sam

When I booked the two tickets there was no risk as one world policy was to through check bags.

I was left high and dry by QATAR.

simons1

But you haven't explained what your issue is exactly.

If your BA flight arrived at AMS after the flight to DOH had left then whether the bag was checked through is irrelevant as it wouldn't have made it. In fact the chances of it being lost would suddenly have become higher as it could have sat around in some airport terminal for a few days before someone got round to re-routing it.

How were you expecting your bag to get on board a flight that was already halfway to Doha - were you travelling with Dr Who?

clarkeysntfc

As others have said, whether your bags would be checked through is irrelevant here.

You had two tickets, booked separately and the first one was late causing you to miss the second. Nothing in One World policy has changed here, and no amount of checked luggage would have saved you from missing the QR flight. You would have been in the same boat had you traveled with hand luggage only.

Unfortunately the risk you took in booking two tickets backfired and you'll have to pay whatever it costs to get to Zanzibar.

This should be offset slightly by an EU261 payout from BA due to the LGW-AMS delay.

sam

If a benefit was previously offered continually as part of the service it becomes contractual. I have a press release from BA which quotes this 'change in policy ' to remove the service.

The reality was that I purchased these tickets expecting the benefit and it was subsequently removed. It is like booking a ticket with an expectation of free meals then being told that catering would Ben paid for.

KARFA

You seem to have made up you mind on this one regardless of any opinion/suggestion of anyone else.

Are you intending to take any action based on your self-advice? If not this all seems a bit academic.

sam

I'm trying to explain why I think I have a claim. Of course I'm not going to pursue a claim if a qualified consumer lawyer thinks I've got not basis for a claim. I'm also not going to abandon my claim just because a few other unqualified people disagree. Do you expect me to?

LTN Phobia

If you think about how airlines reunite people with bags that they mishandle (whether they are on a single booking, single sector, separate tickets etc.) then you can work out that carriage of passenger and carriage of bag do not necessarily end up being on the same flight and their willingness to through-check bags does not mean they offered protection for passengers at all.

In fact I had that confirmed many times, not through misconnect but through their specifically saying that I was not protected in any way on separate tickets even though they were checking the bag through (I used to enquire, pretty much for the hell of it, from time to time, not with a standard check-in staff but when I happen to be talking to the manager for instance), and if I got offloaded for some reason from the subsequent flight (e.g. I missed the connection) so would the bag - well if I misconnected, the bag wouldn't get there in time either - except that they will somehow get the bag to the destination it's tagged to if it's not there when I get there. Their obligations were for the bag only, in other words, and not me to the secondary destination.

I wouldn't particularly like to see people waste their time or others' by what appears to be an unwinnable line of argument.

LondonElite

I don't think you are going to get anywhere with this line of argument.

There was no way that the fact of having a checked bag was going to protect you from missing a separate flight on a separate ticket. Did you expect QR to hold the flight? Did you expect QR to put you on a new flight at no additional cost?

As others have told you, the change in policy of not checking through on separate tickets has nothing to do with the protection you are seeking.

KARFA

I am not suggesting you take any particular course of action. You are of course free to do as you wish.

As noted you seem to have made up your mind anyway regardless of what other folks have advised, and readily admitting you are not qualified in this area. Your conclusion that you do have a claim and the explanation of the basis of your claim seems to be based on your self confessed lack of qualification or knowledge in this area, and rather just seems to be based on gut instinct.

corporate-wage-slave

If this is the press release I think it is, it's the one that says that through baggage checking has been removed (new) and that if people miss their flights due to collecting baggage then they can't expect rebooking (not new in itself) but BA staff will nevertheless provide assistance (also not new).

Essentially if exactly the same thing had happened a year ago, the only difference from your experience this weekend is that it would have taken you longer to retrieve your bag in AMS. The ticket would not have been protected any more than it has been a few days back. Where you have a small point is that the so-called "on carriage" details would have been added to your first booking but that wouldn't have cut much ice in AMS. At the risk of repetition: "through checked luggage" never did mean "protected tickets", despite some commentary along these lines elsewhere in FT.

mlafqtv

Please let us know the outcome of your meeting with a qualified comsumer lawyer as it would be good to clarify this 'thorny' topic

simons1

Whilst choosing not to answer those posts that don't suit your story.

If you are going to stand up in court and argue with the judge how you have lost out because BA didn't check your bags through onto a flight that left Amsterdam about 30 minutes before you arrived I would love to be there to see it.

I am sure the judge will say i) claim your EC261, ii) show me the booking T&Cs that have been broken and iii) buy a through ticket next time if you want the protections.

flatlander

Sorry, sam, but I also think you do not have a leg to stand on here. As the world is at the moment, as are the terms and conditions of the airlines, as are their ticket rules, and as you bought your tickets, you're not going to get any great compensation or different action from the airlines.

This is particularly so when Qatar helped you out more than they needed to - less than you wanted, but more than they needed to - and so assisted you quite significantly. Your total loss could have been the cost of the economy ticket you travelled on AND the cost of the business ticket you didn't show for. Qatar was nice to you and you should be bearing in mind at all times that they saved you several thousand pounds.

BA delivered you late to AMS and you will be compensated for that. That was the only part of your experience when an airline did less than they were required to do for you.

It's not the news you want, but it is the considered opinion of some very experienced and knowledgeable people on this forum.

strichener

The published policy before the change was

Through Tickets
Customers will be re-routed to final destination if they miss their onward connection

Separate Tickets
Customers may not necessarily be re-routed if they miss their onward (separate ticket) connection, even if it is BA who has brought them in late.

The use of the phrase "may not necessarily" would lean towards their being specific circumstances where this benefit will not be provided.

Interesting in the same policy when discussing passengers and baggage it states that for
BA->Oneworld
Passangers and bags can be through-checked providing MCT (minimum connection times) are adhered to

BA->Non Oneworld
Passengers and bags will only be checked to final BA destination. They will not be checked through to the final destination.

Ambiguous at best.

navylad

Why did you book the tickets separately; whilst, as other posters have pointed out, you can't always get a flight on one carrier to a destination, but this was certainly the case in your instance, Qatar have an excellent service from London on either an A380 or B787. You can see why people are going to assume that it was to save money knowing that you were taking on this risk.

Did you not have insurance? I just have my insurance with my bank account, but it has truly been value for money since I started travelling more (I think they probably hate me with the 4 claims I've put in this year so far which have totalled far more than any cost I pay for my bank account).

And I agree, the captain doesn't sound incompetent to me at all, just following due process, and no doubt was in close contact with Operations in this regard; had he made the decision to change planes earlier, do you know if your delay would have been any shorter? The chicken dipper (skipper) would have been balancing these risks, hoping to minimise the impact on all of his passengers and the airline.