Dear Alex,
I agree with Allan Damian’s remarks about airlines advertising new seats and then not honouring them (see Ask Alex, September). A similar situation has happened here involving ANA’s domestic services.
ANA had been advertising a new Premium Class (which provided a larger seat) with higher fares. It claimed the new seats would gradually be fitted on its domestic fleet.
ANA didn’t install the seats on any domestic route for six months yet it continued to charge a higher fare.
As a result, ANA was swamped with complaints from business people and our Fair Trading Commission (FTC) warned the airline about its conduct.
What do you think about this?
Hiroaki Suda, Tokyo, Japan
Alex replies:
Here’s an example of where an advertised product, at a higher fare, wasn’t available.
By rights one would expect ANA to refund the difference in price. But although ANA admits its new Premium Class cost about 8 per cent more (than the previous version) the carrier claims the extra cost was due to inflationary pressures. Therefore a refund wouldn’t be necessary. (On the busy Tokyo-Osaka route Premium Class cost ¥27,600 compared with ¥25,600 for the old product.)
An ANA spokesperson said: “Following the investigation by the JTC we suspended Premium Class advertising. But the seat was only part of the package because passengers still benefitted from lounge access, better meals and so on.”
That may be true but on the other hand regulatory bodies view the seat itself as the most valuable component of any premium product an airline offers.
Readers planning to book Premium Class within Japan can now check online which ANA plane types have been fitted with the new seating. Visit ana.co.jp.
