Dear Alex,
Last week I booked a British Airways seat-sale offer online using ba.com. It was for a return Hong Kong to London flight in Club World and I adhered to the 42-day advance-booking rule.
I chose to book this deal because the ticket restrictions didn’t indicate there would be any problems if I needed to change or cancel the ticket.
A few days later, I checked again using the “manage my booking” tool on the website and the ticketing rules remained exactly the same. But when I checked with ba.com this morning, I noticed the previous rules had vanished from the screen and in their place it now states that no changes or refunds are allowed.
I called British Airways and the airline said a mistake had probably been made [when the BA agent had originally entered the terms and conditions on the website] and it [the mistake] had now been corrected.
BA is now telling me that my booking cannot be changed and, even though I hold printouts of my booking, the airline is not being accommodating. What recourse do I have should I need to alter my booking?
Mark Lee, Hong Kong
Alex replies:
One of the problems with booking online (which many people are now doing) is there is no consumer law to protect passengers when the airline makes such a mistake. When this happens you are reliant on the airline’s goodwill.
Now and again, airlines do make mistakes on their websites. From past experience, they will initially attempt to rebuff passengers. It is only by not taking “no” for an answer (assuming, of course, you have the written proof to back up your claim) that you can hope to get any redress. A reputable carrier will eventually honour any mistake it has made.
In this case, Mr Lee persisted with his complaint. Eventually, British Airways relented and honoured the booking conditions it had originally posted on ba.com. The only caveat, Mr Lee says, is that “I must give BA 42 days’ notice for any changes I wish to make to the first sector and these will have to be done manually [rather than online]”.
Readers making any airline booking online should ensure to bear Mr Lee’s experiences in mind. When booking restrictive tickets, always make a printout of the flight itinerary along with the terms and conditions of the booking.
