Business class passenger awarded $12,579 after complaining his seat wasn’t comfy enough

A brave business class passenger has complained about seat comfort, so you don’t have to.

One pointy end passenger just answered that question. The man, travelling from New Zealand to the UK with Emirates, was rather disappointed with his business class seat.

He was so saddened that he sued Emirates for false advertising and – astonishingly – won 13,555 NZD (12,579 AUD) in the process. His complaint? He bought the ticket imagining he would be settling down to a mini bar, a flat bed and an updated entertainment system.

If you thought there’s nothing to complain about in business class, think again.

Our unsung hero apparently received none of the above, despite the fact that – as he claimed – his ticket showed a photo of Emirates’ new style business seating.

In a horrific turn of events, “his flight was operated by an Emirates 777-300ER, featuring the carrier’s most outdated business class product,” One Mile At A Time reports, adding, “these seats don’t have minibars, and technically aren’t fully flat (though they’re about as comfortable as angled seats get).”

Ouch.

The man said this was false advertising, because it wasn’t a one-off switcharoo to a jet with an older style product, but rather the standard jet for Emirates’ Auckland route. Emirates tried to get out of paying the man by saying they do not guarantee aircraft types in its contract with customers.

Emirates also said the seats on the 777-300ER recline to 166.1 degrees and that “to the ordinary air-traveller the seat made available is equivalent to a lie-flat seat.”

Next time, we guess he’ll be flying with Qatar…

Live and Let’s Fly, a travel blogger who claims to have flown on this exact route, called Emirates’ defence “laughable,” adding: “it is hard and certainly not fully-life flat… There’s a huge difference.”

The Disputes Tribunal ruled in the man’s favour, deciding Emirates had to cough up because, “this was the result of advertising a service that they were rarely delivering” and “the promotional materials were based on an updated/new business class seat and service that is not in place in the older aircraft that Emirates flies to NZ.”

Stuff reports that the man “sought a partial refund of the price of the tickets he bought, as well as a refund of the price he paid to upgrade to first class on one leg of the journey so he and his wife could get seats that lay flat, so they could sleep.”

Comments in a discussion thread on Executive Traveller reflected a healthy admiration for the precedent. One wrote: “I say good on him! That Emirates 777 business class product is appalling, especially if you end up in the middle seat.”

Another added: “Good to see Emirates being held responsible for what was very clearly a case of intentional misleading advertising. There should be more of this.”

Yet another said: “Yup… laws need to be tightened.”

The tribunal ruled that the man’s claim for 13,555 NZD was a fair reflection of the difference in service advertised vs. what he paid for. Now, all we need is for someone to set a precedent like this for the knee-crushing horrors of economy, and we’ll be laughing.