No compassion from BA after Brisbane floods

[N860CR]

It may be true that there are BA aficionados over on FT who have trouble seeing "past their prejudices"..

Just like some people here with QF

 

[markis10]

Hi all,

I was booked to go to London from BNE (via SYD) on Friday 21st Jan on BA. BNE-SYD was codeshare QF.

Ah, but that's the difference, and a pertinent one in my view - they don't service Brisbane.

I'm with Trooper on this one.

Are you saying someone travelling out of Brisbane on a BA flight number which is a codeshare is not on a BA service and therefore BA should have no responsibility for a customer on BA ticket stock, thats a bit like saying a shopkeeper has no responsibility for what they sell because they did not make it?

UA, LH and VS dont service BNE with their metal, but they are happy to help and communicate that help to their codeshare customers and agents in a timely manner, by comparison BA did have a policy that was not even communicated to their own staff.

 

[trooper]

So it may have been just a communication problem?... It was the severity of the "caning" that had ME wondering.. "Never fly BA again" and all that..

I doubt very much if the postions had been reversed (Codeshare QF flights somewhere overseas near a disaster) that people here would have said "I'll never fly QF again" if/when QF took a few days to get their response sorted out..

I agree that locality makes a difference.. those in Brisbane will quite rightly have a more intense view of.. all of it.

I will just say however that I have close friends in southern QLD (Proston as it happens) and have been maintainng close contact there! Us southerners can be worried too!

 

[markis10]

So it may have been just a communication problem?... It was the severity of the "caning" that had ME wondering.. "Never fly BA again" and all that..

It would appear at this stage now that we got the helpful info from one Flyertalker that it was a communication issue, sadly an internal as well as external one. Had what the company rep said yesterday been in fact true then I would never have flown BA again. Unlike many complaints we hear about the OP at least sought input from the airline itself and at the time of posting, BA was by the admission of their own staff in the call centre, apparently the only airline that sold services into Brisbane that had not offered to waive change fees.

BA needs to clearly improve its comms in situations where there is a crisis not matter what country or situation, more importantly the OP no longer has to worry about a loss of money and can concentrate on the task at hand, the magnitude of which is more than likely not yet apparent.

 

[trooper]

No argument there... (and that is not just a BA thing of course)

Still doubtful however that the same sort of comments would have been made here in the reverse situation postulated!

 

[dk4]

As BA & QF operate a JSA on the "Kangaroo Route", I would have just assumed that the "flood policies" should have aligned.

 

[GladstoneTim]

I am a bit confused...
will BA allow a no-penalty refund or are they just allowing travel to be deferred by up to 14 days at no cost?

 

[anat0l]

Since BA have codeshare flights to BNE, I would expect that they would have some sort of waiver in place. After all, what if it were one of their own BAEC underlings?

What's more odd is that the relevant information was found on Speedbird Club. I never heard of the website before and other run-of-the-mill customers would probably be searching ba.com in vain as well!

 

[rooboy68]

Hi guys

Just an update here, BA are still refusing to match the Qantas ticket refund offer to people affected by the flood.

QF's website states:
The following options are available to Qantas customers holding a valid 081 ticket for travel to/from Brisbane who wish to make changes to their booking for travel up to and including Sunday 23 January 2011.Passengers may, without fee:

• Re-route travel via the most direct routing using Qantas
• Return to the origin port via the most direct routing using Qantas
• Rebook to alternative Qantas or QantasLink services
• Retain the value of the ticket in credit for future travel within 12 months from the original ticketed date of departure. If the new fare is more expensive than the existing ticketed fare, the fare difference is payable by the passenger. Applicable ticket taxes may apply.
• Refunds will be offered where travel has not commenced and fees waived for tickets issued prior to 11 January 2011 for travel between 11 January 2011 and 23 January 2011

BA's speedbird alert (link posted earlier) says something very different.

They will refund the ticket only if the flight is cancelled. To my knowledge no flights in/out of BNE were actually cancelled, so this 'fee waiver' from BA helps nobody.

Back to square one...

 

[bam71]

BA have just changed their policy to now issue refunds.

Airports Affected​

​

​

​

BNE​

Tickets issued by​

​

​

​

10 Jan 2011​

Ticket Travel dates​

​

​

​

11-23 Jan 2011​

New Travel dates​

​

​

​

up to 14 days from original departure​

Rebooking Allowance​

​

​

​

Lowest class in cabin​

Destination Change on tickets​

​

​

​

No​

Refunds Allowed Yes – excludes fees imposed by suppliers/third parties

 

[rooboy68]

I just received a call from BA (Sydney) stating they will now refund their $300 cancellation fee for both myself AND my wife's ticket.

Under the current (as of a few minutes ago) policy, they are refunding tickets up to 23 Jan, my wife was departing BNE a few days after me and was ticketed on 26 Jan, however BA have agreed to refund this ticket also. So great news and a big thumbs up to BA for (eventually) going the extra mile! Thanks very much to Dan at Aust Business Traveller for his assistance in getting this in front of the right people.

Last week, Best Flights advised me that the cancellation fee for the ticket was $1,000. Despiste two written requests, they did not supply me with the actual BA fare rules on cancellations for this fare. It's now clear why! Their share of the $1,000 cancellation fee is $700 per ticket.

Now to see if Best Flights will do the right thing...
To be continued...

 

[GladstoneTim]

I wonder if BA got wind of this thread???? Glad to see them finally come to the party.

Do let us know the outcome with Best Flights. They are associated with Flight Centre, aren't they?

 

[Mal]

Australian Business Traveller article : $2,000 FEES: Travel agent slugs Brisbane flood victim - Flights | hotels | frequent flyer | business class - Australian Business Traveller

A West Australian travel agent, Best Flights, has provided a good demonstration of why it's best to book direct with the airline and not through an agent — it slugged an Australian Business Traveller reader $2,000 in cancellation fees when he was unable to travel to Europe due to the Brisbane floods.

 

[Nigelinoz]

Just another reason not to use Best Flights-as if one was needed.

 

[Sprucegoose]

I wonder if BA got wind of this thread???? Glad to see them finally come to the party.

Do let us know the outcome with Best Flights. They are associated with Flight Centre, aren't they?

Interesting point, are Best Flights related to Flight Centre anyone?

 

[GladstoneTim]

Apparently they aren't related. Looking at their website reveals they're not but are a subsidary of a larger Australian Stock Exchange listed compnay. Their cancellation fee modus operandi is very similar to some Flight Centres.

 

[oz_mark]

I believe these days they are part of Jetset Travelworld, which is part of Stella Travel. I lost track of it all through the merger!

 

[Nigelinoz]

Does the Stella group still own Harvey World?

 

[GladstoneTim]

Definitely part of Stella.

 

[oz_mark]

Does the Stella group still own Harvey World?

Yep, all part of the one big happy family. Retail brandes are here: The Jetset Travelworld Group > Brands > Australia > Retail