Mistake fare LHR - TLV [Tickets now cancelled by BA]
#436
FlyerTalk Evangelist, Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Somewhere between 0 and 13,000 metres high
Programs: AF/KL Life Plat, BA GGL+GfL, ALL Plat, Hilton Diam, Marriott Gold, blablablah, etc
Posts: 30,540
This time, Wizz and VS have made an explicit choice to ridicule BA, and my sense is that they do so because their interpretation is that BA's stretch of the concept is beyond credibility. In other words, BA's attitude is a sufficient outlier (and it seems, from the point of view of competitors, sufficiently absurd and self-defeating) that they have choose to break from habit and have a go at BA on that new front (don't take me wrong, VS happily targets BA and vice versa, but as far as I know, not on the handling of error fares).
On the other hand, the "pledge" by VS that if they do make an error, they will honour the fares is an interesting and a brave one. Obviously, like all other sellers, they are protected by law in case of genuine manifest errors (unlike this one), and this tweet could be read as their seemingly volunteering to recuse such protection in the future should they ever need it. Of course, if they have a true manifest error, they might "forget" their pledge, but if so I'm sure that BA will not hesitate to use this against them. Or maybe they have made a commercial decision that they want to be seen as the "fair" British airline (fair play, after all, is seen across the world as an eminently British quality and British Airways is proving once again that this is a part of the tradition that they do not consider theirs in any shape or form) and that they would indeed honour mistake fares if they ever occur. If so, I too would love to be a little fly in the room having heard the discussion that took place before they chose to include that little footnote.
#437
Join Date: Aug 2013
Posts: 8,771
On the other hand, the "pledge" by VS that if they do make an error, they will honour the fares is an interesting and a brave one. Obviously, like all other sellers, they are protected by law in case of genuine manifest errors (unlike this one), and this tweet could be read as their seemingly volunteering to recuse such protection in the future should they ever need it. Of course, if they have a true manifest error, they might "forget" their pledge, but if so I'm sure that BA will not hesitate to use this against them. Or maybe they have made a commercial decision that they want to be seen as the "fair" British airline (fair play, after all, is seen across the world as an eminently British quality and British Airways is proving once again that this is a part of the tradition that they do not consider theirs in any shape or form) and that they would indeed honour mistake fares if they ever occur. If so, I too would love to be a little fly in the room having heard the discussion that took place before they chose to include that little footnote.
#438
FlyerTalk Evangelist, Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Somewhere between 0 and 13,000 metres high
Programs: AF/KL Life Plat, BA GGL+GfL, ALL Plat, Hilton Diam, Marriott Gold, blablablah, etc
Posts: 30,540
I don't think it's BA so much as customers that would use it against them. At the risk of pouring fresh fuel on our already burnt out legal discussion (), that tweet has the strong whiff of a unilateral offer. As a customer I'd be pretty confident relying on it, at least within a year or so.
#439
Join Date: Sep 2013
Programs: BAEC Gold, EK Skywards (enhanced Blue !), Oman Air Sindbad Gold
Posts: 6,399
You would like to think current-day management are aware of just how horribly it ended for BA last time ; but perhaps their memories don’t stretch back that far !
#444
FlyerTalk Evangelist, Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Somewhere between 0 and 13,000 metres high
Programs: AF/KL Life Plat, BA GGL+GfL, ALL Plat, Hilton Diam, Marriott Gold, blablablah, etc
Posts: 30,540
Do BA really want to even contemplate the thought of getting themselves involved in any sort of spat (again) with Virgin .......
You would like to think current-day management are aware of just how horribly it ended for BA last time ; but perhaps their memories don’t stretch back that far !
#447
Join Date: May 2017
Posts: 2,280
On the other hand, the "pledge" by VS that if they do make an error, they will honour the fares is an interesting and a brave one. Obviously, like all other sellers, they are protected by law in case of genuine manifest errors (unlike this one), and this tweet could be read as their seemingly volunteering to recuse such protection in the future should they ever need it. Of course, if they have a true manifest error, they might "forget" their pledge, but if so I'm sure that BA will not hesitate to use this against them. Or maybe they have made a commercial decision that they want to be seen as the "fair" British airline (fair play, after all, is seen across the world as an eminently British quality and British Airways is proving once again that this is a part of the tradition that they do not consider theirs in any shape or form) and that they would indeed honour mistake fares if they ever occur. If so, I too would love to be a little fly in the room having heard the discussion that took place before they chose to include that little footnote.
#448
FlyerTalk Evangelist, Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Somewhere between 0 and 13,000 metres high
Programs: AF/KL Life Plat, BA GGL+GfL, ALL Plat, Hilton Diam, Marriott Gold, blablablah, etc
Posts: 30,540
I agree that BA's self-evaluated record on that front is abysmal and suggests some truly sloppy work from the fare input team (and even more inexcusable if it apparently affects fares in major currencies including your own according to them), but I think that any company feeling certain that it will never make any error would be dangerously arrogant.
#449
Join Date: Aug 2013
Posts: 8,771
I agree that BA's self-evaluated record on that front is abysmal and suggests some truly sloppy work from the fare input team (and even more inexcusable if it apparently affects fares in major currencies including your own according to them), but I think that any company feeling certain that it will never make any error would be dangerously arrogant.
Alitalia had one of those a year or so ago where people could book pretty much any airline and any route they wanted. If VS were to face something like that, and have to honour it, it would I imagine be pretty expensive.
#450
Join Date: Nov 2014
Posts: 250
I can’t actually think of a time where VS have screwed up their pricing. They had some very cheap fares earlier in the year, sub £1,000 for UC to the US and then a connecting DL flight. Was it a cheap fare or a mistake? If the latter, they have honoured them.
Granted, I guess it’s a lot easier managing five routes versus the magnitude of BAs network.
Granted, I guess it’s a lot easier managing five routes versus the magnitude of BAs network.