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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think it's wrong for BA to

54 replies

PissedoffBAtraveller · 16/08/2015 15:05

Cancel my return flight without advising me or giving me my money back? Background, My child is spending the rest of the summer in the UK with family and I would return to Europe alone for work. As the system doesn't let you book an individual One way ticket for a minor and a return for an adult I booked us both singles. I then went back into system to book my own adult single back to Europe. Predictably the one way fare from UK to Europe was 3 times the price of a return flight booked Europe-UK-Europe so I opted for the latter intending to use only the return sector. So essentially I paid for 2 outbound flights for myself and one return. Checked into our flight, did said journey last night. This morning I go to check into my return flight and BA have cancelled it. I then have to pay 480gbp for a new ticket for a one hour flight that I already purchased a seat for! Still with me?! AIBU to think that airlines are being unethical to not allow you to use just part of the ticket I have paid for, why do they care? You would never find this policy on trains,buses,ferries, taxis, etc so why do airlines think it's ok to take your money and give you no part of the service? Surely that's not even actually legal! Hello to everyone who knows me, I've been ranting on facebook all day Smile I've now essentially paid 3 times to do an overnight hop across the channel! And even more annoyingly I wouldn't normally fly but I'm avoiding Calais region at the moment!

OP posts:
Peshwari · 16/08/2015 16:03

And it's why you get this ludicrous pricing where it's cheaper to fly Manchester - London Heathrow - Las Vegas
than London Heathrow - Las Vegas
when the second leg is on exactly the same planes.

DinosaursRoar · 16/08/2015 16:03

And it's only flights that pull this, I've bought train tickets for set trains, missed the outbound train so had to buy a new train ticket, but the return was still valid. There's no reason that because you didn't check in for the outbound you shouldnt be allowed to use the return - people miss flights frequently, when they do, they have to buy a new ticket for a later flight, but if it's an outbound, there's no reason to presume they will miss the return or shouldn't be allowed to use it...

I do think you should complain and complain, it might be in their Ts & Cs but that doesn't mean it doesn't feel wrong to the average consumer and their Ts & Cs should change. It's the sort of shit you expect Ryanair to pull, not an airline like BA.

RepeatAdNauseum · 16/08/2015 16:05

I believe it's a security requirement. I can't remember which regulation, but I'll post again if it comes back to me...

I went to a conference on reducing terrorism and keeping transport secure, and this was a big talking point.

Original poster
PissedoffBAtraveller · 16/08/2015 16:11

That's interesting Repeat, I wonder how the 2 are connected, of course it's logical that if a person doesn't turn up for a flight it's linked to terrorism ???? sounds like a good justification to say and do whatever they like, link it to terrorism! I will complain and complain for sure and yes! I'll probably spend as much money again on hold to customer services tomorrow Grin

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Shakshuka · 16/08/2015 16:12

I don't think it's security because easyjet don't do it. It's about making money and stopping people gaming the system so they don't have to pay the extortionate price of a one way ticket. It's all about identifying the customers who have little choice. It's like the Saturday night away rule for flight between uk and new york. If you don't have a Saturday night away ,the ticket is THREE times more expensive - because business travellers usually don't stay for the weekend and they'll pay over the odds.

ProjectPerfect · 16/08/2015 16:16

I don't understand your comment at BA not allowing to to book an individual one way for a minor and a return for an adult.

I've done pretty much every combination of accompanied/unaccompanied minor/plus adult with BA over the last few years and they've been totally flexible.

Original poster
PissedoffBAtraveller · 16/08/2015 16:19

Project perhaps because I was booking online and it wouldn't work to book single ticket for a minor (maybe I should have put them as unaccompanied I don't know) and then booked my own return, the combination wasn't possible in one booking..

OP posts:
Original poster
PissedoffBAtraveller · 16/08/2015 16:21

Next time I need to book a flight I'm coming on here to check up with the travel gurus before I book Grin some good advice here

OP posts:
Shakshuka · 16/08/2015 16:25

You can't book unaccompanied minors online, you have to call. If your child is under 12 he or she can't fly alone and you have to use the unaccompanied minor service.

ProjectPerfect · 16/08/2015 16:32

Doesn't help you for this occasion but in future BA customer service are really helpful. I always imagine they only ever deal with the over 80s and parents trying to sort complicated routes for young DC since everyone else uses online booking.

They always take a lot of time to figure out the most economical and sensible option

Original poster
PissedoffBAtraveller · 16/08/2015 16:39

Good to know project, I normally just go online as I'm not in the UK and the local office seems to have limited hours and limited helpfulness I guess I'll be much more aware of this issue going forward, I'm just really surprised as I travel a lot and ivd never heard about this issue? But it seems like a lot of people on here know all about it! You live and learn!

OP posts:
Original poster
PissedoffBAtraveller · 16/08/2015 19:03

Well this is interesting, taken from conditions of carriage on the BA website, 3c10) If you fail to cancel a booking before the check-in deadline for your flight and do not show up for the flight, we may decide to cancel your return or onward reservations. Note it says MAY decide, so it is obviously open to interpretation and decision making and not something that automatically happens!

OP posts:
DinosaursRoar · 16/08/2015 19:22

Well that sounds vague enough for you to argue against with customer services...

Drquin · 16/08/2015 19:32

But vague enough for them to be within their rights to do so.

From the airline's perspective ...... They offer a variety of ticket prices, times, routes, single, returns, connecting or not flights, terms & conditions ..... We choose which one suits us & book it.

intheenddotcom · 16/08/2015 19:58

Read 'may' as will do as 'unless there is a decent excuse'. They have to put the may in because there are legitimate reasons to miss the outbound but need the return asides from trying to get one over on the airline.

For example, on a multi-leg flight one of my legs was delayed so I missed the connection and was rebooked with BA on the next flight - that would have worked out a 15 hr wait when I could drive the distance in 3 hours - so I drove. All it took was a quick call to BA and they made a note of it and made sure my return wasn't cancelled.

THink about it - anyone legit is going to contact the airline to explain that they will miss a flight - anyone pulling a fast one will just hope BA doesn't notice.

AnUtterIdiot · 16/08/2015 19:58

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

DinosaursRoar · 16/08/2015 20:24

I'm not sure I agree with that argument AnUtterIdiot - it's the same argument for overselling flights (which seems thankfully to be a practice that has died out) because not everyone will turn up. The plane has X number of seats, if they've sold X number of seats, then arguing that they could have got even more money by selling X+1 seats to an additional person if one person didn't use the seat they had already paid for.

Back to the 'buy one get one free' arguement, it's a bit like saying it's wrong that I took 2 of the bottles of coke on BOGOF deal when I only intended to drink one and throw away the other because the shop could have sold that additional bottle to someone else, even though they wouldn't give me a discount for only taking one bottle, even though if I wanted to drink it I could, and that I had paid for the option to have it.

OP - what you probably did wrong is when you checked in orginally, not tell them that you had 2 tickets and wanted to check in on both - surely it must be possible for one flyer to have 2 seats as this is always suggested as a solution to the larger passenager overspilling their seat and making the person next to them be uncomfortable.

Original poster
PissedoffBAtraveller · 16/08/2015 20:46

Anutteridiot, I also can't agree with that, I think the point is if I've purchased the seat I should have the option to use it or not, I'm pretty sure If the flight was overbooked by BA and I didn't show and someone else came along and took my seat, BA wouldn't let me know and pass me a refund would they..? Typical large corporation using vague wording, lengthy terms and conditions and expecting you to put up or shut up!

OP posts:
muminhants1 · 17/08/2015 11:37

I agree it's an unnecessary restriction - although to be honest I usually find that BA has reasonable prices for singles, I was looking at the possibility of flying into one airport and out of another next summer and the BA prices were fine.

But it's the same as the B&Bs that insist that you stay two nights when you only want to stay for one. If I go into Tescos to buy a loaf of bread they don't tell me that I have to buy two do they?

Drquin · 17/08/2015 11:50

But the B&B isn't "insisting" you stay 2 nights.
They're offering a 2-night deal.
If you only want one night, and they're not offering it, then they're not right choice for you.

Same as Tesco ...... They could "insist" you buy 2 loaves of bread to get a specific price. That would be their offer. If you don't want it, you buy your bread elsewhere or you buy wraps / buns.

RandomFriend · 17/08/2015 12:02

I think it is an easy mistake to have made. The ticket states quite clearly that flights must be taken in sequence but that may not be clear when booking online.

Next time, if you want a one way ticket, but find a return fare that is cheaper, make sure that you use the first flight that is booked.

MyLovelyFriend2015 · 17/08/2015 13:34

It's a tough one, and it doesn't make logical sense... but it's their rules and t's and cs

I would say next time to do the return the other way (so you come back first like jfk-lhr-jfk instead of lhr-jfk-lhr) with a really huge gap and then cancel the last bit when you get back? I don't know if that would work?

intheenddotcom · 17/08/2015 22:27

If you are going to do what MyLovely suggests then do not connect your EC membership to your flight. BA and other airlines keep an eye on those who regularly use throw away ticketing and you can loose your points and be removed from EC.

DJThreeDog · 17/08/2015 22:30

I 100% agree with you OP. This happened to me about ten years ago on a flight back from Canada. Luckily my mum was able to buy me a new ticket but they wouldn't refund the original.

DinosaursRoar · 17/08/2015 22:39

Op have you had chance to talk to customer services yet? How did it go?