Originally Posted by
low1968
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.
I’ve had similar experiences. I was in Cancun as Hurricane Matthew approached a few years ago, was by the pool around lunchtime and got a notification that my Miami tonHeathrow flight was cancelled. I wasn’t overly concerned as there would be loads of rerouting options. An hour later I got a notification that my flight from Cancun to Miami was cancelled, so I was a bit more concerned now so I called the duty office,
The team said they were going to call me later but didn’t want to disturb any pool or beach time. They said I could stay at my existing hotel from Thursday for 2 extra nights all inclusive free of charge and take the direct Gatwick flight home on Sunday,
I said I needed to get back to work and they said I could depart Cancun the same time, fly to Philadelphia and I’d be put on standby for the late BA flight which was overbooked but they were expecting lots of misconnects so didn’t think there would be a problem. The back up plan would be a hotel booked for me at Philadelphia airport and a connecting flight upto JFK on Friday and an overnight flight from JFK, we went with the latter.
On arrival at Cancun it was a zoo with queues of people for a lot of US destinations queuing to rebook. Imwaltzed up to check in desk. Bags tagged for London but standby label attatched and agent advised could only issue BP to PHL. About an hour out from PHL cabin crew came up to me with a message from the cockpit to say I’d be confirmed for the PHL flight and someone would meet me at jetbridge with new BP. This indeed happened,
Was quick through CBP and dropped bags at recheck counter and headed to lounge. I then got a call from the duty office to make sure I’d been aware of my confirmed flight and boarding pass. To top it off, the lounge host said wow looks like you’ve had an ordeal please use First dining.
To summarise, an amazing team, dilligent, proactive with a can do approach that seem to be able to sort most things. More than makes up for the lack of a physical holiday rep in resort ala bucket and spade holiday type.