NJ_North

I filed a complaint/compensation request with BA on Aug. 6 for an incident that happened on Aug. 5.
I purchased Iberia’s Premium Economy tickets for my family of 4 on BA.com for our trip to Spain. The journey of JFK-MAD went smoothly but back home journey went wrong. We arrived at MAD and found that this flight was overbooked and we were stand-bys. We waited the gate. When finally two gate agents appeared, they didn’t make any announcements for volunteers during the entire pre-boarding and boarding processes. They issued my family 2 tickets, though the lady agent said 3 people could board but she never gave us the 3rd ticket. If we agreed to board, my younger daughter would be the one remaining. Since we had to transfer at the Heathrow Airport and didn’t know what would happen, we declined to board.
We went to Iberia Customer Service counter at the same terminal. The agents spent 2-3 hours to locate flights. One female agent told us that they would only give us 2 Premium Economy tickets and the other 2 tickets would be economy for the Heathrow-JFK flight. She also told us that we could file claim for compensation online.
Now at the gate for JFK flight – Before boarding I checked with the agents if there’re PE seats available, but they didn’t seem to care and just brushed me off. After we boarded the plane, my daughter came from the PE section and told me that there’re 2 PE seats unoccupied. So I approached the crew manager, a very nice gentleman. He came back and said that he couldn’t help me but he would report the issue. A long while after my husband and I were already settled down, an attendant, while distributing drinks, jokingly said that we could move to the PE section. No, we didn’t go. It’s a humiliating experience.
I filed the complaint/claim the next day after we got home. It’s more than a month. I’ve used BA.com to request for update, but haven’t heard anything back. Can someone advise what to do now?

nufnuf77

This is unfortunate, but you need to claim refund under eu261, specifically asking for this.

Often1

Your post is confusing and way too long, but is missing a critical detail. What airline operated the overbooked flight which apparently resulted in all of the ensuing problems? Was it BA or IB?

If IB, your complaint must be filed with IB.

Either way, if your complaint is as long as the post above, it may never get attention. Claims under EC 261/2004 should be 2-3 short declarative sentences because the right to compensation or a refund is typically based on a very specific set of facts.

highpeaklad

NJ_North

I sincerely appreciate your advice.

schrodingerdog

If I have understood you correctly, you were booked to fly JFK-MAD-JFK on IB (bought on BA.com), 4 pax.

Then, you got denied boarding (due to overbooking) on the return MAD-JFK leg, and finally rebooked MAD-LHR-JFK, two in PE, two in Eco.

If that is correct, your claim needs to be directed to IB (operating carrier). BA will do nothing.

You'll need to fill this complaint form:
https://www.iberia.com/us/customer-relations/
Stating the basic facts (you were booked in flight IBXXXX on XXday, were denied boarding due to overbooking etc etc etc). Don't bother writing long paragraphs, they'll ignore it anyway.
You are due to be paid EUR600 x 4 (denied boarding) plus two partial refunds for the downgrade from PE to Eco. Cite to them EU261 regulation.

The most common ocurrence is that they will ignore your claim and send you a random note. Do not get angry or reply to them, just fill a claim with the Spanish Air Aviation Authority here
https://sede.seguridadaerea.gob.es/S...aspx?idioma=en

After that, they will likely pay. If not, I am afraid you will have to hire a Spanish lawyer and claim through the courts.