Hi all,

Long time lurker, first time poster. I have a bit of a conundrum and after scouring the forums I couldn't find anything matching my situation.

I'll try to keep this as brief as I can but I was due to fly from London to Bangkok with BA on the 5th Nov 2022 with Qatar partner (as BA suspended flights to that part of the world) using my companion voucher for myself and my partner. Side note that this was the third I had booked the original flight due to Covid/BA cancellations etc.

We had a few emails up until Oct about the flight being cancelled but rescheduled so all seemed fine. We checked in online before flying, headed to the airport and as we're stood with our luggage due to checkin we were told we cannot board the flight as our flight from Doha to Bangkok was cancelled. We could fly to Doha but due to not being able to complete our journey they wouldn't let us board at all (I since found out you cannot board a flight, even connecting if you cannot reach your final destination). I tried to remain calm as we had connecting flights, hotels booked etc as you would.

I called BA who were abruptly rude to me while on the phone first telling me the flight wasn't canceled (as in the flight was still going ahead) and I was confused to say they're not letting us board. They told me (while being on hold for 15 mins at a time) over the phone that Qatar cancelled it. I walked to their customer service desk who did her own checked to say that's simply not true and the booking was with BA and they did not cancel it. The BA customer rep on the phone told me that nothing they can do and go to the BA desk at the airport which was literally at a different terminal! I'm livid now and my partner is in tears worried our entire trip has been ruined.

The Qatar customer rep decided to step in and call the BA desk at the other terminal to seek a solution, she was great and really stuck in on their customer service rep. With only 10 mins left before boarding closed, the only solution was to book me on the original flight as I should have been with one seat but my partner on a flight due to land 7 hours behind me. Meaning she had to wait at Qatar for 7 hours then myself waiting at Bangkok for 7 hours.

This meant our internal fights were screwed, an entire day/night at our hotel lost and a hell of a lot of stress but we decided the important part was not to lose our entire holiday and figure it all out when we got back.

I've been back and in contact with BA since end of Nov and it's been horrendous. I applied for my legal compensation, including my occurred expenses for new connecting flight we had t book etc. They have fobbed me off immensely! Initially telling me they told me they canceled it in July so don't get what I'm talking about then I managed to dig out proof they canceled on the 1st of Nov then they told me oh okay but not our fault contact Qatar. I have just opened a case with them and pending but not convinced it's actually their responsibility?

I'm ready to escalate this to court (I worked very hard per guidance on these forms to avoid legal threats) and do what I can to make sure they do not get away with screwing us over.

So what I wanted to ask the vastly more knowledgeable gang here at FT is where do I stand on who's actually responsible and what can I do, if anything, to have this resolved.

Very much greatly appreciated for those who give their time to read this, regardless of advice.

Jay