Flight Limbo Hell
May 13, 2010 11:43 AM Subscribe
What are our options? Thirteen days ago my wife and I flew to Canada from Birmingham UK using tickets booked via Canadian Affair ( a British travel agency). There was a bit of confusion checking in regarding our pre-assigned seats that appears to have resulted in them mistakenly thinking my wife didn't make the flight. So they canceled her return ticket without notifying us.
We only discovered this when we tried to check in for our return flight on Monday. Because of the Volcanic Ash disruption the original return flight was delayed 4 hours and the all but one of the check in staff for Thomas Cook had all left at the end their shift the check in was a total chaotic disaster so we negotiated passage on the next flight out - this Friday.
Now when we call to confirm it turns out they have reserved a ticket for my wife and not for me (apparently because the UK office for Canadian Affair couldn't be bothered to read the account notes on their system). Even better when we contact Canadian Affair's UK office they are once again claiming she didn't fly in with them and seem inclined to shirk all responsibility.
We didn't anticipate needing our boarding passes 10 days after flying so we didn't keep them but we should be able to eventually get proof via the Canada Customs card you fill out on arrival and possibly via the Check in passport scans from the Birmingham Airport but both of these may arrive later than our departure time but more immediately we would like to get home.
What steps can we take to make Canadian Affair cooperate? What are our rights?
We only discovered this when we tried to check in for our return flight on Monday. Because of the Volcanic Ash disruption the original return flight was delayed 4 hours and the all but one of the check in staff for Thomas Cook had all left at the end their shift the check in was a total chaotic disaster so we negotiated passage on the next flight out - this Friday.
Now when we call to confirm it turns out they have reserved a ticket for my wife and not for me (apparently because the UK office for Canadian Affair couldn't be bothered to read the account notes on their system). Even better when we contact Canadian Affair's UK office they are once again claiming she didn't fly in with them and seem inclined to shirk all responsibility.
We didn't anticipate needing our boarding passes 10 days after flying so we didn't keep them but we should be able to eventually get proof via the Canada Customs card you fill out on arrival and possibly via the Check in passport scans from the Birmingham Airport but both of these may arrive later than our departure time but more immediately we would like to get home.
What steps can we take to make Canadian Affair cooperate? What are our rights?
Start speaking to your travel insurance company and see what they can do for you?
posted by Simon_ at 11:53 AM on May 13, 2010
posted by Simon_ at 11:53 AM on May 13, 2010
Do you have an American Express card by chance? American Express is fabulous at solving problems like this. I don't think you needed to have booked the tickets through them, either.
posted by zizzle at 11:59 AM on May 13, 2010
posted by zizzle at 11:59 AM on May 13, 2010
A lot of automatic check-in kiosks at the airport will print out your itinerary card if you have the PNR (the number assigned to the ticket/travel schedule). Or, ask someone at the airline desk, in person.
The way to get this done is to target one specific person at the travel agent, preferably the highest-up person you can find. Ask to speak to a manager. Then, be persistent. Call twice a day, when they first open and in the afternoon. Always speak to that same person, until you get results. Basically...be American about it.
I'm also a big advocate of showing up in person at the airport. My (British) in-laws were trapped here (in the US) by the volcanic ash. We tried both the UK and US lines for BA, emailed and called their travel agents, etc. Nothing worked, and their proposed solution was to fly them back home about a month later than they were meant to leave.
So we paid for his parents to fly back to the city where we live, and took them to the airport to speak to someone from BA in person. We got them on a BA flight home that same day.
posted by lhall at 12:14 PM on May 13, 2010
The way to get this done is to target one specific person at the travel agent, preferably the highest-up person you can find. Ask to speak to a manager. Then, be persistent. Call twice a day, when they first open and in the afternoon. Always speak to that same person, until you get results. Basically...be American about it.
I'm also a big advocate of showing up in person at the airport. My (British) in-laws were trapped here (in the US) by the volcanic ash. We tried both the UK and US lines for BA, emailed and called their travel agents, etc. Nothing worked, and their proposed solution was to fly them back home about a month later than they were meant to leave.
So we paid for his parents to fly back to the city where we live, and took them to the airport to speak to someone from BA in person. We got them on a BA flight home that same day.
posted by lhall at 12:14 PM on May 13, 2010
Response by poster: The airline is probably where the mistake originated. It was Thomas Cook that checked us and likely passed on the incorrect information to Canadian Affair. We don't have American Express and the only travel insurance we have is for health care.
posted by srboisvert at 12:28 PM on May 13, 2010
posted by srboisvert at 12:28 PM on May 13, 2010
Response by poster: sio42, my wife and I are Canadian expats living in the UK. We went home to visit family.
posted by srboisvert at 12:43 PM on May 13, 2010
posted by srboisvert at 12:43 PM on May 13, 2010
Response by poster: I'm beginning to think I am going to need a lawyer.
posted by srboisvert at 3:07 PM on May 13, 2010
posted by srboisvert at 3:07 PM on May 13, 2010
Call the airline that you flew in on and demand a copy of your boarding pass. You can also get a copy of your credit card statement that shows that both tickets were purchased. When you speak to the airline next, demand that you speak to their supervisor and make your case to them only. Most phone jockeys at the airlines do not have the time or authority to deal with special cases and will reject your request out of hand to save themselves the trouble. If you continue to have trouble, you may want to call your representative in your local government and ask them to intervene on your behalf. It's amazing to see the amount of red tape that they can cut through.
posted by The Light Fantastic at 6:42 PM on May 13, 2010
posted by The Light Fantastic at 6:42 PM on May 13, 2010
Happened to me. See if you still have your checked luggage tag on a piece of baggage with (preferably) her name on, to show she was on the flight. (But if it doesn't have her name, just get her to state the baggage as hes anyway). Pointing out to them that it would have been a serious breach of security to let her checked baggage on the flight, and *not* *apparently* her, and they will probably become sensible again.
In my case, it was a manually issued boarding pass because the printer got stuck after I had checked my baggage and then asked for a seat change. But I believe it can happen for lots of reasons from the check in counter all the way to the boarding gate where perhaps her boarding pass didn't scan correctly but the gate agent didn't notice.
In my case, discussion about my baggage did the trick.
posted by blue_wardrobe at 5:00 PM on May 14, 2010
In my case, it was a manually issued boarding pass because the printer got stuck after I had checked my baggage and then asked for a seat change. But I believe it can happen for lots of reasons from the check in counter all the way to the boarding gate where perhaps her boarding pass didn't scan correctly but the gate agent didn't notice.
In my case, discussion about my baggage did the trick.
posted by blue_wardrobe at 5:00 PM on May 14, 2010
Also, look in your passports for your Canadian entry stamp. Your two stamps should agree as to date, and agent number, etc. (assuming you went to the same customs and immigration agent on arrival). This should be relatively convincing to the airline staff that in fact you BOTH flew in with them.
IATA.org says that you can raise issues with the aviation authority of the country in which the airline is registered. I think this is the airline's fault as their check in procedure failed. This is clearly a security matter, and I am sure UK CAA would like to know. Or so you could point out to the airline staff.
Reiterating that this is an AIRLINE problem. They goofed. They canceled the itinerary. They need to fix it as they have received your money.
posted by blue_wardrobe at 5:09 PM on May 14, 2010
IATA.org says that you can raise issues with the aviation authority of the country in which the airline is registered. I think this is the airline's fault as their check in procedure failed. This is clearly a security matter, and I am sure UK CAA would like to know. Or so you could point out to the airline staff.
Reiterating that this is an AIRLINE problem. They goofed. They canceled the itinerary. They need to fix it as they have received your money.
posted by blue_wardrobe at 5:09 PM on May 14, 2010
Just noted you are Canadian - so I don't know if your passports would have been stamped on arrival in Canada. Did you buy any duty free on board using your wife's credit card or anything like that, and get a receipt?
posted by blue_wardrobe at 5:12 PM on May 14, 2010
posted by blue_wardrobe at 5:12 PM on May 14, 2010
Response by poster: We made it back. I spent 3 days hassling A Canadian Affair to get them to acknowledge that we had seats on the flight back on the Friday. They repeatedly screwed up and consistently failed to return calls (and have lost us as customers forever). Word from the people at the airport is that they are one of the worst agencies out there. It was the Air Transat support desk at YYZ that was helpful, considerate and got us on our flight.
Here is what I now know:
If you are denied boarding and you booked your ticket within the EU then DO NOT voluntarily cooperate with airline staff. If you do cooperate you lose many of your rights. If you do not cooperate you are probably entitled to pretty significant compensation. Specifically there is a right to care that would have been worth a few hundred quid in our case (4 days of expenses basically).
There are details from the Aviation Transport Users Council ( AUC) here (pdf).
Also keep everything from your flight - boarding passes, luggage tags, airline napkins, used gum - until after you are safely back home as you may be required to prove that you exist now and existed before to very very dumb people.
posted by srboisvert at 2:52 AM on June 12, 2010
Here is what I now know:
If you are denied boarding and you booked your ticket within the EU then DO NOT voluntarily cooperate with airline staff. If you do cooperate you lose many of your rights. If you do not cooperate you are probably entitled to pretty significant compensation. Specifically there is a right to care that would have been worth a few hundred quid in our case (4 days of expenses basically).
There are details from the Aviation Transport Users Council ( AUC) here (pdf).
Also keep everything from your flight - boarding passes, luggage tags, airline napkins, used gum - until after you are safely back home as you may be required to prove that you exist now and existed before to very very dumb people.
posted by srboisvert at 2:52 AM on June 12, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by chesty_a_arthur at 11:48 AM on May 13, 2010