Compensation Miles for BA Strike

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  • Anonymous
    Guest

    ShoreditchTom
    Participant

    Hi

    I flew back in first from Chicago to London just after the strike ended.

    The flight was obviously operating, but the cabin service provided by BA Pilots was seriously lacking: no wash bags, no sleep suits, very little food, no extra food what so ever in the ground lounges, in flight entertainment not working etc etc

    Was flying with a colleague on a miles flight using Amex 2 4 1.

    Am about to mail BA Customer Services – has anyone had miles refunded for this sort of experience – I am thinking about 50,000 miles for each of us sounds about right – anyone got any views or been through this already?


    AdrianHenryAsia
    Participant

    Hi ShoreditchTom

    I had an almost identical experience coming back from Dubai.

    I was offered initially 30,000 miles per passenger which I declined.

    I was then offered 40,000 miles per passenger, which I declined however they credited that anyway and told me that there would be no increased offer.

    I complained via You First, who infact simply passed the complaint onto the central customer service team in Newcastle, where I had to deal with some call centre idiot (no offence intended to anyone in this forum who works in a call centre). The individual – Craig – couldn’t have been more disinterested in what I had to say and the whole experience was shocking – especially given we had paid nearly 4k per ticket.

    Believe me, it won’t happen again as I’m not going to give BA the chance again.

    In my view the least they should have done would have been to:

    – make a gesture of goodwill for the fact the flight service was economy level in a first seat (some level of refund between the price of a first ticket and economy ticket)
    – make a gesture of goodwill for the inconvenience caused (miles)

    I would be interested to hear how you get on!!


    GoonerLondon
    Participant

    I think you both need to get a sense of perspective.

    Tom – You paid 150,000 total miles for your trip, for two, both ways. i.e 75,000 miles each way. Yet you are looking for 100,000 miles total for the fact you didnt get the ‘right’ food and yur PJs? Blimey. You did get the space and – fundamentally – the flight itself.

    LoyalBA – Same applies for you. Base mileage for that flight is 20,000 each way in economy, So in offering 40,000 miles you’ve effectively been given a free one way club ticket. Yet you want to be refunded on the basis of the fact you had (in your view) economy catering, so therefore makes it an ‘economy’ expereince?! And you want miles on top?!!!!

    Im sorry – I fail to see why thats not a very generous offer. Your complaining about the ‘frills’ missing that make up (if most) 5% of your fare. I appreciate this is annoying , and it makes the experience, yet this was flagged well before you flew that this would be the onboard service during the strike. If it matters that much – what not rebook in economy and enjoy the economy space and save the money?

    Meanwhile – when I was re-routed twice by Swiss, adding 5 hours to total flight time – ad my bags went AWOL for over 24 hours, I got 10,000 miles. Thats genuine inconvenience, way greater than the fact you two chancers only got a salad for your dinner. Bless.

    You two need to get a grip. Shocking attitude!


    PsyDtoBe
    Participant

    agree with GoonerLondon.


    NTarrant
    Participant

    I too have to agree with GoonerLondon. Loyal-BA was right to decline the first offer and I would probably have done the same. Getting the offer upped by 10,000 miles is a good increase.


    MartynSinclair
    Participant

    never agree with an arsenal supporter but on this occasion, what Gooner said what most of us thought…


    openfly
    Participant

    Loyal-BA…are you going to change your Forum name!!??
    Craig at BA NCL was probably ‘disinterested’ because he thought that you were taking the p..s ……and was trying to be as polite as possible!
    I totally agree with Gooner.


    AdrianHenryAsia
    Participant

    What I would say is that everyone’s situation is different and its very easy to jump to conclusions without knowing all of the facts.

    In my case specifically this time – I actually rang to cancel the flight before I took it and move to another carrier – down to the fact I didn’t want to get caught up with strike issues (even though the flight wasn’t affected by the strike). I was told categorically, 100% (and they noted this in the booking) by BA You First that the flight was fine and would not be affected (specifically that it would operate with the correct levels of onboard service) and there was no need to cancel the booking (although I could still do this if i wanted to). Either I was being lied to or it was just general incompetence – the end result is the same. Before I flew, I had a choice to chance carrier. In my case, this situation was preventable. My lesson learned for the future – fly with another carrier

    Had I actually cancelled the flight and booked with another carrier (which was my initial preference), BA would have given me nearly 20,000 per passenger anyway and would have lost the revenue.

    GoonerLondon – I fly First because I am buying a service, which has a number of elements – its not just a seat, so if the other elements of the service are not there, then I’m not getting what I’ve paid for. I certainly don’t need to get a grip and my attitude isn’t shocking and if we could keep insults out of the forum that would be most appreciated.


    ShoreditchTom
    Participant

    Thanks Loyal_BA for your comments!

    The other people who seem to think I should be grateful for what I got are, with respect, deluded.

    BA is a business. It’s not some charity or some co-op that we all hold a stake in, just because we travel with them often. They offer a service for which we pay. If they fall short, they need to compensate. In a premium cabin with a very high price point this is especially the case.

    – I was using a 2-4-1 which means although I only paid 150k miles for 2 people, Amex pay the rest via whatever arrangement they have agreed with BA. Let’s not forget I have got the 2-4-1 by spending £10k via Amex, it’s not just an offer anyone can get from putting in a voucher code, so the actual mileage values of the flight for two people was 300k miles.

    – The flight was billed as having increased ground catering, more food in fight that was offered, in flight entertainment, a sleep suit, wash bag and so on. None of that happened.

    – Even if the above had happened the reduction in the other First services would STILL warrant some compensation in miles as the service is falling short of what is paid for.

    – BA can’t have it both ways. You can’t charge lots of money (or miles – it’s still currency) for a premium product then not be generous and expect a customer to be sympathetic when you fail to deliver. The strike was a nightmare for them I’m sure, but they took the business decision to fly on those days. Had they not flown, I would have expected them to have arranged alternative transport for my journey and also offered a suitable large refund. Because, again, it’s First, their premium service with a price point to match.

    I’ll let you know how I get on!


    MartynSinclair
    Participant

    Loyal BA – sadly you took a gamble on a F ticlket and lost. As a sensable busienss man that you appear to be, you should not have believed U First, esepciially during a strike period. All carriers have caveats during normal service, so during a strike period , this is bound to get worse. I am a supporter of BA, but will not now buy any BA tickets until this matter has been resiolved., If my Gold status goes, so be it – my priority is getting to my destination on time, second priority is how!


    pat_travels
    Participant

    Well put ShoreditchTom.

    It is a competitive market out there and when a company fails to deliver they need to compensate generously or we simply take our business elsewhere. BA needs to understand this

    I have two outstanding complaints re a First class flight and rtn Club flights over the strike period. Indeed it was not just the reduced service through the strike period but I am utterly fed up with the tatty aircraft and an IFE system which continually fails. I feel I get little value for money when flying BA in premium cabins.

    I await a reply from BA


    MartynSinclair
    Participant

    If i had one wish during htis period it would be that the children playing with their toys in the BA boardroom and Unite offices inform their customers about what is going on. I know that their repsonsabilities are to share holders and that a busienss is being run and that jobs are on the line YAWWWWWWWWWWWWWNN, becoming quite boring, but please, the income comes from the passengers and cargo revenue. At least inform what is going on. YAAWWWWWWWWNNNNNNNNNN….zzzzzzzzzzzzz


    AdrianHenryAsia
    Participant

    MartynSinclair – I certinaly won’t make the same mistake twice!

    Pat_travels – couldn’t agree more.

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