Help - opinion on BA's attitude
Feb 1, 2016, 3:44 am
#31
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I've had some serious issues with BA recently and their service recovery has been appalling these past 6 months or so. I seriously considered taking them to Small Claims Court over one of my issues.
Not that this applies to OP, of course, as (s)he was in the wrong here, BUT I can't help but wonder if the BA of 18 months ago might have had a different stance on the issue afterwards.
Feb 1, 2016, 4:38 am
#32
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- be logical in the rule: frankly, who can't make a simple distinction between trying to fly another time/day (exchange) and being caught in traffic trying to make it to the airport?
I still believe a good answer would have been "we try to accommodate passengers caught in traffic whenever possible, but we can't guarantee it for logical operational reasons. We're sorry we couldn't do it this time [explain here why they couldn't accept me on board the flight that was more delayed than me]. Here is a little symbolic stuff to share the pain and get yourself a bigger buffer next time".
The guys writing the contract cannot accommodate for all cases in a commercial/human way, better leave it to front staff to use their best judgment.
I still believe a good answer would have been "we try to accommodate passengers caught in traffic whenever possible, but we can't guarantee it for logical operational reasons. We're sorry we couldn't do it this time [explain here why they couldn't accept me on board the flight that was more delayed than me]. Here is a little symbolic stuff to share the pain and get yourself a bigger buffer next time".
The guys writing the contract cannot accommodate for all cases in a commercial/human way, better leave it to front staff to use their best judgment.
And as it happens, the last paragraph is exactly what is already in place: airport staff do have some margin although AA are the exception and in their case, it is the reservation team which has that same margin of manoeuvre that other airlines only award to their airport staff. What happened here, however, is that clearly AA, which was the operating airline and therefore is the only one which could do that - was effectively not willing to do that with an award ticket issued by another airline and because this was the last flight of the day. "Best judgement" is just that: it means that it does not necessarily go the way that we want and that there is certainly no guarantee that it will be.
As for the "token" you are requesting, again, why should BAEC compensate your missing your AA flight? The part that you are missing is that in the context of an award ticket, BAEC (or others) are merely acting as travel agents issuing a ticket. If the flight is missed and the ticket lost, the operating airline is not going to refund the cost to the TA, rather the ticket is lost and the money stays in the airline's pocket. It is exactly the same here. Your avios were paid (in the form of an agreed notional financial compensation) by BAEC to AA and stays in BA's pocket.
In other words, if this was not an avios ticket but, say, a cash ticket that you had bought on Expedia, and you similarly miss the flight and AA says that the ticket is lost. Would you expect Expedia to pay you some compensation of sort as a "token" aimed at mitigating your loss? If yes, good luck with getting it. If not, then there is absolutely no reason why it should be different with BAEC as the situation is the exact same!
Feb 1, 2016, 11:22 am
#33
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I had a similar problem happen. I was catching a plane and the train lines broke down on the way to the airport. Long story short I finally caught a cab but I arrived five minutes after the check-in closed. Even though the plane was also delayed, they wouldn't do anything for me. I ended up rebooking the ticket to a later date at a huge surcharge (which then they charged me more than they said they would) and purchased another ticket on another airline to get me to my destination the next day.
After all the calls to British Airways that took 45 minutes to connect (wasting at least 10 hours in total) and getting totally screwed out of an additional $1200 for a ticket I had already purchased, I vowed never again to pay for a British Airways flight (the only exception being those operated by OpenSkies). That was two years ago, and I have kept my promise. (Which reminds me, need to change my profile as I'm no longer BA Silver!)
After all the calls to British Airways that took 45 minutes to connect (wasting at least 10 hours in total) and getting totally screwed out of an additional $1200 for a ticket I had already purchased, I vowed never again to pay for a British Airways flight (the only exception being those operated by OpenSkies). That was two years ago, and I have kept my promise. (Which reminds me, need to change my profile as I'm no longer BA Silver!)
Feb 1, 2016, 3:06 pm
#34
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2010
Posts: 16
Funny coincidence. Such as having my flight diverted to the capital of Nigeria, having BA take my passport, put me in a hotel, and forget me there without insurance or passport, and having to grab a cab to chase their buses. Good fun in a way, as everything went OK. But could have gone badly wrong if controlled by the police or anything...
Last edited by PeyoNYC; Feb 1, 2016 at 3:39 pm Reason: Mistake
Feb 1, 2016, 3:37 pm
#35
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2010
Posts: 16
Feb 1, 2016, 3:42 pm
#36
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2010
Posts: 16
But that is exactly what insurance is for: passengers who do not really want to change their travel date but are stuck in traffic against their will and miss their flight.
And as it happens, the last paragraph is exactly what is already in place: airport staff do have some margin although AA are the exception and in their case, it is the reservation team which has that same margin of manoeuvre that other airlines only award to their airport staff. What happened here, however, is that clearly AA, which was the operating airline and therefore is the only one which could do that - was effectively not willing to do that with an award ticket issued by another airline and because this was the last flight of the day. "Best judgement" is just that: it means that it does not necessarily go the way that we want and that there is certainly no guarantee that it will be.
As for the "token" you are requesting, again, why should BAEC compensate your missing your AA flight? The part that you are missing is that in the context of an award ticket, BAEC (or others) are merely acting as travel agents issuing a ticket. If the flight is missed and the ticket lost, the operating airline is not going to refund the cost to the TA, rather the ticket is lost and the money stays in the airline's pocket. It is exactly the same here. Your avios were paid (in the form of an agreed notional financial compensation) by BAEC to AA and stays in BA's pocket.
In other words, if this was not an avios ticket but, say, a cash ticket that you had bought on Expedia, and you similarly miss the flight and AA says that the ticket is lost. Would you expect Expedia to pay you some compensation of sort as a "token" aimed at mitigating your loss? If yes, good luck with getting it. If not, then there is absolutely no reason why it should be different with BAEC as the situation is the exact same!
And as it happens, the last paragraph is exactly what is already in place: airport staff do have some margin although AA are the exception and in their case, it is the reservation team which has that same margin of manoeuvre that other airlines only award to their airport staff. What happened here, however, is that clearly AA, which was the operating airline and therefore is the only one which could do that - was effectively not willing to do that with an award ticket issued by another airline and because this was the last flight of the day. "Best judgement" is just that: it means that it does not necessarily go the way that we want and that there is certainly no guarantee that it will be.
As for the "token" you are requesting, again, why should BAEC compensate your missing your AA flight? The part that you are missing is that in the context of an award ticket, BAEC (or others) are merely acting as travel agents issuing a ticket. If the flight is missed and the ticket lost, the operating airline is not going to refund the cost to the TA, rather the ticket is lost and the money stays in the airline's pocket. It is exactly the same here. Your avios were paid (in the form of an agreed notional financial compensation) by BAEC to AA and stays in BA's pocket.
In other words, if this was not an avios ticket but, say, a cash ticket that you had bought on Expedia, and you similarly miss the flight and AA says that the ticket is lost. Would you expect Expedia to pay you some compensation of sort as a "token" aimed at mitigating your loss? If yes, good luck with getting it. If not, then there is absolutely no reason why it should be different with BAEC as the situation is the exact same!
http://www.britishairways.com/en-us/information/partners-and-alliances/our-transatlantic-joint-business
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/4045cd5c-d175-11df-96d1-00144feabdc0.html#axzz3yxUc8D00
Feb 1, 2016, 4:10 pm
#37
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As far as I know, BA and AA transatlantic flights are a joint venture. When you buy a ticket on whatever airline (which I did) from any other airline of the group, the revenue is shared among members of the JV. Nothing comparable to a travel agent in that case.
http://www.britishairways.com/en-us/...joint-business
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/4045c...#axzz3yxUc8D00
http://www.britishairways.com/en-us/...joint-business
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/4045c...#axzz3yxUc8D00
Feb 4, 2016, 4:29 pm
#38
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2010
Posts: 16
Actually, unless I am mistaken, I think that this has zero impact on award tickets. The cost of an award on AA will go to AA regardless of whether it applies to flights on JV routes or not. Moreover, at the risk of stating the obvious, BAEC is an autonomous entity from BA. So it is, very much BAEC acting as a travel agent.