A Brussels Airlines passenger claims she had to pay for a new €355 ticket when her return flights were cancelled after being incorrectly marked as a 'no-show’ on a flight to Brussels in March.
Estonian national Piret Mårtensson, 54, quit her job in human resources to enrol last year in a glass art programme in Tallinn. As part of her course, Mårtensson had the opportunity to participate in a one-week programme in Antwerp.
Mårtensson flew to Brussels with other students on 22 March. They had an early Lufthansa flight from Tallinn to Frankfurt, where they had a short layover. They then flew from Frankfurt to Brussels with Brussels Airlines, which is part of the Lufthansa Group.
Everything went according to plan; Mårtensson says they arrived in Brussels on time and easily booked a train ticket to Antwerp, where they enjoyed a rare glimpse of the Belgian sun.
But the next day, after a long session in an art studio, she was informed that her return ticket booked for 28 March had been cancelled on the grounds that she had not boarded her flight to Brussels.
No-show policy
Mårtensson's husband, Christer, was the first to alert her to the issue. Christer was the one who sorted the Lufthansa and Brussels Airlines tickets to and from Brussels, because, as a frequent flyer, he is used to booking and managing flights.
Christer told The Brussels Times he decided to check the return flight booking for his wife and Saskia (a fellow student whose flight was under the same booking) to see if he could check in early and confirm the details of the return trip.
While all was normal for Saskia's flights, when searching for his wife's return information using her last name and the same booking reference, he was faced with an error message: "This booking has been voluntarily cancelled, or the flight was fully flown.”
Screen shot image of error message seen by Christer Mårtensson. Credit: Christer Mårtensson
Christer assumed it was a simple error, something he could solve with a 10-minute call.
However, after contacting both Lufthansa and Brussels Airlines, he says he was told his wife was never on the Brussels Airlines flight from Frankfurt to Brussels. As a result, in line with the company's ’no-show’ policy, the return flights were automatically cancelled.
No-show policies are used by several airlines to protect them from lost revenue caused by empty seats. Generally the policy means that if a person is registered as not being present for a specific flight, any subsequent or return flights associated with that journey can be automatically cancelled by the airline.
What went wrong?
What ensued, according to Mårtensson and her husband, were multiple days of calls and interactions with customer services to resolve the situation, but to no avail.
Christer says he ended up paying €355.08 for a new return ticket for his wife on 28 March.
“I was lucky that Christer had this money and bought me the ticket, because right now I study and I don't work, and I really, really check every euro in my wallet,” Mårtensson said, adding that she is certain her ticket had been scanned in Frankfurt.
However, Mårtensson emphasised that her frustration with the situation goes beyond the financial concerns. "If the [Frankfurt-Brussels] flight had been in an accident, what would they tell my family? That I wasn't there?” she said.
After returning home, the couple continued to follow up on the situation to try to understand what had happened. Mårtensson compiled several pieces of information to try to prove she did fly to Brussels, which she shared with us.
(L-R) Examples of evidence compiled by Mårtensson. Image taken by Mårtensson in Antwerp on 22 March, Image taken by Mårtensson showcasing students work on the last day of the art programme in Antwerp, Image showing Mårtensson working during the programme in Antwerp. Credit: Piret Mårtensson
In an email seen by The Brussels Times, a Brussels Airlines Customer Relations Agent confirmed to Mårtensson what had previously been told to her husband: that the airline had marked her as a no-show because she did not turn up for the outbound flight to Brussels.
In response to a request for comment on the situation, a Brussels Airlines spokesperson stated that they could not “give any details at the moment other than that our Customer Service is looking into it and will reach out directly to the passenger”.
A security risk?
On 15 April, Mårtensson was compensated for the full cost of the new return ticket by her travel insurer, associated with the Estonian LHV Bank.
However, she says her experience of trying to prove she was on the flight to Brussels has made her feel “invisible" and like she is being treated like a "crazy person".
For her and her husband, “many questions” and concerns remain. Mårtensson continues to question how else she can prove she was on the flight, and wonders why security cameras cannot be viewed to confirm she was on her outbound Brussels Airlines ticket.
"It can't be so careless flying. At least nowadays if you pass the security gate, they check every bottle and lipstick and everything. Then going to the flight, there is like a chaos," she said.
(L-R) Examples of evidence compiled by Mårtensson. Stairs with Frankfurt airport logo by a plane in a photograph taken by Mårtensson on 22 March, screenshot of Piret Mårtensson's outboud ticket to Brussels, a train ticket from Brussels Airport. Credit: Piret Mårtensson
Christer says the experience has made him consider the safety of flights and the oversight of who travels across airports. “If it wasn't my wife who was sitting in 16C [her seat on the flight from Frankfurt] who was sitting there?” he asked.
The Brussels Times contacted the Federal Police regarding the extent to which incorrect passenger lists pose a security risk and whether airlines can consult them to determine if passenger lists are correct.
In response, a spokesperson said: “Passenger lists are not drawn up by the Airport Police (LPA). The LPA plays no part in this process and focuses primarily on border control: passport checks, purpose of travel, verification of compliance with the conditions for entry into Belgian territory, etc.”
Not the first case?
It is unclear how widespread this particular issue is in Europe. The Belgian consumer group Test Achats has at least two records of complaints involving Brussels Airlines and the no-show policy last year, according to Romane Armangau, spokesperson for Test Achats’ parent company Euroconsumers.
The first case involved a passenger who was marked as a no-show on an outbound flight, although he says he had checked luggage, and had his boarding pass checked multiple times during his outbound trip. In the second case, the passenger says his paper boarding pass did not have a QR code and that he was marked no-show because the paper pass was not scanned at the gate.
Test Achat's spokesperson, Laura Clays, says that no-show clauses in general can be a "real pain for consumers" who may want more flexibility when travelling or who may have arrived too late for their first flight but still intend to travel on the return trip.
Such policies can also result in a significant financial burden for consumers, according to the European Consumer Organisation (BEUC). "On average when consumers do not receive care and assistance and rerouting which is happening in case of no-show, they face on average 770€ of extra costs per booking because of last minute ticket flights, hotels etc," a BEUC legal officer told The Brussels Times.
The Brussels Times contacted the Lufthansa Group, Brussels Airport and the Federal Ministry of Mobility and Transport for comment but did not receive a response as of the time of publication.
