I feel let down by BA, just because I wanted to be loyal

silonic · Dec 16, 12, 1:43 pm

My wife and I are expecting our first child in February. We're a British couple living in The Netherlands so we thought it be a nice idea to go to Europe in May and invite the grandparents along so they could have some quality time with our new arrival. So we chose on Faro and decided to work out how we would get there.

Rightly or wrongly we decided to fly with BA via LGW. Although it means our journey time would be longer, it did mean we could have an increased luggage allowance, allowing us to take car seats and buggies free of charge; plus we could fly in CE giving us more room than the LCCs were offering and the fact that one of the grandparents would also be traveling from LGW meant we could have an extra pair of hands.

Booking the flights way in advance (Sept) meant the cost difference was fairly negligible when comparing to the LCCs. The transfers were perfect too - just over 2 hrs on way out, about 1hr and 40 mins on way back.

However in the last week I've been inundated with schedule changes for our flights. All 4 legs have been changed. On the outgoing flight we now have a 5.45hrs transfer. On the way back, the flight from Faro lands in LGW after the last flight to AMS departs.

Having spoken with BA today our choices are limited. The first option I was told was we could now cancel our flight without any penalties. The issue with this is the LCC is now triple the price than it was in Sept, so we're no better off if we cancel the flight.

Option 2 was we could take a National Express bus and catch a flight from LHR to AMS. Again that solution doesn't work as the Faro flight arrives too late for us to make it to LHR

Option 3 was to be put on the first flight from LGW to AMS the very next morning. When I asked whether we would be put up in a hotel, so we could get the flight the next morning, I was told no.

So my conclusion is:
BA sell tickets that they can't honour.
The fact they had informed me that there is a schedule change means they have performed the necessary duty of care.
They have offered me either a full refund or the ability to book me on the next available flight. However, if we get a full refund, we'll have to pay almost triple to find an alternative or we .are expected to either stay at the airport overnight, with a 3 month old baby or book ourselves a hotel but won't be compensated for that.

Saying I'm disappointed is rather an understatement but I feel a little duped. I'm sure people will question why we have chosen to fly via London; or why we're flying with a 3 month old ; or why we're even thinking of flying in CE with a baby. It seemed to make sense at the time - but I guess hindsight is 20/20.

Kgmm77 · Dec 16, 12, 1:49 pm

Wirelessly posted (iPhone 3G: Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 6_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/536.26 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/6.0 Mobile/10A523 Safari/8536.25)

Unfortunately when you book before the spring/summer timetable is fixed, these kind of things can happen, on any airline.

golfmad · Dec 16, 12, 1:53 pm

My view with these things is that it all comes down to a test of what's reasonable. The airline doesn't plan to annoy its customers with schedule changes but when they happen they do their best to provide as much warning as possible and offer alternatives such as refunds (if the schedule changes are significant).

I don't think it's reasonable for an airline to offer to accommodate people overnight in order to catch a different flight.

It's just one of those things.

If it were me, I'd look at the extra cost of the LCC compared to the cost of the overnight stay in LGW. I'd almost definitely go with the overnight stay in LGW and book that using some spare points if you have some.

PS. Rather than choosing BA in order to be loyal, did you not choose BA because of the benefits to you and your party that you outlined in your post?

NeverFirst · Dec 16, 12, 1:58 pm

I don't think anybody is going to criticise you for your initial choice of routing or travel arrangements.

Changes like this are going to be disappointing, but they are just "something that happens". You booked eight months in advance of your trip, and it's still about six months away so you can't really put the blame at BA's door.

If you still want to fly BA then I'd be tempted to overnight at LGW in a hotel. At least you could get a good night's sleep and break your journey.

Another alternative, if it works for you, is to look at re-routing to Sevile or Lisbon. It's a bit of a drive but if the timings work better then you might actually be better-off (possibly even financially!)

Fruitcake · Dec 16, 12, 1:59 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kgmm77

Wirelessly posted (iPhone 3G: Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 6_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/536.26 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/6.0 Mobile/10A523 Safari/8536.25)

Unfortunately when you book before the spring/summer timetable is fixed, these kind of things can happen, on any airline.

No doubt true. But I find just accepting this a bit generous to the airlines. I think they could do better and are being allowed to get away with it. Personally, I'd prefer to do business with an airline that once it's advertised and sold tickets at certain times doesn't then make major changes.

jonnogreig · Dec 16, 12, 2:06 pm

I personally think that BA shoud pay for overnight accommodation as its them who mde the schedule changes. They mus have n greenest with the LGW Hilton or Sofitel.

golfmad · Dec 16, 12, 2:09 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by jonnogreig

I personally think that BA shoud pay for overnight accommodation as its them who mde the schedule changes. They mus have n greenest with the LGW Hilton or Sofitel.

It would be totally impractical for an airline or any other service company to include compensation for consequential liability. The breach of contract (in this case the airline's change of schedule) is remedied by a liability capped to the value of the contract (hence the offer of a refund).

kurgan · Dec 16, 12, 2:12 pm

And if yours happened to be the only ticket they sold on that flight they should still fly it? Airlines are like any business, they are there to make money. They'd like to do that with annoying as few people as possible when they are optimising their routes. Having said that if all the these tickets were booked as one PNR with BA then I would think they have a duty of care to get you to AMS which may include putting you up in the hotel for the night. Possibly this may fall under the EU rules as well for cancelled flights?

Often1 · Dec 16, 12, 2:17 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by golfmad

It would be totally impractical for an airline or any other service company to include compensation for consequential liability. The breach of contract (in this case the airline's change of schedule) is remedied by a liability capped to the value of the contract (hence the offer of a refund).

+1 - There are schedule changes. It's a fact of life. These are far, far, far out and not within 2 weeks of departure. That's expressly covered in the COC, as are OP's remedies. But, he wants more than he bargained for and others "feel" it's only fair.

BA's offered all that it's required to and that's eminently reasonable. In particular the bus-to-LHR option is annoying, but entirely doable and done by many every day.

Fruitcake · Dec 16, 12, 2:18 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by kurgan

And if yours happened to be the only ticket they sold on that flight they should still fly it? Airlines are like any business, they are there to make money.

This airline says its purpose is to fly, to serve.

I told someone once I thought really (like you say) it was to fly to make money. he said he doubted that making money was the prime motivation! Sadly I think it is but I'd like to think that service is also important - so if they make a loss on some flights, so be it.

HIDDY · Dec 16, 12, 2:41 pm

Until rules are put in place to force airlines to provide alternative arrangements regarding accommodation re routing or whatever when schedules are changed then you can't expect them to offer it as a gesture of goodwill.

They get penalised enough as it is with all the other rules they have to abide by. Having said that I wouldn't be too happy either if it happened to me.

Gaz · Dec 16, 12, 2:46 pm

This is why you should never book an airline "out of loyalty" because it's not a reciprocal arrangement. The airline has no loyalty to you. Pick a carrier that benefits you most (whether the reasons are price, schedule, comfort, etc). Harder to be disappointed that way.

golfmad · Dec 16, 12, 2:46 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by kurgan

Having said that if all the these tickets were booked as one PNR with BA then I would think they have a duty of care to get you to AMS which may include putting you up in the hotel for the night. Possibly this may fall under the EU rules as well for cancelled flights?

Nope. They won't do it even if it's on one PNR. We've had this same situation in the past. The best you can hope for - and I don't think it's unreasonable - is a refund.

corporate-wage-slave · Dec 16, 12, 3:02 pm

I can see that flights were re-timed, but has a flight been cancelled compared to your original booking? If so then the European regulations (including duty of care) kick in. Cancellation is defined as "the non-operation of a flight which was previously planned and on which at least one place was reserved".

If all the flights on your original booking are still operating (but now at the wrong times) then I think this isn't going to have a happy ending unfortunately. Unless, that is, you have booked hotel accommodation and you have travel insurance (the insurers may prefer to re-route you rather than have you cancel). You're particularly unlucky since BA's service to Faro is not at all frequent. I appreciate that you have a child in tow, but is Lisbon an option?

RobDBA · Dec 16, 12, 4:52 pm

Can't really help with the issue at had - BA have done what they legally have to do but I can see that it would be nice to do more but then when would that stop?

On the issue of alternatives however I can give some advice. We flew to Lisbon last year when staying 20 minutes east of Faro and the drive wasn't so bad. The roads are pretty good and very little navigation to do once you are out of the Lisbon area.