Go Back  FlyerTalk Forums > Miles&Points > Airlines and Mileage Programs > British Airways | Executive Club
Reload this Page >

Another winning lawsuit against BA for cancelling tickets that were "too cheap"

Community
Wiki Posts
Search

Another winning lawsuit against BA for cancelling tickets that were "too cheap"

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
Old Nov 9, 2018, 4:16 am
  #1  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: London
Programs: AA EXP, SPG Plt
Posts: 2,607
Another winning lawsuit against BA for cancelling tickets that were "too cheap"

http://thejc.newspaperdirect.com/epaper/viewer.aspx?issue=13072018110900000000001001&page= 1&article=7064f037-8053-47e8-8b60-3792b2755f4b&key=HwOoEpuriHVfB6rZm4pV8A%3D%3D&feed =rss

Excerpt:
HUNDREDS OF passengers who planned to fly to Tel Aviv last September could be in line for compensation from British Airways totalling thousands of pounds after an independent adjudicator found the airline had wrongly cancelled a family’s cheap tickets.

In June, Professor Sanjoy Mukherjee-Richardson bought return tickets for himself, his wife and five-year-old son for a total of £501.48 through an agency, intending to fly to Israel before Succot in September.
But he was one of 2,000 passengers whose tickets were cancelled by British Airways because the airline said the price they paid was too cheap and a mistake.
The CEDR scheme seems to be valid globally https://cedr.com/aviation/docslib/5-...st-edition.pdf
BobbySteel is offline  
Old Nov 9, 2018, 4:22 am
  #2  
Ambassador: Emirates Airlines
 
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Manchester, UK
Posts: 18,613
I wonder how many of those 2000 people will see this? I assume each of the 2000 will have to raise CEDR cases to get their tickets. Even if a further 500 raise cases and win, BA will count it as good result.

Last edited by DYKWIA; Nov 9, 2018 at 5:01 am
DYKWIA is offline  
Old Nov 9, 2018, 4:59 am
  #3  
 
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: London
Programs: BA Gold
Posts: 1,347
Given that they seem to have honoured the £667 First class JNB & CPT fares, which really do look like a mistake fare, I don't know how BA can expect people to know when something is a mistake fare and when it's just a sale price. These fares, whilst lower than usual, weren't massively low, and a lot of people booked in good faith and were left out of pocket when BA cancelled, so personally i hope lots of them do sue.
cosmo74 is offline  
Old Nov 9, 2018, 5:05 am
  #4  
Moderator, Iberia Airlines, Airport Lounges, and Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
 
Join Date: Feb 2010
Programs: BA Lifetime Gold; Flying Blue Life Platinum; LH Sen.; Hilton Diamond; Kemal Kebabs Prized Customer
Posts: 63,807
I think this relates to this back story:
Mistake fare LHR - TLV [Tickets now cancelled by BA]

The date doesn't quite line up, but the fare does. I'm surprised with the number of people that picked up on this fare, though the number of participates to lurkers in this forum is a high number. The fare was also listed on other blogs.
corporate-wage-slave is online now  
Old Nov 9, 2018, 5:06 am
  #5  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: London
Programs: Mucci. Nothing else matters.
Posts: 38,644
Originally Posted by cosmo74
Given that they seem to have honoured the £667 First class JNB & CPT fares, which really do look like a mistake fare, I don't know how BA can expect people to know when something is a mistake fare and when it's just a sale price.
I think it's usually pretty obvious when something is an error fare.

Whether or not the airline decides to honour one, or to cancel, is a different question. The fact that BA hasn't cancelled the JNB/CPT fares doesn't mean that it was just a sale fare - it clearly wasn't.
Globaliser is offline  
Old Nov 9, 2018, 5:06 am
  #6  
 
Join Date: Nov 2004
Programs: BA GGL, LH FTL
Posts: 3,578
Good for them. I hope BA will end up paying to a lot more passengers. After the 24 hour cooling off period, I can imagine what would happen if I tried to change/cancel a non flexible ticket because "I made a mistake". The answer would likely not be "of course".
cosmo74 likes this.
LCY8737 is offline  
Old Nov 9, 2018, 8:06 am
  #7  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Barcelona, London, on a plane
Programs: BA Silver, TK E+, AA PP, Hyatt Globalist, Marriott LT Plat, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 13,047
Originally Posted by Globaliser
I think it's usually pretty obvious when something is an error fare.

Whether or not the airline decides to honour one, or to cancel, is a different question. The fact that BA hasn't cancelled the JNB/CPT fares doesn't mean that it was just a sale fare - it clearly wasn't.
I disagree. The main reason that people come across "error fares" is certain blogs screaming ERROR FARE / DON'T CALL THE AIRLINE / BOOK BEFORE IT'S GONE etc. But that's how they choose to market themselves as sources of good fare deals.

We wouldn't bad an eyelid if QR offered a sub £1,000 2-for-1 in J to virtually anywhere. So why must BA low fares be assumed to be mistakes?
craigthemif is offline  
Old Nov 9, 2018, 8:33 am
  #8  
Ambassador, British Airways; FlyerTalk Posting Legend
 
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Leeds, UK
Programs: BA GGL/CCR, GfL, HH Diamond
Posts: 42,965
Originally Posted by craigthemif
We wouldn't bad an eyelid if QR offered a sub £1,000 2-for-1 in J to virtually anywhere. So why must BA low fares be assumed to be mistakes?
Because BA don’t offer sub £500 long haul J fares or sub £1k long haul F fares as far as I remember. Very difficult for anyone who booked Viking or Bratwurst to claim they had no idea it was a mistake.

This TLV fare is far more marginal as the error seemed largely to relate to booking class rather than fre level. I assume that’s why BA gave £100 vouchers to all who booked.
KARFA is online now  
Old Nov 9, 2018, 9:24 am
  #9  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Barcelona, London, on a plane
Programs: BA Silver, TK E+, AA PP, Hyatt Globalist, Marriott LT Plat, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 13,047
Originally Posted by KARFA


Because BA don’t offer sub £500 long haul J fares or sub £1k long haul F fares as far as I remember. Very difficult for anyone who booked Viking or Bratwurst to claim they had no idea it was a mistake.

This TLV fare is far more marginal as the error seemed largely to relate to booking class rather than fre level. I assume that’s why BA gave £100 vouchers to all who booked.
OK. But say I rarely, if ever fly BA, decide to visit the Eastern Med, and see Istanbul or Cyprus for £400 and Tel Aviv for £500. Why exactly should I be so convinced that £500 is a mistake fare? Or that there is a particularly cheap fare ex-ZRH - even in F - because BA is annoyed that Swiss launched a fare sale from the UK and wants to fight back...


I don't doubt that some people book error fares in the full knowledge that they are probably error fares. But that doesn't mean that the basic assumption should be that all people booking cheap fares are surely aware that they are errors...
craigthemif is offline  


Contact Us - Manage Preferences - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

This site is owned, operated, and maintained by MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Designated trademarks are the property of their respective owners.