Author Topic: HELP ELAL DENIES BOARDING FOR NO REASON  (Read 30654 times)

Offline ilherman

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Re: HELP ELAL DENIES BOARDING FOR NO REASON
« Reply #120 on: February 17, 2016, 10:39:31 AM »
This is getting out of Chutzpeh stage.... So I complaint to the DoT. Here is my original draft. (I took out emotions and all of the "!" in my final draft) as well as their response. This is really getting to me. She TOTALLY ignores the facts and evidence that I WAS booked properly in first class. But what is even more crazy, she does not address the issue that UA rebooked the pax in business class and was still denied boarding.
Quote
Hi, to whom it may concern.

I'm writing to let you know a very disturbing incident I had with El Al. I really hope you can let other people know about this so they know what El Al is all about and so they can plan their travel arrangements accordingly.

Here is what happened. I had my original ticket with United Airlines to fly with them from Newark to Tel Aviv in Business First class. My flight was canceled and United emailed me that I should call them and they will rebook me. I called United and they said since they have an agreement with El Al they will rebook me on their flight to Tel Aviv in First class. Perfect, right? Well, so I thought. When I got to the airport and I wanted to check in I was informed by El Al that they WILL NOT honor my ticket. I was given no reason as to why since I was a confirmed first class passenger with a boarding pass! I was not even given an apology!!!! So I went to the manager who made up right on the spot... That United had no right to book El Al first class. I tried telling the manger that as sad as it sounds he just does not understand the rules... United pays to El Al whatever they book on El Al and United confirmed that since I was a Business First passenger with them they CAN rebook me on El Al first. I called United which was very sorry but said that there is no way they can fight with the clueless El Al manager in the airport. So I asked them to rebook the ticket in El Al business class so El Al will have no claim. She looked up and checked El Al availability and found one seat and rebooked my ticket in business class. I went back to the again "clueless" manager and he was able to confirm that United has rebooked me in business class but at that point he simply said "you are not flying in business class with us" when I told him that this is against the DoT rules and its called denied boarding, he started laughing and just said "we are El Al, we have are own rules" and there is where it ended. Not even an apology! Crazy! We all heard about airlines deny boarding because they are oversold etc but they all at least feel bad and apologize! Not only that, I said look I am fine to sit in economy because you were overbooked but at least let me check in 2 bags like a business class passenger. But again he simply laughed and said NO! And when I said about DoT rules he was simply laughing. How could such an airline still operate?

Here is the deal, I demand full denied boarding compensation as it states on the DoT website.

"If the substitute transportation is scheduled to get you to your destination more than two hours later (four hours internationally), or if the airline does not make any substitute travel arrangements for you, the compensation doubles (400% of your one-way fare, $1300 maximum)."

A one way fare for the first class I was booked in is $6641.90, so I demand the maximum $1300 in compensation. Plus an apology for the El Al kind of behavior....

Now in order to avoid the going back and forth that El Al will try to do I wanna say everything that they will try to tell, all the non sense. They are gonna try to lie and say that I was not ticketed in first or business class. Sorry El Al but how can you say such non sense? The DoT is smart enough to KNOW that if YOUR system, YOUR website was able to print out a boarding pass for me THAT MEANS that I was ticketed in first class. All was good until the agent manually cancelled it for whatever reason. They may wanna try to make up that United may not book me in their first class, that is full of non sense. United confirmed otherwise. Let El Al bring documentation saying that. There isn't any. And even if there is, what would be the reason to deny boarding after I was ticketed in Business class? All in all, classic El Al.. Shame on you! Attached is the live evidence from the tickets from the El Al website. What a shame!!! Shame on you El Al!

And here is the response I got.

Quote
Dear Mrs. *******
 
Your email to U.S. Department of Transportation was forwarded to El Al's customer relations department for my response.
 
I am sorry for the inconvenience that you were caused at JFK airport when you were re-booked by United Airlines on the 25th January 2016.
 
After a thorough investigation, we would like to advise you that the cashier at JFK detected before the check-in was opened (4 hours prior to departure) that you were booked as a first class passenger by United and you were actually holding an economy fare base ticket.   Our staff contacted our reservation manager who confirmed that there was a serious error and you must either be downgraded or pay for the difference in fare.
 
You were met at check-in and informed of the error.  You were offered free economy plus seats which you refused.
 
Unfortunately, I must respectfully decline to offer you compensation due to the above explanation.
 
I respectfully request that you contact the carrier who issued the ticket for further assistance.
 
I hope that your future flights will prove to be free of any problems and to your full satisfaction.
 
Yours sincerely,
 
Caroline Low - Customer Relations
You can say what you think when you think what you say.

Offline SearchGuy

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Re: HELP ELAL DENIES BOARDING FOR NO REASON
« Reply #121 on: February 17, 2016, 11:17:12 AM »
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and you were actually holding an economy fare base ticket.
Hmmm...

Offline Emkay

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Re: HELP ELAL DENIES BOARDING FOR NO REASON
« Reply #122 on: February 17, 2016, 12:08:57 PM »
This is getting out of Chutzpeh stage.... So I complaint to the DoT. Here is my original draft. (I took out emotions and all of the "!" in my final draft) as well as their response. This is really getting to me. She TOTALLY ignores the facts and evidence that I WAS booked properly in first class. But what is even more crazy, she does not address the issue that UA rebooked the pax in business class and was still denied boarding.
And here is the response I got.
Wow

Offline yelped

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Re: HELP ELAL DENIES BOARDING FOR NO REASON
« Reply #123 on: February 17, 2016, 12:22:20 PM »
Wow. Let us know what happens next.

Offline D93

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Re: HELP ELAL DENIES BOARDING FOR NO REASON
« Reply #124 on: February 17, 2016, 12:48:00 PM »
INSANE!

Offline SearchGuy

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Re: HELP ELAL DENIES BOARDING FOR NO REASON
« Reply #125 on: February 17, 2016, 01:00:35 PM »
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Plus an apology for the El Al existence....

Offline TimT

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Re: HELP ELAL DENIES BOARDING FOR NO REASON
« Reply #126 on: February 17, 2016, 01:06:06 PM »
Crazy

Offline EJB

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Re: HELP ELAL DENIES BOARDING FOR NO REASON
« Reply #127 on: February 17, 2016, 01:07:52 PM »
But United breaks guitars

Offline ilherman

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Re: HELP ELAL DENIES BOARDING FOR NO REASON
« Reply #128 on: February 17, 2016, 01:43:52 PM »
I wrote back. Lets see how it plays out. I really can not imagine my self that I will ever hear from EL AL saying "We Are Sorry", I don't think they ever felt that it is necessary to they that, but I will try..
You can say what you think when you think what you say.

Offline benjie1305

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Re: HELP ELAL DENIES BOARDING FOR NO REASON
« Reply #129 on: February 17, 2016, 01:45:21 PM »
I wrote back. Lets see how it plays out. I really can not imagine my self that I will ever hear from EL AL saying "We Are Sorry", I don't think they ever felt that it is necessary to they that, but I will try..

Of course they won't. That was clear from the first interaction you had with the ElAl rep.
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Offline D93

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Re: HELP ELAL DENIES BOARDING FOR NO REASON
« Reply #130 on: February 17, 2016, 01:48:06 PM »
Maybe try SCC?

Offline yochiek93

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Re: HELP ELAL DENIES BOARDING FOR NO REASON
« Reply #131 on: February 17, 2016, 01:59:06 PM »
When will elal learn

Offline D93

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Re: HELP ELAL DENIES BOARDING FOR NO REASON
« Reply #132 on: February 17, 2016, 02:01:36 PM »

Offline aradisc

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Re: HELP ELAL DENIES BOARDING FOR NO REASON
« Reply #133 on: February 17, 2016, 07:12:37 PM »
Economy base fare ticket? Who cares if it's technically a Y-UP, many business/first fares nowadays are on an economy fare basis, and it's frequently opaque to the consumer.

Was it Y-UP or similar or are they just making up excuses?

Offline ilherman

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Re: HELP ELAL DENIES BOARDING FOR NO REASON
« Reply #134 on: February 17, 2016, 07:22:39 PM »
Economy base fare ticket? Who cares if it's technically a Y-UP, many business/first fares nowadays are on an economy fare basis, and it's frequently opaque to the consumer.

Was it Y-UP or similar or are they just making up excuses?
It was an award tkt. I class. I don't think I class has Y-UP fare basis. AFAIK only deeply discounted domestic first class fare classes are Y-UP fare basis.

And besides that, don't forget that the original excuse was not even that. Originally they only said that UA can not rebook into their first class. Only after UA rebooked the pax in J they come up with the new lie.
You can say what you think when you think what you say.

Offline ExGingi

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Re: HELP ELAL DENIES BOARDING FOR NO REASON
« Reply #135 on: February 18, 2016, 12:31:51 PM »
Let's wait and see how they come back now, but in all honesty, the only way we might get any change, is by making this a lot more public. Let this be a PR NIGHTMARE for ELAL in both the US and Israel. I think that might be the only way they might learn something about customer (or even human) relations, let alone customer service.

It's 16 years and counting since I last flew ELAL. They rightfully earned my ban. Other airlines were benefactors of this, including paid J tickets.
I've been waiting over 5 years with bated breath for someone to say that!
-- Dan

Offline ilherman

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Re: HELP ELAL DENIES BOARDING FOR NO REASON
« Reply #136 on: February 24, 2016, 11:13:53 AM »
So here is the response I got. Denied cabin is not denied boarding.  :o

Thank you for your follow up message.
 
United Airlines and EL AL Israel (EL AL) have provided us with all the information we requested  in regards to your case and we have completed our review.

Based on the information you and the reservation information which both carriers provided us, we conclude that we cannot pursue the incident mentioned in your complaint as the DOT has no enforcement jurisdiction.  United reviewed the booking with us and advised this was an Award ticket booking. Your original ticket was booked on 12/22/15 and the class of service was booked in Economy.  However, on January 14, 2016 it was exchanged and upgraded to Business/First and you paid the additional miles to do so.
El AL clearly read the fare basis code on the ticket incorrectly as an error and advised you could be downgraded or pay the difference in fare.
 
Additionally, EL AL provided our office with the passenger data on this flight, it was not in an oversold situation. Each class, First, Business and Economy on flight LY 2/ January 25, 2016 all had available seats in each of those cabins.

 

Although this incident represents poor handling and customer service, as the flight was not in an oversold situation; the conclusion is involuntary denied boarding compensation under Rule 14 CFR section 250 would not be due in this instance.

 
If a consumer is seeking financial restitution, they have the right to pursue that action thru their local jurisdiction such as small claims courts.   Furthermore, a full detailed investigation typically is not the result of a single complaint, but results from a noticeable trend in a carriers patterns or practices.  Lastly, any civil penalties collected as a result of an investigation is payable to the US Treasury and not individual consumers.

We are concerned about your experience with EL AL.  We will continue to review and monitor EL AL to determine the extent to which the carrier is in compliance with our regulations and to track trends or spot areas of concern which we feel may warrant further action in the future.

Although we do not mediate individual consumer complaints, we have entered your complaint in our computerized industry monitoring system, and it will be charged to the company in our monthly Air Travel Consumer Report.  This report is widely distributed and made available to the news media and the general public so that both consumers and air travel companies can compare the complaint records of individual airlines and tour operators.  This system also serves as a basis for rulemaking, legislation and research.  These complaints are also routinely reviewed to determine the extent to which carriers are in compliance with our regulations and to track trends or spot areas of concern which we feel may warrant further action in the future.

 
Any additional information you provide will be added to your case.
 
Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to review this matter.
 
Sincerely,
You can say what you think when you think what you say.

Offline EJB

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Re: HELP ELAL DENIES BOARDING FOR NO REASON
« Reply #137 on: February 24, 2016, 11:17:35 AM »
Wow!!!! That sucks!!!!

You going to court?

Offline ilherman

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Re: HELP ELAL DENIES BOARDING FOR NO REASON
« Reply #138 on: February 24, 2016, 11:33:10 AM »
Probably.
You can say what you think when you think what you say.

Offline Chapshnell

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Re: HELP ELAL DENIES BOARDING FOR NO REASON
« Reply #139 on: February 24, 2016, 12:22:03 PM »
Probably.

you should, good luck.. hopefully that Ronnie guy will have to show up & answer for himself