Missed Flight - Possible Refund?
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Evanelplus,
Did you actually read the OP? He said:
"Due to the difficulty of getting hold of them" was the reason given why he believed BA had let him down.
I too have been challenged getting in touch with them, after receiving an e-mail while I was in the UAE, to call them on their toll free number (only accessible in the UK) to deal with them cancelling my flight, without protecting me on interline carriers (as they promised the media they were doing). They shut off access to all the Exec club lines and could not deal with the number of callers on their regular line. Their local UAE offices had no instructions from LON either. I'll repeat myself, BA let me down. To their loss.
Did you actually read the OP? He said:
Realise is not strictly BA's problem in the first place, but we ended up forking out for new tickets due to the difficulty of getting hold of them. And why the incessant reminders to "go online"?!? (the last thing you want to do while moving about abroad and that's if you can get a connection at all....)
I too have been challenged getting in touch with them, after receiving an e-mail while I was in the UAE, to call them on their toll free number (only accessible in the UK) to deal with them cancelling my flight, without protecting me on interline carriers (as they promised the media they were doing). They shut off access to all the Exec club lines and could not deal with the number of callers on their regular line. Their local UAE offices had no instructions from LON either. I'll repeat myself, BA let me down. To their loss.
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Well, I seemed to have sparked off some interesting debate....thanks for the stories and the thoughts.
To clarify prelude to missing flight:
- Mode and timing of transport from Zermatt were not my preferred option. Suggested driving time was actually given to us by the hotel manager in Zermatt who was hosting us and does trip regularly.
- Agree didn't give much buffer-time, but we were completely within schedule before (i) took marginally longer Lucerne branch of motorway by mistake (ii) hit 2 hour standstill at Lucerne due to accident (iii) further 1 hour of near standstill around Zurich motorway
- No option to use internet cafe en route: were either in mountains or on a motorway and made no sense to leave it
- Remember we were in central Switzerland with UK phones....constant tunnels, overpasses, mountains....reception even to phone was patchy and 3G ($$$) slow, intermittent or simply non-existent.
In terms of BA's response:
- Agree that there may be a number of reasons someone may miss a flight, but BA's lack of interactivity means that if such a scenario develops and you are on the move or simply out of digital contact then they are assured of pocketing a replacement ticket (if non-flexible)
- Why don't they supply a local contact number with your e-ticket?
- They may make more money out of not picking up the phone, but eventually that will lead to disgruntled pax and lowering of reputation and brand.
- It was the Exec Club number we phoned as it was the only one I had stored on my phone for them.
- Maybe it just comes down to BA focus their CS on Business/First...it's where the money is and it's where they need to be careful (so they think...) in terms of who they're dealing with. They forget business travel deciders also travel coach from time to time....
In terms of the Swiss Transport Authorities response:
- Got a nice official letter from them today confirming a 2 hour standstill at Lucerne due an accident in the motorway tunnel and that there was severe congestion all around the Zurich ring road.....seriously impressive.
- Will now be forwarding this to the travel insurance company to try to get a refund for our tix. Some debate on whether this will work, but it's the sensible thing to do.
Lessons learned:
- Usually do it, but try to be based near airport on day before leaving. Simple but effective.
- Europe is becoming unbelievably clogged around every urban centre. Assume the worst on the roads in such areas.
- Fly Swiss.
- Take note of local CS numbers before leaving.
To clarify prelude to missing flight:
- Mode and timing of transport from Zermatt were not my preferred option. Suggested driving time was actually given to us by the hotel manager in Zermatt who was hosting us and does trip regularly.
- Agree didn't give much buffer-time, but we were completely within schedule before (i) took marginally longer Lucerne branch of motorway by mistake (ii) hit 2 hour standstill at Lucerne due to accident (iii) further 1 hour of near standstill around Zurich motorway
- No option to use internet cafe en route: were either in mountains or on a motorway and made no sense to leave it
- Remember we were in central Switzerland with UK phones....constant tunnels, overpasses, mountains....reception even to phone was patchy and 3G ($$$) slow, intermittent or simply non-existent.
In terms of BA's response:
- Agree that there may be a number of reasons someone may miss a flight, but BA's lack of interactivity means that if such a scenario develops and you are on the move or simply out of digital contact then they are assured of pocketing a replacement ticket (if non-flexible)
- Why don't they supply a local contact number with your e-ticket?
- They may make more money out of not picking up the phone, but eventually that will lead to disgruntled pax and lowering of reputation and brand.
- It was the Exec Club number we phoned as it was the only one I had stored on my phone for them.
- Maybe it just comes down to BA focus their CS on Business/First...it's where the money is and it's where they need to be careful (so they think...) in terms of who they're dealing with. They forget business travel deciders also travel coach from time to time....
In terms of the Swiss Transport Authorities response:
- Got a nice official letter from them today confirming a 2 hour standstill at Lucerne due an accident in the motorway tunnel and that there was severe congestion all around the Zurich ring road.....seriously impressive.
- Will now be forwarding this to the travel insurance company to try to get a refund for our tix. Some debate on whether this will work, but it's the sensible thing to do.
Lessons learned:
- Usually do it, but try to be based near airport on day before leaving. Simple but effective.
- Europe is becoming unbelievably clogged around every urban centre. Assume the worst on the roads in such areas.
- Fly Swiss.
- Take note of local CS numbers before leaving.
Last edited by betterfromabove; 14th Jul 2012 at 10:22.
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In terms of the Swiss Transport Authorities response:
- Got a nice official letter from them today confirming a 2 hour standstill at Lucerne due an accident in the motorway tunnel and that there was severe congestion all around the Zurich ring road.....seriously impressive.
- Got a nice official letter from them today confirming a 2 hour standstill at Lucerne due an accident in the motorway tunnel and that there was severe congestion all around the Zurich ring road.....seriously impressive.
-cyclist. The airline (Swiss) re-acced me on a later flight but I incurred further expenses down-route as a result and against the letter from the Cantonal Police the insurance company reimbursed me.
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It seems to me that the OP is being somewhat less than forthright.
There is still no indication of the type of tickets. Which leads you to think it was a non-refundable, non-changeable tickets.
First it was;
"All the while, we try and raise BA by just about every means we can think off....while burning up the ££'s on mobile's (when we can get reception that is). But we can reach no-one, despite 20 mins sessions of calling CS, Exec Club, the works."
Now it is;
"It was the Exec Club number we phoned as it was the only one I had stored on my phone for them."
and;
"Remember we were in central Switzerland with UK phones....constant tunnels, overpasses, mountains....reception even to phone was patchy and 3G ($$$) slow, intermittent or simply non-existent."
There is still no indication of the type of tickets. Which leads you to think it was a non-refundable, non-changeable tickets.
First it was;
"All the while, we try and raise BA by just about every means we can think off....while burning up the ££'s on mobile's (when we can get reception that is). But we can reach no-one, despite 20 mins sessions of calling CS, Exec Club, the works."
Now it is;
"It was the Exec Club number we phoned as it was the only one I had stored on my phone for them."
and;
"Remember we were in central Switzerland with UK phones....constant tunnels, overpasses, mountains....reception even to phone was patchy and 3G ($$$) slow, intermittent or simply non-existent."
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"It seems to me that the OP is being somewhat less than forthright."
Indeed :
"Remember we were in central Switzerland with UK phones....constant tunnels, overpasses, mountains....reception even to phone was patchy and 3G ($$$) slow, intermittent or simply non-existent."
If the first hold up occurred near Lucerne, where are these constant tunnels, overpasses and mountains on the way to Zurich by motorway ? The alps are being left behind on that route.
I generally find that my UK 3G phone gets much better reception travelling around Switzerland than in the UK, and that includes a constant signal going through motorway tunnels.
And I would imagine that with a non-flexible ticket, BA's response assuming contact was achieved would be pretty much "OK, thanks for letting us know", just as it would be from any other airline.
I'm not BA's biggest fan at all when it comes to their CS attitudes, but I don't think its fair to lay blame on them because your phone doesn't work particularly well.
Indeed :
"Remember we were in central Switzerland with UK phones....constant tunnels, overpasses, mountains....reception even to phone was patchy and 3G ($$$) slow, intermittent or simply non-existent."
If the first hold up occurred near Lucerne, where are these constant tunnels, overpasses and mountains on the way to Zurich by motorway ? The alps are being left behind on that route.
I generally find that my UK 3G phone gets much better reception travelling around Switzerland than in the UK, and that includes a constant signal going through motorway tunnels.
And I would imagine that with a non-flexible ticket, BA's response assuming contact was achieved would be pretty much "OK, thanks for letting us know", just as it would be from any other airline.
I'm not BA's biggest fan at all when it comes to their CS attitudes, but I don't think its fair to lay blame on them because your phone doesn't work particularly well.
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It seems that everyone is brainwashed by the corporate 'No customer service, no discretion to our staff' mentally that seems to exist.
Being able to talk to someone without holding for more then 10 minutes should be a legal requirement for large corporations, with penalties for exceeding this.
The ability for staff to make a decision outside the 'corporate greed' rules should be given to staff on the ground.
Sadly, regardless of which airline you fly with you can pretty much expect the same service. It goes for pretty much any big corporation now.
I honestly believe that most big corporations actually hate their staff, and hate their customers. They have mission to make money and customers and employees get in the way of that.
END RANT
Being able to talk to someone without holding for more then 10 minutes should be a legal requirement for large corporations, with penalties for exceeding this.
The ability for staff to make a decision outside the 'corporate greed' rules should be given to staff on the ground.
Sadly, regardless of which airline you fly with you can pretty much expect the same service. It goes for pretty much any big corporation now.
I honestly believe that most big corporations actually hate their staff, and hate their customers. They have mission to make money and customers and employees get in the way of that.
END RANT
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Hipeninne - The downside to starting to discuss a specific on PPRUNE of course is that you risk plunging into the details before too long, but that's the price for advice and informed discussion I s'pose....
The poor reception was experienced during the original hold-up approaching, passing and leaving Lucerne, which took over 2 hours and if you know the road there is a winding stretch of motorway through tunnels (one of which we spent most of the 2 hours in....) and surrounded by mountains.
Anyway, this just made our job harder......
When we had reception we phoned BA CS and got nowhere.
And I was not alone in the car. If it had been crawling traffic and I'd be alone then strictly speaking I shouldn't have been on the phone at all. And the hard shoulder....? That was being used as a rat run by emergency services and chancers.
Point is airline doesn't need chapter and verse, they need to ask themselves what the point of customer service is in the first place.
The poor reception was experienced during the original hold-up approaching, passing and leaving Lucerne, which took over 2 hours and if you know the road there is a winding stretch of motorway through tunnels (one of which we spent most of the 2 hours in....) and surrounded by mountains.
Anyway, this just made our job harder......
When we had reception we phoned BA CS and got nowhere.
And I was not alone in the car. If it had been crawling traffic and I'd be alone then strictly speaking I shouldn't have been on the phone at all. And the hard shoulder....? That was being used as a rat run by emergency services and chancers.
Point is airline doesn't need chapter and verse, they need to ask themselves what the point of customer service is in the first place.
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Originally Posted by betterfromabove
The downside to starting to discuss a specific on PPRUNE of course is that you risk plunging into the details before too long
This thread is also a good example of how critical thinking and reading often goes out the window when there is an opportunity to have biases confirmed.
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Betterfromabove - I know where you mean, so can appreciate the connection problems.
Nevertheless, unless you were on a fully flexible ticket, I don't think thateven if you had got through to BA, you would have had any better outcome. People who go on about the days when ground staff had the "discretion" to provide a different service, are talking about a different commercial world when airline fares were in real terms far more expensive,with far more fat to allow discretion. The walk up fares of £300 you ended up paying would have been closer to £600 in real terms when staff had that sort of discretion.
If you think BA are bad, I've recently had an experience with KLM where I had to cancel a Transatlantic non-flexible flight. No problem financially, because well-insured. However, KLM firstly denied any liability to refund taxes (but finally got them), and then I couldn't get any evidence from them that the sectors weren't flown for the insurance claim. Eventually I challenged the insurance company to do any better, but after 2 months they gave up as well and made a without prejudice payment. I hope that you have an easier time with BA !
Nevertheless, unless you were on a fully flexible ticket, I don't think thateven if you had got through to BA, you would have had any better outcome. People who go on about the days when ground staff had the "discretion" to provide a different service, are talking about a different commercial world when airline fares were in real terms far more expensive,with far more fat to allow discretion. The walk up fares of £300 you ended up paying would have been closer to £600 in real terms when staff had that sort of discretion.
If you think BA are bad, I've recently had an experience with KLM where I had to cancel a Transatlantic non-flexible flight. No problem financially, because well-insured. However, KLM firstly denied any liability to refund taxes (but finally got them), and then I couldn't get any evidence from them that the sectors weren't flown for the insurance claim. Eventually I challenged the insurance company to do any better, but after 2 months they gave up as well and made a without prejudice payment. I hope that you have an easier time with BA !
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Have just read this in Breaking Travel News easyJet to offer Missed Flight Cover to passengers
3
3 days ago
In a new agreement with Mondial Assistance, No Exclusions will offer UK customers of easyJet the opportunity to purchase Missed Flight Cover.
Missed Flight Cover enables an airline passenger to continue on their journey, with an immediate option (at the airport) of a new ticket on the next available flight at no additional cost, or the choice of a full flight refund.
Recent consumer research commissioned by No Exclusions identifies that a significant proportion of travellers have an inherent fear of missing their flight.
Last month an independent survey (conducted by One Poll June 2012) also highlighted passenger concern about arriving on time at the airport, with 71 per cent of respondents claiming to sleep restlessly, or not at all, before a morning flight.
Across the UK, an average 43 per cent of passengers say they will even consider staying at an airport hotel in order to alleviate this travel stress before flying.
New Missed Flight Cover should make their worries a thing of the past, offering a practical solution should passengers miss their flight.
With a completely unique approach to claims handling, passengers are offered immediate assistance at the airport, at no additional cost.
The policy is simple to understand, with no exclusions, excesses or claims paperwork.
It also covers the cost of any flight related services such as reserved seating, speedy boarding, hold luggage, credit card and booking fees.
Simply by registering their claim at the airline Sales Desk at the airport within four hours after the (missed) flight’s scheduled departure, the policyholder will receive immediate assistance to re-book their flight or obtain a refund.
Missed Flight Cover is available at just £7.50 single flight or £9.50 return, alongside a flight booking on easyJet.com.
Andrew Lothian, No Exclusions’ chief executive commented: “We are extremely proud to have designed and developed Missed Flight Cover and are thrilled that easyJet will be the first airline to launch the policy.
“We believe it provides an innovative and effective solution to a proven passenger concern and are confident that uptake will prove popular.”
st read this.
3
3 days ago
In a new agreement with Mondial Assistance, No Exclusions will offer UK customers of easyJet the opportunity to purchase Missed Flight Cover.
Missed Flight Cover enables an airline passenger to continue on their journey, with an immediate option (at the airport) of a new ticket on the next available flight at no additional cost, or the choice of a full flight refund.
Recent consumer research commissioned by No Exclusions identifies that a significant proportion of travellers have an inherent fear of missing their flight.
Last month an independent survey (conducted by One Poll June 2012) also highlighted passenger concern about arriving on time at the airport, with 71 per cent of respondents claiming to sleep restlessly, or not at all, before a morning flight.
Across the UK, an average 43 per cent of passengers say they will even consider staying at an airport hotel in order to alleviate this travel stress before flying.
New Missed Flight Cover should make their worries a thing of the past, offering a practical solution should passengers miss their flight.
With a completely unique approach to claims handling, passengers are offered immediate assistance at the airport, at no additional cost.
The policy is simple to understand, with no exclusions, excesses or claims paperwork.
It also covers the cost of any flight related services such as reserved seating, speedy boarding, hold luggage, credit card and booking fees.
Simply by registering their claim at the airline Sales Desk at the airport within four hours after the (missed) flight’s scheduled departure, the policyholder will receive immediate assistance to re-book their flight or obtain a refund.
Missed Flight Cover is available at just £7.50 single flight or £9.50 return, alongside a flight booking on easyJet.com.
Andrew Lothian, No Exclusions’ chief executive commented: “We are extremely proud to have designed and developed Missed Flight Cover and are thrilled that easyJet will be the first airline to launch the policy.
“We believe it provides an innovative and effective solution to a proven passenger concern and are confident that uptake will prove popular.”
st read this.
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I've been transferred a few times with BA to the next available flight with non-flex and even Avios tickets. Either free of charge or with a £60 fee, both at Heathrow and at outstations, so it doesn't seem to be a blanket rule. Though on all occasions flights have been very quiet - can't imagine they'd be so generous at peak times.
I like Easyjet's rule - arrive within 2hrs after departure and they'll "rescue" your ticket for about 50 quid confirmed onto the next available flight. Not exactly cheap but at least you aren't relying on discrection. Combined with their free space-available move to an earlier flight home they are usually my carrier of choice on my short european hops these days
I like Easyjet's rule - arrive within 2hrs after departure and they'll "rescue" your ticket for about 50 quid confirmed onto the next available flight. Not exactly cheap but at least you aren't relying on discrection. Combined with their free space-available move to an earlier flight home they are usually my carrier of choice on my short european hops these days
