Elevate

Good evening. We are currently victims of the weather disruption in Heathrow. Were booked on a cancelled BA flight LHR-HEL this evening and due to spend tomorrow on business in Helsinki before taking a separate booking on Qatar Airways from HEL-DOH on Tuesday morning. BA is stuck in loop whereby we are unable to rebook online (system not working) or by telephone (not answered). Instead I took matters into my own hands and booked an Avios redemption for the last BA flight tomorrow (only one available).

My concern is what happens if tomorrow night's flight is also cancelled. Our business class fares from HEL on Qatar on Tuesday are restricted i.e. we would in theory loose them and the value if we did not make it. I never anticipated this as 2 days delays are so rare and want to preempt any trouble. Does anyone know in practice who would be best to approach if tomorrow's flight is also cancelled out of BA/Qatar/Oneworld? Who if any would offer a sympathetic ear and what would be the best approach?

If anyone has experience or wisdom in this area we would much apppreciate it. Cannot afford to loose a significant four figure sum to a disorganised weather rebooking approach.

Thank you.

Mwenenzi

Approach your travel insurance company
With separate tickets its 100% your risk.

Elevate

I don't have that type of travel insurance. As BA Gold/Oneworld Emerald is that really the only option?

bisonrav

I would be looking at other options - you may be able to get out on Norwegian from Gatwick for example and find a route to Helsinki via Oslo or something like that. My worry would be about BA logistical problems with aircraft positioning as well as a massive rebooking problem. Even if LHR is clear tomorrow, everything will be chaotic.

You might find you have insurance, it's often part of credit cards, for example Amex I think. Incidentally I was looking at a HEL->DOH->BKK fare and noted a no show charge on Qatar that was more than double the cost of the ticket. No idea how that works but you might want to check T&C?

Elevate

[QUOTE=bisonrav;29157576]I would be looking at other options - you may be able to get out on Norwegian from Gatwick for example and find a route to Helsinki via Oslo or something like that. My worry would be about BA logistical problems with aircraft positioning as well as a massive rebooking problem.

Thanks bisonrav. Our situation is further complicared by the fact that we have 4 bags checked in with BA on tonight's cancelled flight which they were unable to return to us (and indeed apparently no-one else will be getting bags back tonight). Still not received even an email or SMS notifying us of the cancellations, been on hold after finally connecting to the Gold line after many cut-off attempts for 37 mins so far, and "manage my booking" offers no re-booking options. Neither have we been automatically re-booked.

Peregrine415

Ask BA if they can fly you on AY.

Elevate

Thanks - I'm still on hold and will try this. There was simply no option to do so at the airport, even as a Gold. They told us in T3 First lounge with a cancelled flight to "go home or to a hotel of your own booking"

LTN Phobia

If you want protection on separate tickets, specific travel insurance policies that actually provide the level of cover you need (most policies have a GBP 1k-1.5k limit) would be the only way to reliably protect you.

An alternative is a fully flexible ticket that you can no-show and still get re-booked on the next available seat* though, and I cannot emphasise enough just how liberating that is. You may be able to pay a supplement to buy up to a flexible ticket on your existing one.

*It still has the risk of not being able to fly for a while if the subsequent flights are full, however.

bisonrav

As my old Dad used to say, the only luggage you really need is a credit card and a passport.

FlyingScientist

You could give it a try asking QR whether they are willing to put you on a LHR-DOH flight given the circumstances.

Elevate

Thanks FlyingScientist - not a bad idea and one I'm off to try.

orbitmic

Status will give you (or me) no protection where it is not there. As pointed out by others, on separate tickets, the risk is 100% ours to take. QR will certainly not change your flight origin for free. You can indeed ask to change the ticket to make it ex-LHR, but that will cost you the change fee and difference in fares entirely. BA could be more flexible if you can think of a better option is it is their flight which is being affected, but in cases of weather issues, one has a weaker hand.

Elevate

BA have now cancelled tonights flight which I made a separate booking on (as I was unable to reach them to rebook yesterdays). In the meantime, had the system worked, there have been Finnair flights with availability that have now booked out. It is not due to the weather that we'll fail to reach Helsinki but due to BA's multiple system failures (app, website, phone line, manual processes) to rebook.

BERbound

There are flights with SAS to HEL at 1350 today & arriving at 2030 connecting via Stockholm for Ł221. Just pick any random date in the future for the return and not use it to avoid the more expensive one way fare.

scottishpoet

If it was just your flight that was cancelled then I think you could say it was down to BA system failures

However the shear volume of cancellations yesterday and the number of people that now need rebooked it will take the system time to catch up.

How any thousands of people were trying to call BA yesterday? There phone system and agents staffing the lines would never have been intended to handle that call volume,