Miles For Upgrade Denied Despite Availability Is this Fair ?
Nov 24, 2006, 5:34 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2005
Posts: 36
Miles For Upgrade Denied Despite Availability Is this Fair ?
After failing to find an award ticket that I wanted the reservations
clerk suggested that I could buy a Club World ticket and at least
MFU one leg of it for 20k miles. He gave me a price for the flights and Dates I wanted which was exactly the £15 booking fee more than the website was showing for the Club World (Lowest ) fare quote. I wasn't quite ready to book
so thanked him very much for his help and hung up. Later when other arrangements had been made I went on line to book the flights the reservation agent had suggested. Availability of MFU was still showing for the
outbound leg but as there was no MFU availability on Inbound I could not use the Buy and Upgrade link. I therefore just changed to the Book with Money
and completed the booking normally. I then called BA reservations to request the MFU from Club World to FIRST on outboard leg (which still showed availability) but was told by the reservation agent that the fare class I had booked was not upgradeable.
Now I am aware in the past that there have been some discounted fares that have been non upgradeable but as far as I am aware any ClubWorld flight is eligible for MFU if MFU seats are available.
The agent informed me that in order to be eligible for an upgrade the fare for that sector would have been about £300 more but on the website all that was offered was either the Club Lowest or Club flexible and the difference between the two fares was about £900 for the outward leg in question and in any case I thought the whole point about lowest and flexible was the fact that the Lowest price tickets are non changeable and non refundable and that is what warrants the lower prices. I then out of curiosity went back into the Book and Upgrade site and used the same outward flight date and coupled that with a different inbound date that showed available. The outward fare cost was exactly the same as I had paid and the inbound flight was actually cheaper. Why should the ticket bought in the book with money site not be ugradeable whereas the same flight at the same price is upgradeable if done through the buy and upgrade link ? I really thought that any WT+ or Club World fare could be used for MFU if MFU availability was there. Maybe I should have paid the booking fee for an agent to do it as the only impetus was for the treat of the FIRST MFU and I could have taken a more convenient Emirates flight at a very similar price. I explained all this to an agent and even suggested that as the online booking had been made only 10 minutes earlier he could cancel it for me but was told that as I had accepted the T&C and it was a non changeable and non refundable fare there was nothing he could do.
According to the BA website MFU are ok on Eligible fare classes : First, Club World, Club Europe and World Traveller Plus, excluding corporate contracted discounted fares, plus full fare and semi flexible economy classes (Y, B and H, plus UK Domestic C class).. This was an ordinary Club World lowest fare booked on the website and not as far as I am concerned a corporate contracted discounted fare which surely means a special fare for large corporate customers ? Anyone got any ideas if I am being given the run around or is there something somewhere else hidden in extremely small print that I have missed ? I feel really disappointed especially as I can still see availability in the Buy and Upgrade link at the same price. Anyone have any names numbers of someone with discretion to sort out these anomalies which surely must be due to a glitch in the BA website ?
clerk suggested that I could buy a Club World ticket and at least
MFU one leg of it for 20k miles. He gave me a price for the flights and Dates I wanted which was exactly the £15 booking fee more than the website was showing for the Club World (Lowest ) fare quote. I wasn't quite ready to book
so thanked him very much for his help and hung up. Later when other arrangements had been made I went on line to book the flights the reservation agent had suggested. Availability of MFU was still showing for the
outbound leg but as there was no MFU availability on Inbound I could not use the Buy and Upgrade link. I therefore just changed to the Book with Money
and completed the booking normally. I then called BA reservations to request the MFU from Club World to FIRST on outboard leg (which still showed availability) but was told by the reservation agent that the fare class I had booked was not upgradeable.
Now I am aware in the past that there have been some discounted fares that have been non upgradeable but as far as I am aware any ClubWorld flight is eligible for MFU if MFU seats are available.
The agent informed me that in order to be eligible for an upgrade the fare for that sector would have been about £300 more but on the website all that was offered was either the Club Lowest or Club flexible and the difference between the two fares was about £900 for the outward leg in question and in any case I thought the whole point about lowest and flexible was the fact that the Lowest price tickets are non changeable and non refundable and that is what warrants the lower prices. I then out of curiosity went back into the Book and Upgrade site and used the same outward flight date and coupled that with a different inbound date that showed available. The outward fare cost was exactly the same as I had paid and the inbound flight was actually cheaper. Why should the ticket bought in the book with money site not be ugradeable whereas the same flight at the same price is upgradeable if done through the buy and upgrade link ? I really thought that any WT+ or Club World fare could be used for MFU if MFU availability was there. Maybe I should have paid the booking fee for an agent to do it as the only impetus was for the treat of the FIRST MFU and I could have taken a more convenient Emirates flight at a very similar price. I explained all this to an agent and even suggested that as the online booking had been made only 10 minutes earlier he could cancel it for me but was told that as I had accepted the T&C and it was a non changeable and non refundable fare there was nothing he could do.
According to the BA website MFU are ok on Eligible fare classes : First, Club World, Club Europe and World Traveller Plus, excluding corporate contracted discounted fares, plus full fare and semi flexible economy classes (Y, B and H, plus UK Domestic C class).. This was an ordinary Club World lowest fare booked on the website and not as far as I am concerned a corporate contracted discounted fare which surely means a special fare for large corporate customers ? Anyone got any ideas if I am being given the run around or is there something somewhere else hidden in extremely small print that I have missed ? I feel really disappointed especially as I can still see availability in the Buy and Upgrade link at the same price. Anyone have any names numbers of someone with discretion to sort out these anomalies which surely must be due to a glitch in the BA website ?
Nov 24, 2006, 6:08 pm
#3
Join Date: Feb 2000
Location: Edinburgh
Programs: Still a lowly Blue with BA but inching towards Bronze. Managed to get to KLM Silver!
Posts: 4,308
Sounds like a classic case of bull5hit from an telesales rep who either (a) could not be bothered or (b) does not fully understand the process.
As suggested I would call again and hopefully you will get another rep. If you get the same answer ask to speak to a manager.
As suggested I would call again and hopefully you will get another rep. If you get the same answer ask to speak to a manager.
Nov 24, 2006, 8:29 pm
#4
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Washington, DC
Posts: 1,727
some agents are just lazy and don't care about helping you. I was fortunate enough to have one helpful lady authorize a full refund for a flight I booked two hours earlier only to realize I didn't get the sale price because I didn't do discounted and instead upgraded at the "do you want to upgrade your fare" option. This guy should have done that for you. 
Nov 25, 2006, 12:40 am
#5
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2005
Posts: 36
I have a feeling the agent said it was I class and therefore not upgradeable.
It was certainly not a discounted ticket with the red D and I have always been under the impression that any ticket sold directly by BA in ClubWorld
could be upgraded to FIRST with miles if upgrades were shown as available. Same applying for upgrades to Club from WT+.
Will get on to them when they open and see if my luck will change.
It was certainly not a discounted ticket with the red D and I have always been under the impression that any ticket sold directly by BA in ClubWorld
could be upgraded to FIRST with miles if upgrades were shown as available. Same applying for upgrades to Club from WT+.
Will get on to them when they open and see if my luck will change.
Nov 25, 2006, 1:17 am
#6
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: newcastle uk
Programs: BA SILVER thanks to flyertalk :)
Posts: 114
Originally Posted by Clarke38
I have a feeling the agent said it was I class and therefore not upgradeable.
It was certainly not a discounted ticket with the red D and I have always been under the impression that any ticket sold directly by BA in ClubWorld
could be upgraded to FIRST with miles if upgrades were shown as available. Same applying for upgrades to Club from WT+.
Will get on to them when they open and see if my luck will change.
It was certainly not a discounted ticket with the red D and I have always been under the impression that any ticket sold directly by BA in ClubWorld
could be upgraded to FIRST with miles if upgrades were shown as available. Same applying for upgrades to Club from WT+.
Will get on to them when they open and see if my luck will change.
thanks ali_c
Nov 25, 2006, 1:33 am
#7
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Manila, Philippines (MNL)
Programs: BAEC Gold [>20k Lifetime TPs] | Hilton Honors Lifetime Diamond [as is Mrs PtF] | Various Others
Posts: 6,156
Originally Posted by ali_c
if you still get stuck drop me a pm and I will take it up when I go to work at 12pm
12pm - that's 1200hrs, right?
Nov 25, 2006, 8:18 am
#10
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2005
Posts: 36
I spoke with reservations in Newcastle and first asked the reservation agent to quote me a MFU from Club fare on exactly the same days and flights I booked. She did and it came out at exactly the same price as I had paid (plus booking fee). I then explained to her my problem and gave her the booking reference and she checked and said it was upgradeable and transferred me to someone else to get it done. I was asked who had denied it and when I said someone in Manchester I was told to always speak to someone in Newcastle. Not really sure why if everyone works for the same company and
presumably calls get moved around depending on volumes at any one centre.
Anyway there now seemed no problem so was very happy. I then though received an Email from the supervisor in Manchester who yesterday denied the upgrade and he said that he had spoken with one of the girls who had earlier told me the tickets were upgradeable and therefore because I had been told that was going to authorise the upgrade.
I then spoke with him and he still maintains that they are operating under the belief that my fare is not upgradeable. It all seems extremely strange but he said he was going to fully investigate with the Executive Club and would let me know the outcome on Monday because there had been or would be similar instances (not sure which he said)
I am obviously happy that I got the upgrades eventually but frankly the hassle and angst caused does make one wonder about BA's attitude to passengers/PR/clarity of terms and the total refusal to cancel what may or may not have been an erroneous booking within just ten minutes of it being made is another great worry. Type in a wrong date and you might have thousands of pounds worth of a non refundable ticket due to a genuine error but hey you signed the terms and conditions so tough !
If I get a proper reply from the Manchester Supervisor I will post it.
presumably calls get moved around depending on volumes at any one centre.
Anyway there now seemed no problem so was very happy. I then though received an Email from the supervisor in Manchester who yesterday denied the upgrade and he said that he had spoken with one of the girls who had earlier told me the tickets were upgradeable and therefore because I had been told that was going to authorise the upgrade.
I then spoke with him and he still maintains that they are operating under the belief that my fare is not upgradeable. It all seems extremely strange but he said he was going to fully investigate with the Executive Club and would let me know the outcome on Monday because there had been or would be similar instances (not sure which he said)
I am obviously happy that I got the upgrades eventually but frankly the hassle and angst caused does make one wonder about BA's attitude to passengers/PR/clarity of terms and the total refusal to cancel what may or may not have been an erroneous booking within just ten minutes of it being made is another great worry. Type in a wrong date and you might have thousands of pounds worth of a non refundable ticket due to a genuine error but hey you signed the terms and conditions so tough !
If I get a proper reply from the Manchester Supervisor I will post it.
Nov 25, 2006, 9:35 am
#12
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: SAN
Programs: AS MVP Gold, Marriott Plat, ICH Plat, HH Gold
Posts: 4,381
Originally Posted by Clarke38
I spoke with reservations in Newcastle and first asked the reservation agent to quote me a MFU from Club fare on exactly the same days and flights I booked. She did and it came out at exactly the same price as I had paid (plus booking fee). I then explained to her my problem and gave her the booking reference and she checked and said it was upgradeable and transferred me to someone else to get it done. I was asked who had denied it and when I said someone in Manchester I was told to always speak to someone in Newcastle. Not really sure why if everyone works for the same company and
presumably calls get moved around depending on volumes at any one centre.
presumably calls get moved around depending on volumes at any one centre.
And any I fare (except the sales offers with T&Cs telling otherwise) should be upgradable to F, if bought directly from BA. The 'non-upgradable' condition in the fare rules is about paid upgrades, not MFUs.
Nov 25, 2006, 11:18 am
#13
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2005
Posts: 36
I called the BAEC silver number 0870 850 5 850 and then just followed the menu prompt to book and use miles or similar and got NEWCASTLE when the time for the call about the MFU someone on that number transferred me to customer services. Never really crossed my mind that it would not be BAEC with the number taken from back of my card and using miles ?
Nov 25, 2006, 12:11 pm
#14
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: SAN
Programs: AS MVP Gold, Marriott Plat, ICH Plat, HH Gold
Posts: 4,381
Originally Posted by Clarke38
I called the BAEC silver number 0870 850 5 850 and then just followed the menu prompt to book and use miles or similar and got NEWCASTLE when the time for the call about the MFU someone on that number transferred me to customer services. Never really crossed my mind that it would not be BAEC with the number taken from back of my card and using miles ?
BTW: publishing non-public elite telephone numbers is not recommended at FT.
Nov 25, 2006, 12:20 pm
#15
Join Date: Sep 2005
Programs: BA
Posts: 3,890
Originally Posted by frankvb
BTW: publishing non-public elite telephone numbers is not recommended at FT.
