Passengers win payout after ordeal of first-class upgrade

A wealthy Filipino couple who took Cathay Pacific to court for upgrading them to first class on a flight home from Hong Kong have been awarded 5,000 pesos (HK$730) in damages after a bizarre legal battle lasting more than six years.

The dispute, resolved by the Philippine Supreme Court, was sparked when Cathay upgraded Daniel Vazquez and his wife, Maria Luisa Madrigal Vazquez, from business class to first class before their flight to Manila left Kai Tak airport on September 28, 1996.

The couple tried to refuse as they were flying with two guests, who could not be upgraded.

Cathay ground attendant Clara Chiu allegedly told the Vazquezes that if they did not accept the upgrade, they would not be allowed aboard. They boarded in first class, but complained that Ms Chiu had threatened them to do so 'obstinately, uncompromisingly and in a loud, discourteous, harsh voice'.

They said Ms Chiu's shouting embarrassed and humiliated them.

While the Supreme Court agreed the move by Cathay amounted to a breach of contract, the damages it awarded on March 14 were substantially less than the 650,000 pesos the Court of Appeal awarded the couple in 2001. The initial ruling, handed down by a lower court in 1998, was for 16.2 million pesos.