Whilst the main trip report is still in progress (which this week – will feature BA1 across the pond), there is a thing I need to talk about in regards to the Hawaii Tier Point run.
And that’s about the joy of complaining.
Let me be blunt – those who followed me know of the downgrade I had by US Airways (as they managed to sell/upgrade someone in the time it took BA to notify me of a change), and the indignity of an involuntary downgrade at London City to Dublin.
The plane where I was downgraded – Image, Economy Class and Beyond.
It may be a short segment – but that’s besides the point as they say.
Let me be honest – it took me a good couple of days to calm down enough to file the complaint in a neutral language and writing it down in a point by point issues that was fair and kept it to facts as opposed to emotion.
Although I did let loose my disappointment in the email in a measured way.
Well, after three weeks of filing the complaint – there was nothing. The complaints line was/is constantly engaged, so I did the only thing I could do – and that was contact the Executive Club.
The poor agent took one look, and noticed that lots went wrong with the return segments – including the lack of credit of the London City to Dublin flight.
The agent fixed what they could over the phone – including reinstating what Avios and Tier Points they could.
Another week passed, and emails started arriving. The first one was extremely interesting as British Airways admitted liability for the cancellation of BA004 due to a fault on one of the two planes that operate the London City – New York JFK shuttle.
The most interesting line it was this:
In the mean time, you are entitled to compensation for cancellation of your flight BA0004 on xx January 2015. The distance of your disrupted journey, as calculated in accordance with EU legislation, was over 3500km. Based on this, you are entitled to €600 in compensation, which converts to £445.56.
Further discussions with the Executive Club and Customer services has resulted in:
- EC261 compensation (to be paid)
- A refund on the London City to Dublin Segment (to be paid)
- Avios and Tier Points
Sadly, the downgrade on US Airways will result in no extra Avios or Tier Points as the airline rewards for cabin flown – not the cabin booked.
Which does annoy me a fair bit. Thankfully, 70TP and 4,310 Avios were recovered (with only 1,078 Avios misse – but the 140TP missing.
Thankfully – I had enough to re-qualify for BA Gold (by 55 Tier points in the end – a tight squeeze).
Whilst it took a little time for British Airways to respond, I’m reasonably happy with the response British Airways have given me. The EC261 compensation was unexpected, but welcome
Does it put me in a better mood about British Airways? To a point – yes. I am disappointed about the Tier point changes that happened shortly after I flew, which is unrelated to this, and I’m still mostly annoyed with US Airways – to the point where US Airways has been dumped back into the list of carriers I file under “carrier of last resort“.
Overall, it might had taken time – but I’m glad to see British Airways do the right thing for me as a customer. I just wish they contacted me sooner when they decided to cancel BA004 so this mess never got to the point how bad it was.
Welcome to Economy Class and Beyond – Your no-nonsense guide to network news, honest reviews, with in-depth coverage, unique research as well as the humour and madness as I only know how to deliver.
Follow me on Twitter at @EconomyBeyond for the latest updates!
Also remember that as well as being part of BoardingArea, we’re also part of BoardingArea.eu, delivering frequent flyer news, miles and points to European readers.
