Originally Posted by
SK AAR
It may have been the OTA that told pax that BA would reimburse a new ticket....
Somehow I get the feeling that this will not turn out well when the pax request reimbursement. BA will point to the OTA if BA ticket already refunded (to OTA) and obviously the OTA is not going to pay for a presumably more expensive last-minute ticket.
Originally Posted by
corporate-wage-slave
If it iwas cancelled with less than 24 hours notice (as opposed to your friend only finding out about it then) then yes, it is for BA to resolve. More than 24 hours it's for the OTA to resolve. I sincerely hope they haven't cancelled for refund the original ticket since then they will be unable to get reimbursement for second ticket (see Disruption Signposts thread). But having done what they did, it will now fall to the OTA to pay the new ticket, and I'll be surprised if they actually do so. The usual process is that the OTA would buy the replacement ticket and resolve with BA internally, so something appears to have gone wrong there. BA will potentially be liable for cancellation compensation of £520, depending on the details but I can't see them refunding a replacement ticket unless a BA agent - in words of one syllable - invited them to do this, and in my experience they would never do so. More usually your friend may have suggested this and the BA agent didn't say "don't do this".
Firstly, thanks to all for giving me reason to feel that I do indeed have a good understanding of how to go about this sort of thing! Many years on here have been invaluable.
It was definitely cancelled within the T -24 window and to be honest, I am not sure my friend has given me all the details. He mentioned in passing that the OTA have agreed to refund the original ticket. Which means - yup, I think he maybe DID cancel the booking. I'll be interested to see how this winds up but I feel he may be on the hook for the replacement flights.
I still fail to understand how or why he was told by BA to go to the OTA. But if this did happen, then this is the perfect example of BA's CS letting down customers at a time when they are most vulnerable and many do not have the knowledge base that we have here. But in the end, should they need to have this knowledge base if CS were doing their job properly? I will hasten to add that it is possible that some of the details have been lost in the couple of weeks since this happened.