Flight cancelled being business class doesn’t entitle you to any special treatment does it?

[EachandEveryone]

Sorry for long title. I’m just irked at my friend going on and on that her flight was cancelled in Washington and they had to get off the plane. She’s put a big complaint in the BA as, for some reason, she feels that because they had paid 2 grand plus for their flights they should’ve been put in the next flight out and if necessary bumped up to first class. Tbf she did have something major happen at home and actually needed to be back. To add insult to injury the whole cabin crew from the cancelled flight had taken over business class on their new flight. Laughing and joking all the way home 😀

It’s not that I’m bitching I just don’t understand what happens to those In economy doesn’t everyone deserve to get home asap?

Flights are routinely oversold to specific % (based on historic flight data), to ensure that every possible seat is taken.
So it stands that there won't be many free seats on any flights on that route, let alone enough to cope with an entire unexpected plane load.

And yes of course there is a pecking order. Airlines aren't a socialist republic! The most profitable ones get looked after because they are the most profitable and most likely to remain so.

Of course she would have priority. I'm surprised they waited until next day, I would expect to be put on the next flight of another airline, if the same one didn't have any flights that day. Airlines have many layers of priority, depending on your class and membership levels.

My DH had a BA internal flight from City cancelled. He is a Silver card member as he travels a lot and he and some others were automatically booked on the next available flight from City. Others on the flight were put on flights from other airports which they had to travel to get to. He assumes the card holders were given priority with the available fights from City

I didn’t think I’d posted on AIBU but I get your points. Thanks I will be more sympathetic.

So I travel a lot, and have had a number of flights canceled on me.

When an airline has to cancel a flight and re-book people on another flight they have to prioritize people. First they try and honor tickets on the un-canceled later flight. Then they rank the people on the canceled flight in order. Most people don't know it, but if you've flown with an airline more than once, you will probably have an account in their CRM system (even if you don't have a loyalty account) and you will have been give a number (British Airways call this a CIV ‘Corporate Individual Value’). The higher the number, the more important you are to the airline, this means that even if you are flying economy on a cancelled flight (and you have a high CIV number), you may be prioritised for the next flight over someone in business on the same cancelled flight.

This might all sound very unfair if you dont fly a lot or you don't often fly with the same carrier, but it is the way the system is set up.

All of the above said, I have had a couple of incidents when I have had to make "emergency" flights and the airlines are generally pretty good and do their best to accommodate you, if they can. Part of the problem is that they are probably trying to deal with a couple of hundred angry and stressed passengers, (remember they are only human), so stressed or not, your best bet is to be polite and patient, explain the problem, understand that the issue is not their fault personally, and between you and the airline, try and work something else out. This may involve transferring to a different airport, or moving down a class (rarely up), if your travel is REALLY important you often have to meet them in the middle.

With regards comments above about spending large sums with an airline, I have spent approximately £50,000 (on only my own flights, not family flights) with BA this year, and I am not at the top of their CIV scoring! To be really important to an airline you need to be spending £100,000+ per year (on your own flights). That said if you get Gold (or equivalent) it should move you high enough up the list to ensure you don't get bumped on a overbooked flight and should ensure you get re-booked on the next flight if your flight is cancelled.

That’s interesting. I’ve spoke to her and what annoys her the most is that the staff were all in her soace and she couldn’t sit with her partner because of it. They’ve moved her to bronze and she refused to get on the economy flight which was quicker,

DH has status with one or two airlines each year depending on where he's been travelling to a lot the previous year. This year he's at the stage with United where if his flight is cancelled he has a special phone number to call that is answered immediately and gives him priority to be rebooked. They've also held a plane at the gate for a short while for him when they know he's coming in on a delayed connecting flight.

He's not this high though...

liveandletsfly.boardingarea.com/2019/02/22/united-airlines-global-services-status/

“The Global Services employee boarded the plane, came up to me, and whispered in my ear: the crew doesn’t know this yet, but we are going to cancel the flight. But I’ve booked you on the last business class seat available on another flight home,” the flier remembers the agent saying. “Everyone else is flying home in coach or staying overnight.”