British Airways..
#1
BE Forum Addict
Thread Starter
Joined: Jan 2005
Location: back in Gods own country..
Posts: 4,007
British Airways..
Some of you may remember that my Grandfather died recently and me and my family flew home for the funeral..
BA charged us almost $10,000 for 4 economy class return tickets..
At the time we didn't know that they should have offered us lower fare tickets due to a bereavement in the family so a couple of months ago we contacted them to complain, today they came up trumps and gave us a $6000 refund..
Have to say I'm speechless, never imagined they do it..
Hope this helps anyone that has to fly home in these circumstances..
BA charged us almost $10,000 for 4 economy class return tickets..
At the time we didn't know that they should have offered us lower fare tickets due to a bereavement in the family so a couple of months ago we contacted them to complain, today they came up trumps and gave us a $6000 refund..
Have to say I'm speechless, never imagined they do it..
Hope this helps anyone that has to fly home in these circumstances..
#2
Homebody
Joined: Jan 2005
Location: HOME
Posts: 23,181
Re: British Airways..
Originally Posted by woodsey
Some of you may remember that my Grandfather died recently and me and my family flew home for the funeral..
BA charged us almost $10,000 for 4 economy class return tickets..
At the time we didn't know that they should have offered us lower fare tickets due to a bereavement in the family so a couple of months ago we contacted them to complain, today they came up trumps and gave us a $6000 refund..
Have to say I'm speechless, never imagined they do it..
Hope this helps anyone that has to fly home in these circumstances..
BA charged us almost $10,000 for 4 economy class return tickets..
At the time we didn't know that they should have offered us lower fare tickets due to a bereavement in the family so a couple of months ago we contacted them to complain, today they came up trumps and gave us a $6000 refund..
Have to say I'm speechless, never imagined they do it..
Hope this helps anyone that has to fly home in these circumstances..
Glad to hear your news about the refund. I know that airlines don't publicise compassionate/bereavement fares, so it's always good to spread the word.
Incidentally, what sort of evidence did they require - certified copy of death certificate, or just a photocopy?
Also, I vaguely remember hearing somewhere that United no longer offer them - DAK? Is there a list/website somewhere which gives info on airlines that do offer them?
#3
Account Closed
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 3,877
Re: British Airways..
Originally Posted by DonnaElvira
Glad to hear your news about the refund. I know that airlines don't publicise compassionate/bereavement fares, so it's always good to spread the word.
Incidentally, what sort of evidence did they require - certified copy of death certificate, or just a photocopy?
Also, I vaguely remember hearing somewhere that United no longer offer them - DAK? Is there a list/website somewhere which gives info on airlines that do offer them?
Incidentally, what sort of evidence did they require - certified copy of death certificate, or just a photocopy?
Also, I vaguely remember hearing somewhere that United no longer offer them - DAK? Is there a list/website somewhere which gives info on airlines that do offer them?
Just a scan of the death certificate and some proof of relationship to him (we sent a scan of her birth certificate - they have an unusual surname)
#4
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Jul 2002
Location: Arizona
Posts: 3,113
Re: British Airways..
Not often you hear good airline stories. Good for BA.
#5
#7
Account Closed
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 3,877
Re: British Airways..
Originally Posted by LeedsGirl
Nice one you guys
#9
Homebody
Joined: Jan 2005
Location: HOME
Posts: 23,181
Re: British Airways..
Originally Posted by Eskimo
Where's mine?
#10
dart throwin' doofus
Joined: Dec 2003
Location: From Northfleet, Kent to Kansas City, Kansas
Posts: 153
Re: British Airways..
I was back in the UK for a couple of weeks at the start of August. I flew British Airways from Denver to Heathrow. I had shopped around for a decent flight price, and it was actually cheaper to fly direct from Denver on BA than it was to fly from Kansas City to the East Coast (Boston, Chicago, Newark) and then onward from there on American Airlines/Northwest/United etc....
Didn't have any food on the way back way. The Gate Gourmet thing blew up on the Thursday and we were due to fly back 5 days later on the the Monday. We got our flight but there was no food and not much to drink. 10 hours, and I can't sleep on planes. I think I saw "Man Of The House" with Tommy Lee Jones 3 times in all.
Happy days.
Didn't have any food on the way back way. The Gate Gourmet thing blew up on the Thursday and we were due to fly back 5 days later on the the Monday. We got our flight but there was no food and not much to drink. 10 hours, and I can't sleep on planes. I think I saw "Man Of The House" with Tommy Lee Jones 3 times in all.
Happy days.
#11
Re: British Airways..
Originally Posted by woodsey
Some of you may remember that my Grandfather died recently and me and my family flew home for the funeral..
BA charged us almost $10,000 for 4 economy class return tickets..
At the time we didn't know that they should have offered us lower fare tickets due to a bereavement in the family so a couple of months ago we contacted them to complain, today they came up trumps and gave us a $6000 refund..
Have to say I'm speechless, never imagined they do it..
Hope this helps anyone that has to fly home in these circumstances..
BA charged us almost $10,000 for 4 economy class return tickets..
At the time we didn't know that they should have offered us lower fare tickets due to a bereavement in the family so a couple of months ago we contacted them to complain, today they came up trumps and gave us a $6000 refund..
Have to say I'm speechless, never imagined they do it..
Hope this helps anyone that has to fly home in these circumstances..
Here's the problem. When people die, the funeral is sometimes a few weeks later. That doesn't really leave you with enough notice to buy a ticket for a proper price, especially a direct flight which is more difficult to arrange if you don't live near a hub. 2 out of 3 connections at Newark are scrapped due to 1 hour or more of delay at takeoff and gate connecting. So, if you're flying to funeral and your connection is missed, you are now delayed 24 hours as they want to put you on a flight the next afternoon. Add to that a jump of 6 hours ahead in Britain and you could miss the funeral.
The best thing is to have your circumstances noted with the airline so when you get to the customer service desk they will bump you onto a full flight the next morning with any available airline even going to a different airport. Then, of course, your luggage never gets re-routed despite specific instructions at Newark. It could literally take you over half a week to get there and with your luggage arriving at a different airport at least a day later.
Airline tickets are priced to take big advantage of people who want urgent travel, so it's a good thing that they give people a break for funerals.
#12
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Jan 2005
Location: the wrong place
Posts: 892
Re: British Airways..
have used many airlines and non compare to BA.......Delta are not bad
#13
Re: British Airways..
Originally Posted by psb182
have used many airlines and non compare to BA.......Delta are not bad
#14
Re: British Airways..
Originally Posted by Manc
The Asian carriers are a class above all.
#15
Re: British Airways..
Originally Posted by Bob
yeah, but you pay for it though...and wouldn't want to fly Chinese Airways...