Hello all,



this is a great thread and a great board! I read through the FAQ but still think I have a valid point. So I was hoping to get some help with this:



BA cancelled my flight (adverse weather), which I appreciate. I was booked on another flight on the same day. I offered to go from LCY instead of LHR, just so I could get to Gasgow on time.

In the evening of that day this flight got cancelnd too and I called BA again. The only flight they said they could offer was a LHR - GLA 17.50. I would have gotten to GLA way to late, so I asked

for an earlier flight which was available only in Business.



Since I was booked in Eco Plus they of cause wanted an upgrade charge. So my options were, getting to GLA when the meeting is over, or to pay them another 100GBP, so I refused.



[OFF TOPIC] What personally bites me about that is:

1. My original ticket was more expensive than the one in BIZ.

2. I had to go to YYZ to meet the person that I could have met in GLA.



Hence I've asked to be compensated for a EC261 violation. BA of cause says they only have to book me on Eco, as I had booked an Eco ticket.

No the wait time for the offered flight was 7h past the flight I've asked to, which is 3 times the flight time to GLA.



Now there are EC guidelines that outline that an Airline might have put the passenger in a higher travel class or book on another carrier. I've quoted those

in my last letter to BA.



Does someone have experience with this? Do BA respect those guidelines at all?



I'm grateful for every comment.



Best

Dennis

Rather than pay GBP100 fare difference, you flew to Toronto to see the person? seriously?

BA was not obligated to book you in business class - sounds like with the cancellations, that there may have been limited options where it had space to rebook . There was no violation - 1st flight was cancelled and the airline rebooked from another airport to get you there in time ; 2nd flight got cancelled and then there was no availability for a flight until the evening

At this point cancelling and just taking the train up would seem to have been a possibility

EC261? Cancellation
 

Hi all, I was wondering if someone much more experienced than myself could give me some valuable insight. I've just had a flight cancelled that's a long way off (Feb 2019) from Canada to LHR, there's a few of us travelling and in WTP, it was being operated on a 787 so I assume that's the reason. BA have offered a full refund or rebooking via a different airport. That's all well but we have some fairly pricey non refundable connecting flights booked etc, so stand to lose a fair whack over this. Is there any entitlement to additional compensation via EC261 etc? I'm assuming due to the amount of warning that I won't be, but worth checking with the experts on here!

Best Regards

Well hopefully one of my two travel insurance companies will see it differently, I guess it's worth pricing up the full refund vs just rebooking inbound

Hello UKtravelbear,
thank you for the warm welcome and the fast response.

I'm not sure, are we referring to the same document? The IG to EC (3502) specify the following under Section 4(B), subitem 2:
're-routing should be offered at no additional cost to the passenger, even where passengers are re-routed with another air carrier or on a different transport mode or in a higher class or at a higher fare than the one paid for the original service;'

Also, I want to outline my take on this in more detail:
So I'm fairly certain that there should be weighting between earliest opportunity and costs to the carrier. Given the 7h wait for the next flight I'd see earliest opportunity striking cost to the carrier.
Also we know that the passengers right to care endure beyond the booking of the next flight. So once they cancelled the second flight there still was a burden on British Air to get me to GLA at the earliest opportunity.
A 7h wait can hardly be justified and therefore does not qualify as earliest opportunity. Therefore this is a violation of the EC.

Now what I don't know:
Is the IG document legally binding?
Does a violation of the right to care actually trigger a compensation entitlement?

I don't have the details ready. But the originally booked flight was on Feb, 28th 2018. So it was really caused by adverse weather conditions. Also the following flight was canceled due to the weather. The details won't affect the matter, but I can look them up.

Both the facts I have mentioned are my personal business of cause don't affect BA. But this is just why I'm sticking to my grounds here. When I realized that I could not get to GLA on time or without much inconvenience I just gave up to speak to
their CC. I've flown the route 8 times in 2018 and am still somewhat thunderstruck by the British Air policies. Maybe it's because I don't have status, or maybe I'm spoiled by the Star Alliance carriers. But non of this actually matters.

Putting this particular case aside, I'm extremely interested precedence for the hole "does a Airline have to book another carrier or upgrade" thing.

Best
Dennis

IF the airline rebooks the passenger is booked into a higher class of travel , then the airline is not permitted to charge extra for doing so

There is no obligation on the airline to rebook into a higher class of travel

It would mainly relate to the situation on involuntary upgrades when a flight is oversold - a passenger gets a free upgrade ; when an airline is rebooking onto another flight, not likely to get a free upgrade

I disagree. This section defines 'Whether transport conditions are comparable':

'Whether transport conditions are comparable can depend on a number of factors and must be decided on a case-by-case basis. Depending on the circumstances, the following good practices are recommended:'
(...)
're-routing should be offered at no additional cost to the passenger, even where passengers are re-routed with another air carrier or on a different transport mode or in a higher class or at a higher fare than the one paid for the original service;"

This is how I read it. Also two paragraphs further:
'when using another air carrier or an alternative mode of transport for the part of the journey not completed as planned, the total travel time should, if possible, be as reasonably close as possible to the scheduled travel time of the original journey in the same or higher class of carriage if necessary;"

Given my circumstances a re-routing should have been offered. Since available I should have been given chooses other than to wait 7h for a 1.5h flight.

You may disagree, but the airline is only required to rebook the passenger in the class of travel - it is not under any obligation to rebook in a higher cabin. Based on description given , it would seem quite likely that flights would be full due to the cancellations and that there may well have been no availability in economy on the earlier services

If BA had chosen to rebook you in business class , it could not have charged for it. Given that it would only rebook for free in economy class, it was well within its rights to charge extra for business class if you wanted to do so

Given that the issue seems to be weather related , I don't see how you would be able to claim the EUR250 for the delay anyway

It is good that you were able to get a flight to Toronto at a price that made it better than paying GBP100 for a flight in business class

You could have rerouted yourself onto a train of course

I have a printout of the booking screens by the time. So the only options were 09.xx in a higher class or 17.xx in the same class.
At this time I still cannot see how the 17.xx would be the earliest opportunity when there is (if it's only one) seat available 7 hours earlier. Especially given the additional cost (for a higher class, yes or no) to the carrier being negative at the time of re-booking.

The entitlement to compensation can only be established if a violation of the duty to care triggers it.
This is exactly what I want to figure out.

If there is no compensation, that's fine too. But I sick with my point that this is a violation of their duty to care.

The entitlement to compensation is simply dependant upon reason for cancellation

Your printout actually simply supports BA's position that there was only availbility in business class in the morning and that the 1st economy seat was at 17:00 and as such was the earliest opportunity

Looking on EF, the only other option for London to Glasgow would seem to be Ryanair from Stansted , so not many other options to pick

The interline options are coming in the next few days, which will be well before they get booked out for Christmas (if this was November you may have a stronger argument, at the moment I can't see any aircraft being even 40% full) The problem you may have is that if you challenge it, by the time you get a reply BA will be fairly able to say "yes but we offered our passengers A, B or C". Since they only offer one involuntary re-route, I'm not sure you are on the right side of the argument. That said, when the interlines come through you they probably will allow you a second bite of the cherry at that point. The advice in this situation is always to wait a week or so, to ensure you get the best options - they often improve them in Customer Advisory 3 onwards in any case. If BA doesn't make any interline agreement - which was something they sometimes did in the past - then you have a stronger argument.

This is not BA specific, but the ECJ has ruled that non-EU delayed connecting flights are also eligible for compensation - https://www.bottonline.co.uk/blog/co...-now-claimable ^