DrSE

Hey,

I. I had a booking from US to CAI from 2017 however I had a long stopover in Berlin (4 month) I was due to fly Today 1st of May 2018 TXL-LHR-CAI.

As it was a flex Biz Ticket I called BA 1st of April and asked if I could fly on the 12th of April. She put the 2 new flight Segments into the booking and 6 days later I got a quote that it would cost 25 GBP. However at this point I didn't want to fly on the 12th anymore so we agreed on leaving the booking as it was.

II. Yesterday I wanted to check in and no booking was found. I called the German Callcenter and after 1-hour they came to me quite honest and said that this agent obviously left the flights for the 12th inside the booking even tough no ticket was issued the compute-system thought I had a no show and cancelled the entire booking on the 12th without me noticing.

III. They apologized many times but! They had no seats for today in business class - they where actually oversold - available so they offered me to fly premium economy. But no one could tell me what my compensation would be. They also refused to rebook me on Egyptair or Lufthansa or any other airlines. Pretty bad service for BA Gold + Biz Ticket. I had a long talk to the Customer Service and ended up booking a Lufthansa Ticket to CAI for 1st of may in Biz which is at 2100 Euro because I dont wanted to fly PE and get like a 200 GBP compensation. They had a talk with the legal team and they will see after if they MIGHT give me any refund on this.

First of all I am shocked how inflexible they where with rebooking me. Also I think its a very unique and typical thing for the aviation industry to tell the passenger: "take it or dont" no one could tell me if I get any refund or compensation or anything they just left me alone.

What do you guys thing, any experience like that? Any recommendations how to proceed here?

I also think I am entitled to delay compensation because LH arrives 3h15 min later than BA.

Krisz

I think this one is not a clear cut case but I think you should have a strong case for denied boarding scenario. You had a ticket airline hasn’t cancelled the flight but they refused you to fly.
Would be good to know where did you purchased your ticket as this could become some sort of consumer law issues which is outside of EU reg.
hopefully others will able to provide you more useful info but probably I would have done the same.
I would also check if travel insurance would cover this as it can be an easier way to reclaim your money.

corporate-wage-slave

Yes it's not clear cut. I know how it happened, and I'm afraid it's a repeat of the old, old adage in this forum of always checking your ticketing (e.g. via the App or CheckMyTrip), particularly if you do this sort of change or related complexity. It's complicated since it is a requirement of EC261 to be ticketed to avail of its protections, however you will presumably have the ability to argue that it was not you that cancelled the ticket.

Realistically I think your best bet is to obtain for yourself the best alternative that meets the clause about "re-routing, under comparable transport conditions, to their final destination at the earliest opportunity", (assuming BA didn't have that option open to you) and ping them for the delay too if there was really no cost effective alternative within the timetable. I can see this could get messy. Please keep us informed.

Often1

Whatever this is, it is not a denial of boarding. OP was expressly offered a seat, albeit in PE. Thus, no compensation.

Had he stayed with his existing ticket, he would have been entitled under EC 261/2004 to a reimbursement, not compensation, of 75% of the base fare for the affected segments.

Unfortunately as OP abandoned his ticket, he may choose a refund of the ticket segments and that refund will act as an offset against the EUR 2,100 he has spent on a new ticket.

BA may offer some customer service gesture such as a certificate for a few hundred Euro, but is not obligated to and likely will not.

DrSE

I bought the ticket trough BA Callcenter in October 17.
Well everyone I talked to at BA was clearly saying that the mistake was on their side. 75 % of the ticket wouldn't be much and no one was able to tell me how much it would be.
I am really convinced that BA has to pay me at least for the Lufthansa Ticket because they messed this completely. We had a contract they where unable to fulfill it - I get it elsewhere - and they have to pay the damage. Thats how it would work under german law.


I hope BA will make this an easy one. I fly a lot with them. If I do a mistake e.g. wrong date and I see it after the flight (no-show) Its my problem and they wouldn't help me probably. This time they did a mistake so they should handle it gentle.


Also I think its a pretty complex itinerary with 12 flights in it. I really think the 75% of the last 2 flights of 12 would be a phantasy unclear amount of money which is completely up to the goodwill of BA.


Interesting is that BA offered me to fly tomorrow in Biz which is to late. This could give me the opportunity to claim 400 or 600 Euro TXL-CAI is 3200 and LHR-CAI is 3520 KMs - because with the new ticket I just expedited my journey to Cairo that would have been delayed 24 hours otherwise.

Phil the Flyer

LPQ

I had a similar experience while in BKK last month. I noticed, quite by chance, that my flight from BKK was missing from MMB. LPQ+1 still had their seat. Some fairly expensive phone calls to London were required since the BKK office had closed. The Indian centre was painfully slow in establishing the problem and fortunately the line failed. The next call was picked up by Newcastle and the flight quickly reinstated. Luckily there was one remaining seat in the cabin. My allocated seat had gone so we were separated on different sides of the plane. A narrow escape. I suspect a notification of a timing change (even though the old and new departure times were the same) had upset the computer.

The lesson is, as C-W-S has stated, check your booking on the slightest change.

Ldnn1

I hope LPQ+1 doesn't read this thread.

LPQ

It all ended well - the CSM moved us back together after boarding.

Often1

Do not go spend the EUR 2,100 refund you think BA is obligated to pay you for the LH ticket or the EUR 600 in delay compensation under EC 261/2004 just yet. You are likely to be sorely disappointed. You should carefully review the contract you entered with BA as it is exactly that agreement which was met and won't stand you very well.

Indeed BA is at fault and has told you so. But, that does not give you a license to spend EUR 2,100 on a new ticket to be paid for, ultimately, by BA.

1. BA downgraded you. You are now guaranteed a seat in the CW cabin, merely a refund of the fare difference (under the contract) or 75% of the base segment fare if the segment is covered by the Regulation, which it is. You, of course may run these numbers on your head based on your e-ticket receipt. Even if you can't get this down to the last decimal, you can get pretty close.

2. BA was not obligated to, but did offer you transportation in CW on the next available service. Had you accepted that, you would have been delayed by your own choosing (recognizing that you wanted to fly in CW, but could not). Thus, no delay compensation.

3. You also chose not to accept the downgrade and its accompanying refund under the same Regulation.

4. You chose to purchase a new ticket for EUR 2,100. BA did not contract to cover this for you and unless you have something from BA, either in writing or recorded, do not expect to see this sum.

5. You are not entitled to a refund of the unflown segments, but it is BA's practice to refund those. Whatever those segments are worth will be what you see, along with something for your troubles (not much and in the form of a voucher). Do make certain that if you have onwards segments post Cairo that those remain intact.

TomMM

I flew that flight last year in business and the seat is a standard economy seat with the middle seat blocked.

Often1

That is a separate problem for OP. He was offered PE which is a decent product and rebooked himself into something sold as J, but which is Y with what amounts to a better armrest.

DrSE

I dont think its up to you to decide for me what a decent product is or not. But maybe they should start a list of people who agree on every change and every downgrade and anything an airline would do. You can be number one on it.

DrSE

1. Its not a technical downgrade at the airport it was a mistake days before the flight.

2. How you come to the idea that be was not obligated to give me a club world seat if I bought a CW ticket? Might be an American way to see the things but we are in Europe e.g. you also get expenses like hotels and food when there are delays due to weather (which is nice) so the law is a little different here.

EsherFlyer

Maybe because the whole point of EC241 having rules about downgrade is because it recognises that airlines may sometimes not be able to do meet that "obligation", and that downgrade with suitable compensation is a reasonable outcome for all?

You do appear to be in thin ice, but I wish you good luck in putting together a viewpoint / case that won't fail on basic principles.