InfiniteCycle

I have been emboldened by this forum.

My flight out of Frankfurt was cancelled tonight because of storms. They told us about 3 hours after the departure time. Everyone sent to one or two desks to sort out hotels.

Thinking about the advice on here, I got my phone out, looked for hotels in the area, and booked the closest thing reasonable. It was the Park Inn for 140 Euros. I will claim this back, obviously.

I then called the US number for BAEC and got rebooked for tomorrow.

All of this is perfectly reasonable in my book (hotel is what I would book for myself, were I paying).

It was either this, or wait until the 50 odd people in front of me got rooms, then probably be sent to a hotel farther away from the airport and not get to bed (or get any food) before 2am.

Did I do the right thing?

corporate-wage-slave

Probably, it's what I would have done (and have done twice and got refunded). But it's at your own risk, particularly if you don't have status.

Calchas

If you have travel insurance they may cover it instead. (I speak from my own experience.)

mario

Absolutely! If you have status the best thing to do is to call and get yourself rebooked. This is specially easy now that any BAEC service centre can help you.

As for the accommodation, just get your own and claim it back. If BA doesn't pay, travel insurance will.

stewaran

I've done this with BA in Milan , hotel was about €200 and put my extra train and taxi in with no problems at all , took a few weeks for the refund, but no hassle

Definitely worth doing, who knows where and when you'd get to bed otherwise!

LTN Phobia

I must have done that about 10 times during various disruptions. In fact it's very rare for me to wait in the queue to be given a hotel, simply because I'd rather take the risk and pay for it myself. If I can't get it back from BA, I'm prepared to foot the bill myself.

I always kept the cost to a reasonable amount and never claimed for meals on the basis that I'd have eaten out somewhere anyway, but I have always had it reimbursed promptly and without any quibble.

Three things that may have helped:
- I was in CE.
- OWE (most of the them were when I was not with BA)
- I selected one of the cheaper hotels
- The queues were very long

Plus, while I can self-insure for those issues, I always have a decent travel insurance. So it'd have been reimbursed one way or another.

InfiniteCycle

I'm Silver at the moment - so I am confident I will be okay.

orbitmic

I hope for you that you will be, but that is certainly not guaranteed. Legally, you are not in a strong position (it's for the airline to offer/choose the accommodation that they provide and they clearly have access to negotiated fares that make anything we can find uncompetitive in comparison) and while BA is typically reasonable, it always depends on who deals with your case. To the extent that what you are needing here is not something you are entitled to but rather a good will gesture, this always entails a risk so while there is a good 80% chance that you'll be fine, it is important to accept the risk that you might not.

Traveloguy

This is why people should always be getting travel insurance as it will give more far more options than relying on an airline. Anyone on FT who chooses not to get insurance is mad.

I'm sick of hearing excuses from people on why they have not bought travel insurance. There really is no excuse these days.

pauldb

If you happened to pay for this yourself on an appropriate Amex (BA PP, Plat) you can claim back £200-300 from them instead which may be more straightforward.

FlyingB1975

Insurance primarily makes sense for the insurance company, as what you pay exceeds what you get (for the vast majority of customers at least). It only makes sense for big ticket items (such as serious medical problems). I'm perfectly happy coughing up £100 for an unexpected hotel stay every few years if that saves me the insurance premiums.

OPebble

FRA has a Sheraton which is within walking distance of T1 and a little further, also in walking distance a new Hilton.

I have legged it across the connecting bridge and easily got a room. Food also easily available.

orbitmic

Fully agree. If you are risk adverse and travel a lot, like myself, a good travel insurance is a sine qua non. If people choose not to have it, then they should indeed accept that things won't be as easy and comfortable when problems occur and may end up costing them a lot of money even the issue was not their fault. But that is a general point.

InfiniteCycle

1. I am fully insured
2. I am self insured - if they don't pay then meh, okay.
3. I paid with a BA PP
4. They bumped me to another flight and gave me 250 euros today already.

I always think with things like this BA look at your booking history but also your bookings going forward. At least in the past where rules have been bent agents have said to me 'we can see you have a number of future bookings - I'm sure we can help you.

Do I expect BA to pay for the room. Yes. Will it kill me or annoy me for more than a few minutes if they don't. Probably not.

Cap'n Benj

Good attitude to have.

Be sure to please post any follow up when you get it, it will be interesting to hear what happened