Pricewatch query: Splashing out on business class but going nowhere fast

Richard Crowe decided to treat his wife to a special holiday to mark a special birthday, and so he booked a trip to Thailand. As an extra treat he booked business-class seats with Etihad at a cost of almost €5,000. On the outward journey all was well, but the same can not be said for the return journey.

“We were delayed arriving to BKK airport. However, we had prebooked our seats and – I checked – business-class passengers had to be there 45 minutes prior to departure. We arrived at the desk at 5.30pm for a flight at 6.20pm [so 50 minutes]. There was one person in front of us who seemed to take an age, so I called an agent from behind the desk. She informed me that the flight had closed at 5.20pm [an hour prior]. When I advised her that we were business class, she said it didn’t matter as the flight was overbooked and they had no seats.”

So Crowe asked to see a supervisor, which took another 10 minutes. "He apologised and said not to worry, they had another flight at 8.10pm and we would still make our connection in Abu Dhabi, " he continues. "Only problem was, he had one seat in business. Not a problem, I told him: I would fly economy. I just needed to get home for 10am on Monday. Anyway, he told us go for a coffee and come back at 7.30pm."

Crowe has a contact in Dublin Airport, so he called him. The contact said he would double-check with Etihad in Dublin. “He called back and said we were priority one and two on the next flight. He also advised that there were five staff confirmed on this flight in business class and we should have priority as a full fare-paying customer.”

The couple arrived back at the desk at about 7.20pm and there were a further eight people trying to get on this flight. “Eventually the supervisor came forward and told us all there were no seats. Interestingly, I observed two passengers receiving boarding cards and I asked them if they were for our flight. They were. When I confronted the supervisor about this, he said they were economy-plus passengers, which I don’t understand at all.”

So our reader told the Etihad staff member that he had to get back to Dublin for work on Monday and asked to be rerouted. “At this point he changed attitude and said we were not denied boarding and were one minute late arriving at the desk at 5.36pm. He said they had another flight at 2.20am and we should go standby [this was overbooked by 12 people]. He had another flight at 8am – again overbooked by 10 people, all on top of the 10 people now standing at the desk.”

At this point Crowe had no option but to find a way home, so he bought two tickets to Hong Kong with Cathay Pacific, flew Hong Kong to London and eventually arrived home at 10pm on Sunday, a day later and €2,000 poorer.

“On my return I contacted Etihad and relayed the above events. They apologised and asked for 48 hours to respond. They responded to say the local agent advised them that we arrived at 17.37pm [now two minutes late] and that they were not obliged to refund me the cost of getting new tickets. They said I should apply for a refund for unused sectors of our tickets.

“My brother-in-law examined the tickets and calculated that we should get half back less admin fees, which would be in the region of €2,000. At this point we decided to apply for this and write it off as a bad experience.”

That avenue has now been blocked too. “They have now replied to say that there is no refund due as the cancellation charges exceed the refund amount. Quite apart from the fact that we didn’t cancel anything, I find it incredible that they have such charges. I know that there is a fuel surcharge of about €500, so surely we are entitled to a refund on half of that, not to mention taxes. I have my own business and if I treated my customers in such a manner, I doubt I would survive very long.”

We contacted the airline and received the following statement: “The airline strives to deliver the highest standards of customer service for its passengers and we regret the inconvenience that was caused on the passenger’s return journey from Thailand. We have remained in contact with Mr Crowe to apologise for the experience and have also offered compensation.”