Brussels Airlines cancelled my cash upgrade without informing me – advice please

[KevYang]

Hi all,
I paid cash for an upgrade to business class for one segment of a return flight on Brussels Airline and made my seat reservation through a call centre agent – not being able to assign a seat to myself had raised some concerns tbh. All seems to be happening smoothly and I could see my upgrade with my seat reservation on Brussels Airline’s website.
Just when I thought I’d check again to be sure, the upgrade disappeared from “my booking” and I am back in the economy class on the said segment. I double-checked with my bank and the payment went through.
After calling the call centre again, I was told that my upgrade was cancelled because of some technical issue and the only thing they could do is to process the refund, which will take up to 14 working days to reach my account. Imagine had I not checked my booking again, very likely I’d turn up at the airport and then be told I am not eligible for the business class I’ve paid for…….
Checked again on the airline’s website, the same upgrade is now costing almost 3 times more……..
What can I do now? Any suggestion would be highly appreciated.

[yonasl]

Did you get an email confirming the upgrade?

[Blair Waldorf Salad]

May be too late to say, but I always screenprint the airline’s website when doing such transactions as the follow up emails can be ambiguous in showing the upgrade.

Re the payment, either wait for them to refund or lob a s75 into your credit card provider.

What out of interest in the load factor in the J cabin like on yoyr flight? If seats are still available and you have documentary evidence of the upgrade having been processed, I’d turn up and plead ignorance with an expectation of airport staff assigning me into the J cabin to an available seat.

[meta]

It will also depend on how cheap the upgrade was. You say that now it is three times more, but was it so low that it seemed unrealistic? If so, it could be considered as a mistake fare and in such cases the airline has the right to cancel it and just offer a refund.

[Blair Waldorf Salad]

meta wrote:

It will also depend on how cheap the upgrade was. You say that now it is three times more, but was it so low that it seemed unrealistic? If so, it could be considered as a mistake fare and in such cases the airline has the right to cancel it and just offer a refund.

I expect it will have been genuine. Brussels routinely offer upgrades at low cost to the extent when I do MAN-BRU I just book economy, knowing the upgrade offer will then appear in MMB.

[Lady London]

You haven’t received what you paid for and to replace it with the identical costs more now.

Assuming you have confirmation email and ideally any screenshots, plus if you’re short in this area you can do a Data Subject Access Request to the airline to get a copy of the call recording, my preferences would be

1. Get the call copy organised first
2. Demand the airline reinstate your Business Class upgrade and seat at zero extra cost as they’ve admitted it was their fault. You should not accept a refund. Technical error sounds like lies to cover their wish to reprice btw and you should be having none of it.

3. s75 covers replacement cost even if higher unlike chargeback. Your UK credit card is as liable for this as the airline. Present your evidence to the cardco requesting them to cover replacement cost if 2. isn’t working. There are time limits so open a claim soon even if you might have to wait for the call recording to reach you.