orbitmic

Fully agree. The default solution is that airlines have a duty of care and should organise accommodation and meals where specified by EC261. If they do not, the passenger is well within his/her rights to book a convenient alternative. I wouldn't book the Ritz and try to charge BA £1000/night, but take a decently cost-effective option in or around the airport. With the current levels of disruptions prices are bound to increase significantly, and if the best you can find is over £200, just do a printout of a hotel search engine to show that this was the option that you had and insist that BA reimburse what you paid.

MrPrice16

dutch_122

BA2762/2763 cancelled

WorldLux

Sssshhhh. Don't tell everyone. It will be packed

But yes, the CX lounge staff is extremely welcoming + no rustling with crisp bags.

The issue's obviously of what is reasonable. If there are dozens of hotels at lower prices, then it seems unreasonable to book such an expensive one. On the other hand, you could make the case that you booked the first night without knowing how long you'll be staying and the subsequent rebooking required an additional night and that it would be unreasonable to move across town just to be in the cheaper hotel as it would add further inconvenience to your delay.

With regard to flight cancellations ex LHR/LCY, I've never had any issues to be reimbursed by the airlines (be it BA, WX or other ones) though in most cases my flight was among the first to be cancelled and I'd just book the cheapest chain hotel within 3 (maximum 5) miles of the airport. By 8 pm, it was impossible to book anything around LHR besides some B&Bs with no public transport options available. The Crowne Plaza was around 150£ for the night when I last saw availability. Colleagues of mine (that don't have a flat/house in London) headed to places they know: Some stayed at the Hilton Bankside. Others stayed at other Hilton properties.

I'd think that most here would do just that while still queuing somewhere waiting to be rebooked (1 phone looking at flight availability and a second one on hold with BA).

IMO depends on the dates. Hotel rates around very busy weeks can reach those levels fairly quickly. Many hotels in the city can be dirt cheap on weekends but be significantly more expensive during the week. I suspect that Trent900Powered stays either close to the City (either in the City or on the south bank across from the city) or around Canary Wharf, where prices can indeed increase dramatically on weekdays.

At the end of the day, the question is whether one is ready to sue BA over the incurred cost. If they just refuse to pay more than 200£/night, then you'll have to get a lawyer involved. Personnally I'd think that it seems unreasonable to me for a court to say that an overall hotel cost of 500£ for two nights would be unreasonable. That's a mere 50£/night more.

Stewie Mac

Foolishly believed the BBC doom about icy roads, so am now at T5 2.5 hrs before departure - a record for me at LHR. Landslide was busy wth queues everywhere, but security quick and airside feels full but not chaotic. Lots of red on the screens!

markle

deleted

BABenchley

It will be done at the earliest opportunity usually overnight so I would keep checking. However many aircraft operated back to Heathrow empty today to enable a smoother operation for tomorrow.

PETER01

Likewise I have a very early start and 3 flights tomorrow they are still scheduled at the moment. I would just say keep checking on your flight status on ba.com regularly and be in a position you can look at alternatives as early as possible. I'd imagine the situation is a bit more fluid now, well better than it was.

mrvincent

The problem with days like today is also that hotels shoot their prices up. Hilton at Schipol was looking for £450 for a room tonight (I was looking after my AMS-LHR was cancelled). So demand and current environment play a huge part in this. 1/3 of AMS flights cancelled today - that's a lot of people looking for hotel rooms in the near vicinity.

Lets hope the early evening flight to LHR tomorrow fares a little better than today...

JumboJim

I also had an early start tomorrow, but decided to proactively cancel and get a full refund, and change to the Eurostar instead. The weather for Brussels looks pretty bad overnight with more snow forecast. The trains are packed as it is.

Upupintheair

Hope so too as I am rebooked onto the BA 441 tomorrow. The weather is really bad with heavy snowfall, so not sure how travel will be tomorrow. Fingers crossed I guess.

dwugson

Sorry my error - that was yesterday 178 diverted to Dublin, looks like today was fine!

Stewie Mac

corporate-wage-slave

Unlikely I would say, or even "that's not going to happen", there are now tens of thousands of bags in Heathrow and a warehouse nearby. They are already shifting them on to their correct destinations, but the ability of the system to extract a couple of bags for individual travellers was probably lost lunchtime on Sunday.

Yes, but we know the date here, and at the time of posting the Holiday Inn "Kensington Forum" (actually Gloucester Road) rooms were going for £135 and currently £145. AMS would be another matter, but hotel rates are below normal in London overall. Now in some cases someone may take the view that they're OK to pay the extra, but I'd rather urge caution on this occasion.

I'm seeing cancellations in BA.com/arrdep already, though nothing like the rate of today, thankfully. AMS remains a bad idea. If it's still in the schedule by say 20:00 hrs tonight I would imagine they'll make an effort to get you to your destination (unless it's the Low Countries that is).

williamn78

Wow that YYZ flight had quite the delay.