I wanted to share my experience as my flight from DXB to LHR was cancelled whilst in the lounge with just 60 minutes to the scheduled takeoff. Unfortunately the pilot was taken ill and had to be taken to hospital. The tannoy announcement advised that accommodation was being arranged and that the flight rescheduled some 22 hours later with a new pilot being flow into Dubai that evening. With the lady at the desk surrounded by fellow passengers I remembered the email I received from BA Holidays with an emergency number to call if anything occurred whilst away. Given my desire to manage my own destiny I gave it a call and to my surprise was answered immediately. Within a couple of minutes i was put on an alternative flight the next day (I had an inking staying on same flight that was delayed +22 hours might not work) and was checked back into Raffles at the Palm for another night. All done in a few minutes with updates popping up in my email box and the flights in my BA app.

The only issue was trying to get out of the airport and the incompetence of staff that moved people on the flight from 1 desk to another where passengers were scolded for being in the wrong place - sheer bedlam. Turning to my fellow passengers it turned out hotel rooms weren't being booked and they needed to sort themselves and I noted that the promised flight the next day changed from delayed +1 to cancelled.

So to summarise - thank you BA holidays - I can only speak as I find and they came up trumps for me, I will continue to book with them not least to take advantage of double tier points, the better avios (compared to new calcs), the low deposit needed at time of booking and the ability to help when situations like this occur.