Hardcore conservative Candace Owens booked three business class tickets on British Airways (BA) from the US to London. According to Candace, there was a power outage on only her three seats so they couldn’t recline, watch the entertainment system or charge their phones. She says she paid $18,000 total and BA is only offering them a $200 refund even after the pilot said her tickets would be refunded. RELATED: The Travel Gadget Flight Attendants Never Leave Home Without
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Here’s the story in Candace’s words, per her Twitter account. “Traveling with 2 children under two. Booked 3 business class seats because it was a 10 hour, overnight journey and wanted beds. We board plane to find there is full power outage on ONLY our 3 seats. They cannot recline, TVS don’t work, cannot charge our phones. @British_Airways captain came over and apologized and said they would refund us— OBVIOUSLY. Just got off phone with BA and they are offering only a 200$ travel voucher. Each seat cost 6k. This is literally fraud and there is no other way to look at it. I am so livid I cannot even believe they think I would let this slide. You sold this seat online as a fully reclining bed with a television with media access and chargers— something that made sense for a 2 year old and a 10 month. Again this was a 10 hour, overseas flight. None of this worked. You informed us ON THE PLANE, (we would have downgraded to economy seats with working televisions for the kids) and had a captain promise us refunds only to basically say you’re keeping our money. @British_Airways — FRAUD.”
I am so livid I cannot even believe they think I would let this slide. You sold this seat online as a fully reclining bed with a television with media access and chargers— something that made sense for a 2 year old and a 10 month. Again this was a 10 hour, overseas flight.
None…
— Candace Owens (@RealCandaceO) May 15, 2023
When a follower asked her if she got on the flight, she replied, “Yes we were already on the flight when we found out about the electrical failure. The manager and captain were very kind and apologetic and made it clear we would be refunded. But then BA got in touch and offered us a voucher. Just cannot even comprehend the financial fraud.” This is a frustrating situation for any traveler and is one of the reasons that flight attendants say they never travel without a portable phone charger so if the power is out on the plane, at least you can still charge your phone or tablet.
As you can imagine, someone like Owens with over three million followers, is going to get all kinds of feedback. Many shared their own experiences with British Airways and other airlines. For example, @Dosbrak wrote, “British airways lost my 27 inch iMac and all my equipment in January and don’t even respond or try to help.” @BlueLightDiet said, “Happened to me too. United sent me a $75 flight credit lol.”
Many followers took her side like @miniskunk, “At $6k per seat, there is zero excuse to not keep them maintained. They can afford to keep a full time maintenance person on board to insure all amenities are functioning if necessary.” While some questioned the story, “Something is missing here Candy” wrote @LosDaGreatOne.
British Airways’ official Twitter handle tried to defuse the situation with a tweet stating, “I completely understand why you’re unhappy, but as we don’t handle complaints here, we can only update your case with Customer Relations with your current messages. If you have already replied, then they will review the issues again and reply in due course.”
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I am not a fan of Candace’s but politics aside, I’m on her side. Unfortunately, stuff like this happens all the time and the good airlines try to make amends right away. Others couldn’t care less, as you can see in some of the comments above.
If this happens to you, where something is not working, be sure to tell the flight attendant right away so they can either try to fix it themselves or bring a mechanic onboard. At the very least, they can write it up so it can be fixed when they land for the next passenger. Oftentimes, flight attendants will give you miles right then and there, which has happened to me multiple times when my entertainment system wasn’t working. I’ve also had my lie-flat seat break mid-flight so I couldn’t recline all the way or bring it to the right back position. I can’t remember what happened but I’m pretty sure I just rolled with it since I was still able to work and get some shuteye.
What other recourse do passengers have in this kind of situation? Ask a flight attendant to reseat you to an equal or better seat. If that’s not possible and you really want that lie-flat seat and the plane hasn’t left the gate, then ask the gate agent to rebook you on the next flight.
If something similar has happened to you, leave a comment and share the details, including any compensation the airline gave you.
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Wondering why you feel the need to bring politics into this discussion ‘divisive conservative political commentator’ – your headline. You and I may, and probably do, have differing political opinions, but they are just that, and have no bearing on the situation noted above.
Couldn’t happen to a worse person! :-)
I’m trying to figure out what the relevance of this individual’s political leanings might be to the story. I doubt you’re suggesting it is her political leanings that created the inadequacy of her business class seats. BA handling of their error on her seats due to her politics? Please re-write your entire story completely eliminating that reference unless it has some relevance. FYI. Wife and I have flown BA numerous times in business class without problems – maybe because no one ever asks us about our politics.
Shame on you.
Ask anyone from Great Britain, they say that British Airways has become a terrible airline! They cancelled my husband’s flight in May, 2022 and then wanted to charge him an additional $400 for the same flight the next day. (First of all, they only answered the phone during business hours London-time, but the recording never disclosed that. It just rang and rang for hours and no one ever answered.) When my husband finally got through to someone, probably in India or Pakistan, he negotiated that agent down to $200 additional charge with a $200 promised credit toward a future flight (the offer, verified by email). Of course, BA later said that they could not find any record of that credit and would not honor that agent’s emailed offer. It is probably too late to register a complaint with authorities. Anyway we will never use that airline again!
Hardcore?! Are you a Hardcore Liberal Travel Blogger?
It richly deserves to lose their money in this matter.
Hardcore?! Why did you feel the need to bring that into the article? Had no bearing on it whatsoever – you can do better.