LHR/MEL/Europe FF

It was an incorrect fare mapping. The 'system' might have still correctly identified the fare class and fare. Just the mapping to F was the problem. So the only fail-safe way to implement what people are suggesting would be a manual review. And that's probably impractical (given time differences etc etc).

I think there's a difference between checked-in on line and checked-in at the airport. If someone had checked in at the airport and received boarding passes that would be a bit unfair - but there is precedent. Swiss Airlines did exactly that to passengers on the RGN fare. They flew to Zurich but then Swiss tore up the F boarding passes and offered them economy

In any event - I'd prefer airlines NOT to have a fare checking system! Some of these errors are honoured. Do we really want to take all the fun away?? I'd reckon 99% of people know it's a game. You win some. You lose some. Getting hung up on a single example, where there's been little or no loss, and was quickly rectified, doesn't seem an overly good place to funnel too much anger.

roelb

Identifiying possible fare mapping errors prior to ticketing isn't rocket science. I'm not saying that airlines should have such a system in place, but it is an argument to be used against the position of the airline. If you take the position that issuance of the ticket by the airline is acceptance of sale then the airline should honor issued tickets. And that means: either be more careful in what you sell and do any error detection prior to ticketing, or carry the burden if you make a mistake and learn from it.

AlicorporateUK

Is that with AZ, out-of-curiosity? If so, I flew it fairly often (from my home airport i.e. WAW, though) and on a monthly basis during my recent work secondment in South America and I agree on the very good price, that's why I had it booked in the first instance by our corporate travel agent as it was always below 2K (GBP, we're headquartered in Britain) and Magnifica is a really decent product (I didn't quite like the long layovers in FCO but the excellent lounge in the old concourse i.e. E31-44 made it all worth it). And on that note, apologies for the OT

G

honzeek_cz

Finally in JNB. I must say SV A330 recliner seats are not as comfortable as AF F class ones or even AZ seats I was to suppose to fly in.

First of all, AF has the right to what they have done, i.e. downgrade or cancel my ticket without any reason at all.
If I do not like it, I can go to court and dispute it as well, that is my right on the other hand. Supposedly unbiased person then looks at arguments of both sides and decides.

However, I think we are mostly focusing on result (i.e. taboo fare) but not on root cause. The reason these kind of fares come to existence is the complicated revenue management system airlines utilize. It has risk and rewards. If there was only one price from point A to B in specific travel class, then yes, you can probably clearly say that $2.300 USD is cheap for F class ticket as the price always was 23.000. However, I flew $ 1.000 C class tickets that required positioning to IST on both KL and AF, $1.200 PRG-SLC ticket this year and moreover I have similar priced ticked confirmed in F for later this year. Or for example, later this month I have TUN-CXR which was about $900, CZ ticket but mostly operated by AF :ugh: … shall I be worried as the ticket now sells for 4x amount? (Rhetorical question, I am not of course). It is not for average Joe, as it requires to fly to TUN to get advantage of it, but for that price, I have no problem doing it

I like how in US you can cancel non ref fare within 24hrs and after that time it is governed by the ticket rules. Could go both ways as leeway. After that, airline still can do whatever they want, but must be prepared to face consequences.

I am willing to go to court not for enforcing the ticket, but to get some judgement or guidance on how to treat these in future, where the line will be drawn.

roelb

No, Skyteam. KL to and from ATL and DL to and from SCL.

roelb

The problem here is that you can not ask the court for some kind of generic ruling, nor demand reinstatement of the ticket as you're flight dates have already passed. So you're only option is to demand payment of damages. And those would be the extra expenses you had to make to get to your destination on another airline in a premium cabin, plus any legal costs. So it all depends on what those expenses were. What did it actually cost you?

honzeek_cz

I have 2 more bookings in March 2019 to South America, already downgraded as well though e-ticket remained the same. I guess they cannot reissue it before airport gets control over it.
What the lady behind counter in IST mentioned was that it was marked in system as Involuntary Reroute hence the new e-ticket.
Whether what happened in IST was actual breach of contract, lets see.

It only cost me about $300 in non refundable ticket PRG-TUN and hotel in IST. Plus I had to buy ticket with SV for 700 USD to get to IST. And emotional damage of not flying in F

irishguy28

You can do the same now with any ticket booked directly with AF or KL in Europe.

Free cancellation in Europe before 24h?

irishguy28

They *can*, though of course they shouldn't.

AZ did so with their FLR/DUS tickets - they took control of ALL tickets, regardless of which agent issued them, and re-issued them on new ticket numbers that only they had control over.

Vasco Pridat

I doubt a contractor has the right to change the contract after they confirm it. No one in another branch has that right. You sell a house? You can't deliver an aptm.. You make a mistake you have to pay. And again. I agree above. This was not seen as an error.
My ticket shows as f. I will wait 14 days. But I need reliability on my trip. I am neither flying eco for 2k nor am I waiting till all first class flights are sold and business tickets go up full fare because af has all time to downgrade me. That cannot be right.
I will send an email to af in 14 days and as them to confirm my f ticket or otherwise will by an f ticket with my usual BA and send them a bill about the difference It's pretty easy.. And a cheap trial worth it.

WorldLux

Depends on jurisdiction, applicable law, governing law, cause of breach, etc. There are however instances where a genuine error by one party voids a contract. There have been a few EF bookers in the past that booked alternatively flights in F, put their money where their mouth is and sued the airline to reimburse the difference.

pull_over

I'm not sure how about you guys but I just got a call from Air France in Netherlands. I was informed they're going to reissue the ticket, because I booked first due to "technical error". There's no way they'll let me to fly La Premiere - if I'm still willing to fly I'll be seated in economy or - because I booked via travel agency - I can cancel my booking via OTA, and they'll take care of additional cost if OTA will request any.

I booked few error fares, I flown few and few got cancelled, but I was never called by the airline with an explanation. I'm very sad I can't fly La Premiere, but in my opinion AF service is great.

yutuyu

roelb

Or make sure you record it yourself.

irishguy28

If only it were that simple.

The say-so of a minimum-wage call-centre agent who is merely reading from your ticket confirmation is no more valid than the originally-provided ticket confirmation.

I am not sure why you were lucky last time around, but having a recording of an agent which merely agrees with the later-disputed ticket in no way counts as ammo in such cases.

Otherwise, the motto would be "IMMEDIATELY call the airline", rather than "DON'T call the airline" 😅