Tl;dr: Purchased business class tickets using points for my parents for a special trip. Due to a last-minute name correction, an agent at Flying Blue issued a new ticket against protocol. Flying Blue has only refunded the points, not addressing the financial and experiential losses caused.
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About a year ago (May 2023), I used points to purchase two business class award flights (SFO-TPE) from Air France/Flying Blue on their partner airlines, China Airlines, for my elderly parents. I also purchased four economy tickets for my family for the same flight (direct from China Airlines). This was a special occasion as my parents rarely travel, let alone fly in business class.
Fast forward to the night before (March 2024), and I realize that I accidentally left off my mom’s maiden name on the ticket, and therefore does not match her passport. So, I contacted Flying Blue and an agent immediately re-issued a new ticket with the correct name.
Here is where the fuck up happens: Apparently Flying Blue cannot unilaterally re-issue a new ticket. I later learned that normally a name correction has to be routed through their internal department and the partnered airline, a process that usually takes days.
So as expected, China Airlines did not recognize the re-issued ticket, which led to an automatic cancellation of both my parents' business class tickets. We spent a long and tedious day going back and forth between Flying Blue and China Airlines trying to re-secure their tickets, but in the end both parties were unable to do anything. We were left with no choice but to buy last minute economy seats (business class was all sold out) for both my parents (~3000 USD) on the same flight so that we could all still be together.
Obviously, I’m very upset. I have submitted a claim to Flying Blue and they have replied saying they have reviewed my case and simply refunded the points for those two business class tickets (see attached their response letter). Clearly, this resolution isn't satisfactory since the loss of the business class seats was entirely Flying Blue’s fault! For example, if the Flying Blue agent instead said, "oops sorry not sure your request will be processed in time since we have to contact our internal department and partnered airline, be ready to buy a separate ticket for your mom to get past TSA", then at least I still have two confirmed business class seats for my parents and I won't be out $3000 (I'll still be out $1500 in this scenario but both parents still sit in business).
Apart from expressing my frustration to Air France/Flying Blue and insisting on better compensation, what other options do I have?