Go Back  FlyerTalk Forums > Miles&Points > Airlines and Mileage Programs > British Airways | Executive Club
Reload this Page >

Cancelled AA flight - won't rebook award on AC

Community
Wiki Posts
Search

Cancelled AA flight - won't rebook award on AC

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
Old Jan 26, 2014, 6:46 pm
  #1  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: NJ, USA
Posts: 423
Cancelled AA flight - won't rebook award on AC

2 relatives just had their flight cancelled out of LGA, flying AA on Avios. It's the last flight out. There is still an AC flight tonight with seats available. Agent (I think) was willing to rebook until they noticed that it was a mileage ticket and therefore would only rebook on AA.

Just wanted to confirm that that was appropriate.

Thanks in advance!
flaco is offline  
Old Jan 26, 2014, 7:00 pm
  #2  
Suspended
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: DCA
Programs: UA US CO AA DL FL
Posts: 50,262
Appropriate may be the wrong term. But, yes it would be unusual for AA to rebook other than on AA or another OW carrier. Even if the underlying reason for the cancellation was within AA's control, it's cheaper to put someone up overnight than to effectively buy a cash ticket for someone on another carrier. I take it that your relatives don't have status on AA.
Often1 is offline  
Old Jan 26, 2014, 7:02 pm
  #3  
 
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: London, ARN, HEL, ..... or MAN
Programs: BA GGL / GFL, Mucci Diamond!, HH Diamond, Radisson Premium, IHG Gold, Hertz Gold
Posts: 5,898
Sorry can't answer your question but am curious which route it is they're flying. I was in LGA today and some of the flights have been all over the place. I've just found out that the flight I was due to be on to RDU was cancelled in the end after hours of shifting timescales. Luckily I managed to get shifted when it started to look like things would go pear shaped.
ThatT1Feeling is offline  
Old Jan 26, 2014, 7:06 pm
  #4  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: NJ, USA
Posts: 423
My relatives do not have status with AA.

The flight is LGA-YYZ. They said it was cancelled because of mechanical issues.

What I was wondering is whether they are obligated to rebook you on another airline. It sounds like Often1 is saying that they are not. Is the same true for a revenue ticket? When they do rebook a revenue ticket is it a courtesy?

Thanks again!
flaco is offline  
Old Jan 26, 2014, 7:15 pm
  #5  
 
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: London, ARN, HEL, ..... or MAN
Programs: BA GGL / GFL, Mucci Diamond!, HH Diamond, Radisson Premium, IHG Gold, Hertz Gold
Posts: 5,898
No, they're not obliged to book you on another airline unfortunately. They will probably try to find space for your relatives on the next AA flight heading to Toronto - but they do have a duty of care to them to provide a hotel if overnight.

LGA is an absolute zoo and I would not be unhappy if I never went there again. When my flight went tech, there was no prioritisation of customers, just people running to other gates trying to get on other flights at the discretion of the gate agent. I got the GGL line to rebook me just to make sure, but some would certainly have been left behind from the AA3416 today..
ThatT1Feeling is offline  
Old Jan 26, 2014, 7:24 pm
  #6  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: NJ, USA
Posts: 423
Booked for tomorrow and hotel overnight. Don't know much details.
flaco is offline  
Old Jan 26, 2014, 7:33 pm
  #7  
 
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: London, ARN, HEL, ..... or MAN
Programs: BA GGL / GFL, Mucci Diamond!, HH Diamond, Radisson Premium, IHG Gold, Hertz Gold
Posts: 5,898
Yes, flightstats is showing the 21:00 as cancelled - just as mine was to RDU today. Looks like your relatives have been unlucky but at least they're being looked after..
ThatT1Feeling is offline  
Old Jan 26, 2014, 7:59 pm
  #8  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: NYC
Posts: 27,234
Originally Posted by flaco
What I was wondering is whether they are obligated to rebook you on another airline. It sounds like Often1 is saying that they are not. Is the same true for a revenue ticket? When they do rebook a revenue ticket is it a courtesy?
They're not really obligated, but they generally will be more flexible with booking on another carrier if the cancellation is (1) the airline's fault (e.g., maintenance) AND (2) it is a cash ticket. For mileage awards, they'll rebook you on a partner, but AC is not a partner and no BA/AA/OW partners fly from NY to YYZ.

Of course if a flight is cancelled, you are entitled to a refund (may be complicated by the fact the ticket was issued by BA/Avios), and then you can always purchase a flight on another airline.
ijgordon is offline  
Old Jan 27, 2014, 1:47 am
  #9  
Moderator, Iberia Airlines, Airport Lounges, and Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
 
Join Date: Feb 2010
Programs: BA Lifetime Gold; Flying Blue Life Platinum; LH Sen.; Hilton Diamond; Kemal Kebabs Prized Customer
Posts: 63,804
AA are fairly good on the whole about rebooking, compared to many other airlines. You were lucky it was technical, since if it was weather they would not have provided a hotel, being outside the scope of EU261.

Speaking of which, one poorly known feature of EU261 is that if this happened on BA on the outbound journey, and the rebooked flight suggestion did not meet the purposes of your trip and is over 5 hours of delay, you are entitled to be returned all the way home AND get a full refund. I did it once on KLM and they couldn't believe I was correct. Long story!
corporate-wage-slave is offline  
Old Jan 27, 2014, 7:42 am
  #10  
Suspended
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: DCA
Programs: UA US CO AA DL FL
Posts: 50,262
Originally Posted by corporate-wage-slave
AA are fairly good on the whole about rebooking, compared to many other airlines. You were lucky it was technical, since if it was weather they would not have provided a hotel, being outside the scope of EU261.

Speaking of which, one poorly known feature of EU261 is that if this happened on BA on the outbound journey, and the rebooked flight suggestion did not meet the purposes of your trip and is over 5 hours of delay, you are entitled to be returned all the way home AND get a full refund. I did it once on KLM and they couldn't believe I was correct. Long story!
US legacy carriers offer this same protection contractually under their respective COC under the "trip in vain" provision. Interestingly, unlike the hard & fast EU rules, the TIV provision really looks to the purpose of the trip.

If your flight is delayed by 3 hours and it would cause you to miss the event for which the trip is booked, that is a TIV.
Often1 is offline  
Old Jan 27, 2014, 8:37 am
  #11  
 
Join Date: May 2012
Location: Munich, Algarve, Sussex or S.F Bay Area
Programs: Mucci, BA Gold, A3*Gold, AA Plat, HH Gold, IHG Plat Amb, Marriott Plat
Posts: 4,163
Originally Posted by corporate-wage-slave
AA are fairly good on the whole about rebooking, compared to many other airlines. You were lucky it was technical, since if it was weather they would not have provided a hotel, being outside the scope of EU261.

Speaking of which, one poorly known feature of EU261 is that if this happened on BA on the outbound journey, and the rebooked flight suggestion did not meet the purposes of your trip and is over 5 hours of delay, you are entitled to be returned all the way home AND get a full refund. I did it once on KLM and they couldn't believe I was correct. Long story!
Am I being dim or does EU261 now apply to an Avios booking on a non-EU carrier (AA) between 2 points outside the EU ?

Tafflyer is offline  
Old Jan 27, 2014, 8:40 am
  #12  
Moderator, Iberia Airlines, Airport Lounges, and Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
 
Join Date: Feb 2010
Programs: BA Lifetime Gold; Flying Blue Life Platinum; LH Sen.; Hilton Diamond; Kemal Kebabs Prized Customer
Posts: 63,804
Originally Posted by Tafflyer
Am I being dim or does EU261 now apply to an Avios booking on a non-EU carrier (AA) between 2 points outside the EU ?

No it doesn't apply if the operating carrier for the relevant sector is non EU and not departing from the EU.
corporate-wage-slave is offline  
Old Jan 27, 2014, 10:54 am
  #13  
FlyerTalk Evangelist, Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
 
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Somewhere between 0 and 13,000 metres high
Programs: AF/KL Life Plat, BA GGL+GfL, ALL Plat, Hilton Diam, Marriott Gold, blablablah, etc
Posts: 30,531
Originally Posted by corporate-wage-slave
No it doesn't apply if the operating carrier for the relevant sector is non EU and not departing from the EU.
But even on. European airline if flying between two non EU points (eg BA on a pure sin-SYD itinerary) it wouldn't apply either (it would if flying from non-eu to the EU on an eu airline).
orbitmic is offline  
Old Jan 27, 2014, 12:05 pm
  #14  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Mar 1999
Posts: 12,097
Originally Posted by Often1
US legacy carriers offer this same protection contractually under their respective COC under the "trip in vain" provision.
Trip in vain is not a contractual right, at least on AA: http://www.aa.com/i18n/customerServi...OfCarriage.jsp

IIRC it used to be in the domestic tariffs, but since they were dismantled the legacies removed all customer protections they could from the contract the replaced them.

TIV may still be a practice, but it's one that it's both unpublished and that you have no contractual (i.e. legally enforceable) rights to. EU261 gives you well-defined legally-enforceable rights.

Last edited by hillrider; Jan 27, 2014 at 12:10 pm
hillrider is offline  
Old Jan 27, 2014, 1:18 pm
  #15  
Suspended
 
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: YYJ
Posts: 2,230
Originally Posted by corporate-wage-slave
Speaking of which, one poorly known feature of EU261 is that if this happened on BA on the outbound journey, and the rebooked flight suggestion did not meet the purposes of your trip and is over 5 hours of delay, you are entitled to be returned all the way home AND get a full refund. I did it once on KLM and they couldn't believe I was correct. Long story!
well, if you ever feel like sharing the long story, i, for one, would be interested in hearing it.
BenSenise is offline  


Contact Us - Manage Preferences - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

This site is owned, operated, and maintained by MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Designated trademarks are the property of their respective owners.