'British Airways & Virgin Reclaiming?' Blog discussion

beach86

So is there a way of working out how much fuel tax we have paid? Is it different depending on the lenth of the flight?

Thanks!

chocky

Martin, Would you please consider putting a template letter online to reclaim fuel charges, similar to the one you did for bank charges? I'm sure we'd all appreciate it. I flew several times with Virgin and once with BA during 2004-2006 and would like to try and claim these charges back. Thanks

agnes_2

Martin I wonder if you can clarify some pointers for me. British Airways and Virgin colluded in this price fixing, and yet Virgin walk away scot free I think this is totally wrong. Also can you tell me why the Banks were never charged with colluding over penalty charges? because they obviously have, when and how did this happen, was it ten years ago or fifteen, ? but I know from having a bank account for more than 40 years that is certainly was never the case until what I call recent years.

Mr-Looovermaaan

Hi I only took 1 return flight with BA during this time (Edinburgh-Southampton). I still have the e-ticket and taxes and charges were 81.20 my myself and my friend. Does anyone know what portion of this I should be asking for back?

Mr-Looovermaaan

Sent them the following email through their website. Even if I only get a tenner out of them it's still an easy tenner!

Will post if I get any response

---

Dear Sir or Madam,

On 21 April 2005 I flew from on flight no BA7870 Edinburgh to Southampton with my friend ****** ******, returning on 25 April on flight BA7865.

British Airways was fined £200 million plus for colluding with Virgin Atlantic over fuel surcharges (of between £5 and £60) on tickets between 2004 and 2006. The regulator has penalised you for anti-competitive prices. I suffered due to your price fixing and I want my money back.

I still have my eTicket (copied below) which states that taxes/fees/charges for the 4 flights amounted to £81.20 but there is no breakdown of these. I would be grateful if you could provide me with a breakdown and refund to me the fuel charge portion.

I am sure that you have received a number of these claims in recent weeks and am aware that mine will be one of the smallest claims you receive. I trust, however that you will still give it due consideration.

Yours faithfully,
****** ******

---

E-TICKET

---

From: E-Ticket@britishairways.com
Date: Tue Jan 11, 2005 10:19:44 pm Europe/London
To: **********************
Subject: Your British Airways Travel Reservation: Z7RH6V
Reply-To: E-Ticket@britishairways.com

YOUR TRAVEL INFORMATION AND E-TICKET RECEIPT

This is your travel itinerary and e-ticket receipt. We advise you to carry this document for international travel, as you may need to present it at immigration and security points. Your ticket coupons are stored electronically in our computer system. The conditions of contract relating to your ticket are detailed at the end of this email.

If you are travelling and have bought the flights yourself, you will need to bring the credit/debit card used for payment to the airport, for identification and check in purposes. If you are not travelling, and have bought the flights for someone else, they do not need to take the card used for payment to the airport.

Passengers: MR ****** ********
MR ******* ********
Booking Reference: Z7RH6V
e-ticket Number(s): 125-2419395422
125-2419395423
Payment Type: Visa
Card Number: ****************
Payment Total: GBP 119.20
IATA Number: 91498363
Endorsements: Pax nonref
Fare Details: GBP 38.00 + Tax/Fee/Charge GBP 81.20 = GBP 119.20


Your Itinerary Details:

Flight Segment: Edinburgh To Southampton
Flight: BA7870
Cabin: Euro Traveller
Booking Status: Confirmed
Departure: 21 Apr 2005 14:30
Arrival: 21 Apr 2005 16:10
Flight Operated By: SUBSIDIARY/FRANCHISE

Flight Segment: Southampton To Edinburgh
Flight: BA7865
Cabin: Euro Traveller
Booking Status: Confirmed
Departure: 25 Apr 2005 14:25
Arrival: 25 Apr 2005 15:40
Flight Operated By: SUBSIDIARY/FRANCHISE

smacp1

Agnes wrote: »

Martin I wonder if you can clarify some pointers for me. British Airways and Virgin colluded in this price fixing, and yet Virgin walk away scot free I think this is totally wrong. Also can you tell me why the Banks were never charged with colluding over penalty charges? because they obviously have, when and how did this happen, was it ten years ago or fifteen, ? but I know from having a bank account for more than 40 years that is certainly was never the case until what I call recent years.

Agnes (and Martin, fyi)

UK Competition Law has a leniency policy which ‘rewards’ whistle blowers who break ranks from cartels with a zero or significantly reduced fine.

The clever bit is that the leniency applies to the first and only the first cartel member to break ranks and inform on the others. The result is that cartels members can never trust each other. The leniency policy even applies to an instigator of a cartel, who will be financially protected if they ‘grass’ first.

There is a very real incentive, too, as the remaining members may be subject to fines of up to 10% of worldwide turnover (not just profit).

It is arguable that the leniency programme has done more to discourage cartels than the effect of the fines themselves.

Therefore, Virgin does have a zero fine. BUT, it is not exempt from third party claims for damages and any contract provisions breaching competition law are unenforceable. So, people can still try and claim, if they chose, to recover some or all of their fuel charges.

agnes_2

Thanks for that explanation, it just proves how corrupt big business is, I still would like to know how the banks can get away with collusion.

Glosman_2

Well I got the latest reply from BA, quoted below. As expected it is a "Go Away" statement. I certainly will go away and would suggest that as a matter of principle all travels chose an alternative carrier.
What the next step is? I have no idea.

"Thank you for your writing back to us. I am sorry that you felt our previous explanation was unsatisfactory.I would like to reassure you once again that we do not believe you were overcharged as a result of the imposition of the fuel surcharge element of your ticket price.The UK Office of Fair Trading (OFT) acknowledged that fuel surcharges are not in principle anti-competitive. The surcharge is a legitimate way for airlines to help recover their fuel costs. In fact, the money that we recoup from the fuel surcharge does not cover our annual fuel bill.However this does not in any way excuse the anti-competitive conduct. I can assure you that we deeply regret that anti-competitive activity took place. The conduct of the individuals involved is totally unacceptable and inexcusable. This behaviour is entirely unacceptable and we condemn it unreservedly.I would like to reiterate our sincere apologies for the disappointment you feel in British Airways
Best regards
Franz Dsouza
British Airways Customer Relations"

Glosman_2

Today I received the first communication from Virgin, copy below.

Quote
"
Thank you for your recent correspondence.

As reported in the press an ongoing criminal enquiry into long haul passenger fuel charges limits the extent to which we can discuss recent announcements made by the UK Office of Fair Trading and the US Department of Justice.

We appreciate however that many of our passengers have been troubled by the reports concerning inappropriate contacts between British Airways and Virgin Atlantic.

We are currently reviewing the concerns you have raised, which we will need to consider in the context of the complex issues surrounding this matter. We will get back to you within 30 days with our response.

In the meantime we would like to unreservedly apologise again that inappropriate contacts were made between British Airways and Virgin Atlantic, and we can assure you that we will do everything possible to restore the good faith customers have in our airline.

Yours sincerely,

Caroline Lynam
Customer Relations Manager"

wearside_2

I intend to email BA regarding the fuel surcharges it has imposed on my flight to Tampa.

In the meantime I reproduce part of an article regarding Willie Walsh.

" Whenever anybody asked Willie Walsh why his old airline, Aer Lingus, was so good in a crisis, he joked that it was because it had had so much practice. "It sums up what the airline industry is like," says the man now heading the beleaguered British Airways. "We tend to go from crisis to crisis."

This just about sums up the man and at least he is consistant