Mistake fare LHR - TLV [Tickets now cancelled by BA]
Jun 20, 2018, 6:07 am
#271
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Bristol
Programs: BA GGL, UA Plat, DL Plat, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 2,380
There are people on here who would buy scores at a time I'm sure if they thought the numbers worked !!!
Jun 20, 2018, 6:08 am
#272
Join Date: Mar 2014
Programs: BAEC Gold, IHG Spire Elite
Posts: 289
BA isn't just giving up a seat on an aircraft for cheap, they're literally going to pay money to someone else for you to travel, on top of the loss for not selling that seat to someone who could potentially make them actual revenue.
Jun 20, 2018, 6:10 am
#273
Join Date: Aug 2012
Posts: 84
There seems to be some confusion about these vouchers. I cannot confirm any of these statements but this is gossip on the grapevine
1. Some OTA arent offering them at all. I dont know if they are keeping them or they haven't received the info from BA
2. People where told that it has to be use for the exact same route.
3. The voucher is not stack-able. Ie if you booked for a fam but want to use it for yourself, you cant.
4. Its only valid for one month
5 You are stuck to the same OTA that you booked with. For better or worse.
If the above statements are true I think BA are being disingenuous and trying fob us off with a voucher that you have to loop the loop to be able to use. Imho this is more of a news story than the cancellation. Its definitely more iresome to see the headlines and receive emails saying that they will 'compensate us' as a gesture of goodwill.
Giving us a voucher that is practically very hard to use is a sham.
Jun 20, 2018, 6:15 am
#274
Join Date: Aug 2013
Posts: 8,770
Whilst I understand that point, it's not as though the fare was clearly so low (like some of the sub £1K F fares that we've seen in the past) as to be a mistake fare. If I'd booked something which was clearly an error fare in the hope of getting away with it, I'd be fairly relaxed about it being cancelled. If I booked something which I regarded as being a decent deal like this (and as has been pointed out above, it's not a dissimilar fare from some of BA's competitors), I would be irritated by this response, particularly if I'd booked other parts of the trip such as hotels.
If I hadn't known, and had booked, I would certainly consider pursuing this one.
Jun 20, 2018, 6:30 am
#276
Join Date: May 2012
Location: Munich, Algarve, Sussex or S.F Bay Area
Programs: Mucci, BA Gold, A3*Gold, AA Plat, HH Gold, IHG Plat Amb, Marriott Plat
Posts: 4,163
I really do not understand BA's logic here. Surely the cost of the flights plus the GBP 100 per person goodwill they are offering is more than the discounted price of these tickets would have been anyway. The error was that the journey was in the booking class B which is fairly flexible, that's all. BA can only get bad PR from this. Cancelling a ticket at a fare point higher than other airlines regularlay charge for the same journey can in no way be deemed manifestly incorrect and I urge people who bought these tickets to pursue BA through whatever means.
I saw this pricing and also the label of "mistake fare" and can remember thinking, "that's not that cheap, probably just a flash sale" and "I still wouldn't sit in a BA Y seat for 5 hours for that price".
I saw this pricing and also the label of "mistake fare" and can remember thinking, "that's not that cheap, probably just a flash sale" and "I still wouldn't sit in a BA Y seat for 5 hours for that price".
Jun 20, 2018, 6:31 am
#277
Join Date: Oct 2016
Location: London
Programs: BAEC Gold
Posts: 408
It made it onto the Independent yesterday - https://www.independent.co.uk/travel...-a8406636.html
Jun 20, 2018, 6:54 am
#279
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: Montreux CH
Programs: FB Platinum, M&M FTL, BA Blue
Posts: 11,622
And to the BBC:
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-44546400
My apologies if already posted, but I haven’t been following the story in great detail. Although I think this business of deciding what is and what is not an error fare is a very dodgy area. That means, if you simply pick up a special offer, they can simply turn around and cancel it if they feel like it. I flew to Abu Dhabi for €72 with Alitalia (round trip) and at no stage of the trip was it questioned or considered an error fare but it was seen as a special offer that I was lucky enough to have been able to get.
Similarly when I flew GVA-CPH-GVA on LX for CHF69 round trip in Business, it was an offer that lasted for one hour, clearly indicated on their site (similar for my trip a couple months ago from Zurich to Sion and back for CHF58 in Economy, cheaper than the SBB train, which was bookable for one day last August 1st).
All this to show that it is a very grey area indeed for the airlines, such as BA, to tell you that you knowingly booked a fare that was incorrect and therefore your ticket is not valid. En plus, they are so damn profitable that they could easily honour it and earn back a bit of much needed goodwill these days.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-44546400
My apologies if already posted, but I haven’t been following the story in great detail. Although I think this business of deciding what is and what is not an error fare is a very dodgy area. That means, if you simply pick up a special offer, they can simply turn around and cancel it if they feel like it. I flew to Abu Dhabi for €72 with Alitalia (round trip) and at no stage of the trip was it questioned or considered an error fare but it was seen as a special offer that I was lucky enough to have been able to get.
Similarly when I flew GVA-CPH-GVA on LX for CHF69 round trip in Business, it was an offer that lasted for one hour, clearly indicated on their site (similar for my trip a couple months ago from Zurich to Sion and back for CHF58 in Economy, cheaper than the SBB train, which was bookable for one day last August 1st).
All this to show that it is a very grey area indeed for the airlines, such as BA, to tell you that you knowingly booked a fare that was incorrect and therefore your ticket is not valid. En plus, they are so damn profitable that they could easily honour it and earn back a bit of much needed goodwill these days.
Jun 20, 2018, 7:05 am
#281
Suspended
Join Date: Mar 2014
Programs: Regarded as total and utter snob amongst the BAEC community.
Posts: 971
SIA at least honour their tickets in these cases.
https://www.businesstraveller.com/ne...usiness-fares/
https://www.businesstraveller.com/ne...usiness-fares/
Jun 20, 2018, 7:06 am
#282
Join Date: Jun 2018
Programs: BA
Posts: 5
Im beginning to think that this so called compensation voucher of £100.00 is just a way of keeping the TA happy. The fact you need to use the same TA is a bit odd, and seems TA are putting up their prices when you mention the voucher. I was also told when trying to book with the voucher that it needs to be to the same destination.
Regarding the "incorrect fare" I was told by the TA it was a BA sale. Now they have my money for 21 WORKING days!
Regarding the "incorrect fare" I was told by the TA it was a BA sale. Now they have my money for 21 WORKING days!
Jun 20, 2018, 7:14 am
#283
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: AMS
Programs: BAEC Silver, Flying Blue Gold, TK M&S Nobody
Posts: 2,481
I presume the decision to cancel must have been due to volume of sales - both in terms of close-in cheap fares v keeping stock for higher priced tickets, and in terms of the Avios/TP cost for those fares booked further out since the actual price + £100 voucher isn't all that different from the cheapest fares.
Jun 20, 2018, 7:18 am
#284
Join Date: Aug 2014
Programs: BA GGL, CR
Posts: 193
For the lawyers out there, there was a recent Court of Appeal case on the meaning of "manifest error". I'm simplifying, but essentially, its a question of fact and is an error that is obvious or easily demonstrable without extensive investigation. Personally, I don't think this was obvious - travel agents were selling the fare in the clear belief that they thought it genuine.
Jun 20, 2018, 8:25 am
#285
Join Date: Nov 2017
Posts: 3,061
For the lawyers out there, there was a recent Court of Appeal case on the meaning of "manifest error". I'm simplifying, but essentially, its a question of fact and is an error that is obvious or easily demonstrable without extensive investigation. Personally, I don't think this was obvious - travel agents were selling the fare in the clear belief that they thought it genuine.
The rules exist to let airlines off the hook for 'genuine' mistakes that cause them significant hardship. They should also be willing to stump up when they make a small boo-boo, and not be allowed a get-out card just because they decide they don't like something they've done.