Flame3601

BA not honouring the cheap first class fares to Ecuador that was posted about 2 days ago , they are "mistake fares" according to BA !?


(Ermm FYI my post was in another thread as a singular post , seems a mod has made it into a thread ? )

obduro

In fairness, c.Ł800 return to South America, from LHR, in F, is clearly a mistake. Win some, lose some.

KARFA

Come on, they are mistake fares. Anyway, there is extensive discussion on the threads on the premium fares board about the issue.

Tobias-UK

Quite, apparently it was a misfiled economy fare.

Blueboys999

That more or less less matches my own experience but I usually look to start my trips in DUB so no immigration issues in the US at all. In the past it also has tended to be much cheaper although the halcyon days of a couple of years ago may never return I fear.

Edgerfly

There was no way to know this Ecuador fare was a for sure a mistake fare. First off, plenty of time had lapsed before they announced it was a mistake. In addition BA/AA offered flights a year ago DUB-HNL for $600 in Premium cabins. Someone posted they flew BA F from DXB-AUS on BA F for $1200. BA often releases flash F sales at this time of the year. If you go right now on the premium fare deals forum there are plenty of fares you could pick out that you would think were mistake fares and they are not. There was no reason to assume this BA trip, which was half in J, wasn’t some flash sale. It’s not as cut and dry as some people are making it out to be.

So now BA just gets to arbitrarily cancel these itineraries because people got a good deal, and BA doesn’t like the fare they got? Well they shouldn’t have published the fare then. To make matters even more insulting, they didn’t even bother to acknowledge or take any responsibility for the mistake in the letter they sent out explaining they were cancelling tickets and insist they “aren’t responsible for money lost” as a result of them booking, confirming, and issuing these tickets. So people with repositioning tickets, hotels, and fees charged by travel agencies, at least according to BA, it’s the passengers problem.

But if I had wanted to cancel or change dates on this ticket, I would have been charged exuberant fees, however BA gets to just cancel the tickets and not reimburse anyone for anything. How is that fair in anyway?

Calchas

Inspection of the fare rules will reveal a lot of information about the fare.

mikeyfly

This is nonsense - the most recent DUB-HNL was approx 20 months ago for Ł1,100.

Ethics around BA's cancellation behaviour aside, this really was an obvious error fare.

rossmacd

Will you please give it a rest, we've heard you. Now take relevant legal action should you wish, or chalk it up to experience. This forum does not need to be littered with ongoing debate on these fares, errors or not. It has been done time and time again and always results in the same outcome.

Edgerfly

What about them? I don’t know about you, but I imagine 99.9% of people see a good deal and book it. They don’t comb over the fine print thinking BA is going to just cancel their ticket.

Think of the sweeping power this precedent now sets for BA. Booked a really good deal in any class of service on BA? Too bad, BA could cancel it anytime they want and claim it’s a mistake fare. This is not okay on any level. Let alone how rules and change fees apply to the customer, but when BA makes a mistake they don’t have to play by the same rules, and can just cancel your ticket if they feel like it. It totally strips passengers of any rights. Why does BA get to operate outside rules, and do as they please after a ticket has been confirmed and issued with a ticket number?

Edgerfly

And this fare was Ł797 and a shorter distance then DUB-HNL which was honored. So why would I assume this is a mistake fare?

Calchas

In England, the precedent was set in 1939. I imagine Seattle has a similar common law interpretation of mistakes. If it doesn't, bring your claim. Arguing about old dead fares is not productive.

Edgerfly

Nobody is arguing. I’m just showing people what a dangerous precedent this sets, and the abusive over reaching power it grants BA.

lost_in_translation

You're talking total rubbish. I imagine 99.9% *do not* just book an F fare that's the same price as economy normally is on the route without at least considering if it could be a mistake. There are also several reasons an airline can legally cancel an itinerary after it is ticketed, so that's a non-starter. I'm not even going to comment on the comedy hyperbole of 'it strips passengers of any rights'.

Good luck with your legal claim, I'd save your arguments for that rather than wasting your time arguing with people here over it.

Mods: would be great if someone could put all this discussion in a separate thread somewhere so that this thread can go back to highlighting good premium cabin deals!

Edgerfly

Understood. And my intentions are not to argue, or make anyone upset. All I want to do is show that the logic of BA can do as they please and cancel tickets whenever they feel like it, arbitrarily, is a dangerous precedent to set. I’ve made my point (I hope) and will not bother you any longer.

Cheers