Mistake fare LHR - TLV [Tickets now cancelled by BA]
Jun 20, 2018, 11:24 am
#316
Join Date: Jan 2018
Location: Sapporo, Japan
Programs: Junior Jet Club, Nando's Card 1 Red Chilli, Tesco Clubcard, BAEC Gold, TK M&S Elite
Posts: 520
Jun 20, 2018, 11:45 am
#317
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Amsterdam
Programs: A3, BA, OZ,
Posts: 1,098
The biggest thing I take away from this is that BA is defending their decision by making the argument that any average consumer should know that a BA flight would never be offered for a mere 150% of the price of their competitors. Doesn't seem like the best PR strategy to me...
Jun 20, 2018, 11:47 am
#318
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: London, UK
Programs: BAGGL, A3G, Accor Gold, Hilton Diamond, IHG Diamond, LHW Sterling
Posts: 1,308
I find a few things interesting about this whole fiasco (putting aside my own ticket cancellation for a moment).
- I think we can all see that the commercial decision for BA in this case about whether to honour or not probably looked marginal for whoever was making it. They came down on the side of short term revenue protection. I don't know the figures, but we are talking I think, in the grand scheme of things, a relatively small saving for the airline. Against some loss of goodwill, and some PR cost (which is hard to estimate to be fair but may increase more before it dies down). I'm not sure all airlines would have decided this way.
- But what i find more interesting, now I have seen that letter (thank you to the poster!), is another potential fail on recovery. I find it strange that the company would be happy, having taken a tough line commercially, to outsource all communication about this issue and the implementation of a clunky service recovery mechanism with their (already in some cases angry/upset) customers to a number of third parties. In these kind of situations, customers need clear transparent communication and as we can see from some of these posts, they don't seem in control of this.
I can only assume that whoever made the decision is somewhat distant from the implementation, which I suspect will continue to be less than satisfactory. I wonder if it may give rise to further loss of goodwill in some customers and potentially more negative press.
- I think we can all see that the commercial decision for BA in this case about whether to honour or not probably looked marginal for whoever was making it. They came down on the side of short term revenue protection. I don't know the figures, but we are talking I think, in the grand scheme of things, a relatively small saving for the airline. Against some loss of goodwill, and some PR cost (which is hard to estimate to be fair but may increase more before it dies down). I'm not sure all airlines would have decided this way.
- But what i find more interesting, now I have seen that letter (thank you to the poster!), is another potential fail on recovery. I find it strange that the company would be happy, having taken a tough line commercially, to outsource all communication about this issue and the implementation of a clunky service recovery mechanism with their (already in some cases angry/upset) customers to a number of third parties. In these kind of situations, customers need clear transparent communication and as we can see from some of these posts, they don't seem in control of this.
I can only assume that whoever made the decision is somewhat distant from the implementation, which I suspect will continue to be less than satisfactory. I wonder if it may give rise to further loss of goodwill in some customers and potentially more negative press.
Jun 20, 2018, 12:08 pm
#319
Join Date: Aug 2013
Posts: 8,761
The biggest thing I take away from this is that BA is defending their decision by making the argument that any average consumer should know that a BA flight would never be offered for a mere 150% of the price of their competitors. Doesn't seem like the best PR strategy to me...
Jun 20, 2018, 12:23 pm
#320
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: London, UK
Programs: BA Gold; Marriott Plat
Posts: 147
I bought a flight to LAS in the January sale through an OTA that was -£5 plus taxes and charges, which I won't be flying until later in the year.
I'm very tempted to use this as an example to prove this fare can't be considered as manifestly incorrect, but do I then risk my LAS flight being cancelled...
I'm very tempted to use this as an example to prove this fare can't be considered as manifestly incorrect, but do I then risk my LAS flight being cancelled...
Jun 20, 2018, 12:38 pm
#321
Join Date: Aug 2013
Posts: 8,761
I bought a flight to LAS in the January sale through an OTA that was -£5 plus taxes and charges, which I won't be flying until later in the year.
I'm very tempted to use this as an example to prove this fare can't be considered as manifestly incorrect, but do I then risk my LAS flight being cancelled...
I'm very tempted to use this as an example to prove this fare can't be considered as manifestly incorrect, but do I then risk my LAS flight being cancelled...
If it were to get to court proceedings and BA filed a defence citing the negative fare, you could then use your example to rebut that.
Of course, any claim would be dependent on you having genuinely believed it was a genuine fare when you booked. If you were alerted to it by this thread, that will be a lot harder than if you weren't.
Jun 20, 2018, 12:39 pm
#322
Join Date: Mar 2010
Posts: 1,752
I bought a flight to LAS in the January sale through an OTA that was -£5 plus taxes and charges, which I won't be flying until later in the year.
I'm very tempted to use this as an example to prove this fare can't be considered as manifestly incorrect, but do I then risk my LAS flight being cancelled...
I'm very tempted to use this as an example to prove this fare can't be considered as manifestly incorrect, but do I then risk my LAS flight being cancelled...
-£35 plus taxes to EWR later this year. Another example.
Jun 20, 2018, 12:59 pm
#323
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: London
Programs: BA Gold
Posts: 1,345
This is also now on the daily mail website, British Airways comes under fire after cancelling cheap tickets generated by a glitch | Daily Mail Online, not that I read the daily mail of course
Jun 20, 2018, 1:50 pm
#326
Join Date: Jul 2008
Programs: *A
Posts: 1,390
Jun 20, 2018, 2:15 pm
#328
Join Date: Sep 2013
Programs: BAEC Gold, EK Skywards (enhanced Blue !), Oman Air Sindbad Gold
Posts: 6,398
This is also now on the daily mail website, British Airways comes under fire after cancelling cheap tickets generated by a glitch Daily Mail Online, not that I read the daily mail of course
The most recent industry figures quote a monthly readership of only 31 million or so. Nothing for BA to worry about.
Jun 20, 2018, 2:21 pm
#329
Moderator: Qatar Airways
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: LHR/NCE/MIA
Programs: BAEC GfL & GGL, SQ Gold, Amex Centurion, Mucci des Chevaliers des Bons Mots et Qui Savent Moucher
Posts: 8,947
Jun 20, 2018, 2:32 pm
#330
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: London, UK
Programs: BAGGL, A3G, Accor Gold, Hilton Diamond, IHG Diamond, LHW Sterling
Posts: 1,308
This is also now on the daily mail website, British Airways comes under fire after cancelling cheap tickets generated by a glitch Daily Mail Online, not that I read the daily mail of course