I booked a family trip to the Dominican Republic with travel agent Tui. A month before departure, Tui called stating the BA flight had been overbooked and we had been bumped off. Generally, passengers get bumped off a few hours before takeoff.
Tui customer service blamed BA and offered us some unpalatable alternatives – to cancel or fly via Paris or Manchester, adding at least five hours to our journey.
But BA told us there are premium seats available on our original flight and that our economy tickets were issued then cancelled soon after my booking because they did not receive a payment from Tui in time.
It seems Tui is blaming BA for its own shortcomings, trying to make us take a much longer flight with a toddler because they don’t want to pay extra for the premium tickets.
JC, London
Tui cites a “technical issue” during the booking process and was unable to explain why it blamed BA for overbooking. BA declined to comment, stating it was a matter for Tui.
Only after media contact did Tui agree to book you on the original outbound flight, although you’re having to return via Toronto because there were no seats left on direct flights back to London.
It has offered £500 as an apology, but you point out this does not compensate for losing six hours of your holiday on a prolonged return flight or the hours you’ve spent trying to resolve the issue.
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