Shouldn't Iberia honour a British Airways flight booking they booked in my account
Feb 23, 2019, 10:42 am
#16
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2019
Posts: 9
I appreciate that there were a lot of details to go through in this thread. Thank you for taking the time to get involved - I assume to try and help and not make me feel worse than I already do? But I'm afraid you have misunderstood.
All of this happened in November before the 1st December points deadline and NOT a few days before we are due to fly. That was when the original flights were booked. And that's when I complained.
It wasn't verbally that they provided me with a new itinerary - they actually did it. Out of the blue the British Airways flights to Bangkok were added into our accounts by Iberia.
The only thing that happened a few days before is that we discovered that the British Airways flights they had added into our account - and that we built our whole trip around - weren't real as in they were only reservations but from our account and app they had the same status that the original ticket Qatar ones had.
I tried to cut a very long short in my description of 'ended up booking something over the phone in the early hours of the morning.' as I thought you would all be bored to death if I went through the catalogue of calls, errors, website errors and misinformation that had happened over the days before and indeed that day. I've just been looking through the call log.
So nothing fishy here. Except for the fact that they have now they have gone back on refunding the fees and taxes too when they had reassured me that they could do that so that I could rebook the British Airways flights.
It's very distressing to have been so misled. If they hadn't added those British Airways flights into our accounts then this would never have happened.
All of this happened in November before the 1st December points deadline and NOT a few days before we are due to fly. That was when the original flights were booked. And that's when I complained.
It wasn't verbally that they provided me with a new itinerary - they actually did it. Out of the blue the British Airways flights to Bangkok were added into our accounts by Iberia.
The only thing that happened a few days before is that we discovered that the British Airways flights they had added into our account - and that we built our whole trip around - weren't real as in they were only reservations but from our account and app they had the same status that the original ticket Qatar ones had.
I tried to cut a very long short in my description of 'ended up booking something over the phone in the early hours of the morning.' as I thought you would all be bored to death if I went through the catalogue of calls, errors, website errors and misinformation that had happened over the days before and indeed that day. I've just been looking through the call log.
So nothing fishy here. Except for the fact that they have now they have gone back on refunding the fees and taxes too when they had reassured me that they could do that so that I could rebook the British Airways flights.
It's very distressing to have been so misled. If they hadn't added those British Airways flights into our accounts then this would never have happened.
Feb 23, 2019, 1:12 pm
#17
Join Date: Mar 2016
Programs: BAEC, Ib+, Accor, HHonors
Posts: 609
I just feel this is a very complex and convoluted story... and usually, my gut feeling is they are difficult to believe.
My feeling is you wanted to go and have your dream holidays in the Maldives, so booked the flights. But then you realised that actually Maldives is expensive and not necessarily good value. So you thought Thailand would be the perfect alternative for your dream holidays.
Then you realised you could use the "complications, cut offs, log in fails, errors,.." as a complaint and try to convince IbPlus to rebook you into your BA flight. Apparently they "agreed to it". I feel this was more like "we can make you another reservation, but you would need to pay for it". So they did the reservation, but isn´t it suspicious that they make the reservations without asking you anything, a credit card number or whatever? This is a BIG RED FLAG (I have a similar story, once I wanted to redeem Flying Blue miles for a Air Bangkok flight - phone agent could make the reservation, but not price it. They told me back office would call me back to take payment. Obviously they never did, but I had to chase them. Eventually, I got to a competent agent that ticketed the reservation).
And now 4 or 3 days before your planned dream holidays departure, you realise your BA booking was actually not completed. IMO, not surprising at all.
Then you say you called BA (I do not know why) and they transferred you to Iberia??? Tbh this must be a first. Usually they say "you need to contact Iberia (Plus)".
My advice, get some cash tickets to Thailand in economy (leaving tomorrow, +420GBP - if you leave on Monday even cheaper). And deal with the taxes and fees of your Qatar Airways redemption once you are back.
My feeling is you wanted to go and have your dream holidays in the Maldives, so booked the flights. But then you realised that actually Maldives is expensive and not necessarily good value. So you thought Thailand would be the perfect alternative for your dream holidays.
Then you realised you could use the "complications, cut offs, log in fails, errors,.." as a complaint and try to convince IbPlus to rebook you into your BA flight. Apparently they "agreed to it". I feel this was more like "we can make you another reservation, but you would need to pay for it". So they did the reservation, but isn´t it suspicious that they make the reservations without asking you anything, a credit card number or whatever? This is a BIG RED FLAG (I have a similar story, once I wanted to redeem Flying Blue miles for a Air Bangkok flight - phone agent could make the reservation, but not price it. They told me back office would call me back to take payment. Obviously they never did, but I had to chase them. Eventually, I got to a competent agent that ticketed the reservation).
And now 4 or 3 days before your planned dream holidays departure, you realise your BA booking was actually not completed. IMO, not surprising at all.
Then you say you called BA (I do not know why) and they transferred you to Iberia??? Tbh this must be a first. Usually they say "you need to contact Iberia (Plus)".
My advice, get some cash tickets to Thailand in economy (leaving tomorrow, +420GBP - if you leave on Monday even cheaper). And deal with the taxes and fees of your Qatar Airways redemption once you are back.
Feb 24, 2019, 9:42 am
#19
Join Date: Apr 2014
Posts: 114
I just feel this is a very complex and convoluted story... and usually, my gut feeling is they are difficult to believe.
My feeling is you wanted to go and have your dream holidays in the Maldives, so booked the flights. But then you realised that actually Maldives is expensive and not necessarily good value. So you thought Thailand would be the perfect alternative for your dream holidays.
Then you realised you could use the "complications, cut offs, log in fails, errors,.." as a complaint and try to convince IbPlus to rebook you into your BA flight. Apparently they "agreed to it". I feel this was more like "we can make you another reservation, but you would need to pay for it". So they did the reservation, but isn´t it suspicious that they make the reservations without asking you anything, a credit card number or whatever? This is a BIG RED FLAG (I have a similar story, once I wanted to redeem Flying Blue miles for a Air Bangkok flight - phone agent could make the reservation, but not price it. They told me back office would call me back to take payment. Obviously they never did, but I had to chase them. Eventually, I got to a competent agent that ticketed the reservation).
And now 4 or 3 days before your planned dream holidays departure, you realise your BA booking was actually not completed. IMO, not surprising at all.
Then you say you called BA (I do not know why) and they transferred you to Iberia??? Tbh this must be a first. Usually they say "you need to contact Iberia (Plus)".
My advice, get some cash tickets to Thailand in economy (leaving tomorrow, +420GBP - if you leave on Monday even cheaper). And deal with the taxes and fees of your Qatar Airways redemption once you are back.
My feeling is you wanted to go and have your dream holidays in the Maldives, so booked the flights. But then you realised that actually Maldives is expensive and not necessarily good value. So you thought Thailand would be the perfect alternative for your dream holidays.
Then you realised you could use the "complications, cut offs, log in fails, errors,.." as a complaint and try to convince IbPlus to rebook you into your BA flight. Apparently they "agreed to it". I feel this was more like "we can make you another reservation, but you would need to pay for it". So they did the reservation, but isn´t it suspicious that they make the reservations without asking you anything, a credit card number or whatever? This is a BIG RED FLAG (I have a similar story, once I wanted to redeem Flying Blue miles for a Air Bangkok flight - phone agent could make the reservation, but not price it. They told me back office would call me back to take payment. Obviously they never did, but I had to chase them. Eventually, I got to a competent agent that ticketed the reservation).
And now 4 or 3 days before your planned dream holidays departure, you realise your BA booking was actually not completed. IMO, not surprising at all.
Then you say you called BA (I do not know why) and they transferred you to Iberia??? Tbh this must be a first. Usually they say "you need to contact Iberia (Plus)".
My advice, get some cash tickets to Thailand in economy (leaving tomorrow, +420GBP - if you leave on Monday even cheaper). And deal with the taxes and fees of your Qatar Airways redemption once you are back.
If you have never paid any taxes AND points for this itinerary, you have NOTHING. The fact that the itinerary shows in your booking list means nothing.
If you want the flight, pay for it. And for the next time, read the rules carefully first (ow awards does not accept any changes or refunds)
Feb 24, 2019, 10:14 am
#20
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2019
Posts: 9
I didn't give all the extra details because my post would have gone on forever. One of the helpful posts on here advised me to keep things brief and to the point when trying to get this resolved.
And I'd already paid all the taxes and fees for the other flights. When they added the new flights on the timescale to my account I thought they must have swapped everything over or why add them and not contact me to ask for the money? There was already three hundred and seventy Euros per person on top of the points. As I said I'm not a frequent flyer like some of you so when those flights were added to my account after my complaint I took them at face value.
I only phoned BA and Qatar when I was getting nowhere with Iberia. People from both airlines went out of their way to help me. The lovely lady at BA couldn't have been more helpful. She offered immediately to phone Iberia to put things right - a sign of great customer service. If you don't believe me that's up to you.
It takes a lot to ask for help in a situation like this. I've never used a forum like this before. I hoped I might get some pointers such as legal rights information. Didn't expect it to be place where people have 'feelings' about something, are suspicious and cast judgement. I'm already in a big dispute with Iberia. I don't need people on here getting the boot in too.
Signing off now. Next time someone joins your forum to ask foe genuine support you might remember what these forums are meant to be for..
And I'd already paid all the taxes and fees for the other flights. When they added the new flights on the timescale to my account I thought they must have swapped everything over or why add them and not contact me to ask for the money? There was already three hundred and seventy Euros per person on top of the points. As I said I'm not a frequent flyer like some of you so when those flights were added to my account after my complaint I took them at face value.
I only phoned BA and Qatar when I was getting nowhere with Iberia. People from both airlines went out of their way to help me. The lovely lady at BA couldn't have been more helpful. She offered immediately to phone Iberia to put things right - a sign of great customer service. If you don't believe me that's up to you.
It takes a lot to ask for help in a situation like this. I've never used a forum like this before. I hoped I might get some pointers such as legal rights information. Didn't expect it to be place where people have 'feelings' about something, are suspicious and cast judgement. I'm already in a big dispute with Iberia. I don't need people on here getting the boot in too.
Signing off now. Next time someone joins your forum to ask foe genuine support you might remember what these forums are meant to be for..
Last edited by Fiona B; Feb 24, 2019 at 10:21 am
Feb 24, 2019, 10:43 am
#21
Moderator: British Airways Executive Club, Iberia Airlines, Airport Lounges and Environmentally Friendly Travel
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: London, UK
Posts: 22,212
Hi Fiona B,
It sounds as though the Iberia agent you spoke to was able to find inventory on BA's service to/from Bangkok and as a courtesy held seats for you until which point you were contacted to confirm acceptance and complete the payment. At this stage you should have been contacted either by phone or by email in which case you would have been asked to call Iberia at your earliest convenience. So something probably went wrong here. Reservations have a very short life and usually need to be ticketed within a few days otherwise they simply auto-cancel and drop out of the global reservation system.
Note, and this is an important point, the two reservations you had were always entirely separate from each other, so your decision to cancel the QR booking would have had no impact on the BA reservation (and vice versa). So unfortunately, as your BKK flights were never ticketed (or, as I understand, paid for) coupled with you cancelling your QR flights, it looks like you are back to square one.
It sounds as though the Iberia agent you spoke to was able to find inventory on BA's service to/from Bangkok and as a courtesy held seats for you until which point you were contacted to confirm acceptance and complete the payment. At this stage you should have been contacted either by phone or by email in which case you would have been asked to call Iberia at your earliest convenience. So something probably went wrong here. Reservations have a very short life and usually need to be ticketed within a few days otherwise they simply auto-cancel and drop out of the global reservation system.
Note, and this is an important point, the two reservations you had were always entirely separate from each other, so your decision to cancel the QR booking would have had no impact on the BA reservation (and vice versa). So unfortunately, as your BKK flights were never ticketed (or, as I understand, paid for) coupled with you cancelling your QR flights, it looks like you are back to square one.
Feb 24, 2019, 11:37 am
#22
Join Date: Mar 2016
Programs: BAEC, Ib+, Accor, HHonors
Posts: 609
Back to square one is the best description. There´s really not much you can do at this time... the only things you can do are actions to minimise loses, but deal with them on you return. Btw, there are no legal issues in this case, so you won´t get anywhere.
Anyway... as an advice for future reservations/bookings: it is wise to check your reservations regularly, just to proof that everything is fine and nothing has changed. It is usually easier to find solutions (or fix them) the earlier you notice them. Of course, the expensive lesson learned this time, make sure your reservations are ticketed. (It´s easy to check that on Iberia Plus, you just need to press on the +/more information button next to the passenger name. It shows passport details, FFP number and e-ticket).
Anyway... as an advice for future reservations/bookings: it is wise to check your reservations regularly, just to proof that everything is fine and nothing has changed. It is usually easier to find solutions (or fix them) the earlier you notice them. Of course, the expensive lesson learned this time, make sure your reservations are ticketed. (It´s easy to check that on Iberia Plus, you just need to press on the +/more information button next to the passenger name. It shows passport details, FFP number and e-ticket).
Feb 24, 2019, 11:38 am
#23
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2019
Posts: 9
That's good to know about how long reservations usually last for. Someone has mentioned it to me briefly but I hadn't had it confirmed. That's the kind of helpful information I needed. Thank you Prospero. Unfortunately in this case the BA flights didn't auto cancel or drop out after a few days. They were there in our accounts from when they added them in November until someone deleted them on Friday. Obviously I have the paper trail to prove it.
If anyone had contacted me to ask about payment or suddenly deleted them from our accounts I would have known there was an issue and they weren't booked as a result of our complaint. Those flight bookings may not be connected in a conventional booking sense but to us - them appearing out the blue after we had complained - misled us to book our whole trip around them.
If anyone had contacted me to ask about payment or suddenly deleted them from our accounts I would have known there was an issue and they weren't booked as a result of our complaint. Those flight bookings may not be connected in a conventional booking sense but to us - them appearing out the blue after we had complained - misled us to book our whole trip around them.
Feb 24, 2019, 11:58 am
#24
Moderator: British Airways Executive Club, Iberia Airlines, Airport Lounges and Environmentally Friendly Travel
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: London, UK
Posts: 22,212
Yes, as the reservation was made by Iberia, it is very possible a longer ticketing deadline applied in your situation. Eventually, BA's systems will sweep through the queue and automatically cancel those reservations that are not ticketed. The timing here coincides with what you experienced.
Feb 24, 2019, 6:06 pm
#26
Join Date: May 2009
Location: South Park, CO
Programs: Tegridy Elite
Posts: 5,678
I do understand how seeing a "confirmed" can be seen as the end of the story for those not familiar. Maybe in some ways it was more obvious there was an issue back when paper tickets were used. Partner bookings can be especially ripe for issues - I forget now but a few years back there was a UA partner that kept having issues with ticketing not completing - or was it that they were ticketed but then canceled for some reason - my memory is fuzzier than I thought I guess.
Hope the OP has a nice trip in the end, despite the present frustrations.