RamsayTT

Evening All,

Firstly just like to say hello - I have been lurking on FT for some months now and the amount of knowledge on here is phenomenal.

So what finally made me pull my finger out and register? Well I need to pick your brains about a situation I am in with an up and coming Ex-Dub booking in November.

We are going DUB->LHR->JFK/YYZ->LHR->DUB.

When I made the booking we were flying Aer Lingus to LHR and then CW/CE the rest of the way. As Aer Lingus don't have a business cabin on the DUB->LHR it was auto selected as Euro Traveller (or the AL equivalent) at the time of booking (No biggy I thought).

Then the cancellation happened. The DUB to LHR flight was cancelled and we were auto rebooked on a flight that arrived in LHR after the one to JFK left. So a quick call to BA sorted this one out for us.

We are now flying BA from DUB to LHR but when it was rebooked we were booked into the Euro Traveller cabin again. I thought as we are now flying BA would be moved up into the CE cabin as this is where we would have been if we booked this flight originally. So I called back BA and they were not too sure about it so they said they would send it to their ticketing office to see what they say. Anyways I have now been changed to CE which is grand.

However, this is were it now gets complicated as my Folks are coming too on a separate booking and are in the exact same situation with the exception of BA wont change their tickets to CE for the DUB-LHR leg as they say they have been allocated correctly as per their original booking class??????

So what's my question(s)?

Well:
1) Was I right in my original assumption that we should have been put into CE automatically?
2) Have I just simply been upgraded and tough luck to my folks?
3) If I am unable to get my Folks into the CE cabin, do they still get priority checking/boarding/security etc? After all it is only a 1hr-ish flight so it is not the end of the world where they sit on the plane but if getting through the airport can be made easier then that would be nice.

Thanks in advance

RTT

KARFA

Strictly speaking the original booking class was economy, and the rebooking is in to economy. They seem to have amended that for you but I don't think it should be expected unfortunately. Whilst you are right you could have booked on BA in CE originally you didn't do that,even though it would have been a option.

RamsayTT

Thanks KARFA. Do you know if they will still get the Priority boarding etc?

I know if I am on a CW ticket from Glasgow I get all the benefits on the ground even though there is no Club cabin on the UK domestic. I am just unsure how it will work as it is not outbound from UK.

Cheers,

RTT

Anonba

You were wrong in your first assumption,rebooking is like for like cabin which in this case should be economy.

Its this bit i find most interesting:

"they would send it to their ticketing office to see what they say"

***** if this is what the agent said its unfortunately incorrect.

Agents would ask a manager a question about if rebooking a certain way doing something discretionary was possible.

The E-ticketing/fares team do what they say on the tin,they arent the ones that would give authorisation to do something like this and would just send the booking back asking the agent to speak to a manager.

It sounds as though you were either speaking to a new inexperienced agent or an agent in India.

Until this is reissued i would say theres high probability it hasn't actually been done, as the agent has made a mistake if they have rebooked as you said.

RamsayTT

Thanks Anonba. It is great having people on here with the insider knowledge.

You are correct it was not quite as simple as I made out. What happened was he disappeared for a couple of minutes (no idea what happened in this time) and came back to say that he was going to forward it to the ticketing team but they didn't open till 8am so he was going to call them at that point but he did say it was at that team's discretion as to whether it would be changed. My tickets numbers have been re-issued however and CE is now visible in MMB.

I think I will put the whole thing down to a bit of good luck for me (not so much for my folks) however for a 1hr-ish flight it is nothing to really get tied up in knots over.

I just wanted to make sure that what we were being told from BA for my folk's booking was correct, which it appears to be. It turns out it is my booking that has gone awry slightly. There's irony for you!

Thanks,

RTT

crazy8534

Sadly for them, they will not get fast track security access, lounge access (as the DAA lounge at DUB is 3rd party- if it was oneworld then they could get access on the basis of same day onward connection in CW) or priority boarding at DUB. You could guest them to priority boarding or the lounge if you had status. Not to worry, they are not missing much and of course will be able to enjoy the facilities at LHR before the JFK flight. Enjoy your trip!

Virazuno

Unless they have status, don't think they'd get priority security. And whilst they'd officially get access to a oneworld/BA-operated lounge on the virtue of same-day connecting Business travel, there are unfortunately no oneworld lounges at DUB (until Aer Lingus are fully integrated).

Get them exit row seats in ET. Will probably be nicer than row 2 onwards CE anyway...

Edit: crazy8534 beat me, by a minute!

madfish

Surely if your flight was cancelled you could have looked to claim a full refund and simply rebooked, assuming of course that similar fares are still available?

corporate-wage-slave

I can't add anything to the expert guidance already provided, however I do need to welcome you to Flyertalk RamsayTT and the BA board. It's good to see you here. And despite the slightly annoying rebooking situation, I hope your trip goes well and is enjoyable. I'm sure you've had a look at the Dublin logistics guide, which on the rare occasions it isn't on the front page is available via the Dashboard.

RamsayTT

We probably could have done but I didn't even take this into consideration at the time. Oh well, I know for next time.

Thanks Crazy8534 & you will get them next time Virazumo.

I am looking forward to the trip and it is my folks first time in CW so we are going to take time to use all the facilities rather than just rush through.

And yes I am going to be all over the Dublin Logistics Guide, Corporate-wage-slave. Thanks for the welcome.

RTT

scottishpoet

when you fly CW from Glasgow you are booked into "business UK" which is why you get the benefits

Calchas

Does this remain the case if the fare would have permitted a higher class had it been available or offered?

Anonba

[QUOTE=Calchas;26120020]Does this remain the case if the fare would have permitted a higher class had it been available or offered?[/

Just because something could have been booked doesn't mean BA would rebook any different than originally booked if there is a cancellation.

I would say imagine this scenario:

Club is sold out on a flight you book WTP this flight is cancelled then you are rebooked to a flight where club is available. So you only paid for WTP but you ask to be rebooked into Club. BA wouldn't give you a free upgrade in this scenario and would only book you into WTP. This is the basic principle of it.

Equally there are other scenarios such as booking WTP on Moscow or Tel Aviv to have a flight schedule changed or cancelled and then only one of A319 or A320s (sorry cant remember which of top of my head) two class available to rebook to.

BA wouldnt "upgrade" you to Club Europe you would be downgraded to ET or rebooked to a flight which had WTP.

Anonba

I suspect there is a possibility whoever rebooked didnt realise DUB is a two class service and rebooked into a higher booking class such like J C D R I which are still used on UK donestic flights.