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 6, 2016, 5:27 am
#91
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Jan 6, 2016, 5:28 am
#92
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Jan 6, 2016, 5:29 am
#94
Join Date: Oct 2011
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Jan 6, 2016, 5:29 am
#95
Join Date: Aug 2010
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Jan 6, 2016, 5:30 am
#96
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Jan 6, 2016, 5:32 am
#99
FlyerTalk Evangelist
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I get this message if I search for BRU-CPT:
FlightNetwork does not permit searches or bookings from this destination due to the high volume of fraudulent activity.
If you would like to search from another city please click the 'go back' button below.
We apologize in advance for the inconvenience.
If you would like to search from another city please click the 'go back' button below.
We apologize in advance for the inconvenience.
Jan 6, 2016, 5:32 am
#100
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: Belgian in Dublin
Programs: *A Gold, IHG Spire AMB, Ryanair Platinum
Posts: 157
No. You go have a cup of tea and relax. Forget about your new adventure for a few hours and let the dust settle.
Their website is now more or less out of order and they need to decide on a plan of action. The best thing to do right now is to do absolutely nothing. ^
They have withdrawn almost all their fares from the public domain, so OTAs may have cached it (it is still on google for instance) but it is as dead as dead can be. You will not be able to book it anywhere anymore.
Their website is now more or less out of order and they need to decide on a plan of action. The best thing to do right now is to do absolutely nothing. ^
They have withdrawn almost all their fares from the public domain, so OTAs may have cached it (it is still on google for instance) but it is as dead as dead can be. You will not be able to book it anywhere anymore.
Thanks for the find again!
Jan 6, 2016, 5:35 am
#101
formerly mattking2000
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: DXB
Programs: BA|AC|AZ|SPG|H|FPC
Posts: 1,187
Ok, direct link works for me, but I am not going to test if I can actually book it.
I get this message if I search for BRU-CPT:
FlightNetwork does not permit searches or bookings from this destination due to the high volume of fraudulent activity.
If you would like to search from another city please click the 'go back' button below.
We apologize in advance for the inconvenience.
I get this message if I search for BRU-CPT:
FlightNetwork does not permit searches or bookings from this destination due to the high volume of fraudulent activity.
If you would like to search from another city please click the 'go back' button below.
We apologize in advance for the inconvenience.
Jan 6, 2016, 5:36 am
#102
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2007
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Posts: 22,911
Jan 6, 2016, 5:36 am
#103
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Seat 1L these days :)
Programs: AF Platinum/AY LUMO/SK EBG/baEC S/HYATT Globalist/MR LTP/A3 *G/HH Dia/IHG plat
Posts: 7,968
I hope this flash sale is upheld but if their entire inventory is now gone I cannot see them being too content on these... I was hoping to test out ET
Jan 6, 2016, 5:37 am
#104
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Seat 1L these days :)
Programs: AF Platinum/AY LUMO/SK EBG/baEC S/HYATT Globalist/MR LTP/A3 *G/HH Dia/IHG plat
Posts: 7,968
Jan 6, 2016, 5:39 am
#105
FlyerTalk Evangelist
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Posts: 22,911