BA - difficulty reclaiming flight disruption expenses
Dec 15, 2017, 12:12 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2017
Posts: 3
BA - difficulty reclaiming flight disruption expenses
I was wondering whether anyone on the forum had any experience or advice on issues obtaining reimbursement from BA for costs incurred as a result of flight disruption?
I was scheduled to fly with BA from Brussels to Glasgow via Heathrow, leaving Brussels at 19.20 local time, arriving at Heathrow at 19.35, then leaving Heathrow at 21.00 and getting to Glasgow at 22.25. The flight from Brussels was delayed – no explanation has been given for why – both in leaving Brussels and then in the air. So I didn’t land at Heathrow until 20.40. This meant I missed my connecting flight. The following flight, which was the last for the day, was full. I was given the option of staying at Heathrow overnight and getting the first flight the following day, or being flown to Edinburgh. I needed to get home, and preferred a delay of a few hours to an overnight stay, so opted for the Edinburgh flight. Several other passengers were in the same position and most had been automatically booked to the Edinburgh flight. At the time I asked the BA staff (who really didn’t seem to care) what the arrangements would be for getting me to Glasgow. They simply said I would have to arrange that myself and reclaim the cost from BA.
The Edinburgh flight was fine, but by the time I had collected my bag and had a quick walk round the airport to see if I could find anyone from BA to talk to (no success), it was nearly midnight. My car was at Glasgow airport so I had to get back there and at that time of night, already 1.5 hours late and facing around the same again before I got home, I had little option but to get a taxi. This ended up costing me £147. I eventually got to Glasgow airport 2 hours and 47 minutes after I was supposed to.
First thing in the morning I submitted a claim via BA’s website for the cost incurred. I received no response for a month, despite chasing several times. When I did get a response they said they “absolutely agree we’ve let you down”. They explained they investigate the reason for delayed flights (without explaining what happened to mine) and stated that if I speak to a member of staff they will “do our best to rearrange your travel plans to suit you”. Obviously this isn’t true as the people at Heathrow didn’t care, and there was no-one at Edinburgh to speak to. Finally, they said “Although I appreciate your reasons for asking, I’m afraid we can’t offer you refund”. There was no explanation as to why this was the conclusion. When I inevitably followed up, I was told that, having looked again, they were arranging to make a “contribution” of £50 towards the cost which is apparently in line with what they can offer so they are “fair” to all their customers. That was a couple of weeks ago now and the £50 has still not been sent.
Still inevitably unhappy with this outcome, I wrote a letter addressed to the Head of Customer Relations, which I copied to the CEO Alex Cruz. It was a long and detailed letter in which I asked for various explanations, and also asked for them to send me copies of the correspondence on this matter in case I need to take it further – since BA uses an online form and I worked on the basis that my claim should be basically straightforward, I didn’t copy any of my submissions. The response I got – not from the head of customer relations – simply said they were right. They haven’t provided me with copies of the correspondence, even though I have asked them to do this a few times.
I don’t see how it can be fair or reasonable for an airline to take my money to transport me to a particular destination but then send me somewhere else and expect me to foot the additional costs of getting to where I was supposed to be. Given all the circumstances, I do not feel that the costs I incurred were even slightly unreasonable – I really had no choice. Had I stayed down at Heathrow, the costs incurred would likely have been a lot higher. Has anyone had a similar experience with BA, and did you manage to get it resolved and get them to repay the costs you incurred? Needless to say, there is no way I’ll ever be flying with BA again!
I was scheduled to fly with BA from Brussels to Glasgow via Heathrow, leaving Brussels at 19.20 local time, arriving at Heathrow at 19.35, then leaving Heathrow at 21.00 and getting to Glasgow at 22.25. The flight from Brussels was delayed – no explanation has been given for why – both in leaving Brussels and then in the air. So I didn’t land at Heathrow until 20.40. This meant I missed my connecting flight. The following flight, which was the last for the day, was full. I was given the option of staying at Heathrow overnight and getting the first flight the following day, or being flown to Edinburgh. I needed to get home, and preferred a delay of a few hours to an overnight stay, so opted for the Edinburgh flight. Several other passengers were in the same position and most had been automatically booked to the Edinburgh flight. At the time I asked the BA staff (who really didn’t seem to care) what the arrangements would be for getting me to Glasgow. They simply said I would have to arrange that myself and reclaim the cost from BA.
The Edinburgh flight was fine, but by the time I had collected my bag and had a quick walk round the airport to see if I could find anyone from BA to talk to (no success), it was nearly midnight. My car was at Glasgow airport so I had to get back there and at that time of night, already 1.5 hours late and facing around the same again before I got home, I had little option but to get a taxi. This ended up costing me £147. I eventually got to Glasgow airport 2 hours and 47 minutes after I was supposed to.
First thing in the morning I submitted a claim via BA’s website for the cost incurred. I received no response for a month, despite chasing several times. When I did get a response they said they “absolutely agree we’ve let you down”. They explained they investigate the reason for delayed flights (without explaining what happened to mine) and stated that if I speak to a member of staff they will “do our best to rearrange your travel plans to suit you”. Obviously this isn’t true as the people at Heathrow didn’t care, and there was no-one at Edinburgh to speak to. Finally, they said “Although I appreciate your reasons for asking, I’m afraid we can’t offer you refund”. There was no explanation as to why this was the conclusion. When I inevitably followed up, I was told that, having looked again, they were arranging to make a “contribution” of £50 towards the cost which is apparently in line with what they can offer so they are “fair” to all their customers. That was a couple of weeks ago now and the £50 has still not been sent.
Still inevitably unhappy with this outcome, I wrote a letter addressed to the Head of Customer Relations, which I copied to the CEO Alex Cruz. It was a long and detailed letter in which I asked for various explanations, and also asked for them to send me copies of the correspondence on this matter in case I need to take it further – since BA uses an online form and I worked on the basis that my claim should be basically straightforward, I didn’t copy any of my submissions. The response I got – not from the head of customer relations – simply said they were right. They haven’t provided me with copies of the correspondence, even though I have asked them to do this a few times.
I don’t see how it can be fair or reasonable for an airline to take my money to transport me to a particular destination but then send me somewhere else and expect me to foot the additional costs of getting to where I was supposed to be. Given all the circumstances, I do not feel that the costs I incurred were even slightly unreasonable – I really had no choice. Had I stayed down at Heathrow, the costs incurred would likely have been a lot higher. Has anyone had a similar experience with BA, and did you manage to get it resolved and get them to repay the costs you incurred? Needless to say, there is no way I’ll ever be flying with BA again!
Dec 15, 2017, 12:35 pm
#2
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Welcome to Flyertalk and welcome to the BA forum, legowyn, it's good to see you here, even you are not planning a very long stay with us given your final comment! There again this is an interesting and hopefully useful part of the internet, so please do continue to participate here.
Firstly, it is the case that BA tries to cap taxi fares at £50. This is pretty much the norm and we've seen this in dozens of other cases in this forum. It's also the case that if BA routes you to another airport, their policy is not to pay onwards cost, you'll find that outlined here:
ba.com/helpme
However I think you have a fairly strong claim under clause 8.3 of EC261 (a big long thread on this is in the Dashboard).
Trust me, writing long emails and copying in Alex Cruz is never going to work on BA. At this stage you should make a simple short request for the remaining money (or all of the taxi fare if the £50 remains unpaid) making specific reference to the above clause, no need to give anything more than the reference number from the original £50 contribution, and giving 16 days to pay. More details in the main thread. On day 17 take further action. Now for this one you could either use CEDR or MCOL, and I would normally recommend CEDR, however there is an overload of casework in CEDR so MCOL is your best bet. BA will automatically say they will file a defence, I doubt they would actually let this one get near a court.
BA's argument will perhaps be that they preferred you to stay overnight, but the fact is that BA must have offered you the EDI option so I think there isn't going to be any wriggle room here, other than if they can claim that the taxi was unreasonable. If it was midnight with long waits on the coach service (which only goes to Glasgow city centre) then I think you won't have problems with that hurdle.
Firstly, it is the case that BA tries to cap taxi fares at £50. This is pretty much the norm and we've seen this in dozens of other cases in this forum. It's also the case that if BA routes you to another airport, their policy is not to pay onwards cost, you'll find that outlined here:
ba.com/helpme
However I think you have a fairly strong claim under clause 8.3 of EC261 (a big long thread on this is in the Dashboard).
Originally Posted by EC261 Article 8
3. When, in the case where a town, city or region is served by several airports, an operating air carrier offers a passenger a flight to an airport alternative to that for which the booking was made, the operating air carrier shall bear the cost of transferring the passenger from that alternative airport either to that for which the booking was made, or to another close-by destination agreed with the passenger.
BA's argument will perhaps be that they preferred you to stay overnight, but the fact is that BA must have offered you the EDI option so I think there isn't going to be any wriggle room here, other than if they can claim that the taxi was unreasonable. If it was midnight with long waits on the coach service (which only goes to Glasgow city centre) then I think you won't have problems with that hurdle.
Dec 15, 2017, 12:43 pm
#4
Join Date: Jan 2016
Location: LHR/ATH
Programs: Amex Platinum, LH SEN (Gold), BA Bronze
Posts: 4,489
Welcome to Flyertalk and welcome to the BA forum, legowyn, it's good to see you here, even you are not planning a very long stay with us given your final comment! There again this is an interesting and hopefully useful part of the internet, so please do continue to participate here.
Firstly, it is the case that BA tries to cap taxi fares at £50. This is pretty much the norm and we've seen this in dozens of other cases in this forum. It's also the case that if BA routes you to another airport, their policy is not to pay onwards cost, you'll find that outlined here:
ba.com/helpme
However I think you have a fairly strong claim under clause 8.3 of EC261 (a big long thread on this is in the Dashboard).
Trust me, writing long emails and copying in Alex Cruz is never going to work on BA. At this stage you should make a simple short request for the remaining money (or all of the taxi fare if the £50 remains unpaid) making specific reference to the above clause, no need to give anything more than the reference number from the original £50 contribution, and giving 16 days to pay. More details in the main thread. On day 17 take further action. Now for this one you could either use CEDR or MCOL, and I would normally recommend CEDR, however there is an overload of casework in CEDR so MCOL is your best bet. BA will automatically say they will file a defence, I doubt they would actually let this one get near a court.
BA's argument will perhaps be that they preferred you to stay overnight, but the fact is that BA must have offered you the EDI option so I think there isn't going to be any wriggle room here, other than if they can claim that the taxi was unreasonable. If it was midnight with long waits on the coach service (which only goes to Glasgow city centre) then I think you won't have problems with that hurdle.
Firstly, it is the case that BA tries to cap taxi fares at £50. This is pretty much the norm and we've seen this in dozens of other cases in this forum. It's also the case that if BA routes you to another airport, their policy is not to pay onwards cost, you'll find that outlined here:
ba.com/helpme
However I think you have a fairly strong claim under clause 8.3 of EC261 (a big long thread on this is in the Dashboard).
Trust me, writing long emails and copying in Alex Cruz is never going to work on BA. At this stage you should make a simple short request for the remaining money (or all of the taxi fare if the £50 remains unpaid) making specific reference to the above clause, no need to give anything more than the reference number from the original £50 contribution, and giving 16 days to pay. More details in the main thread. On day 17 take further action. Now for this one you could either use CEDR or MCOL, and I would normally recommend CEDR, however there is an overload of casework in CEDR so MCOL is your best bet. BA will automatically say they will file a defence, I doubt they would actually let this one get near a court.
BA's argument will perhaps be that they preferred you to stay overnight, but the fact is that BA must have offered you the EDI option so I think there isn't going to be any wriggle room here, other than if they can claim that the taxi was unreasonable. If it was midnight with long waits on the coach service (which only goes to Glasgow city centre) then I think you won't have problems with that hurdle.
BA (and other airlines involved in naughty things like these) should be fined each time they get caught trying to get out of their responsibilities, maybe then they would be forced to behave!
Dec 15, 2017, 1:33 pm
#5
Join Date: Oct 2015
Programs: BA:Silver (thanks paternity perk) , HH:Diamond
Posts: 190
Or if interest what date did you fly out of Brussels?
3 hours is better than my 72
aviagroup are the pits.
my claim is in the works, called and case was opened. Attach scans or photos via the link they’ll send once case opened and they’ll be in touch with regards to full or partial payment for the claim, best of luck
3 hours is better than my 72
aviagroup are the pits.my claim is in the works, called and case was opened. Attach scans or photos via the link they’ll send once case opened and they’ll be in touch with regards to full or partial payment for the claim, best of luck
Dec 15, 2017, 3:09 pm
#8
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The general rule is that BA does not pay for taxis - they themselves offer a public transport and it is expected that customers use alternative public transport options if claiming back the cost. I do agree that this case has circumstances that might suggest a different outcome is required, but for the record we should point out that usually this would not apply. For the same journey in the daytime it would be reasonable for a customer to use a train/coach to complete the journey and to refuse anything more than the cost of this.
Dec 15, 2017, 5:22 pm
#9
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There are two issues and one is dependent on the reason for the delay. If BA will not at least tell you what it believes caused the delay, you should file a claim under EC 261/2004 for compensation. But, do not spend the money just yet.
In addition, there is then reimbursement for duty of care. If BA offered you the option of spending the night at LHR or flying on to EDI, it will be hard to argue that it has an obligation to pay for your ground arrangements. Had EDI been the sole option, e.g. you are on an aircraft diverted there, then The noted provision in #2 would come into play. You are certainly entitled to claim for a meal or any additional parking, but those strike me as minimal.
In addition, there is then reimbursement for duty of care. If BA offered you the option of spending the night at LHR or flying on to EDI, it will be hard to argue that it has an obligation to pay for your ground arrangements. Had EDI been the sole option, e.g. you are on an aircraft diverted there, then The noted provision in #2 would come into play. You are certainly entitled to claim for a meal or any additional parking, but those strike me as minimal.
Mar 18, 2020, 7:04 am
#10
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: London UK
Programs: BAEC Silver,, Oman Air Gold
Posts: 747
My return flight LPA - LGW was cancelled last Saturday afternoon because of air traffic restrictions and we were rerouted home LPA - MAD - LHR on Sunday.
We booked a hotel in Las Palmas - the nearest town to the airport for €105 and claimed for dinner (€38), breakfast (€23) and lunch (€18) these amounts were for both of us and no alcohol was claimed for.
BA got back to me in one day - which I thought was tremendously quickly given current circumstances - but they are saying that the “guidelines we’re obliged to follow” allow a maximum of £25 per person for food per claim.
At the risk of being thought a glutton, this doesn’t seem an awful lot for 3 meals!
I also claimed the taxi fare from the airport (€32) and returning back to the airport (€37) but BA say the maximum travel refund they can offer is £50 per claim.
I was aware of the £50 taxi limit from Flyertalk but assumed that it was one way. After all if they are content to pay for me to stay at a hotel in the nearest town surely they must pay for me to get there! For completeness, I should add that they were content to refund the hotel costs.
I will challenge them on the taxi point but I would be grateful for advice on whether it’s worth going back to them on the £25 per person food limit?
If this is the accepted amount you can claim I obviously won’t bother but I can’t find any limits specified on the BA website.
In my 44 years flying with BA this was my first cancelled flight so I have been lucky.
We booked a hotel in Las Palmas - the nearest town to the airport for €105 and claimed for dinner (€38), breakfast (€23) and lunch (€18) these amounts were for both of us and no alcohol was claimed for.
BA got back to me in one day - which I thought was tremendously quickly given current circumstances - but they are saying that the “guidelines we’re obliged to follow” allow a maximum of £25 per person for food per claim.
At the risk of being thought a glutton, this doesn’t seem an awful lot for 3 meals!
I also claimed the taxi fare from the airport (€32) and returning back to the airport (€37) but BA say the maximum travel refund they can offer is £50 per claim.
I was aware of the £50 taxi limit from Flyertalk but assumed that it was one way. After all if they are content to pay for me to stay at a hotel in the nearest town surely they must pay for me to get there! For completeness, I should add that they were content to refund the hotel costs.
I will challenge them on the taxi point but I would be grateful for advice on whether it’s worth going back to them on the £25 per person food limit?
If this is the accepted amount you can claim I obviously won’t bother but I can’t find any limits specified on the BA website.
In my 44 years flying with BA this was my first cancelled flight so I have been lucky.
Mar 18, 2020, 7:34 am
#11
Ambassador: Emirates Airlines
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Manchester, UK
Posts: 18,611
My return flight LPA - LGW was cancelled last Saturday afternoon because of air traffic restrictions and we were rerouted home LPA - MAD - LHR on Sunday.
We booked a hotel in Las Palmas - the nearest town to the airport for €105 and claimed for dinner (€38), breakfast (€23) and lunch (€18) these amounts were for both of us and no alcohol was claimed for.
BA got back to me in one day - which I thought was tremendously quickly given current circumstances - but they are saying that the “guidelines we’re obliged to follow” allow a maximum of £25 per person for food per claim.
At the risk of being thought a glutton, this doesn’t seem an awful lot for 3 meals!
I also claimed the taxi fare from the airport (€32) and returning back to the airport (€37) but BA say the maximum travel refund they can offer is £50 per claim.
I was aware of the £50 taxi limit from Flyertalk but assumed that it was one way. After all if they are content to pay for me to stay at a hotel in the nearest town surely they must pay for me to get there! For completeness, I should add that they were content to refund the hotel costs.
I will challenge them on the taxi point but I would be grateful for advice on whether it’s worth going back to them on the £25 per person food limit?
If this is the accepted amount you can claim I obviously won’t bother but I can’t find any limits specified on the BA website.
In my 44 years flying with BA this was my first cancelled flight so I have been lucky.
We booked a hotel in Las Palmas - the nearest town to the airport for €105 and claimed for dinner (€38), breakfast (€23) and lunch (€18) these amounts were for both of us and no alcohol was claimed for.
BA got back to me in one day - which I thought was tremendously quickly given current circumstances - but they are saying that the “guidelines we’re obliged to follow” allow a maximum of £25 per person for food per claim.
At the risk of being thought a glutton, this doesn’t seem an awful lot for 3 meals!
I also claimed the taxi fare from the airport (€32) and returning back to the airport (€37) but BA say the maximum travel refund they can offer is £50 per claim.
I was aware of the £50 taxi limit from Flyertalk but assumed that it was one way. After all if they are content to pay for me to stay at a hotel in the nearest town surely they must pay for me to get there! For completeness, I should add that they were content to refund the hotel costs.
I will challenge them on the taxi point but I would be grateful for advice on whether it’s worth going back to them on the £25 per person food limit?
If this is the accepted amount you can claim I obviously won’t bother but I can’t find any limits specified on the BA website.
In my 44 years flying with BA this was my first cancelled flight so I have been lucky.
Depending on how bothered you are, you could take it to CEDR / MCOL to get the full refunds for what you have spent.
Mar 18, 2020, 7:54 am
#12
Join Date: Nov 2017
Programs: BA, Hilton
Posts: 2,091
Kept below such limits, CS will generally pay up without further ado, above it you may need to make your case more forcefully (including ultimately going via legal or arbitration routes as DYKWIA has suggested). One thing to consider, was your hotel the closest available to the airport? If it was not, but was cheaper than nearer alternatives, you may wish to point out that although your taxi fare is > £50 the overall accommodation + transport cost was lower. Having supporting evidence of hotel prices (e.g. screenshots) is obviously very helpful in this scenario.
It may be a case of pragmatism vs principle in deciding to take it further or not.
Mar 18, 2020, 8:03 am
#13
Moderator, Iberia Airlines, Airport Lounges, and Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
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The limits are BA's own making, so if you challenged them via CEDR or MCOL they would have to pay anything reasonable. Your position on food sounds reasonable, I thought that limit was per meal per person affected (with hotel fee inclluding breakfast), but since the bus service to the airport is still operating, albeit only one every 40 minutes, I suspect BA could argue the taxi restriction. I know some people - travelling as a couple, have got around this a bit: one person claims taxi from the airport, the other person claims to the airport, both are under £50.....
Mar 18, 2020, 8:03 am
#14
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EC 261/2004 does not specify amounts but rather "reasonableness". I suspect that the problem here is that in haste, it has been missed that this was a claim for two passengers, not one. If that is the case, you are out EUR 14.50 as each of you should receive EUR 25 + a taxi reimbursement of one-way. If need be, file separate claims.
Whether it is worth your time to pursue CEDR or MCOL for EUR 14.50 is really up to you.
Whether it is worth your time to pursue CEDR or MCOL for EUR 14.50 is really up to you.