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BA LAX-LHR-DUB Delay Trashes Ex EU Itinerary

BA LAX-LHR-DUB Delay Trashes Ex EU Itinerary

Old Aug 30, 2016, 11:21 pm
  #1  
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BA LAX-LHR-DUB Delay Trashes Ex EU Itinerary

FT Cogniscenti,
Some guidance required and advice required please:
Am currently sat in LAX 1W lounge having finished rebooking my family California holiday return after BA delayed the departure of the -380 home.
In Feb I caught a good deal and flew the family CW DUB-LHR-LAX with the positioning Flt BRS-DUB with Ryan. For RTB today I was booked CW all the way back to DUB, due to arrive 1835L. Plan was to turn around at DUB and catch the FR666 DUB-BHX @ 2035L dep. Plenty of time. Avis rental booked and paid for at BHX (Preferred+) to get us home in Somerset.
Prior to family's LAX arrival for departure I was advised @ 1400L (GMT-8) that the LHR service was delayed from a 2105L dep to 2330L. This ran a coach and horses through my careful plan, pitched to a doubtful Mrs Nemonon last Feb. She is, as we speak, sat across the lounge from me not speaking to me for being too ambitious and screwing up the return home. I could explain that it was out of my control etc, but I wouldn't get far.
Any way, after dealing with a thoroughly disinterested member of the BA LAX check-in team I have been re-booked LHR-DUB via Air Fungus 1910-2025 giving us 90 min to get from T5 to T2 (1745L LAX arr), economy only, so miss out on the CW leg and TP to DUB that I have paid for. Also I believe that the time allowed may be a little cheeky to achieve. Luggage booked through to DUB.
Unbelievably BA have managed to get us into DUB 2:50 late on the scheduled arr time therefore mitigating their responsibilities for the EU Flt delay compensation of 600 Eur per head.
I have, in short order, sat here over the last 2 hrs, booked a hotel in Dublin, a Ryan Flt DUB-BRS on the following morning and another rental from Avis at Bristol. Total cost to me for the 2:50 delay: hotel 150, extra Flt 200, missed hire car 45, lost TP and Avios got the missed CW to DUB.
Given the time difference I have been unable to raise any of the relevant agencies in the UK to obtain rebooking assistance and so have just booked the replacement accomm, flts and car.
So my question to the collective here is, given that I have missed the compensation deadline by 10 min, how can I achieve any form of refund for the additional costs incurred by BA's operational delay (ac landed late from LHR apparently)?
I would appreciate any help. I walk for the gate in an hour.
Regards
nemonon is offline  
Old Aug 30, 2016, 11:30 pm
  #2  
 
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I don't think you can. Ultimately this is the risk you take with a tight ex-EU itinerary.

EU261 is designed as an all or nothing scheme - where it applies there is generally no 'my delay doesn't qualify so I'll claim my delay losses outside it' route.

Edit to add: The new Consumer Rights Act is due to come fully into force in October for air transport so in future that may offer an alternative redress route in some situations, but it won't help you now.

You could anyway complain to BA in the hope of some avios comp for poor service but I wouldn't hope for much. You can also claim the original routing credit as Pilot37 notes below - that should be a simple one.

Last edited by Ldnn1; Aug 30, 2016 at 11:41 pm
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Old Aug 30, 2016, 11:32 pm
  #3  
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Unfortunately this can't really be sugar coated.

I'm afraid you're going to be out of luck here. BA got you to your destination within the specified time for compensation under EC261. That's where their responsibility ends on separate tickets. There is absolutely no way they are going to help you on a return FR flight - had you booked a turnaround on BA they might have been more accommodating.

Ex-EUs carry risk, but the rewards are enormous. Normally they go without a hitch, although personally I'd have left much more time between flights if connecting on a different ticket and airline - two hours is not really sufficient if anything goes wrong. Sadly, we only learn that when things like this happen. I doubt your travel insurer is going to view it differently either.

At this stage, all you can do is think that you're probably financially still well ahead on the deal, put it down to experience, and hope you're not still in the dog house by the time you get back!
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Old Aug 30, 2016, 11:35 pm
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I believe you can claim the original TP's despite the re-route, there are various threads on here which will advise on how to do that. (Search function on iPhone is useless I find I'm afraid)

In relation to the cost element, not much can be done. BA sold you a trip from DUB > LAX return and they are on course to get you back to Dublin with a 2.5hr delay. The fact that DUB is not your final destination is irrelevant to them I'm afraid and while the extra cost you will incur is annoying, the savings you made from starting in DUB vs. LHR for this trip obviously made the extra journeys to / from DUB worthwhile, so you presumably are still going to come out ahead on the overall cost?
Ex-EU's always carry a risk but the savings usually outweigh that risk, so unfortunately if this delay is too much for you, avoid the hassle and just start / finish in London in future.

Pilot37
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Old Aug 30, 2016, 11:53 pm
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separate tickets/contracts have this risk (I have previously booked an 8 hour 'connection' rather than 3 hours as on separate tickets and that was BA to BA at Gatwick!)
You could check your travel insurance to see if it would help with any costs but 2 hours on separate tickets was going to be tight...Ryanair bag drop closes 40 mins before departure so you had 1 hour 20 mins for baggage collection, immigration and terminal change so no contingency there...booking the overnight from the outset would have been the safest approach and something to consider if there is a next time
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Old Aug 31, 2016, 12:03 am
  #6  
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Originally Posted by nemonon
So my question to the collective here is, given that I have missed the compensation deadline by 10 min, how can I achieve any form of refund for the additional costs incurred by BA's operational delay
This line already confirms you know you have no claim, why are you trying to get BA to pay for a risk you have taken?
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Old Aug 31, 2016, 12:05 am
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Sorry to be blunt....you took a risk and it backfired.

The rewards of ex-EU are brilliant, but do not always go without a hitch. In this case, unfortunately, it did not go to plan. These things happen, but I bet you are still financially better off that you would be if you went ex-UK.

Finally, why not just offload yourself at LHR and forget all the LHR-DUB-BRS hassle and extra expense? Seems a little silly to me.
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Old Aug 31, 2016, 12:13 am
  #8  
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Why did you get rebooked onto EI if you then have to stay overnight in DUB in any case? I would have stuck with BA so need for terminal transfer and then chasing up TPs after the event. Also, they may have put you on a later DUB flight meaning you hit the 3 hour delay rather than get in under 3 hours.
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Old Aug 31, 2016, 12:14 am
  #9  
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Originally Posted by rossmacd
Sorry to be blunt....you took a risk and it backfired.

The rewards of ex-EU are brilliant, but do not always go without a hitch. In this case, unfortunately, it did not go to plan. These things happen, but I bet you are still financially better off that you would be if you went ex-UK.

Finally, why not just offload yourself at LHR and forget all the LHR-DUB-BRS hassle and extra expense? Seems a little silly to me.
That's what I was thinking but they had already checked bags through. Suppose they could have waited at LHR for bags to be retrieved.
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Old Aug 31, 2016, 12:16 am
  #10  
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That's not as easy as you think it might be. Especially traveling from the US they have instituted the policy they won't short check your bags... and making the request at LHR might set you up for a reprice. BA knows this is how people save money and try to discourage the practice...
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Old Aug 31, 2016, 12:17 am
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Originally Posted by madfish
That's what I was thinking but they had already checked bags through. Suppose they could have waited at LHR for bags to be retrieved.
Exactly. I have done this twice with luggage (3 times in total, the other time was HBO). The luggage will appear (eventually) at Belt 8 in reclaim.

However, now that the OP is ticketed on EI, I guess the bags will be whisked to T3 on arrival, so may need to collect them there if the passengers somehow get lost on the way to the EI gate
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Old Aug 31, 2016, 12:18 am
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I'd have thought you should be due something for the downgrade, although if they reprice it against a full fare Y ticket then I guess you won't.

Not sure I'd have taken the switch to EI in Y though. Weren't there later LHR-DUB flights they could have put you on?

Perhaps your only hope is for the EI flight to arrive 10 mins late? Or does accepting the flight reset the clock somehow?
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Old Aug 31, 2016, 12:18 am
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Originally Posted by RTW1
That's not as easy as you think it might be. Especially traveling from the US they have instituted a policy they won't shot check your bags... and making the request at LHR might set you up for a reprice. BA knows this is how people save money and try to discourage the practice...
Done it 3 times in total (see above post) - never been charged. Twice with checked baggage, once HBO. Although, 2 of these occassions was IRROPS so that does give you more 'leeway' with the agent. The other time I just could not be bothered to shuffle through DUB, and booked an Avios seat to ZRH on my phone at the transfer desk - the Agent was fully aware of what I was doing.
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Old Aug 31, 2016, 12:24 am
  #14  
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Thanks for the rapid replies: the first few are informative and confirmed my understanding, the latter becoming more aggressive, so I'll cut this off before it gets into a slanging match.
I'm entirely sanguine with the resolution I have achieved this evening and the earlier responses to this post. I wasn't unrealistically expecting a magic wand to be waved to recompense me for my woes, simply asking this forum whether any folks had any experience or guidance that could be of use to me. Exactly the process that allowed me to get the family to California and back in Aug in CW for 3.5k, for which I am grateful to FT and its users.
I spent about 2 months on this forum planning the trip and, despite careful planning, have come a cropper, mainly due to my optimism on the RTB leg (I had a secondary and tertiary plan involving car ferries and an overnight drive on the way out!). Every day is a school day and I hope that other, less experienced FT'ers, read this and learn the salutary lesson of the knock-on effect of operational/or any other delays.
The extra spend this evening has cost me roughly the same as I saved when I hedged my :US$ rate on the evening of the Brexit referendum, one of my more inspired
moments, so it's all swings and roundabouts but I'm still several 000 up.
Thanks for the positive replies.
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Old Aug 31, 2016, 12:33 am
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rossmacd has given a fairly good answer:


so may need to collect them there if the passengers somehow get lost on the way to the EI gate

It is up to others to agree or disagree on the merits but it would work.
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