Mis-sold airline tickets

adhesiongirl

We recently purchased 2 BA flights with OneWorldAlliance travel agency a USA based global agency who have numerous airlines affiliated with them.
When we went to the BA website to book our seats we were horrified to find OneWorld had booked us HAND LUGGAGE ONLY bags!

At NO TIME during the booking process were we informed of this or give the option to purchase CHECKED IN LUGGAGE.

We have sent them numerous emails and after automated responses they finally have offered to change the tickets at cost to US of about £600!! We have gone back to their booking pages and EVERY TIME there is absolutely no option nor ANY INFORMATION GIVEN that informs us we will be purchasing Hand Luggage Only tickets!

As they are a US based agency we are at a loss as to who to complain to. They are not covered by ABTA nor ATOL.
We can pay direct with BA to have our luggage checked inwhich will still be £160 and then pay to purchase a seat. But why should we when??

They are refusing to acknowledge they have mis sold our tickets.
We have asked again & again for a full refund.
ANY ADVICE PLEASE??!!

heatherw_01

As per BA website, basic fare is hand baggage only
https://www.britishairways.com/en-gb/information/baggage-essentials/checked-baggage-allowances

waamo

Are they willing to give a refund on the tickets so you can buy them elsewhere?

bagand96

British Airways started this last year, as have many other airlines. Even on transatlantic flights, their basic fare does not include checked in luggage. This would be the same whoever you booked through.

You say the flights were mis-sold... but is that based on your expectation that the flight included luggage? The only way they could have been mis-sold is if they agent specifically said checked luggage was included, and then it wasn't. If the agent said nothing at all about luggage then they haven't mis-sold, and I imagine somewhere their T&Cs will state that airline baggage allowances vary and it is up to the customer to check.

I have searched for the agency's website and can't find it. How did you come across them - and why use a US based agency?

Ganga

Title should be Mis- bought airline tickets

stevie11

Sorry to hear of your predicament. May I ask why you chose a US travel agency rather than direct with BA or a UK agency, whas it down to price?

Dean000000

Ganga wrote: »

Title should be Mis- bought airline tickets

This statement is applicable to around 95% of any post on these forums that use the word mis-sold

Caz3121

When you book direct with BA it is very clear what is included and excluded with the different economy tickets.

If you were searching by price on a third party site you will find the cheapest tickets with many airlines are now basic/lite fares. The ones with bags will be more expensive.
You will likely have found that the fare including baggage is cheaper than buying a basic ticket then adding baggage during a separate transaction.

Your complaint is based on lack of transparency in the advert that caused you to make incorrect assumptions.
If no baggage allowance shown on a third party site you can be pretty sure that there is no baggage allowance included in the fare. (you would add it separately with the airline)

What is the name of this agent?

adhesiongirl

Thank you for your replies!
They’re called Oneworld & we are attending a charitable convention so used the link suggested by the Charity. That’s why we used a US site and other sites were cheaper. For the same price with Virgin going direct we would have got checked in luggage and frees seat choice with their Economy Classic I think it’s called.
We wish we had booked direct with BA as they are more transparent!
We have not travelled abroad since 2010 so had no idea third party agencies automatically booked the basic flights!
Using the charities link page looks very different from booking a flight through the Oneworld website!
We have contacted the Charity regarding this too.

“Your complaint is based on lack of transparency in the advert that caused you to make incorrect assumptions” is exactly true!

No the company is so far not willing to refund! There booking page was abysmally poor and non informative!

adhesiongirl

waamo wrote: »

Are they willing to give a refund on the tickets so you can buy them elsewhere?

No they’re not so far ☹️

adhesiongirl

Caz3121 wrote: »

When you book direct with BA it is very clear what is included and excluded with the different economy tickets.

If you were searching by price on a third party site you will find the cheapest tickets with many airlines are now basic/lite fares. The ones with bags will be more expensive.
You will likely have found that the fare including baggage is cheaper than buying a basic ticket then adding baggage during a separate transaction.

Your complaint is based on lack of transparency in the advert that caused you to make incorrect assumptions.
If no baggage allowance shown on a third party site you can be pretty sure that there is no baggage allowance included in the fare. (you would add it separately with the airline)

What is the name of this agent?

oneworld.com