Terrible experience with LATAM Airlines after booking return Business Premium seats between London and Rio De Janeiro. The airline changed our flight times, dates, flight sectors and completely voided whole sectors from our trip multiple times without notification or explanation. I would notice the changes purely by chance via Checkmytrip.com. Following each change I would dutifully endure LATAM's service call centre for several hours, incorporating dozens of call disconnections, excuses and down right lies ranging from the flight has been cancelled to the flight no longer has availability, all while still selling our seats for said "cancelled, or unavailable" flights on their app and website - this they explained by lying that their website was glitching (for 3 months?) The changes made by LATAM to our booking over the course of a few weeks amounted to the following. The flight we booked (London to Rio de Janeiro (via Sao Paulo) dep 24th Feb and return to London 11th March) becoming London to Rio de Janeiro (via Sao Paulo) dep 25th Feb, return 11th March. Then London to Madrid dep 24th Feb, Madrid to Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo to Rio de Janeiro; then London to Frankfurt dep 24th Feb, Frankfurt to Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo to Rio de Janeiro; Then our return flight began to change without notification or explanation, changed from the flight we booked: Rio de Janeiro to Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo to London dep 11th Mar, which became 4.) Rio de Janeiro dep 11th Mar to Belo Horizonte, Belo Horizonte to Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo to London; then Rio de Janeiro dep 11th Mar to Brasilia, Brasilia to Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo to London; then Rio de Janeiro to Campinas, Sao Paulo to London (How do I get from Campinas to Sao Paulo??) then Sao Paulo to London (So now I have to get from Rio to Sao Paulo on my own?). This then culminated in the next change being made to our booking resulting in no return flight at all. After hours and hours on the phone to Customer Services without being offered any explanation or alternative return flight, we decided to continue with the outward journey via Frankfurt and fight it out face to face once in Brazil. On arrival at London Heathrow with bags backed to board the flight to Frankfurt, the check-in agent told us apologetically that we would be unable to board as LATAM had invalidated the ticket for the London to Frankfurt sector. The ticket was on the system but LATAM had not reserved the seats. We were advised to contact Customer services and ask LATAM to Validate the tickets. Invariably the LATAM agent I spoke with hung up on me and we had no where to go. As LATAM had not reserved the seats to Frankfurt via Lufthansa there weren't even seats available for us to purchase directly from Lufthansa to ensure we could make our onward connection to Sao Paulo. The distress and anguish we experienced as a result of LATAM's blatant disregard for their customers was like nothing I'd ever experienced with any other airline. As LATAM contract out their ticketing service to a third party agent (dnata) at London Heathrow, we had no option but to try and explain our situation to the third party agent. This dnata agent incredible and everything that LATAM wasn't. She listened to us, empathised with us and committed to us that she would help resolve the nightmare LATAM had placed us in. She re-booked us back onto or original flight (which LATAM had repeatedly refused to do). Avoid at all costs!
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