British Airways connecting flight cancelled - BA indifferent
 

I have a rather complex issue with BA to which I can't seem to find an answer, had tried MSE first as that is usually my go to place for airline rights, but I think I might do better with some expert fliers :)

I attended a conference in Nova Scotia and they booked me a ticket via British Airways. It was a LHR > Toronto > Halifax - return ticket, with BA operating the London > Toronto leg and WestJet operating the Toronto > Halifax leg.

Outbound journey went fine. On the return leg we arrived at Halifax airport to find out that our Halifax to Toronto flight was cancelled, due to weather issues. When I reopened my BA app, it showed that I had been rebooked for the same flight 2 days later. I went to the WestJet counter straight away and was told that the best they could do was a rerouting the next day via Montreal with a 12 hour layover. I was offered no further offers of assistance such as a hotel or subsistence.

I called BA, I naively thought that as a European ticket and a Silver Exec member they would try to resolve the issue in a more suitable manner. Got through to an indifferent member of the Customer Services team who said there was nothing further they could offer and they were not willing to re-route me on another airline, despite Air Canada having tickets that would get me home at a comparable time to my original ticket (via Montreal). She said they would be willing to refund half of my original ticket (£255), I explained that was seriously insufficient given a replacement ticket at the very last moment on Air Canada was £730.

Not wanting to be stranded in Halifax and worried I would miss the last option to get home (there was only a few tickets left on the one flight that day which would get me home on the 12th Nov), without a hotel and lose at least a day of work I bought a new one way ticket with Air Canada (£730) home, via Montreal. There were some issues (to say the least) but I got home only 3 1/2 hours late due to the new ticket, despite the weather.

I complained to BA as soon as I got home. They have said it's not their problem as the BA Toronto > London flight flew on time, and I need to take it up with WestJet. WestJet says talk to BA. BA are no longer offering their half refund either. I had understood it was ticketed by BA and my contract is with them, so had thought I'd have some rights.

Canadian laws look like they are changing next month to give me more rights, but that's not much use to me at the moment. It's unclear if my European rights apply, looks like it's untested.

I have travel insurance in many different ways, but I'm not sure I'm covered for this flight, still checking my various policies. Amex won't cover it as the conference paid for my flight. I bought additional insurance after I left as I realised this hole in my coverage after I'd left, but think they will say as I'd already left home.

I feel like I'm going crazy, but this indifference and unwillingness by BA to even apologise for their poor customer service is totally unacceptable. If I'd have waited for BA/WestJet's proposed flight, I would have lost a days work and costs of a hotel and subsistence in hotels for another day.

Anybody here tested this point of connecting flights and European rights?

Thanks

Becky

The problem you have is that it was your return that was messed up and as your first flight was within Canada on a non EU airline then EU261 does not apply and means both any delay or cancellation compensation or duty of care (meals / hotel).

The fact that the west jet delay was caused by weather means it's out of scope anyway.


It makes no difference what status you have with BA or that you bought the ticket through them EU261 simply does not apply.

You should contact your travel insurer

Exactly, your issue is with WestJet (the operating career) not with BA. Who you booked the ticket from makes no difference. Had your incident been on the BA operated flight you would benefitted from the right to care under EC261, but not in this case.

Also check whether your employer has anything in place. In that situation I would always expect my employer to cover subsistence as a matter of course and chase for repayments. Depends on the employer of course, but they also have a duty of care while you're travelling on their behalf.

Pursue the BA refund and try and claim the rest from your insurance.

Welcome. I’m sure the more knowledgeable members will be along to help but good to have you here.

As I understand it, simply having an EU ticket doesn’t mean every flight on it would be eligible for EU261. The flight affected needs to either be departing the EU, arriving in the EU and be on an EU airline, or, be the second flight on a connecting ticket where the first flight is an EU departing flight. I understand it to be that your first flight caused the issues, and the airline (Westjet) are neither flying to the EU, or, an EU airline. Therefore no EU261 is due.

However, Westjet do have a published hotel policy so accommodation would have been viable, but I guess this is in hindsight.

Therefore, out of pocket expenses are one for your insurance, if you have it (!).

As for BA not apologising; I’m not entirely sure it’s what you really want. Do you really want BA to say; “We are sorry Westjet messed up flights due to weather?” Or “We are very sorry and hope to see you on board again soon as a valued silver member”. The first point puts the blame with Westjet, that did the cancellation here, and the latter whilst likely is automated and impersonal.

So, one for the insurance and a lesson in naivety I think. Sorry.

Edit: Yes, your work place might be worth an avenue to pursue here?

I am also one of those who thinks that there isn't much consumer protection that applies here unfortunately.

As a general point, as soon as you start buying other tickets you are likely to be losing the battle. The reason being that consumer legislation tends to expect consumer and the airline to work together to get a mutually agreed outcome, but as soon as you start buying new tickets you need to be really careful, otherwise it's likely to be on your own account.

Travel insurance is a real maze too. I've read many travel insurance policies and it is amazing all the exceptions and exclusions that can apply. It is not even the case that bad coverage = cheap policy. It needs a pretty forensic eye to find all the exclusions.

If this happens to anyone else, I would certainly suggest raising a thread here at the time, there are usually several experts online who can take you through the options and pitfalls. And for insurance policies, it is certainly worth road-testing them against this and similar scenarios. However what many companies would do here would be to foot the hotel bill in Halifax, unless the overall cost wold be lower getting another ticket.

This is one of those situations where you either need to have good travel insurance or else you're willing to - effectively - self-insure and cover the charges yourself. If the weather delay was due to conditions at your departure airport, Halifax, then I'd have assumed that it would have impacted other carriers as well and therefore you'd have very few other options. If the weather was impacting flights at Toronto instead then flying through an alternative connecting airport might have been an option but, again, it depends on space being available on other flights and, I suppose, the willingness of WestJet to rebook you on those carriers.

Unfortunatly for the OP this is westjet spolicy


And having looked at the new Canadian regulations weather is excluded

Also on re-reading I noticed this from theOP

Quote:

---

I bought additional insurance after I left as I realised this hole in my coverage after I'd left, but think they will say as I'd already left home

---

now this does depend when exactly this aditional policy was bought. If it was after the flight was delayed you can bet the insurer will be looking at the exact time the policy was bought and the exact the the flight was delayed. It looks like they have other policies so OP needs to investigate the coverage they offer as well.

Bottom line is:
Weather-related delay.

You're really just at the mercy of the airlines, since their responsibilities are minimal in those circumstances. I'd have probably taken the next-day offer from WestJet and coughed up the money for a hotel. Maybe you would've been able to standby for an earlier flight during your 12 hour layover. If you had something business-related that was so pressing you had to be back on schedule, I'd ask your employer to cover the costs. If you had personal issues (kids) that required you to return that day, you'll just have to eat the hotel cost. But a hotel for one night would've been way cheaper than what you did.

Just to amplify the point I made earlier, an employer has a legal duty of care obligation to employees traveling for work. That means covering subsistence and accommodation expenses when things go awry. Whether this stretches to a rebooked ticket isn't clear, but they should ensure adequate insurance is in place. So that's the first place to start, and I'd be arguing it was necessary for me to return on or near schedule and I took the best actions I could under the circumstances and chose the cheapest ticket available.

For what it's worth, in these situations my first action would be to secure a hotel room for the anticipated delay, ideally the one I was previously booked in. Then call the office when possible or email, discuss the options, and get clearance for whatever I'm proposing to do to get home. Many employers also contract an external help service - we use iSOS - which is very good when you need medical assistance or at weekends.

I then leave it up to the employer or travel service to sort out any claims against airlines or insurers or whatever while I submit my expenses in the normal way.

Incidentally, taking on the point from the post just above, personal reasons to be home are just as valid as business reasons. Me coming home late from a trip a couple of days late would require my wife to sort out cover for childcare and may well disrupt things she's doing. It's not really for an employer to judge that, but obviously the easiest thing to do is to work with them. They certainly are responsible for accommodation and subsistence in this scenario.

It all depends on whether you really needed to get back to work.

I am a Doctor, now retired for Mayo Clinic.

They gladly paid for the extra ticket to get me home on time as I had an office full of scheduled patients to see that were "worth" way more to mayo Clinic in both revenue and good relations than the ticket was.

This included International travel on more than one occasion (coach of course :) ).

So If I were the OP, I would be trying to recover the funds from his employer, if he truly needed to be back at work.

All the best.

And another part of the problem. OP may not have a employer willing to pay the extra

Trying to get money back after the fact (when back home) is a tough ask, especially as delay due to weather. That's for travel insurance.
I would have taken the 2 day delay and tried for better with WJ the next day/night. Many people would have been effected by the weather.
Or taken the refund offer before the scheduled BA flight left

One of the joys of travelling for others

This happened to my daughter IN the EU on a BA and IB flight. Trying to file for EU261 compensation through 2 different agencies; one agent said the reply from BA was due to "weather" while a second agent said the reply from Iberia was "unusual air traffic at LIS and therefore, cannot be compensated". This, despite the fact my daughter and all other passengers were told, at the time, it was MX issues. EU261 covers neither weather or ground control probelms.

She pursued it and pursued it and pursued it, and eventually BA awarded her 13,500 miles. So you might want to try asking for miles.

This is completely different. BA & IB are European airlines, so would be covered by EC261. The OP was on a non-EU airline, so not covered.