Aug 26, 2015, 8:04 pm
Last edit by: percysmith
Letter template 1 (percysmith): Please explain "obvious pricing error" Post #258
Discussion about the ex-Germany fares
Sep 15, 2015, 12:26 pm
#466
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Sep 15, 2015, 12:56 pm
#467
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Sep 15, 2015, 12:56 pm
#468
Join Date: Feb 2010
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£4861 is lowest fare ex-LHR in F (available every month ex-September), so £6k ex-FRA seems a bit silly by comparison. Though on my dates I think CX was at €20k! QF a more reasonable €7.5k (no obvious sale banners noted...)
Sep 15, 2015, 1:06 pm
#469
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Sep 15, 2015, 1:42 pm
#470
Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club, easyJet and Ryanair
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Next time consider OSL to SYD. QF A380 F all the way for less than you paid for club (GBP 3700 or thereabouts). ^
I have booked an SVG-SYD however for May where time is not overly restrictive (when I will have the wife in tow) using a GUF2. That ticket was cheaper for the two of us than my MAN-SYD itinerary! The Lady Tobias has always wanted to visit Norway and this fare provided an opportunity to add a little R&R/vacation time on this business trip in Norway, Singapore and Sydney.
Whilst I've certainly benefited from a few ex-EU itineraries over the last couple of years, my diary doesn't always allow me that option or I need to build in more flexibility in the ticket. I always organise business at the ex-EU departure point too to ensure I optimise the time/cost saving benefit and that too limits my ability to benefit from those fares.
Sep 15, 2015, 2:35 pm
#471
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It is only when I hear about travel schedules like that, that I realise why F is actually sometimes a necessity and not a luxury. I went crazy when I had 3 long hauls a month (in J) and needed to acclimatise for at least a day at each end. I would die if I had to do what you do in J... You need something at least resembling a bed(room).
The good part is that you can 'pay' for your holidays with the miles you earned (hence you pay taxes on them in some countries) but I found that I wanted not to fly for vacation, much to the chagrin of whomever MissHB was at the time.
The good part is that you can 'pay' for your holidays with the miles you earned (hence you pay taxes on them in some countries) but I found that I wanted not to fly for vacation, much to the chagrin of whomever MissHB was at the time.
Sep 15, 2015, 3:09 pm
#472
Join Date: Jul 2011
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Got the same replies as above.
2 weeks waiting and yet another generic response cut and pasted. Which given the wording in the email is quite funny.
I'm at a loss of about £160 for currency fees (Australian card)
I honestly don't care that much about the sum of money, but their responses are enough to make me want to persue legal action on principle.
2 weeks waiting and yet another generic response cut and pasted. Which given the wording in the email is quite funny.
I'm at a loss of about £160 for currency fees (Australian card)
I honestly don't care that much about the sum of money, but their responses are enough to make me want to persue legal action on principle.
Sep 15, 2015, 3:44 pm
#473
Join Date: Aug 2005
Programs: BA Gold, HHonors, Virgin
Posts: 766
This was received today in response to my follow up to the CEO following the totally unacceptable reply a couple of weeks ago. They still haven't mentioned the Forex charges or why the BAEC failed to know the fares had been cancelled nor the delay in telling people nor why they still took the money 4 days after the flights were cancelled nor......need I go on?
Thank you for your email dated 31 August in relation to the above. We do apologise for the short delay in our response to you, but we wanted to ensure that we had reviewed your complaint in detail so that we could respond to your email in full.
Over the past couple of weeks, BA has experienced some serious and extensive problems when filing first class fares both on its website and via other booking channels. This has led to a situation where, over a short period of time, first class fares from some points in Europe to various long haul destinations have been offered at erroneous fares which fell vastly below the actual fares for the bookings involved.
With regard to flights departing from Germany, the error occurred when the fares were inputted into the system from which fares are published globally. At that time, a "cut and paste" error was made which meant that the wrong fares were published against the wrong routes. Consequently, the prices and the routes shown did not match.
We note that you mention other fares have been offered on the BA website, which appear similar to that which you booked. However, as mentioned above, this problem occurred over a couple of weeks and included flights from various European departure points.
As soon as the error was noticed, we sought to correct it and to contact our customers to inform them of the error and cancellation of the booking. We appreciate that this did not happen immediately in some cases, however it happened as soon as possible after the error was noticed.
While we acknowledge your point, given what has happened, that it is difficult to know which fare offers are correct and which are erroneous, we would like to assure you that what has happened in the last couple of weeks is indeed a rare occurrence. We will be working internally to correct the events which caused the errors on this occasion and put measures in place to prevent them from occurring in the future.
If you still wish to travel on your chosen dates, we would recommend that you call the BA call centre on 0844 493 0787 to discuss availability on your chosen route with one of our staff as soon as possible. If you wish to make a new booking, we can arrange this on the telephone.
We do appreciate that this situation has caused you great inconvenience and can only apologise for the error which has occurred. We hope that you will choose to re-book on your chosen route so that you can travel on your intended date, as we do not wish to cause you any more inconvenience.
Whatever you choose to do, we sincerely hope that the above provides you with a satisfactory explanation of what happened at BA which caused you to complain, and you feel assured that we are taking steps to prevent this from happening again.
Over the past couple of weeks, BA has experienced some serious and extensive problems when filing first class fares both on its website and via other booking channels. This has led to a situation where, over a short period of time, first class fares from some points in Europe to various long haul destinations have been offered at erroneous fares which fell vastly below the actual fares for the bookings involved.
With regard to flights departing from Germany, the error occurred when the fares were inputted into the system from which fares are published globally. At that time, a "cut and paste" error was made which meant that the wrong fares were published against the wrong routes. Consequently, the prices and the routes shown did not match.
We note that you mention other fares have been offered on the BA website, which appear similar to that which you booked. However, as mentioned above, this problem occurred over a couple of weeks and included flights from various European departure points.
As soon as the error was noticed, we sought to correct it and to contact our customers to inform them of the error and cancellation of the booking. We appreciate that this did not happen immediately in some cases, however it happened as soon as possible after the error was noticed.
While we acknowledge your point, given what has happened, that it is difficult to know which fare offers are correct and which are erroneous, we would like to assure you that what has happened in the last couple of weeks is indeed a rare occurrence. We will be working internally to correct the events which caused the errors on this occasion and put measures in place to prevent them from occurring in the future.
If you still wish to travel on your chosen dates, we would recommend that you call the BA call centre on 0844 493 0787 to discuss availability on your chosen route with one of our staff as soon as possible. If you wish to make a new booking, we can arrange this on the telephone.
We do appreciate that this situation has caused you great inconvenience and can only apologise for the error which has occurred. We hope that you will choose to re-book on your chosen route so that you can travel on your intended date, as we do not wish to cause you any more inconvenience.
Whatever you choose to do, we sincerely hope that the above provides you with a satisfactory explanation of what happened at BA which caused you to complain, and you feel assured that we are taking steps to prevent this from happening again.
Sep 16, 2015, 1:38 am
#474
Moderator: British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Nov 2010
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It can also lead to a consistent message. Of course, it could be consistently wrong but - all other things being equal - a consistent response to the same question is to be encouraged.
Sep 16, 2015, 2:33 am
#475
Join Date: Nov 2014
Posts: 935
If you specifically asked about forex charges etc. then the least I would expect is a response addressing the issues raised and not some standard template that BA are pinging out to everyone. Whilst you might not agree with the contents of the response, at least BA are setting out their stall. With these standard responses, it forces BA to spend further time on the follow up that customers submit asking for clarification on the specifics.
Sep 18, 2015, 7:00 am
#477
Join Date: Mar 2015
Posts: 13
I also got this response .... which doesn't address my original questions in the slightest
Thank you for contacting us in relation to the above reference.
We do apologise for the short delay in our response to you, but we wanted to ensure that we had reviewed your complaint in detail so that we could respond to your correspondence in full.
Over the past couple of weeks, BA has experienced some serious and extensive problems when filing first class fares both on its website and via other booking channels. This has led to a situation where, over a short period of time, first class fares from some points in Europe to various long haul destinations have been offered at erroneous fares which fell vastly below the actual fares for the bookings involved.
With regard to flights departing from Germany, the error occurred when the fares were inputted into the system from which fares are published globally. At that time, a "cut and paste" error was made which meant that the wrong fares were published against the wrong routes. Consequently, the prices and the routes shown did not match.
As a result of the "cut and paste" error referred to above, the contract was not valid.
As soon as the error was noticed, we sought to correct it and to contact our customers to inform them of the error and cancellation of the booking. We appreciate that this did not happen immediately in some cases, however it happened as soon as possible after the error was noticed.
If you still wish to travel on your chosen dates, we would recommend that you call our BA contact centre on 0844 493 0787 to discuss availability on your chosen route with one of our staff as soon as possible. If you wish to make a new booking, we can arrange this on the telephone.
If, however, you choose not to travel at this time, given that the cancellation occurred as a result of a manifest error, we regret that we cannot reimburse any consequential losses for which you may claim. We suggest that you contact your travel insurance provider in this situation, who may be able to assist.
We do appreciate that this situation has caused you great inconvenience and can only apologise for the error which has occurred. We hope that you will choose to re-book on your chosen route so that you can travel on your intended date, as we do not wish to cause you any more inconvenience.
Whatever you choose to do, we sincerely hope that the above provides you with a satisfactory explanation of what happened at BA which caused you to complain, and you feel assured that we are taking steps to prevent this from happening again.
Best regards
Thank you for contacting us in relation to the above reference.
We do apologise for the short delay in our response to you, but we wanted to ensure that we had reviewed your complaint in detail so that we could respond to your correspondence in full.
Over the past couple of weeks, BA has experienced some serious and extensive problems when filing first class fares both on its website and via other booking channels. This has led to a situation where, over a short period of time, first class fares from some points in Europe to various long haul destinations have been offered at erroneous fares which fell vastly below the actual fares for the bookings involved.
With regard to flights departing from Germany, the error occurred when the fares were inputted into the system from which fares are published globally. At that time, a "cut and paste" error was made which meant that the wrong fares were published against the wrong routes. Consequently, the prices and the routes shown did not match.
As a result of the "cut and paste" error referred to above, the contract was not valid.
As soon as the error was noticed, we sought to correct it and to contact our customers to inform them of the error and cancellation of the booking. We appreciate that this did not happen immediately in some cases, however it happened as soon as possible after the error was noticed.
If you still wish to travel on your chosen dates, we would recommend that you call our BA contact centre on 0844 493 0787 to discuss availability on your chosen route with one of our staff as soon as possible. If you wish to make a new booking, we can arrange this on the telephone.
If, however, you choose not to travel at this time, given that the cancellation occurred as a result of a manifest error, we regret that we cannot reimburse any consequential losses for which you may claim. We suggest that you contact your travel insurance provider in this situation, who may be able to assist.
We do appreciate that this situation has caused you great inconvenience and can only apologise for the error which has occurred. We hope that you will choose to re-book on your chosen route so that you can travel on your intended date, as we do not wish to cause you any more inconvenience.
Whatever you choose to do, we sincerely hope that the above provides you with a satisfactory explanation of what happened at BA which caused you to complain, and you feel assured that we are taking steps to prevent this from happening again.
Best regards
Sep 22, 2015, 10:17 pm
#479
Join Date: Apr 2010
Programs: BA, SPG
Posts: 50
I hope for your sake that you don't fall victim to an aircraft substitution - these are becoming notorious with EY and their A380s. I was caught out myself in this regard already. Fingers crossed that my next one - also in the Apartments! - sticks.
Meaning that you expect it won't be occupied on your flight?
But yes, apparently if you mail in advance, and if it is unoccupied, they can give you a tour...though they seem to be restricting this to journalists/travel bloggers: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/etiha...residence.html
If you would like to tour a mock-up - and if you have Alitalia or Etihad status - visit the joint Etihad/Alitalia pavilion at Expo 2015 in Milan (till end October).
Meaning that you expect it won't be occupied on your flight?
But yes, apparently if you mail in advance, and if it is unoccupied, they can give you a tour...though they seem to be restricting this to journalists/travel bloggers: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/etiha...residence.html
If you would like to tour a mock-up - and if you have Alitalia or Etihad status - visit the joint Etihad/Alitalia pavilion at Expo 2015 in Milan (till end October).