[PREM FARE GONE] Mad-scl biz $280 return
Jun 22, 2022, 10:28 am
#901
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: USA
Programs: AS MVPG 75K, AC SE
Posts: 346
Just had an interesting call with PL in response to their airline-changed-something email. After we got past me insisting that I never changed anything by calling the airline, the agent said the return was cancelled by Iberia but the outbound was ok. I asked to rebook and was told there were no flights anymore.
Eventually the agent called Iberia (1hr hold). They redirected him to LATAM, another 45m hold. Then he said the LATAM is no longer operating the flight and he needs to process a refund. I pushed back a bit and asked for a reason why I can't fly on another flight. He called them back and said someone from the ticketing department said the ticket could not be flown because of a disagreement between Iberia and LATAM (??). He said they would not authorize rebooking, only refund, but that they refused to give a reason why rebooking was not allowed.
No mention of a mistake fare at any point, but it seems like LATAM doesn't want to budge on these. Interesting that they haven't proactively done anything other than cancel their segments though..
Eventually the agent called Iberia (1hr hold). They redirected him to LATAM, another 45m hold. Then he said the LATAM is no longer operating the flight and he needs to process a refund. I pushed back a bit and asked for a reason why I can't fly on another flight. He called them back and said someone from the ticketing department said the ticket could not be flown because of a disagreement between Iberia and LATAM (??). He said they would not authorize rebooking, only refund, but that they refused to give a reason why rebooking was not allowed.
No mention of a mistake fare at any point, but it seems like LATAM doesn't want to budge on these. Interesting that they haven't proactively done anything other than cancel their segments though..
Jun 22, 2022, 10:32 am
#902
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: LAX
Programs: UA Plat MM, CM Plat, Amex Plat, Hertz CP, Hyatt Globalist, SPG Gold, Vons Club
Posts: 6,846
Just had an interesting call with PL in response to their email. After we got past me insisting that I never changed anything by calling the airline, the agent said the return was cancelled by Iberia but the outbound was ok. I asked to rebook and was told there were no flights anymore.
Eventually the agent called Iberia (1hr hold). They redirected him to LATAM, another 45m hold. Then he said the LATAM is no longer operating the flight and he needs to process a refund. I pushed back a bit and asked for a reason why I can't fly on another flight. He called them back and said someone from the ticketing department said the ticket could not be flown because of a disagreement between Iberia and LATAM (??). He said they would not authorize rebooking, only refund, but that they explicitly refused to give a reason why rebooking was not allowed.
No mention of a mistake fare at any point, but it seems like LATAM doesn't want to budge on these. Interesting that they haven't proactively done anything other than cancel their segments though..
Eventually the agent called Iberia (1hr hold). They redirected him to LATAM, another 45m hold. Then he said the LATAM is no longer operating the flight and he needs to process a refund. I pushed back a bit and asked for a reason why I can't fly on another flight. He called them back and said someone from the ticketing department said the ticket could not be flown because of a disagreement between Iberia and LATAM (??). He said they would not authorize rebooking, only refund, but that they explicitly refused to give a reason why rebooking was not allowed.
No mention of a mistake fare at any point, but it seems like LATAM doesn't want to budge on these. Interesting that they haven't proactively done anything other than cancel their segments though..
Jun 22, 2022, 10:34 am
#903
Join Date: Apr 2018
Location: London
Programs: Gold at BA, Hilton and Radisson.
Posts: 586
As a different data point, with Lastminute.com, I escalated my booking four times and spoke to a very competent understanding UK based person around 10am today.
The original booking was; MAD - LIM - SCL - MAD and all segments bar the final had dropped off. Flight is in three weeks. 045 ticketed, 278 gbp.
The agent has spoken with Latam, emailed me back and offered the direct MAD-SCL flight on Latam. I've replied, and the booking is now intact, reticketed as a MAD-SCL-MAD return; outbound on LA and back on IB.
As for my other two bookings... I won't poke the bear just yet!
The original booking was; MAD - LIM - SCL - MAD and all segments bar the final had dropped off. Flight is in three weeks. 045 ticketed, 278 gbp.
The agent has spoken with Latam, emailed me back and offered the direct MAD-SCL flight on Latam. I've replied, and the booking is now intact, reticketed as a MAD-SCL-MAD return; outbound on LA and back on IB.
As for my other two bookings... I won't poke the bear just yet!
Jun 22, 2022, 10:42 am
#904
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: LAX
Programs: UA Plat MM, CM Plat, Amex Plat, Hertz CP, Hyatt Globalist, SPG Gold, Vons Club
Posts: 6,846
As a different data point, with Lastminute.com, I escalated my booking four times and spoke to a very competent understanding UK based person around 10am today.
The original booking was; MAD - LIM - SCL - MAD and all segments bar the final had dropped off. Flight is in three weeks. 045 ticketed, 278 gbp.
The agent has spoken with Latam, emailed me back and offered the direct MAD-SCL flight on Latam. I've replied, and the booking is now intact, reticketed as a MAD-SCL-MAD return; outbound on LA and back on IB.
As for my other two bookings... I won't poke the bear just yet!
The original booking was; MAD - LIM - SCL - MAD and all segments bar the final had dropped off. Flight is in three weeks. 045 ticketed, 278 gbp.
The agent has spoken with Latam, emailed me back and offered the direct MAD-SCL flight on Latam. I've replied, and the booking is now intact, reticketed as a MAD-SCL-MAD return; outbound on LA and back on IB.
As for my other two bookings... I won't poke the bear just yet!
Last edited by Flying Machine; Jun 22, 2022 at 10:48 am
Jun 22, 2022, 11:14 am
#905
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Denmark
Programs: TK Elite
Posts: 11,779
Yes, very interesting indeed. It may also come down to with whom at LATAM the OTA talks to seek authorization to rebook. If the OTA gets a clueless LATAM agent without knowledge of or instructions on how to proceed with these tickets (agent hasn't read the internal LATAM memo yet!) obviously, he/she will try to rectify the situation and rebook, whereas an agent with knowledge of these ticket, vill refuse to rebook and insist that refund is the only option.
Jun 22, 2022, 11:18 am
#906
Join Date: Jun 2022
Location: Madrid
Posts: 46
They are going for Plan B now after failing to provide a reasonable solution: https://www.reuters.com/business/aer...an-2022-06-19/
Jun 22, 2022, 11:34 am
#907
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: WAW ✈ LHR ✈ GLA
Programs: BA GfL/GGL/CCR, HH Diamond, IHG Diamond Ambassador
Posts: 2,498
They are going for Plan B now after failing to provide a reasonable solution: https://www.reuters.com/business/aer...an-2022-06-19/
Jun 22, 2022, 12:04 pm
#908
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2014
Programs: Top Tier with all 3 alliances
Posts: 11,644
Yes, very interesting indeed. It may also come down to with whom at LATAM the OTA talks to seek authorization to rebook. If the OTA gets a clueless LATAM agent without knowledge of or instructions on how to proceed with these tickets (agent hasn't read the internal LATAM memo yet!) obviously, he/she will try to rectify the situation and rebook, whereas an agent with knowledge of these ticket, vill refuse to rebook and insist that refund is the only option.
I am getting a vibe that it may be beneficial to call earlier than later, before rules get solidified, although this could have the opposite effect, and in any case who wants to spend 5 hours on the phone dealing with this....
Jun 22, 2022, 12:06 pm
#909
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2014
Programs: Top Tier with all 3 alliances
Posts: 11,644
One could say that this unexpected flash sale was to rise money to keep a bankrupt airline afloat for a little bit longer... I think Alitalia has used this tactic before with their very generous flash sale from DUS to FLR business class fare, that had only one fare rule - could not be direct...
Jun 22, 2022, 1:46 pm
#911
Join Date: Oct 2018
Posts: 1,649
So my reservation (which initially lost outbound legs MAD-GRU-SCL) has disappeared completely from the Iberia (and other) booking systems.
Called GTG again to check but got the same "special customer service is working on it" line. Not sure what they are working on, but will let it be for now.
Called GTG again to check but got the same "special customer service is working on it" line. Not sure what they are working on, but will let it be for now.
Jun 22, 2022, 2:19 pm
#912
Join Date: Jan 2016
Location: Germany
Programs: UA 1K
Posts: 416
Just received a cancellation email from priceline:
Dear DELPIERO223,
We were notified recently by LATAM Airlines of a fare filing error which resulted in invalid fares being ticketed for certain cabin class inventory, including for the fares that you recently booked through our site. We have been advised by the airline that they will not honor your reservation as booked, and your reservation has been cancelled.
A refund has been initiated on your behalf for the total unused ticket amount. The refund will be processed back to your original form of payment within 7-10 business days.
We were notified recently by LATAM Airlines of a fare filing error which resulted in invalid fares being ticketed for certain cabin class inventory, including for the fares that you recently booked through our site. We have been advised by the airline that they will not honor your reservation as booked, and your reservation has been cancelled.
A refund has been initiated on your behalf for the total unused ticket amount. The refund will be processed back to your original form of payment within 7-10 business days.
Jun 22, 2022, 3:15 pm
#913
Join Date: Apr 2007
Programs: QF, VA, AC, Hyatt, Marriott
Posts: 3,779
No, I don't. Where in the regulation is that articulated?
Jun 22, 2022, 3:22 pm
#914
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: WAW ✈ LHR ✈ GLA
Programs: BA GfL/GGL/CCR, HH Diamond, IHG Diamond Ambassador
Posts: 2,498
IIRC Alitalia was removing all exotic segments and replacing them with a more direct shorthaul route DUS-FCO-FLR or FLR-FCO-DUS... which technically was enough to get a refund under EC261/2004, but some OTA's were not getting any updates from AZ and refused to refund - I remember my friends had to go through a charge back with Opodo, successfully.
Jun 22, 2022, 3:31 pm
#915
Ambassador: Emirates Airlines
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Manchester, UK
Posts: 18,600
I'm really baffled by this thread. No one has even tried to fly one of these tickets, yet people are already requesting refunds and discussing legal consequences?
Thee has been one (!) datapoint of the airline unilaterally refunding the ticket. Just chill. Reading this thread is giving me a headache.
Thee has been one (!) datapoint of the airline unilaterally refunding the ticket. Just chill. Reading this thread is giving me a headache.
Who are you to tell people what they can and can't post on a thread?