Well they are probably correct on the extra cost of going to Luton, not as compensation but as a reimbursement. For the downgrade refund, in this case, you may have an argument because there were business class seats available and BA didn't let you use them, so it was more of an involuntary change, given presumably no other alternative offered. Clearly CE to El Al Premium isn't a downgrade in any reasonable meaning but you could give it a go, though it may be a CEDR case.

They've now cancelled until August.

PE on ELAL is streets ahead of CE on BA

They've also cancelled the morning flight until 26th October.

Rebooking onto El Al is allowed up to 31st July at the moment. Hopefully this will be extended at some point as I have a few bookings after this date on the early flight rotations and the idea of the overnight flight in Club Europe is not a good one!!!!

BONDY

A datapoint, in case helpful: my business class avios flight TLV-LHR was cancelled in today�s cancellation wave. Can�t find any EL AL seats on the same route that work. Called BA and asked if they could put me on EL AL TLV-CDG in business and then on BA to LHR in club. All done in 5 min (thankfully the right fare was available on LY). So, if you find yourself in a similar situation think creatively re how to ask BA for routing. I think this is a much better option than Larnaca/Athens followed by BA�s club Europe�

Well, the inevitable happened and my flight back TLV - LHR on the 16th June was cancelled.

I got straight on the phone to BA, but El Al had very limited availability and I took the only option; a downgrade from Business to Economy on the next day (17th).

Would BA need to pay for the accommodation for the evening of 16th Jun?
BA CS agent said they will calculate relative avios refund (original flight was avios redemption in J) after flight taken but couldn�t answer about accom other than saying to make a complaint after flight taken.
No flights were available on the 16th on BA (obviously) or El Al.

Yes, if BA could not come up with a same day alternative.

Thanks, very helpful.
And would it be reasonable for me to extend the stay at my current hotel for the extra night, and claim that back? The issue is it is a relatively high end hotel (Hilton) and nightly rates are high so don�t want my claim denied, but it would be far easier than having to check out and move to a different cheaper place (plus with check out at 11am and check in at 4pm at most TLV beachfront hotels that is a big window to be sat with baggage or leaving it in hotel storage)
Any guidance welcomes as I�ve never had to claim for something like this before. Many thanks


(PS: what route do I go to claim this and is there a rule / policy I should quote for claiming the accommodation cost due to no same day availability?)

Just ask for reimbursement via the Complaints portal, there is a particular tab for expenses. If the hotel costs a lot more than �200 per night and there are other mid-range hotels under �200 then it is worth considering a move. It's not likely to be turned down, it's covered by both EC261/APR and the Israeli version. More details in the main EC261 thread, and note also the FAQ signposts thread for irrops and delays. However if it is a silly amount BA have been known to be slow to pay / need escalation.

Yes it�s about �500 / night so I think maybe I should find somewhere to move to despite the inconvenience

Has anyone tried adding their EL AL Matmid frequent flyer number to the ticket rebooked by BA onto EL AL? One of my tickets is one way and is fully EL AL operated, but was issued by BA. Will I collect Matmid points? TIA

Yes you'll be able to collect Matmid points in this scenario.

BA and LY both use the same back end booking system so your original BA booking reference will be your LY reference also. Just manage your booking on the LY website and add your Matmid number there.

Update/data points for future:

BA refunded my Avios + 50p soon after I accepted the cancellation on the flights they moved me to and then cancelled. (Obviously, they calculated the Avios for the return flights only.)

They are also fully refunding my expenses for my extra 3.5 days in Tel Aviv, including the El Al flight + train that I booked myself. I'm really pleased about that. I have no idea how carefully they looked at the annotated chat transcript, but they must have accepted my logic. My hotel and other expenses were pretty cheap (Booking.com had a good deal on a mediocre hotel, and one of my meals was a Golda ice cream cone) so I clearly wasn't exploiting their duty of care obligations. I'm glad they reimbursed the extra clothing and toiletries I needed as I was travelling with a backpack so had only packed the essentials, but it wouldn't have been the end of the world if I'd had to pay for my own toothpaste and a couple of t-shirts.

What they're not doing is providing EC261 compensation: 'Your claim's been refused because BA405 on 09 May 2025 was cancelled due to current political situation in Israel.'

Is it worth pushing back on that or going down another route to pursue it? I'm happy enough with what I have, but if I'm entitled to compensation then then I'd like to try to get what I'm entitled to.

Just to confirm that BA has announced route suspension until and including 31 July 2025 at least. The customer guidelines mentioned above are extended to that date, and covers tickets issued to 3 May. Tickets issued after 3 May will get the normal cancellation coverage where applicable.