Jan 20, 2016, 9:14 am
Last edit by: Palal
Brief History
On 6 January, a fare appeared for a few hours on Ethiopian Airlines (ET) and online travel agencies (OTAs) offering BRU-ADD-(GBE)-CPT r/t in fully refundable business (C-Class) for 530€.
Several days later, many members got e-mails stating that they "actually booked economy tickets" and were downgraded from fare basis CRTBE (fully refundable business) to TLES6MBE (economy). Some who booked through OTAs have yet to receive this downgrade, and some have been downgraded with no notification from OTAs.
Several people have also successfully flown already.
Next Steps
1. It's (now) safe to call/email the airline.
2. It seems 2 options are given: travel in economy, or full refund.
--> those who have chosen a refund have mostly gotten it promptly.
--> those who have contested the e-mail have not received any type of response.
--> other options were presented here, although others have not seem to replicated the result.
3. Contacting any Ethiopian offices (London, Vienna, etc.) have resulted in being redirected to the Ethiopian Brussels office.
4. For those who plan to fight it, see below. Note that no one has had a successful outcome yet.
5. Update: Some users are reporting getting the offer of 75% refunds to travel in economy as per EC 261.
Avenues of contest:
1. Try Art. 10 (2) lit. c of the Flight Delay Compensation Regulation 261/2004. It may be possible to get up to 75% of the ticket price back, although this is unconfirmed and debatable.
2. Befriend a Belgian lawyer with a penchant for pro bono work
Kidding aside, it is not wise to go the legal route.
You should email the Belgian enforcement body at: [email protected]
In the email state your name, eticket, travel date, attach ticket receipt.
State that your ticket has been purchased and issued in business class and that the airline is offering to either cancel or downgrade without compensation. Politely ask for their help in enforcing EU Reg 261/2004 Art.10 2(c).
Planned Trips:
early February OwlMan
early April mattking2000
March-End Culture Guru
late April Palal
Further/concurrent reading (for the German-inclined):
http://www.vielfliegertreff.de/first-business-class-tarife/91159-et-bru-cpt-524-euro.html
On 6 January, a fare appeared for a few hours on Ethiopian Airlines (ET) and online travel agencies (OTAs) offering BRU-ADD-(GBE)-CPT r/t in fully refundable business (C-Class) for 530€.
Several days later, many members got e-mails stating that they "actually booked economy tickets" and were downgraded from fare basis CRTBE (fully refundable business) to TLES6MBE (economy). Some who booked through OTAs have yet to receive this downgrade, and some have been downgraded with no notification from OTAs.
Several people have also successfully flown already.
Next Steps
1. It's (now) safe to call/email the airline.
2. It seems 2 options are given: travel in economy, or full refund.
--> those who have chosen a refund have mostly gotten it promptly.
--> those who have contested the e-mail have not received any type of response.
--> other options were presented here, although others have not seem to replicated the result.
3. Contacting any Ethiopian offices (London, Vienna, etc.) have resulted in being redirected to the Ethiopian Brussels office.
4. For those who plan to fight it, see below. Note that no one has had a successful outcome yet.
5. Update: Some users are reporting getting the offer of 75% refunds to travel in economy as per EC 261.
Avenues of contest:
1. Try Art. 10 (2) lit. c of the Flight Delay Compensation Regulation 261/2004. It may be possible to get up to 75% of the ticket price back, although this is unconfirmed and debatable.
2. Befriend a Belgian lawyer with a penchant for pro bono work
Kidding aside, it is not wise to go the legal route. Code:
Article 10: Upgrading and downgrading 1. If an operating air carrier places a passenger in a class higher than that for which the ticket was purchased, it may not request any supplementary payment. 2. If an operating air carrier places a passenger in a class lower than that for which the ticket was purchased, it shall within seven days, by the means provided for in Article 7(3), reimburse (a) 30 % of the price of the ticket for all flights of 1500 kilometres or less, or (b) 50 % of the price of the ticket for all intra-Community flights of more than 1500 kilometres, except flights between the European territory of the Member States and the French overseas departments, and for all other flights between 1500 and 3500 kilometres, or (c) 75 % of the price of the ticket for all flights not falling under (a) or (b), including flights between the European territory of the Member States and the French overseas departments.
In the email state your name, eticket, travel date, attach ticket receipt.
State that your ticket has been purchased and issued in business class and that the airline is offering to either cancel or downgrade without compensation. Politely ask for their help in enforcing EU Reg 261/2004 Art.10 2(c).
Planned Trips:
early February OwlMan
early April mattking2000
March-End Culture Guru
late April Palal
Further/concurrent reading (for the German-inclined):
http://www.vielfliegertreff.de/first-business-class-tarife/91159-et-bru-cpt-524-euro.html
[PREMIUM FARE GONE] Ethiopian Airlines-Brussel to CPT (r/t) in J on 787 for €530 in J
Jan 14, 2016, 6:50 am
#436
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Germany
Posts: 136
Not, it's not about getting money back in a week. If they tell me it comes in 3 weeks it's fine.
--> THEY NEED TO CONTACT ME
if you read my story, it's about contact. I know how these fares work. And i do accept cancellation.
and I think ethiopian is not the worse airline from Africa.
--> THEY NEED TO CONTACT ME
if you read my story, it's about contact. I know how these fares work. And i do accept cancellation.
and I think ethiopian is not the worse airline from Africa.
Jan 14, 2016, 7:04 am
#437
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: WORLD
Programs: Bonvoy Titanium, Flying Blue (KLM) Platinum, Oneworld (BA) Sapphire, *A (Aegean) Gold, IHG Spire RA,
Posts: 555
Yes I understand. Probably they still don't know what to do with these bookings and noone wants to take responsibility. Communication is always difficult with such big airlines and maybe they are waiting with their answer until they decided internally how to proceed. I'm just saying i wouldn't even consider a chargback after only 1 week.
Maybe this is the first time they have to deal with such a fare.
Jan 14, 2016, 7:32 am
#438
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: The Hague, NL
Programs: GMLFL, Life 2.0 - Mucci Premiere Classe & des Chevaliers Toulousiens
Posts: 22,911
The problem is that at first we hope they are not professional enough to effectively cancel the fare (or that they want our business so badly that will 'forget about it') but once they do, they need to be more effective than, say, BA where a refund can easily take more than 6 weeks....
They can't win.
They can't win.
Jan 14, 2016, 7:39 am
#439
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Wedged somewhere between BTS and VIE ✈
Programs: Star Alliance Gold (A3 Gold), Oneworld Emerald (BA Gold), Hilton Diamond
Posts: 6,339
When they sent the e-mail informing me that I'd booked in economy fare and that I can get a refund, I e-mailed them back within 15 minutes telling them to cancel the booking. So I guess I was pretty much first in line.
Jan 14, 2016, 8:42 am
#441
Join Date: Jul 2012
Programs: AA Plat
Posts: 133
You have to be aware that the fare was arround a week ago and now people are already complaining they still didn't refund after less than 1 week!!!. This is crazy. With most airlines a refund takes a while, sometimes up to a few weeks. You shouldn't book mistake fares if you need your money back withing a few days.
If I was in on this deal, I'd be fine waiting a few weeks for a refund to post to my CC. However, I would not be fine waiting a few weeks for a CS agent to tell me if a refund has been initiated. That's just poor customer service.
Jan 14, 2016, 8:45 am
#442
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: WORLD
Programs: Bonvoy Titanium, Flying Blue (KLM) Platinum, Oneworld (BA) Sapphire, *A (Aegean) Gold, IHG Spire RA,
Posts: 555
I've participated in several mistake fares, so I know how these work. I agree that you shouldn't book mistake fares if you need your money back within days. However, that's not the issue. The real issue is with communication.
If I was in on this deal, I'd be fine waiting a few weeks for a refund to post to my CC. However, I would not be fine waiting a few weeks for a CS agent to tell me if a refund has been initiated. That's just poor customer service.
If I was in on this deal, I'd be fine waiting a few weeks for a refund to post to my CC. However, I would not be fine waiting a few weeks for a CS agent to tell me if a refund has been initiated. That's just poor customer service.
exactly my point.
I'm flexible as it comes to mistakes. I run several online business. Mistakes happen. And if you solve them adequately, no problem. But not leave customers without any knowledge.
Jan 14, 2016, 8:51 am
#443
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: HAJ
Posts: 237
On VFT some guys reporting OTA Bookings were canceled although.
Jan 14, 2016, 8:51 am
#444
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: London
Posts: 17,007
For credit cards issued in the UK, the credit card company is, under certain conditions, strictly liable to the cardholder for any breach of contract by the merchant [even if the merchant is located abroad], so it is in the credit card company's interest to ensure merchants honour their contracts.
Last edited by Calchas; Jan 14, 2016 at 8:57 am
Jan 14, 2016, 9:11 am
#445
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: WORLD
Programs: Bonvoy Titanium, Flying Blue (KLM) Platinum, Oneworld (BA) Sapphire, *A (Aegean) Gold, IHG Spire RA,
Posts: 555
Amex could bring significant commercial pressure to bear on the company. In this case I agree they will not. But in other circumstances, they can do.
For credit cards issued in the UK, the credit card company is, under certain conditions, strictly liable to the cardholder for any breach of contract by the merchant [even if the merchant is located abroad], so it is in the credit card company's interest to ensure merchants honour their contracts.
For credit cards issued in the UK, the credit card company is, under certain conditions, strictly liable to the cardholder for any breach of contract by the merchant [even if the merchant is located abroad], so it is in the credit card company's interest to ensure merchants honour their contracts.
Amex will ask PROOF to the merchant what is bought will be delivered. The thing is if I look for example at my Amex charge it says it's a ticket, it says my name it says the ticket number (at the amex charges), it says the class (C), and the issuer (ET). So amex can see that they charged me for business. It's on the amex receipt !!
anyhow, i give it a few more days. as some get now "kind reminder" emails. LOL
Jan 14, 2016, 9:34 am
#447
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: The Hague, NL
Programs: GMLFL, Life 2.0 - Mucci Premiere Classe & des Chevaliers Toulousiens
Posts: 22,911