British Airways Suspended my flight ticket for NO REASON! Help Needed
Apr 17, 23, 7:38 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2023
Posts: 3
British Airways Suspended my flight ticket for NO REASON! Help Needed
Hi all,
I was travelling from DFW to Lagos, Nigeria, and I had purchased my ticket on BA website, fully paid and ticketed. On getting to the airport, and trying to check in, the customer service told me my ticket has been suspended!!!
She called the head office, and someone on the other end said "maybe" the card was declined! I immediately pulled out my account statement and showed I was fully debited. Not pending, not declined, fully clearly debited for the full amount. I also put a call through to my bank right there and then and the bank said no issue from their side, ticket was fully paid for without any hassle.
The customer service went on saying there is nothing I can do, I should go pay for another ticket, by this time, boarding has closed. I was going to see my mother who has been in the hospital for some weeks, and also attend a business meeting, I could not fly on this day, and to book another flight, the cost is double, hence I do not have funds to book another ticket.
I need advice please. I was told to sue them and claim all damages. Till the time I am typing, BA has no reason whatsoever to tell me. I have called them twice, all they say is that they would get back to me and that they cannot actually see why it was suspended.
Please advice me.
Thanks all
I was travelling from DFW to Lagos, Nigeria, and I had purchased my ticket on BA website, fully paid and ticketed. On getting to the airport, and trying to check in, the customer service told me my ticket has been suspended!!!
She called the head office, and someone on the other end said "maybe" the card was declined! I immediately pulled out my account statement and showed I was fully debited. Not pending, not declined, fully clearly debited for the full amount. I also put a call through to my bank right there and then and the bank said no issue from their side, ticket was fully paid for without any hassle.
The customer service went on saying there is nothing I can do, I should go pay for another ticket, by this time, boarding has closed. I was going to see my mother who has been in the hospital for some weeks, and also attend a business meeting, I could not fly on this day, and to book another flight, the cost is double, hence I do not have funds to book another ticket.
I need advice please. I was told to sue them and claim all damages. Till the time I am typing, BA has no reason whatsoever to tell me. I have called them twice, all they say is that they would get back to me and that they cannot actually see why it was suspended.
Please advice me.
Thanks all
Apr 17, 23, 10:53 pm
#3
Join Date: Dec 2016
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It sounds like there was some sort of payment irregularity, and youll need to talk to BA directly. Though if you had a 125 prefixed ticket number its surprising it was suspended, in my experience if theres a payment shortfall you dont get ticketed at all or they call you.
Something doesnt add up here. Was the booking made on your own BA account? Do you fly regularly with BA? Was it a cash or avios booking?
Actions from here: decide if you want to travel now and look at options. Call BA to get a detailed explanation. Put in an EC261 claim for involuntary denied boarding which should at least flush out the reasons for the ticket problem eventually.
Something doesnt add up here. Was the booking made on your own BA account? Do you fly regularly with BA? Was it a cash or avios booking?
Actions from here: decide if you want to travel now and look at options. Call BA to get a detailed explanation. Put in an EC261 claim for involuntary denied boarding which should at least flush out the reasons for the ticket problem eventually.
Apr 18, 23, 12:41 am
#6
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It sounds absolutely horrible, but unfortunately based on the information we have I dont think any of us will find a magic solution here and a key question is what you are trying to achieve and whether its doable.
id first try call Ba again and ask for an explanation and/or tell them what you want. This will at least provide some traable recorded conversation if need be. Then there are things that are probably easy to achieve and things that are not.
- if your priority is to travel and see your mum, you may ask them if they could reinstate the ticket for agreed new dates. I suspect they wont do it (in fact it would likely mean creating a new ticket) but if the cancellation was in error thats a blatant breach of contract and their technical limitations are none of your concern and if it comes to that none of a Courts concern.
- if your priority is to get your money back and make your own arrangent, Id write to complain you were denied boarding whilst Im possession of a valid contract, seek a full refund +uk261 compensation for 520. You can then buy a new ticket.
- otherwise, if your losses were more and you care, this looks looks like a breach of contract on their part so you may be able to sue for the costs truly incurred (eg if you buy a new ticket and it costs a lot more, if there were fees to change hotel booking etc) so you can be whole, but Id seek legal advice before doing that and bear in mind it will take time and energy.
id first try call Ba again and ask for an explanation and/or tell them what you want. This will at least provide some traable recorded conversation if need be. Then there are things that are probably easy to achieve and things that are not.
- if your priority is to travel and see your mum, you may ask them if they could reinstate the ticket for agreed new dates. I suspect they wont do it (in fact it would likely mean creating a new ticket) but if the cancellation was in error thats a blatant breach of contract and their technical limitations are none of your concern and if it comes to that none of a Courts concern.
- if your priority is to get your money back and make your own arrangent, Id write to complain you were denied boarding whilst Im possession of a valid contract, seek a full refund +uk261 compensation for 520. You can then buy a new ticket.
- otherwise, if your losses were more and you care, this looks looks like a breach of contract on their part so you may be able to sue for the costs truly incurred (eg if you buy a new ticket and it costs a lot more, if there were fees to change hotel booking etc) so you can be whole, but Id seek legal advice before doing that and bear in mind it will take time and energy.
Apr 18, 23, 12:50 am
#7
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Welcome to Flyertalk and welcome to the BA Forum opeolat, though I need to recognise the poor experience that brought you here.
I've been giving out advice in this forum for a few years now, and it's rare when you come across something completely new, like your case. Mostly people have difficulties in a spectrum of existing or known issues, so it's quite easy to give appropriate advice. But suspending a ticket just before travel, and not being able to explain why is new to me, though it won't give you much comfort. I have heard of cases where banking companies have recalled their payment, such as via Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act or Cashback. In that situation a consumer would be clearly in a situation of holding a unpaid for ticket, usually the consumer would be aware too, and thus it is resolved by making a new and immediate payment. This does not fit your circumstances in a number of ways.
The other issue, much more common, is that a ticket has not been issued. This is a technical stage which is prone to glitches and which should have been resolved once you were talking to an agent, it normally takes just a few minutes to requeue the ticket for issue. Again the wording you used doesn't seem to relate to this. However there is one area where there can be problems - if the payment is made, but BA thinks it hasn't got a CVV for you, it can show as as unpaid to BA, but paid on your side. Payment did go through without the CVV and BA thinks the CVV is needed before that payment can move through the system.
I can perhaps help on the next step: at some point BA will reach out to you, hopefully in the next few hours and either say "sorry our fault" or "there was a payment problem and it's still not resolved". Once that is done, you will then be offered the choice of a full refund or a rebooking, essentially for dates of your choice. I think it's supposed to be within 2 weeks of original date, but if BA was at fault they may be flexible on that. If it was a BA problem you can also claim Involuntary Denied Boarding compensation of 520, and pay right to care costs (e.g. extra taxi fares, depends a bit on what you did after check-in). You may be able to raise a complaint with DOT about this too, but from what I know IDB in the USA is purely about oversold cabins, which appears not to be the case here.
I've been giving out advice in this forum for a few years now, and it's rare when you come across something completely new, like your case. Mostly people have difficulties in a spectrum of existing or known issues, so it's quite easy to give appropriate advice. But suspending a ticket just before travel, and not being able to explain why is new to me, though it won't give you much comfort. I have heard of cases where banking companies have recalled their payment, such as via Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act or Cashback. In that situation a consumer would be clearly in a situation of holding a unpaid for ticket, usually the consumer would be aware too, and thus it is resolved by making a new and immediate payment. This does not fit your circumstances in a number of ways.
The other issue, much more common, is that a ticket has not been issued. This is a technical stage which is prone to glitches and which should have been resolved once you were talking to an agent, it normally takes just a few minutes to requeue the ticket for issue. Again the wording you used doesn't seem to relate to this. However there is one area where there can be problems - if the payment is made, but BA thinks it hasn't got a CVV for you, it can show as as unpaid to BA, but paid on your side. Payment did go through without the CVV and BA thinks the CVV is needed before that payment can move through the system.
I can perhaps help on the next step: at some point BA will reach out to you, hopefully in the next few hours and either say "sorry our fault" or "there was a payment problem and it's still not resolved". Once that is done, you will then be offered the choice of a full refund or a rebooking, essentially for dates of your choice. I think it's supposed to be within 2 weeks of original date, but if BA was at fault they may be flexible on that. If it was a BA problem you can also claim Involuntary Denied Boarding compensation of 520, and pay right to care costs (e.g. extra taxi fares, depends a bit on what you did after check-in). You may be able to raise a complaint with DOT about this too, but from what I know IDB in the USA is purely about oversold cabins, which appears not to be the case here.
Apr 18, 23, 1:22 am
#8
Join Date: Jan 2015
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The initial reason for no explanation is because once a booking has drawn the attention of BA security then its clearly flagged to all agents that they cant talk about it. Only checkin staff at the airport may be instructed to offer a cash alternative, or to present a new card. Unfortunately this is all very unhelpful to a stranded passenger who may be totally innocent, confused, and all the more frustrated when no one will tell them anything, other than pay again.
Apr 18, 23, 2:17 am
#9
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Just a clarification. Was the bank/credit card a US one or a Nigerian one?
Just a wild guess here if a Nigerian one: it could be that the payment is still in "transit" and no reached BA (even though it shows as debited on your credit card).
Just a wild guess here if a Nigerian one: it could be that the payment is still in "transit" and no reached BA (even though it shows as debited on your credit card).
Apr 18, 23, 2:49 am
#11
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Sorry to hear this happened to you! There will be a reason, and hopefully you find out soon. Some really excellent advice on this thread so youve got a few options available.
Keep us up to date!
Keep us up to date!
Apr 18, 23, 2:52 am
#12
Join Date: Feb 2012
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I had this happen to me with AB where a ticket was invalidated erroneously for alleged payment issues mid-trip despite payment having been processed and the ticket fully paid weeks before actually flying. Had to discover this when trying to check-in for the return flight a 6am....
As I couldn't wait and had to be on the early morning flight, the only option for me was to buy a new one at the airport and sort it out with them later. This took weeks and I had to resort to drastic measures (sue them for fraud) before this was finally resolved.
Giving the destination, I`d chime in with all others who think it's been flagged by security as potentially fraudulent. When this happens, there unfortunately is no other recourse than to wait until they get in touch as neither you nor regular customer-facing BA support staff has the ability to directly contact the fraud department within BA.
Be aware that the relevant people will be likely located in the UK and only available during UK working hours. I`d try to use every avenue to reach BA *right now*. I`d call them in the UK, not in the US.
It's not just a breach of contract. From a legal standpoint, OP paid for a service - as can clearly be proven with bank statements showing payment has been debited - which BA subsequently refused to deliver. I`m pretty sure that any TX court will hold them liable for damages (i.e. having to fully reimburse any and all costs incurred by rebooking on another carrier for same-day travel at walk-up prices).
Of course, that's of limited help to OP if the funds to buy another ticket at walk-up prices aren't there... Too late now, but bank and BA could have worked something out, seeing they were on the phone with each other.
As I couldn't wait and had to be on the early morning flight, the only option for me was to buy a new one at the airport and sort it out with them later. This took weeks and I had to resort to drastic measures (sue them for fraud) before this was finally resolved.
Giving the destination, I`d chime in with all others who think it's been flagged by security as potentially fraudulent. When this happens, there unfortunately is no other recourse than to wait until they get in touch as neither you nor regular customer-facing BA support staff has the ability to directly contact the fraud department within BA.
Be aware that the relevant people will be likely located in the UK and only available during UK working hours. I`d try to use every avenue to reach BA *right now*. I`d call them in the UK, not in the US.
id first try call Ba again and ask for an explanation and/or tell them what you want. This will at least provide some traable recorded conversation if need be. Then there are things
that are probably easy to achieve and things that are not.
- if your priority is to travel and see your mum, you may ask them if they could reinstate the ticket for agreed new dates. I suspect they wont do it (in fact it would likely mean creating a new ticket) but if the cancellation was in error thats a blatant breach of contract and their technical limitations are none of your concern and if it comes to that none of a Courts concern.
that are probably easy to achieve and things that are not.
- if your priority is to travel and see your mum, you may ask them if they could reinstate the ticket for agreed new dates. I suspect they wont do it (in fact it would likely mean creating a new ticket) but if the cancellation was in error thats a blatant breach of contract and their technical limitations are none of your concern and if it comes to that none of a Courts concern.
Of course, that's of limited help to OP if the funds to buy another ticket at walk-up prices aren't there... Too late now, but bank and BA could have worked something out, seeing they were on the phone with each other.
Apr 18, 23, 2:56 am
#13
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caution may well enable Ba to stop a lot of fraudulent transactions, but in the cases where they get it wrong and unilaterally breach a legitimate contract with a legitimate customer, they must pay.
Apr 18, 23, 3:08 am
#15
Join Date: Nov 2018
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Posts: 686
Especially when flights to Nigeria are about the most expensive on BAs network.
