corporate-wage-slave

Under the Regulation, I very much doubt it, unless you are going to really serious about it. The Regulation simply gives a blanket get-out clause for strikes, and BA could have fully cancelled the flight without compensation. Now there is an argument raised upthread that this could be interpreted that this clause does not fully fit the rider: "could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken". In other words it can be argued BA could take more reasonable measures, ranging from rebooking to alternative services (at one extreme) through to settling the dispute with MF (at the other). However I would see that as an argument that would be heading to appeal court level to be relevant. An individual judge may take their own view, but that wouldn't prove much. Either way, and to answer your question, any recourse would be external to BA and is not certain of success.

G_CIVV

I was booked on Muscat-LHR/LHR-Newcastle yesterday, and the domestic sector was cancelled two days in advance of travel. I was offered (and accepted) re-booking on this morning's first LHR-NCL, so arrived over 12 hours late at my final destination.

BA are obviously liable for duty of care for my overnight stay in London, but given the cause of the cancellation was probably related to ongoing MF strike action, what are the chances that BA will pay 600 Euros in compensation? Does the fact that NCL is not a MF route hold any significance?

cameramaker

Sat on the tarmac and departure will be over 3 hours delayed. Inbound aircraft was delayed so we missed our slot after late boarding. After remote holding for over 2 hours, captain has informed us of more ATC issues because of the 767 burst tire incident at LGW.
What are the chances of an EU261 payout do we think? Will they claim extraordinary circumstances?

simons1

The very mention of ATC issues makes it inevitable that exceptional circumstances will come into play and I wouldn't be too optimistic.

However it depends on the precise events here. Why was the inward flight delayed? and was the delay over 3 hours before the additional ATC issues?

kennedyc

Hi everyone,

Long-time lurker and first-time poster, apologies if I am posting in the wrong thread, I did spend a lot of time looking around and reading.

On the 7th of May during BA's last luxury sale I booked a return First class flight LGW-UVF in November. (Fare class is A.)

2 weeks ago I was informed by BA that the flight is "cancelled" i.e. they changed the aircraft from a 4-class to 3-class and downgraded me to CW.

According to BA, EU 261/2004 does not apply, and they have done some calculation which means the resulting ticket costs me more than if I had bought a CW ticket in the sale back in May. So I get some money back but nowhere near the 75%.

I specifically booked First because I wanted to get a flying start (pardon the pun) on earning tier points and now that is also out the window. I am currently an EC Gold and have been for several years but that is likely to change now that I have moved out of the UK.

Has anyone been in a similar situation, what is your opinion? All advice hugely appreciated.

Many thanks,

kennedyc

lorcancoyle

are there any alternative routings that would be comparable? Wondering if you could have some fun demanding a reroute per EC261 provisions

UKtravelbear

was the flight actually cancelled? was that the actual word they used? because if there was a plane swap then that is not a cancellation especially if the flight number and time remain the same.

Besides the reimbursement for a downrade is based on the price of the fare you actually paid not some reprice done at a later date.

kaka

re post 920, 921 and 924; i've heard back from them since i've re-engaged with BA re my delay (after cancellation). They insist on this being a single matter/journey. And is of their normal routine to pay out once.

ive briefly replied these are seperated matters (delay and cxn) and how the legislation call flights "journeys", AND "it is widely documented that these are separate claims"
i hope they arent gonna cause me more troubles. However, whats the difference between both routes? Considering i can easily get a uk address but clearly i live 6000 miles away (and have no plans coming to europe... just yet) so hard to set a date for courts if it gets to that.

botham

We have heard back from BA, who will pay the 600 Euros pp EU261, plus a few associated extra costs like hotel, taxi, etc. They also say they will pay the cost of the replacement Virgin flights, one I have received the outbound refund from my TA, so who knows when that might be?

I also claimed for 1 day of the 7 day Disney tickets, which we lost use of, but they have refused to pay along with un-receipted meal costs. I think it quite wrong not to pay any subsistence, when clearly folk must eat something.

I may challenge them for WDW tickets in MCOL.

corporate-wage-slave

Welcome to Flyertalk kennedyc, and welcome to the BA forum. I do hope you will get the opportunity to look at other parts of this forum, it's only from contributions there (and here) that this resource has any value to anyone.

What BA have done is exactly what I would have expected them to do, and is within at least an arguable case for not getting anything from EC261 except the cancellation aspects (which appears to have happened).

We had a ferocious discussion on this about 2 or 3 years ago (it's in the archived threads), and there were both points of view presented. The argument why this isn't a downgrade implied by EC261 is because there is no First cabin, so to that extent the service is cancelled and so long as BA give you notice (and the option of a full refund) BA are within their rights. The opposing case is the duck case: if it looks like a duck, sounds like a duck.... The wording to me tends to support it being a downgrade, the wording is very simple and straightforward (Article 10.2), however there has been at least one successful defence by an airline who were able to argue that they properly invoked the cancellation clause since there no longer was a place reserved in the cabin, the aircraft had been changed.

This is a particular risk on LGW services, there are only a limited number of First cabins, there will be further strains on aircraft over the next few months as some will go off for refitting. The longer ahead you book, the more likely it is to happen too.

In essence I don't think you will get anywhere with BA on this, fairly certain in fact. You could try CEDR or MCOL, my suspicion is MCOL may be better if only on the Duck position, which may find favour with the right judge.

P.henrik

You should still apply for ORC.

GLA

Sitting on the runway at PHL on AA flight direct to GLA. Flight was booked with BA on ba.com but obviously operated by AA. Looks like we could be 3-4 hours delayed. Am I right in fearing that there will be no EU261 comp silver lining despite the booking being with BA?

UKtravelbear

Correct - no EU261

It's the operator that matters not who you booked with and it does not apply to AA for flights into the EU area

GLA

As I feared! Thanks anyway...

michaelo

Hi,
I wonder if anybody can give some guidance on my situation with regards to cancelled BA flights during during their IT meltdown in May :
- Our flights LHR-FRA were cancelled about 3 hours before departure (7am) on Sunday morning (day 2 of the IT incident).
- No automatic rebooking was done by BA
- Both, call center and web-site were not reachable to discuss / investigate any alternative flights
- Website stated : " ... do not come to the airport unless you have a confirmed ticket"
- No available flights (for the 3 of us) from LHR to FRA on that day (obviously due to all the rebooking which happened already the day before..)
- I finally found a LH flight from Birmingham to FRA which we took to get home on Sunday night.
BA know refuses to take the cost for the BHX-FRA flights and the related 2 hour train ride, stating that they can only refund cost for flights with the same departure / destination as the original BA ticket ..... ?
I can't tell if I have any right to claim the tickets cost under the EU regulations. In any case I find BAs response complete unacceptable, because they caused those costs in the first place by cancelling and not being able to review any alternatives.
Any thoughts on how I should proceed ?
Thanks,
Michael