Yes, that question is a little snide. But with British Airways facing their second potential public relations disaster within a few months, it sometimes seems like the only option that makes sense.
The first problem came when the airline accidentally loaded $40 airfares to India. They removed the fares, but some tickets had already been sold. And it took three to four days before British Airways decided that they wouldn’t honor those tickets.
Then at first the airline simply canceled and refunded the tickets, ignoring the complaints of travelers who said they had missed out on other fares by booking the incorrect tickets. Not to mention the travelers who had made other arrangements in connection with their BA flights, and thus faced penalties for changing those tickets.
Eventually, British Airways offered some additional discounts to clients who had been inconvenienced and/or had incurred additional charges, but only after weeks of being lambasted in the media.
Now the airline faces a strike at potentially the worst time of year — the Christmas holidays. While to some degree British Airways is being held hostage by their unions, even now, their efforts leave much to be desired.
Specifically, the airline has not yet announced a strike schedule, even though they knew this threat was coming. (The strike vote was taken last week, and all indications were it was going to be in favor of the “job action.”)
Admittedly, it has got to be difficult for British Airways to figure out exactly whose holidays may be ruined, however, their potential refund policy has isn’t getting them goodwill from anyone.
The policy states, as of December 16,
Until we announce our operation during the period 22 Dec 2009 to 02 Jan 2010, ‘No’ refunds are allowed unless permitted under the fare rules.
So passengers who have nonrefundable tickets over the holidays have to wait and see, although at this point every day closer to the holiday period means higher fares and increasingly sold out flights.
For travelers who have “must-attend” events like weddings, or students whose accommodations will not be available over winter break, the only sure option is rebooking a ticket with another airline (and most discount tickets will also be nonrefundable), and potentially paying for the trip twice.
If British Airways cancels flights for those who have booked another ticket, they will probably get a refund, but again, there is no certainty as to which flights will operate at this time.
British Airways is allowing passengers to rebook at no charge for any other dates “outside the period of disruption” within the next year, but unlike a business trip, it is hard to reschedule a holiday.
As of now, as the airline states on their site for travel agents. “The option outlined above to rebook is the only option available to customers.”
No doubt these options will change as the situation changes. In the meantime, however, the refund policy in particular is just one more problem to deal with for already stressed travelers.
As it is, the potential strike is likely to cost British Airways millions. Would it probably cost them more money to allow travelers to cancel and get a refund? Yes. Although many people on cheap tickets may opt to take their chances. Business travelers on higher priced tickets will generally be able to get refunds anyway.
But will it cost them customers for life if people get burned by this policy? I would have to have to think, as the Magic 8 ball used to say, “It is decidedly so.”
photo of BA plane at Heathrow by Gary Henderson/flickr.com/creative commons
Janice Hough is a California-based travel agent a travel blogger and a part-time comedy writer. A frequent flier herself, she’s been doing battle with airlines, hotels, and other travel companies for over three decades. Besides writing for Travelers United, Janice has a humor blog at Leftcoastsportsbabe.com (Warning, the political and sports humor therein does not represent the views of anyone but herself.)
