Downgraded due to defective seats
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: ZRH
Programs: AC SE 100K
Posts: 923
Downgraded due to defective seats
Speaking of 2 defective seats - - I was booked and confirmed 8 months ago for Lattitude e-Up for AC854 from YVR-LHR. . . Checked in 24 hours out - had seat (was puzzled as I was booked in 2K but ended up with 5D) - - Green checkmark on name. Then - the next day. while eating lunch on DOF, I decided for some reason to look at the app . . I nearly lost my lunch - - Why did I not have a green check any more? Also - Seat now shows as "GTE"?
So - Off to the airport I go. Ultimately, there were 2 defective seats so I was the one who was downgraded and put on J-SBY.
Long story short - - Really was downgraded. I have to trust that the order of the downgrade was correct and the others which did not lose the upgrade were at SE100 (2-3 others were also green check mark). Sat in 31G - - (Preferred seat but still - - ). Ultimately, you want to complain but ultimately it was just bad luck.
This was my first overseas economy flight in close to 20 years. If I didn't have to make it to London for a meeting - I would have declined to board . . . .
Crew were pretty nice about it and probably had some sympathy. I had an infant in the bassinet beside me, then 3 more babies within 2 rows and 6 more babies still within 10 rows. Sat beside the Lav - probably met the whole plane. And - finally - the food? wow !! What happened? It certainly has been downgraded since my last Y-Meal which was probably around 2002. I have to honestly say that it would be considered bad quality even in Prison.!!!
One thing I would say is that the seat was fairly comfortable and ultimately I did sleep for 2.5 hours.
Hopefully - never again!!!
So - Off to the airport I go. Ultimately, there were 2 defective seats so I was the one who was downgraded and put on J-SBY.
Long story short - - Really was downgraded. I have to trust that the order of the downgrade was correct and the others which did not lose the upgrade were at SE100 (2-3 others were also green check mark). Sat in 31G - - (Preferred seat but still - - ). Ultimately, you want to complain but ultimately it was just bad luck.
This was my first overseas economy flight in close to 20 years. If I didn't have to make it to London for a meeting - I would have declined to board . . . .
Crew were pretty nice about it and probably had some sympathy. I had an infant in the bassinet beside me, then 3 more babies within 2 rows and 6 more babies still within 10 rows. Sat beside the Lav - probably met the whole plane. And - finally - the food? wow !! What happened? It certainly has been downgraded since my last Y-Meal which was probably around 2002. I have to honestly say that it would be considered bad quality even in Prison.!!!
One thing I would say is that the seat was fairly comfortable and ultimately I did sleep for 2.5 hours.
Hopefully - never again!!!
#2
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: MEX
Programs: AC E75K
Posts: 4,171
Speaking of 2 defective seats - - I was booked and confirmed 8 months ago for Lattitude e-Up for AC854 from YVR-LHR. . . Checked in 24 hours out - had seat (was puzzled as I was booked in 2K but ended up with 5D) - - Green checkmark on name. Then - the next day. while eating lunch on DOF, I decided for some reason to look at the app . . I nearly lost my lunch - - Why did I not have a green check any more? Also - Seat now shows as "GTE"?
So - Off to the airport I go. Ultimately, there were 2 defective seats so I was the one who was downgraded and put on J-SBY.
Long story short - - Really was downgraded. I have to trust that the order of the downgrade was correct and the others which did not lose the upgrade were at SE100 (2-3 others were also green check mark). Sat in 31G - - (Preferred seat but still - - ). Ultimately, you want to complain but ultimately it was just bad luck.
This was my first overseas economy flight in close to 20 years. If I didn't have to make it to London for a meeting - I would have declined to board . . . .
Crew were pretty nice about it and probably had some sympathy. I had an infant in the bassinet beside me, then 3 more babies within 2 rows and 6 more babies still within 10 rows. Sat beside the Lav - probably met the whole plane. And - finally - the food? wow !! What happened? It certainly has been downgraded since my last Y-Meal which was probably around 2002. I have to honestly say that it would be considered bad quality even in Prison.!!!
One thing I would say is that the seat was fairly comfortable and ultimately I did sleep for 2.5 hours.
Hopefully - never again!!!
So - Off to the airport I go. Ultimately, there were 2 defective seats so I was the one who was downgraded and put on J-SBY.
Long story short - - Really was downgraded. I have to trust that the order of the downgrade was correct and the others which did not lose the upgrade were at SE100 (2-3 others were also green check mark). Sat in 31G - - (Preferred seat but still - - ). Ultimately, you want to complain but ultimately it was just bad luck.
This was my first overseas economy flight in close to 20 years. If I didn't have to make it to London for a meeting - I would have declined to board . . . .
Crew were pretty nice about it and probably had some sympathy. I had an infant in the bassinet beside me, then 3 more babies within 2 rows and 6 more babies still within 10 rows. Sat beside the Lav - probably met the whole plane. And - finally - the food? wow !! What happened? It certainly has been downgraded since my last Y-Meal which was probably around 2002. I have to honestly say that it would be considered bad quality even in Prison.!!!
One thing I would say is that the seat was fairly comfortable and ultimately I did sleep for 2.5 hours.
Hopefully - never again!!!
Was AC apologetic, either on the ground or after the fact? Did they do anything to "make it right"?
#3
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: SFO
Programs: AC SE MM, SQ Silver, Bonvoy Tit LTG, Hyatt Glob, HH Diamond
Posts: 44,186
A confirmed upgrade is a confirmed upgrade, so I suspect an SE confirmed two days out would keep the upgrade while the E75K confirmed two months out would lose it.
I have mixed feelings on this.
#4
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: YEG
Programs: AC Lifetime SE100K, 3MM, SPG Lifetime Plat, Hertz PC, National Executive Elite
Posts: 2,901
Speaking of 2 defective seats - - I was booked and confirmed 8 months ago for Lattitude e-Up for AC854 from YVR-LHR. . . Checked in 24 hours out - had seat (was puzzled as I was booked in 2K but ended up with 5D) - - Green checkmark on name. Then - the next day. while eating lunch on DOF, I decided for some reason to look at the app . . I nearly lost my lunch - - Why did I not have a green check any more? Also - Seat now shows as "GTE"?
So - Off to the airport I go. Ultimately, there were 2 defective seats so I was the one who was downgraded and put on J-SBY.
Long story short - - Really was downgraded. I have to trust that the order of the downgrade was correct and the others which did not lose the upgrade were at SE100 (2-3 others were also green check mark). Sat in 31G - - (Preferred seat but still - - ). Ultimately, you want to complain but ultimately it was just bad luck.
This was my first overseas economy flight in close to 20 years. If I didn't have to make it to London for a meeting - I would have declined to board . . . .
Crew were pretty nice about it and probably had some sympathy. I had an infant in the bassinet beside me, then 3 more babies within 2 rows and 6 more babies still within 10 rows. Sat beside the Lav - probably met the whole plane. And - finally - the food? wow !! What happened? It certainly has been downgraded since my last Y-Meal which was probably around 2002. I have to honestly say that it would be considered bad quality even in Prison.!!!
One thing I would say is that the seat was fairly comfortable and ultimately I did sleep for 2.5 hours.
Hopefully - never again!!!
So - Off to the airport I go. Ultimately, there were 2 defective seats so I was the one who was downgraded and put on J-SBY.
Long story short - - Really was downgraded. I have to trust that the order of the downgrade was correct and the others which did not lose the upgrade were at SE100 (2-3 others were also green check mark). Sat in 31G - - (Preferred seat but still - - ). Ultimately, you want to complain but ultimately it was just bad luck.
This was my first overseas economy flight in close to 20 years. If I didn't have to make it to London for a meeting - I would have declined to board . . . .
Crew were pretty nice about it and probably had some sympathy. I had an infant in the bassinet beside me, then 3 more babies within 2 rows and 6 more babies still within 10 rows. Sat beside the Lav - probably met the whole plane. And - finally - the food? wow !! What happened? It certainly has been downgraded since my last Y-Meal which was probably around 2002. I have to honestly say that it would be considered bad quality even in Prison.!!!
One thing I would say is that the seat was fairly comfortable and ultimately I did sleep for 2.5 hours.
Hopefully - never again!!!
#5
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: YOW
Programs: AC-SE100K, AC-3MM, Marriott- LT Titanium, SPG RIP
Posts: 2,954
#7
Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 7,156
Speaking of 2 defective seats - - I was booked and confirmed 8 months ago for Lattitude e-Up for AC854 from YVR-LHR. . . Checked in 24 hours out - had seat (was puzzled as I was booked in 2K but ended up with 5D) - - Green checkmark on name. Then - the next day. while eating lunch on DOF, I decided for some reason to look at the app . . I nearly lost my lunch - - Why did I not have a green check any more? Also - Seat now shows as "GTE"?
So - Off to the airport I go. Ultimately, there were 2 defective seats so I was the one who was downgraded and put on J-SBY.
Long story short - - Really was downgraded. I have to trust that the order of the downgrade was correct and the others which did not lose the upgrade were at SE100 (2-3 others were also green check mark). Sat in 31G - - (Preferred seat but still - - ). Ultimately, you want to complain but ultimately it was just bad luck.
This was my first overseas economy flight in close to 20 years. If I didn't have to make it to London for a meeting - I would have declined to board . . . .
Crew were pretty nice about it and probably had some sympathy. I had an infant in the bassinet beside me, then 3 more babies within 2 rows and 6 more babies still within 10 rows. Sat beside the Lav - probably met the whole plane. And - finally - the food? wow !! What happened? It certainly has been downgraded since my last Y-Meal which was probably around 2002. I have to honestly say that it would be considered bad quality even in Prison.!!!
One thing I would say is that the seat was fairly comfortable and ultimately I did sleep for 2.5 hours.
Hopefully - never again!!!
So - Off to the airport I go. Ultimately, there were 2 defective seats so I was the one who was downgraded and put on J-SBY.
Long story short - - Really was downgraded. I have to trust that the order of the downgrade was correct and the others which did not lose the upgrade were at SE100 (2-3 others were also green check mark). Sat in 31G - - (Preferred seat but still - - ). Ultimately, you want to complain but ultimately it was just bad luck.
This was my first overseas economy flight in close to 20 years. If I didn't have to make it to London for a meeting - I would have declined to board . . . .
Crew were pretty nice about it and probably had some sympathy. I had an infant in the bassinet beside me, then 3 more babies within 2 rows and 6 more babies still within 10 rows. Sat beside the Lav - probably met the whole plane. And - finally - the food? wow !! What happened? It certainly has been downgraded since my last Y-Meal which was probably around 2002. I have to honestly say that it would be considered bad quality even in Prison.!!!
One thing I would say is that the seat was fairly comfortable and ultimately I did sleep for 2.5 hours.
Hopefully - never again!!!
#9
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: ZRH
Programs: AC SE 100K
Posts: 923
My understanding is that @zrh2yvr paid a Latitude fare. So he should get his eUps put back into his account.
Overall, it's just bad luck really. The main IRROP I always worried about when doing these upgrades was (i.e.) landing at LHR from ZRH and going to find out there was a cancellation and I've been re-routed on BA. Since the fare is Y-Class, you could only be confirmed in Y on the other airline. I am almost always flexible and can anticipate these things. Also - Assuming all the other 3 that still got their EUp were all SE100 - Then I have to commend AC on actually picking the right person to downgrade.
As for whether there was sympathy and help from the AC staff, they were quite good overall. Right from Checkin. I showed up and basically said "So - tell me what's up . . I know something's going on !!". They called around, everyone knew it was going on - I guess these things don't happen much and in some cases perhaps it goes ugly. When the downgrade had to be planned for, immediately the "best" Y-Seat was taken off the seat-map as a backup (31G - lots of room - was pretty decent), and all people were made aware of the situation including the SD and some crew. Ultimately, there were only a few things that I really needed and I was reasonable with my requests.
1.) Put my garment back and jacket in J-Closet - - simple thing to say yes to.
2.) I need a fast-track for LHR immigration (Of all the times I did not bring my stack of 20 unused ones - because I normally connect in LHR-ZRH and never need to land - this time being the first time ever - stopping in for 1 day meeting on Monday). No problem.
3.) LHR Arrivals lounge access - - Well - Had my original boarding pass so didn't really need to ask and since these IT systems don't talk - was no problem - scanned the J-Pass and all was fine!
I realize it's not part of this thread but truly the most shocking thing was the food - It is seriously completely a joke. I would not feed any of it to animals, pets let alone humans. It really makes the J-Meals look like 3-star Michelin . . . .
One final comment - the other thing that was a bit unfortunate was that the inbound coming from HKG was quite late - and this squeezed the turnaround time of the flight - which meant that there was basically no time for maintenance to go in and get at least one of the 2 seats fixed. I can only hope that the problem was more important than "Deflategate" or just an inop recline , ,
Happy flying everyone!!
#10
Join Date: May 2012
Posts: 492
I can confirm the amazing ability of AC's IT system to have already credited the Eup's . . . . Done automatically. Unfortunately - put back in account and expire Feb 2019 . .
Overall, it's just bad luck really. The main IRROP I always worried about when doing these upgrades was (i.e.) landing at LHR from ZRH and going to find out there was a cancellation and I've been re-routed on BA. Since the fare is Y-Class, you could only be confirmed in Y on the other airline. I am almost always flexible and can anticipate these things. Also - Assuming all the other 3 that still got their EUp were all SE100 - Then I have to commend AC on actually picking the right person to downgrade.
As for whether there was sympathy and help from the AC staff, they were quite good overall. Right from Checkin. I showed up and basically said "So - tell me what's up . . I know something's going on !!". They called around, everyone knew it was going on - I guess these things don't happen much and in some cases perhaps it goes ugly. When the downgrade had to be planned for, immediately the "best" Y-Seat was taken off the seat-map as a backup (31G - lots of room - was pretty decent), and all people were made aware of the situation including the SD and some crew. Ultimately, there were only a few things that I really needed and I was reasonable with my requests.
1.) Put my garment back and jacket in J-Closet - - simple thing to say yes to.
2.) I need a fast-track for LHR immigration (Of all the times I did not bring my stack of 20 unused ones - because I normally connect in LHR-ZRH and never need to land - this time being the first time ever - stopping in for 1 day meeting on Monday). No problem.
3.) LHR Arrivals lounge access - - Well - Had my original boarding pass so didn't really need to ask and since these IT systems don't talk - was no problem - scanned the J-Pass and all was fine!
I realize it's not part of this thread but truly the most shocking thing was the food - It is seriously completely a joke. I would not feed any of it to animals, pets let alone humans. It really makes the J-Meals look like 3-star Michelin . . . .
One final comment - the other thing that was a bit unfortunate was that the inbound coming from HKG was quite late - and this squeezed the turnaround time of the flight - which meant that there was basically no time for maintenance to go in and get at least one of the 2 seats fixed. I can only hope that the problem was more important than "Deflategate" or just an inop recline , ,
Happy flying everyone!!
Overall, it's just bad luck really. The main IRROP I always worried about when doing these upgrades was (i.e.) landing at LHR from ZRH and going to find out there was a cancellation and I've been re-routed on BA. Since the fare is Y-Class, you could only be confirmed in Y on the other airline. I am almost always flexible and can anticipate these things. Also - Assuming all the other 3 that still got their EUp were all SE100 - Then I have to commend AC on actually picking the right person to downgrade.
As for whether there was sympathy and help from the AC staff, they were quite good overall. Right from Checkin. I showed up and basically said "So - tell me what's up . . I know something's going on !!". They called around, everyone knew it was going on - I guess these things don't happen much and in some cases perhaps it goes ugly. When the downgrade had to be planned for, immediately the "best" Y-Seat was taken off the seat-map as a backup (31G - lots of room - was pretty decent), and all people were made aware of the situation including the SD and some crew. Ultimately, there were only a few things that I really needed and I was reasonable with my requests.
1.) Put my garment back and jacket in J-Closet - - simple thing to say yes to.
2.) I need a fast-track for LHR immigration (Of all the times I did not bring my stack of 20 unused ones - because I normally connect in LHR-ZRH and never need to land - this time being the first time ever - stopping in for 1 day meeting on Monday). No problem.
3.) LHR Arrivals lounge access - - Well - Had my original boarding pass so didn't really need to ask and since these IT systems don't talk - was no problem - scanned the J-Pass and all was fine!
I realize it's not part of this thread but truly the most shocking thing was the food - It is seriously completely a joke. I would not feed any of it to animals, pets let alone humans. It really makes the J-Meals look like 3-star Michelin . . . .
One final comment - the other thing that was a bit unfortunate was that the inbound coming from HKG was quite late - and this squeezed the turnaround time of the flight - which meant that there was basically no time for maintenance to go in and get at least one of the 2 seats fixed. I can only hope that the problem was more important than "Deflategate" or just an inop recline , ,
Happy flying everyone!!
#11
Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 7,156
My understanding is that @zrh2yvr paid a Latitude fare. So he should get his eUps put back into his account.
#12
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: YVR
Programs: AC SE 2MM; UA MP Premier Silver; Marriott Bonvoy LT Titanium Elite; Radisson
Posts: 35,232
I know. It sucks to get R (based on P) then have it yanked away, but s/he paid for Y and got Y. \_(ツ)_/
#13
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: YVR
Programs: AC SE 2MM; UA MP Premier Silver; Marriott Bonvoy LT Titanium Elite; Radisson
Posts: 35,232
I know. It sucks to get R (based on P) and then have it yanked away. S/he paid for Y and got Y though. \_(ツ)_/
#14
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: YYC
Posts: 23,742
I was very upset. (1) they were very inflexible about rebooking, only allowing within the conditions of the pass, which I don't think is correct. (2) Although the equipment change occurred a few days earlier, when I could easily made different arrangements, they waited until the night before to call me.
In the end, I cancelled, rebooked myself out of Rome on the next day, took the train to Rome and had dinner at my favorite place in Rome, Cuoco & Camisia.