Reply To: Avios not taken – do I have a problem?

[JDB]

slidey wrote:

Where does this sort of thing sit from a legal protection perspective?

If you have booked the flight and received confirmation emails, but then the airline forgets to take either points or fees, then youre told at the gate/checkin theres a problem, if you missed the flight or had to arrange an alternate as the planes full or something, is the airline liable to pay costs/denial of boarding because it was their error or would it be deemed that the airline has no liability because the ticket wasnt fully paid for?

In the case of air tickets it’s a bit messy because of the interaction of other legislation with 261, and whether any contract has been created, but the bottom line is that you need to pay for goods and services you purchase. It’s clearer with goods as opposed to services as many firms will have a retention of title clause. These contracts have two sides to them – it’s not just the company that has responsibilities. If you buy something in a shop for £120, but the assistant puts £1.20 into the credit card machine, that doesn’t entitle you to have the goods for that price.

If a restaurant accidentally leaves a bottle of wine off your bill, you have a duty to tell them. Using tickets you know you haven’t paid for carries risks and if you were stopped at the airport, you are probably the one going to suffer inconvenience. This type of question has been raised in many different guises, like whether it’s OK to reuse a voucher an airline or hotel has forgotten to take.

The basic definition of theft in the Theft Acts is dishonestly appropriating property belonging to another with the intention of permanently depriving the other of it.