cutoff would be?

Also, it is possible that the infant needed an exit visa.

I would not be surprised if at the end of the day, the mess was the guy's fault really.
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Old Jan 30, 2018, 4:12 pm
  #22  
 
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Originally Posted by Stranger

Also, it is possible that the infant needed an exit visa.

I would not be surprised if at the end of the day, the mess was the guy's fault really.
They got a ticket on EK and had no issues flying out in time to catch their original AC flight out of LHR. That makes it fairly obvious that it isn't an exit visa issue.

Your conjecture strikes me as a poorly disguised attempt to obfuscate/deflect blame from AC or BA (as the case may be) to the pax. One can only guess at your motive.
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Old Jan 30, 2018, 6:28 pm
  #23  
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This not remotely a "PR nightmare" Passenger ticket problems occur routinely and most people who read this just roll their eyes and blame some Iranian bureaucrat, if anyone.

As this is all third or fourth hand reporting and the entire conversation is not reported, the full facts will likely never be known. But, if the reporting regarding the infant's name mismatch is accurate, it is possible that either AC or BA loused up the name on the infant ticket such that it did not match the infant's passport. While that might have been missed on the outbound segments (or was correct in the AC PNR, but not BA's), the BA agent in Iran caught it and refused to board the infant. One would hope that the parents did not leave the infant behind, did not board, had their tickets forfeited and then purchased new tickets back to Canada.

If this was the case, it had nothing to do with the infant as an infant, simply as a passenger. No way to tell here who, if anybody, loused this up.
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Old Jan 30, 2018, 7:37 pm
  #24  
 
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Originally Posted by DrunkCargo
Article does state a FF with AC. That notwithstanding, I suspect someone who tosses 18k without much concern is someone who has bought the privilege to act as a "novice" flyer, and both AC and BA should be so lucky to have customers like this.
​​​​​A PR nightmare for both, and mud slinging is just immature.
Not a PR nightmare if managed correctly. You have touched on an aspect that must be emphasized. The chap was experienced and if I may, could be politely described as a "jetsetter".

Originally Posted by YUL
I'm sure some twisted mind here might dream of Air Canada returning the favor. Like to somebody with a BA ticket, stuck in Goose Bay...
Except that the family was not "stuck" in Tehran. They were not confused tourists or backpackers, or a Willy Loman salesman. Nor were they of a background such that they could not fend for themselves. This wasn't the first visit back home and my understanding is that they used Iranian passports when entering. They were on home turf, so there was no worry of them being forced to fend for themselves at Ayotollah Khomeini International airport.

Originally Posted by warakorn
This -> I cannot believe it.
Its not possible to buy a ticket at the airport or online. Maybe this is an Iran-specific issue, but it sounds very very troubling for me.
You are not far off about the purchase method, but no need to be troubled. Due to the banking regulations that the EU applied for Iran it is difficult for regular folk to transact with Iran. However, the EU airlines get around this by facilitating the purchase of tickets outside of Iran. You can purchase the ticket with a call to the BA call center in the UK. And by that very fact, the transaction could have been effected over the phone with BA. However, I would not be surprised if this was a cash transaction making it difficult.

Originally Posted by Stranger
With internet access, should even be possible online? But who knows, for departures from Iran, how these things work, what the cutoff would be?Also, it is possible that the infant needed an exit visa.
I would not be surprised if at the end of the day, the mess was the guy's fault really.
And on that, I believe you are correct. The Iranian personnel may have all been following proper protocol that no children are to travel unless the paper work is correct. I have a feeling that the Iranian airport personnel did the right thing.

Originally Posted by yulred
They got a ticket on EK and had no issues flying out in time to catch their original AC flight out of LHR. That makes it fairly obvious that it isn't an exit visa issue. Your conjecture strikes me as a poorly disguised attempt to obfuscate/deflect blame from AC or BA (as the case may be) to the pax. One can only guess at your motive.


I don't know about his/her motives, but it is indeed plausible it was a ticket related issue that the father didn't resolve. In purchasing with EK, he could start fresh. EK isn't the most detail oriented of airlines in that neck of the woods is it?
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Old Jan 30, 2018, 8:35 pm
  #25  
 
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Originally Posted by Transpacificflyer

I don't know about his/her motives, but it is indeed plausible it was a ticket related issue that the father didn't resolve. In purchasing with EK, he could start fresh. EK isn't the most detail oriented of airlines in that neck of the woods is it?
I get that you don't like EK because of some weird notion you've cooked up about the security threat it poses to Canada by virtue of potentially interfering with AC's rent seeking behaviour, but this post is weird to the point of being nonsensical.

EK didn't do anything that AC staff in Canada didn't do on their way to Iran. And EK staff didn't do anything that AC staff didn't do in LHR on their way back. Are we to take it that everybody - particularly the AC staff who let them board their flight in Canada and in London (the latter after this incident) aren't detail-oriented?

What proof do you have anyhow that EK or any other airline in the region aren't detail oriented? (Other than that you just don't like them)?
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Old Jan 30, 2018, 9:56 pm
  #26  
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Originally Posted by yulred


I get that you don't like EK because of some weird notion you've cooked up about the security threat it poses to Canada by virtue of potentially interfering with AC's rent seeking behaviour, but this post is weird to the point of being nonsensical.

EK didn't do anything that AC staff in Canada didn't do on their way to Iran. And EK staff didn't do anything that AC staff didn't do in LHR on their way back. Are we to take it that everybody - particularly the AC staff who let them board their flight in Canada and in London (the latter after this incident) aren't detail-oriented?

What proof do you have anyhow that EK or any other airline in the region aren't detail oriented? (Other than that you just don't like them)?
Nice exercise of putting words in other people's mouth...
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Old Jan 30, 2018, 10:16 pm
  #27  
 
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Originally Posted by Stranger
Nice exercise of putting words in other people's mouth...
When in Rome...

Granted, he is in a position to respond. Unlike the guy in the story who's now been accused of not knowing how to sort out visas, or only managing to resolve the issue because of another airline's lack of detail-oriented staff "in that neck of the woods".
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Old Jan 30, 2018, 10:23 pm
  #28  
 
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Has anyone here with aeroplan tickets on multiple airlines had issues with their lap infant not getting out on all their tickets properly?
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Old Jan 31, 2018, 12:55 am
  #29  
 
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Originally Posted by yulred


When in Rome...
Granted, he is in a position to respond. Unlike the guy in the story who's now been accused of not knowing how to sort out visas, or only managing to resolve the issue because of another airline's lack of detail-oriented staff "in that neck of the woods".
You bet you I will respond. You are off on a delusional assertion based upon false assumptions. First, did you notice the part where I stated that I believed that the Iranian ground staff acted appropriately? Secondly, whatever my views are on EK, they have no relation to the subject at hand. EK provided a flight that went to Dubai. This did not require AC or BA's consent or approval. EK can do whatever it wants in its own space. And anyway, I don't know why you assume that I have an issue with EK, other than the fact that it receives direct state support since it is owned by the state Investment Corporation of Dubai. Nor are the rules that apply for travel from Iran to the UAE necessarily the same as those that apply for Tehran to an EU airport. How about, not assuming incompetence on the part of the local Iranian BA personnel?

The local EK ticket agent provided a ticket. We don't know how it was purchased do we, but they plaintiffs are posing for a photo in the business class cabin, so that should give you an idea that the people involved were not simpletons incapable of caring care for themselves.
Newsflash, the chap does rather well for himself and he isn't going to be having a garage sale anytime soon to raise money.

You ever do business or deal with compliance issues in that region? Security is significantly tighter on flights to the EU than it is on the regional flights. The paper work is reviewed ,the head counts are checked and the passenger manifestos are filed and cross checked. Rather than criticize the local Iranian BA staff, I am giving them the benefit of the belief that they were doing their jobs.
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Old Jan 31, 2018, 6:27 am
  #30  
 
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Originally Posted by Diabeetus
Has anyone here with aeroplan tickets on multiple airlines had issues with their lap infant not getting out on all their tickets properly?
I have had all 3 kids as lap kids on AE tickets at some point or other to and from Asia, with multiple airlines including AC, UA, TG, and CA that I can recall, No issues.
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