priyavishy

Hello,

I booked my flights from return trip, BOS to BOM (halt at DXB) flight by Chase points & cash for 1 adult & 2 kids for 66K points + $2175 for Aug 14th 2014. I had a flight from Boston to India and connection in Dubai. After 13 hours of first flight. I had less than 2 hrs before next flight to BOM in this huge Dubai airport. My 4 year old son was sick, throwing up, in the first flight which was delayed in the first place by 25 mins or so and we were last to get out as my son was sick & tired. After getting off the first flight, I had to clean him multiple times at DXB bathroom, feed him & my daughter a bit as he had nothing for 20 hours since leaving home and had to run to the next flight gate.

I reached the next flight gate 25 minutes before departure time the attendant at the gate said its closed when I saw the last person walking in, she asked me to go 15 minutes walk to another counter, I pleaded her & the next counter, apologized, she did nothing, said just go to the Emirates transfer counter in the next terminal. They did not help me even check if the flight can still take me in. Both places I pleaded that my mom had surgery next day, I had to get into this flight, explained my son sickness.

Instead of even trying they bounced me for hours and because I was trying to hurry, one lady got mad and it seemed charged $800 each for me and my 2 kids because I'm from USA, so biased that felt!! She put that in the system & said I can only get onto the next flight only after I paid $800 per person ($2400 for late fees or no show fees for myself & my 2 kids age 4&7!!) , I asked explanation & all she said was because my ticket was booked in USA!

The whole return ticket 3 passengers paid in FULL was less than the no-show fine!! The same trip Dubai to Mumbai new ticket price was ONLY $90 I checked online. The no-show fees were $800?? No-one explained me what the fees were, it was not noted in the receipt I got?? Why was the billing not explained to me or in my receipt? Really $800 per person while me kids and I was harassed?!! Hours I spent explaining, with my 2 sleep deprived sick kids & that too when I had reached the open gates. Someone said the flight was overbooked & they took other passengers!! So why charge me??

I was with 2 crying small kids, running to different counters for 6 hrs after midnight trying to contact any manager, but they all said someone had put in the system $800 pp & they could not cancel that. There was no manager midnight to 2 am, I felt the people in charge harassed, mistreated me & my kids, never tried to get me on the flight when I was to board on time 25 mins before gates closed, maybe a few minutes late, but no one even tried to get me on the plane or rebook me. They could see my kids were crying, throwing up, had fever were sick, some showed compassion but no one helped! Not sure why, instead of putting me on next flight or even calling the same flight to check if I can still board, charged me so much. The flight took off it seems 45 mins after departure time as per someone at one of the counter told me, they could have easily took me in. Not only was I delayed (my flight was at 9.50 & the next flight I got in was at 3 am or so), I was harassed and charged horribly & threatened that if I did not pay up, I would be stuck at Dubai airport with my kids. Was this harassment because I came from USA? I travel a lot and it was my first time I traveled on Emirates. This is terrible customer service!! I emailed Emirates after coming back & called them, and one lady called me back to just listen to me and said they cannot do anything, I was late. I asked if $800 was no show fee, even though I was 25 mins before departure time. My Chase credit card customer service support agreed it was bad service, but they could not cancel the charges after 3 months especially when the airlines said they provided service to me. It was like paying 2 times with Emirates & still not getting into the flight.

Can anyone please help me how to proceed with this & advice?

Thanks-Priya

SeriouslyLost

That's what travel insurance is for.

essxjay

As this is primarily an Emirates issue rather a Trusted Travelers discussion we'll move this thread to the more appropriate forum.

essxjay, TS/S moderator

DYKWIA

If they charged you $800 without your authorisation, then talk to your credit card company.

As for the actual complaint, you had 90 minutes to connect, but arrived at the gate very late (officially, gates close 45 minutes before the flight). So, at T-45, they would offload you, and gives the seats to people who were waitlisted.

As you had plenty of time to connect, I can't really see what Emirates did wrong here.

irishguy28

Somehow...I find that hard to believe...

vj_rama

I can sympathize with Priya having travelled back and forth to India from US with little ones several times. Why do people on FT insist on rubbing salt in the wounds of travelers who get screwed? (Regardless of whether or not it is justified)

If you are so well traveled, then why don't you take a few seconds to explain to her why she is in the wrong rather than punching her in the gut?

Paying over $2K cash on the spot is tough for anyone so take it easy.

eternaltransit

Hello OP,

Sorry to hear about your troubles on your flight.

What is likely happened is that as your flight was delayed in arriving to DXB, but still within the minimum legal connection time at the airport, they expected all passengers to head to the gate as soon as possible. Whilst I understand you had more pressing issues to attend to with your children, unfortunately EK had already made the decision, as you did not present yourself at the gate within their time limits, to offload you and rebook you on the next service. Although the flight did not actually leave the stand until later, that would be because they would have to locate your bags and offload them which would have delayed that flight.

Most tickets, especially cheap ones, have stiff penalties for not turning up without cancelling - that would be the no show fee, a fee you would have to pay before rebooking on EK. This may have been the 800 USD you paid, but even that sound steep. Do you happen to have any documentation for these charges? This incident happened in 2014, so I am unsure as to why you did not raise the issue either with EK or Chase sooner after this happened, as it seems to have been quite a serious one for you - leaving a claim or an issue this long to raise with the airline and issuer I'm afraid might weaken your case for any customer service gestures they might be willing to give you in this case.

SwissexLUG

Dear OP

I sympathize with you as I experienced something similar even if in my case I was rebooked free of charge since the inbound was delayed. IME, however, the gate agents are not flexible at all. At T-45 the gate is closed and all passengers who have not arrived there are offloaded. If your inbound was ontime, or not delayed enough to be under the minimum connecting time, you are deemed responsible for the missed connection and most of the time you will have to pay to be rebooked. I assume this is what happened in your case. I do not believe you will have much luck in complaining with EK.

Just my 2 cents but based on my own experience.

Hope you can solve everything for the best.

lighthand

Might I suggest to call EK service line in US directly, and explain nicely the situation you faced at the time. Maybe they can reduce the amount of no-show fee, or even waive it.

However this will purely be a good will gesture. As other posters have said, EK does have the right to off load you if you are T-45 mins in Dubai (other airports can have different rules).

So like I said, ask nicely and see what happens. Worst case is that you are back to square one where you are now.

Take it as a painful lesson, and remember to purchase a travel insurance next time.

sunseeker

don't travel longhaul with toddlers; better for the kids, better for you and much better for all other pax ...

Dave Noble

It was not harrassment becuase you came from the USA - in fact it wasn't harrassment at all

At Dubai you failed to arrive at the gate by the required time ; the reasons why you were late were not Emirates's fault; 25 minutes is later than the listed time by Emirates; on the flight to Dubai, if you happened to have the map on you would have noticed it being mentioned repeatedly

Once you missed the flight, then it seems that you were simply charged the change/no show fees in accordance with the fare rules

You indeed had the choice to pay or not pay. If you chose not to pay, then you could rebook flights on any airline you wished ; it is not harrassment to do so

Looking at the cheapest fare for BOS-BOM, the penalties section states

so would seem that the $800 could be made up of $600 change fee plus $200 fare difference

Checking all the economy fares listed, they all have no show fees of $600 or $800

edy4eva

In hindsight you should have reported the sickness of your toddler to the flight crew from BOS, you'd have bee have met in DXB at the door of the plane and taken to a doctor and may have cared for your kid and even handled your connection in a better way. Someone would have kept taps on the doctor's check-up and either ushered you to the flight or advised the gate agent to offload you so that you can get booked onto the next flight. It's not uncommon for EK to waive those penalties in situations like this, but they would be in the know about the situation from the outset.

There's no harassment nor discrimination. The line referring to the ticket bought in the states is for the steep no-show penalties ex-US.

vj_rama

On cue, the usual FT anti-kid sentiment shows itself!!

Very convenient to just say "don't travel longhaul with toddlers"!!

My two small kids (2 and 5 yo) have been blessed to have seen their great grandparents several times in India before they passed on. Nothing made my grandparents happier than to have laid eyes on their great grandchildren towards the end of their days.

We all have different priorities in life and for many of us, that includes travelling long distances with our children to maintain some connection to our roots and extended families.

It's hard to travel with little ones but the majority of travelling parents try our best to make the journey comfortable for our kids and neighbors in the plane.

At the end of the day, I am blessed to have witnessed 4 generations of our family in the same room, gathered in the same house my great grandparents built. Would I have traded that moment by not travelling "longhaul with toddlers" just so I wouldn't inconvenience a stranger on the plane?

I think you know my answer and I suspect most of you would say the same.

sunseeker

pardon me, but i seriously doubt that....

Dave Noble

That the person was travelling with 2 children is purely the choice of passenger and no reason not to do so

The key thing though in this case is that for whatever reason, the passengers failed to get to the gate at the required time and so were no-shows for the flight and were charged the appropriate fees for rebooking

The only thing I would suggest in regards to the OP in regards to travelling with the same children in future might be to accept that getting around the airport may take longer with them and to ensure to allow a longer connection time in future

In the aspects of accusations of harassment and threats , these seem to be completely false

It is hardly a threat to tell a passenger that if the passenger is not prepared to pay the change fees that the agent will not make the changes