Schedule changes 30/11/2010
Dear Alex,
I have booked a first class Emirates/United Airlines round-the-world ticket [a special ticket unavailable for sale in Europe]. I arrive in Dubai with Emirates, and from there I have booked a side-trip return to Frankfurt via London with British Airways using award miles.
The original BA flights offered a good transfer but now British Airways has cancelled its 0145 service out of Dubai and booked me on its 0715 flight.
Because the new BA flights no longer connect, I must spend longer in Dubai. Someone told me that British Airways is responsible for putting me up in a hotel because of the schedule change. Is that correct?
Ed Kurtz, Bangkok
French connection 30/11/2010
Dear Alex,
A colleague and I were delayed for seven hours at London Heathrow T5 because of a missed connection when travelling between Chicago and Lyon with British Airways. There was an hour to change planes. We started this portion of our itinerary using an American Airlines and BA codeshared flight out of Cleveland. We took this service to Chicago to connect with BA294 for Heathrow.
This flight reached T5 only one minute late (the scheduled arrival was 0645) yet we were told at the transfer counter that the onward service to Lyon (BA360 at 0745) had closed 45 minutes before departure. As we were flying business class and are both Oneworld Emerald cardholders [Oneworld’s highest loyalty tier], I was appalled that BA had closed the Lyon flight early, especially as the passenger log would have shown we were making a connection.
BA staff at T5 did not apologise, instead deferring responsibility to our travel agent for booking the tight connection. They also blamed their colleagues in Chicago for not issuing us with boarding passes for the Heathrow-Lyon sector.
We were rebooked on to BA362 at 1455 and provided with a meal voucher. It meant we had to cancel all business meetings planned for that afternoon. After I returned home I submitted a complaint via the BA website but the reply from customer services blamed American Airlines for not checking us right through to Lyon (even though it did). Whatever happened to British Airways’ customer service responsibility?
Clive Milham, Melbourne
Upper deck please 29/10/2010
Dear Alex,
I have booked a Club World [business class] promotional fare to the Far East with British Airways, flying on a B747. I would like to sit on the upper deck and am willing to pay BA’s seat allocation fee. But when I look at the online “Manage my reservation” seat selection function, I see that all upper deck seats are already taken, while seats downstairs are still almost empty.
Joanne Kemp, London
No excuses 29/10/2010
Dear Alex,
I booked Bmi to fly from Freetown, Sierra Leone to London on Sunday July 11. Our flight was supposed to leave at 2345 but it was cancelled at three hours’ notice and we finally left on Tuesday at 0500. No reason was given nor accommodation offered – we were just asked to contact our travel agent.
Under EU legislation 261/2004 I believe I am due e600 in compensation for the delay. But although Bmi says it will consider paying my expenses, it says it is not liable for a further payment as the 261/2004 ruling has, in its words, “recently been clarified”.
Where do I stand?
Mohamed Basma, London
Redeeming features 29/10/2010
Dear Alex,
Last Easter my family used Emirates frequent flyer programme (FFP) redemption tickets for a trip between Kolkata and Cairo via Dubai. We found that the cash component for each redemption ticket was only 5 per cent, with 95 per cent of the ticket’s value coming from mileage points.
Yet when I had to redeem my points for a trip with Singapore Airlines between Kolkata and Bali via Singapore, I had to shell out 30 per cent of the ticket’s value in cash, so only 70 per cent came from mileage points.
This clearly shows that the value of mileage points between airlines can differ widely. Passengers need to be made aware that the value can vary depending on the surcharge, taxes and fees policy of a particular carrier.
I would like to compliment airlines such as Emirates that do not impose high surcharges and taxes on their redemption tickets. It would be useful if Business Traveller could list the value of mileage points offered by airline FFPs.
Dibyendu Bose, Kolkata
Silence is not golden 04/10/2010
Dear Alex,
I booked a business class ticket from Sydney to Brussels via Hong Kong and Zurich, intending to fly with Virgin Atlantic and Swiss. When I arrived in Hong Kong I collected my onward boarding passes from Cathay Pacific and proceeded to its lounge [Cathay handles Swiss flights in Hong Kong].
At no point was I informed that boarding calls are not made. By the time I heard my name paged I rushed to the gate but found the flight had already departed. I ended up having to purchase a new one-way ticket to Brussels with Cathay Pacific and British Airways via London. Where do I stand?
Agus Brotodihardjo, Sydney
Willful seat changes 04/10/2010
Dear Alex,
In August last year, my family and I booked economy class return tickets to fly with Emirates between San Francisco and Addis Ababa via Dubai. Everything was fine on the outward trip but on the return Emirates moved our seat allocation back 15 rows. The plane type was unchanged.
Emirates tells me that selecting seats does not guarantee you will end up in them. Can an airline simply change seat assignments at will?
Deron Marvin, Addis Ababa
Dear Alex,
When is a confirmed seat booking actually guaranteed as confirmed? We recently flew business class with Thai Airways from London to Bangkok, Singapore and Hong Kong. Three of the four sectors worked as expected but when we reported for the Hong Kong-Bangkok flight we found our seats had been released. We produced a paper copy of our itinerary but to no avail.
There are perceived good and bad seats on all planes and seatplans.com [businesstraveller.com’s sister website] is very useful in this respect. How do we ensure we get the seats we reserve?
Louis Brennan, London
Chasing refunds 04/10/2010
Dear Alex,
On May 4, I purchased economy class round-the-world (RTW) tickets for two adults and one child using Star Alliance’s website, staralliance.com. But when I checked my bank statement I discovered I had been charged for five tickets – four adults and one child.
I contacted Lufthansa’s Auckland office [Lufthansa manages staralliance.com], which apologised but in an email reply said: “Please be aware that our accounting department is based in Bangkok and owing to the current political unrest the office has been closed for the past few days [it was at the time when part of downtown Bangkok was sealed off during the riots]. We will ensure this is processed as soon as staff return to work.”
As I write, it is May 22 and the refund has not come through.
What should I do?
Nikita Volkov, Auckland
Points problem 29/08/2010
Dear Alex,
I am a silver member of Krisflyer, Singapore Airlines’ (SIA) loyalty scheme. Last March I flew business class between Indonesia and Brazil via Singapore and Frankfurt with SIA and Lufthansa.
When I checked in for my return flight LH9829 between Sao Paulo and Frankfurt, I was surprised to find the Lufthansa code changed to one of TAM’s [a Brazilian airline that is now a Star Alliance member]. However, the agent assured me I would get my points and so my Krisflyer details were entered in the system.
I now learn I will get no points for this sector. When I complain, all I’m told is: “Sorry, that’s the way it is.” Can you help?
Emmo Italiaander, Jakarta
Terminated baggage 29/08/2010
Dear Alex,
I live in Thailand and for the past 12 years have been flying between Bangkok and the US. I recently had the sad experience of my US carrier, Delta Air Lines, terminating its baggage agreement with my international airline, Taiwan’s Eva Air.
It means that after flying from Bangkok to San Francisco via Taipei, I must reclaim my bags on arrival and pay extra baggage charges. As a result, I will continue to fly Eva Air because of its excellent prices and service but discontinue using Delta.
How can passengers ensure their bags get checked right through?
Rebecca Lomax, Bangkok
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