TonyRB

Hope I'm posting this in the right place. I booked an award ticket through the Executive Club for a friend, travelling from Manchester to Dakar in business on Iberia, returning to Madrid to connect with a separate flight back to Manchester. The outward journey was completed, no problem. But, when my friend tried to check in at DSS last night, they refused to accept her 3 X 32kg bags because, they said, she only brought a total of 80kg out with her!

I contacted Iberia customer service, who put me on hold for a while, then told me that she was booked into premium economy, which was clearly nonsense. Eventually, they conceded that she was in business and was entitled to 3 X 32kg, but there was nothing they could do about it because it was BA's problem. She missed her flight.

I phoned BA this morning, who genuinely tried to help, but we're unable to. I then phoned Iberia again on BA's advice, but they said again that it was BA's problem, but that my friend could go back to the airport and try to sort something out with the Iberia desk there. But that didn't work last night.

Could anyone advise me as to the way forward with this, to get my friend home from Dakar?

Ldnn1

To be absolutely clear, was she only trying to check the bags to MAD, not all the way through on the separate ticket to MAN?

madfish

bisonrav

[deleted as probably wrong]

Prospero

Baggage allowance should be irrefutable. It forms part of the contractual agreement and is set out in the eTicket receipt. The allowance on the inbound is never dictated by the number of pieces or weight the passenger elected to use on the outbound journey. What a strange and unenviable situation to find oneself in.

Given the circumstances, I suppose I would try to sort out a solution with Iberia again at Dakar. Plan B might entail purchasing a new ticket to get home and dealing with that later.

TonyRB

Yes, only to Madrid.

Tobias-UK

Was the passenger not allowed to check-in or was it just the luggage that was refused?

corporate-wage-slave

This is a somewhat odd case, but as a general point, if an airline insists that the allowance is X and in reality it is Y, then first try to persuade them via the e-ticket - which admittedly may show incorrect information if status is involved - but if all else fails, just pay up, keep the paperwork and submit it to BA for refunding later. BA have to do this fairly regularly and it tends to be refunded fairly swiftly.

If you are still on an IDB scenario and IB regard your friend as a no-show then you have no choice but to buy the most reasonable ticket going (ideally on IB) and submit that to IB for repayment. Almost certainly that will be a struggle, IB only refund if a court or governing body instructs them to do so, unless the case is impossible to refute.

Prospero

Okay, so three bags from Dakar to Madrid. The allowance for MAD-MAN would be 1 bag (economy class) or 2 bags (business) so with 3 bags to be rechecked at MAD, an excess baggage charge would have applied at that stage of the journey home.

The info about what caused her to miss the flight is sketchy but I fear we're looking at a new ticket to get home.

Ldnn1

I agree buying a new ticket is the likely solution here if they won't rebook. However what I would do is buy the ticket direct from Iberia, using the same card as I bought the original with, and then immediately call up my card company and dispute the new charge. That should hopefully avoid the need for court action at least as far as the extra ticket cost is concerned.

For the IDB compensation and hotel cost (if any), that may be a longer fight.

drvannostren

I think this is pretty good, honestly I've never carried anything close to that, if they insisted that she get down to 80 from 96 I probably would've either tried to fit one in as a carry on, or paid for the extra weight, or just throw stuff out...it sucks, but I'm not missing the flight over it.

It sounds like maybe an overzealous agent, but in the moment I wouldn't have allowed myself to miss that flight, especially because it SOUNDS LIKE the MAD-MAN flight was booked unprotected as a separate ticket? You're probably screwed on that one, but I do think the airline has a duty to get your friend back to MAD.

Tobias-UK

There may not be any entitlement to it, nor for a refund of any unused or newly purchased ticket. The circumstances of how the passenger came not travel are not clear.

TonyRB

I just spoke with her, and she said she was checked in and issued with a boarding pass. The trouble started when she put her suitcases on the scales.

TonyRB

There had been no award availability from Madrid to Manchester, so she was overnighting in Madrid, and was booked in business class back to Manchester with Brussels Airlines tomorrow afternoon. Her allowance on that flight was 2 X 32kg plus an extra 32kg bag purchased.

corporate-wage-slave

So why would she be entitled to 3 x 32 kgs from Dakar to Madrid?

Edit: what I suspect what has happened is that the Avios ticket wasn't shown as being eligible for the "free excess allowance" to 32 kgs for business tickets.