Replacement flight into different London airport
Jul 22, 2018, 5:40 pm
#17
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: UK
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Posts: 81
Eventually made it back to LCY - £61 Uber which I thought was good. Yes met EE for a quick chat in the lounge. Top bloke. I’ll even excuse him getting the Op-Up to CE instead of me :-)
BA were a shambles and proves why it has its critics.
Spoke to CC and they said Yes BA has a responsibility to get you back to the original airport and a taxi at this late hour wouldn’t be unreasonable. Suggested I speak to customer services in T3 baggage and they will give me specifics on claiming etc
So in T3 I spoke to a very uninterested lady who said why do you expect BA to provide you with a taxi? That’s your responsibility. I disagreed and she said phone customer services. I did. They were closed
I then phoned the Gold line. Very helpful lady from India apologised and said yes of course BA would pay for a taxi. I asked specifics about max amount, proof, procedure and she didn’t know. 10 minutes later she came back and said she was mistaken, I can’t get a taxi. I asked to speak to a supervisor
Now the supervisor was very cheery, apologetic and said yes of course BA would pay - just submit through the website. He then said as a loyal GCH he’d desposit 5k Avios into my account within 7 days - which is going to be worth more than any taxi fare I paid for. I said I’m not interested in extra compensation, just my reasonable taxi fare refunded
He then went into small talk mode which was unusual, how’s the family, good holiday etc. He then said he will shortly send me a survey to ask how good his service has been. He explained scale of 1-10 and asked what score I’d give him, I said pardon, and he said well I’ve given you 5k points so I should get a good score, or words to that effect. I was lost for words, BA supervisor tying to bribe me for a good score. I declined to answer and eventually had to put phone down. Incredible!
BA were a shambles and proves why it has its critics.
Spoke to CC and they said Yes BA has a responsibility to get you back to the original airport and a taxi at this late hour wouldn’t be unreasonable. Suggested I speak to customer services in T3 baggage and they will give me specifics on claiming etc
So in T3 I spoke to a very uninterested lady who said why do you expect BA to provide you with a taxi? That’s your responsibility. I disagreed and she said phone customer services. I did. They were closed
I then phoned the Gold line. Very helpful lady from India apologised and said yes of course BA would pay for a taxi. I asked specifics about max amount, proof, procedure and she didn’t know. 10 minutes later she came back and said she was mistaken, I can’t get a taxi. I asked to speak to a supervisor
Now the supervisor was very cheery, apologetic and said yes of course BA would pay - just submit through the website. He then said as a loyal GCH he’d desposit 5k Avios into my account within 7 days - which is going to be worth more than any taxi fare I paid for. I said I’m not interested in extra compensation, just my reasonable taxi fare refunded
He then went into small talk mode which was unusual, how’s the family, good holiday etc. He then said he will shortly send me a survey to ask how good his service has been. He explained scale of 1-10 and asked what score I’d give him, I said pardon, and he said well I’ve given you 5k points so I should get a good score, or words to that effect. I was lost for words, BA supervisor tying to bribe me for a good score. I declined to answer and eventually had to put phone down. Incredible!
Jul 22, 2018, 5:48 pm
#18
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: New York, NY
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Posts: 4,101
After the fact, but as a data point, I had FRA-LCY cancelled once and had to fly FRA-LHR instead. Was told at the FRA check-in desk that BA would cover a taxi to my hotel near LCY, but they only ended up paying £50, in line with what this thread suggests.
Jul 23, 2018, 1:06 am
#19
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: LHR / LCY / DXB
Programs: QR Silver / BA Silver
Posts: 324
Here is the dispatch information which is a bit curious:
DOBA7338/22JUL
* OPERATIONAL FLIGHT INFO * BA7338 0 SU 22JUL18
CITY INFO HOUR (LOCAL)
PRG ESTIMATED TIME OF DEPARTURE 1930
DELAY ZY
FLIGHT CANCELLED 0829
CCRN
ESTIMATED TIME OF ARRIVAL 2022 LCY
*1A PLANNED FLIGHT INFO* BA7338 0 SU 22JUL18
APT ARR DY DEP DY CLASS/MEAL EQP GRND EFT TTL
PRG 1800 SU JCDRI/M YB/S E70 2:00
HKMLVNOQSG/S
LCY 1900 SU 2:00
COMMENTS-
1.PRG LCY - AIRCRAFT OWNER BA CITYFLYER
2.PRG LCY - OPERATED BY BA CITYFLYER
3.PRG LCY - DEPARTS TERMINAL 1
4.PRG LCY - 9/ NON-SMOKING
5.PRG LCY - ET/ ELECTRONIC TKT CANDIDATE
6.PRG LCY - CO2/PAX* 147.08 KG ECO, 147.08 KG PRE
(*):SOURCE:ICAO CARBON EMISSIONS CALCULATOR
CONFIGURATION-
E70 C 16 M 60The cancellation code is CCR and N stands for no compensation payable. I thought CCR is crew shortage which almost always leads to EC261, but hopefully someone can throw some more light on the reasons for the cancellation of BA7338. It doesn't stop you claiming the taxi and right to care expenses. I would urge you to find out what the ground crew at PRG know.
I hope you feel better soon. I had an odd experience on Friday when I felt unwell on boarding but fine by arrival, which in shorthaul is not to be expected!
DOBA7338/22JUL
* OPERATIONAL FLIGHT INFO * BA7338 0 SU 22JUL18
CITY INFO HOUR (LOCAL)
PRG ESTIMATED TIME OF DEPARTURE 1930
DELAY ZY
FLIGHT CANCELLED 0829
CCRN
ESTIMATED TIME OF ARRIVAL 2022 LCY
*1A PLANNED FLIGHT INFO* BA7338 0 SU 22JUL18
APT ARR DY DEP DY CLASS/MEAL EQP GRND EFT TTL
PRG 1800 SU JCDRI/M YB/S E70 2:00
HKMLVNOQSG/S
LCY 1900 SU 2:00
COMMENTS-
1.PRG LCY - AIRCRAFT OWNER BA CITYFLYER
2.PRG LCY - OPERATED BY BA CITYFLYER
3.PRG LCY - DEPARTS TERMINAL 1
4.PRG LCY - 9/ NON-SMOKING
5.PRG LCY - ET/ ELECTRONIC TKT CANDIDATE
6.PRG LCY - CO2/PAX* 147.08 KG ECO, 147.08 KG PRE
(*):SOURCE:ICAO CARBON EMISSIONS CALCULATOR
CONFIGURATION-
E70 C 16 M 60
I hope you feel better soon. I had an odd experience on Friday when I felt unwell on boarding but fine by arrival, which in shorthaul is not to be expected!
Jul 23, 2018, 1:39 am
#20
FlyerTalk Evangelist, Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Jun 2008
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Posts: 30,536
Eventually made it back to LCY - £61 Uber which I thought was good. Yes met EE for a quick chat in the lounge. Top bloke. I’ll even excuse him getting the Op-Up to CE instead of me :-)
BA were a shambles and proves why it has its critics.
Spoke to CC and they said Yes BA has a responsibility to get you back to the original airport and a taxi at this late hour wouldn’t be unreasonable. Suggested I speak to customer services in T3 baggage and they will give me specifics on claiming etc
So in T3 I spoke to a very uninterested lady who said why do you expect BA to provide you with a taxi? That’s your responsibility. I disagreed and she said phone customer services. I did. They were closed
I then phoned the Gold line. Very helpful lady from India apologised and said yes of course BA would pay for a taxi. I asked specifics about max amount, proof, procedure and she didn’t know. 10 minutes later she came back and said she was mistaken, I can’t get a taxi. I asked to speak to a supervisor
Now the supervisor was very cheery, apologetic and said yes of course BA would pay - just submit through the website. He then said as a loyal GCH he’d desposit 5k Avios into my account within 7 days - which is going to be worth more than any taxi fare I paid for. I said I’m not interested in extra compensation, just my reasonable taxi fare refunded
He then went into small talk mode which was unusual, how’s the family, good holiday etc. He then said he will shortly send me a survey to ask how good his service has been. He explained scale of 1-10 and asked what score I’d give him, I said pardon, and he said well I’ve given you 5k points so I should get a good score, or words to that effect. I was lost for words, BA supervisor tying to bribe me for a good score. I declined to answer and eventually had to put phone down. Incredible!
BA were a shambles and proves why it has its critics.
Spoke to CC and they said Yes BA has a responsibility to get you back to the original airport and a taxi at this late hour wouldn’t be unreasonable. Suggested I speak to customer services in T3 baggage and they will give me specifics on claiming etc
So in T3 I spoke to a very uninterested lady who said why do you expect BA to provide you with a taxi? That’s your responsibility. I disagreed and she said phone customer services. I did. They were closed
I then phoned the Gold line. Very helpful lady from India apologised and said yes of course BA would pay for a taxi. I asked specifics about max amount, proof, procedure and she didn’t know. 10 minutes later she came back and said she was mistaken, I can’t get a taxi. I asked to speak to a supervisor
Now the supervisor was very cheery, apologetic and said yes of course BA would pay - just submit through the website. He then said as a loyal GCH he’d desposit 5k Avios into my account within 7 days - which is going to be worth more than any taxi fare I paid for. I said I’m not interested in extra compensation, just my reasonable taxi fare refunded
He then went into small talk mode which was unusual, how’s the family, good holiday etc. He then said he will shortly send me a survey to ask how good his service has been. He explained scale of 1-10 and asked what score I’d give him, I said pardon, and he said well I’ve given you 5k points so I should get a good score, or words to that effect. I was lost for words, BA supervisor tying to bribe me for a good score. I declined to answer and eventually had to put phone down. Incredible!
for what it’s worth I think you did the right thing throughout - i too much prefer to first ask at the airport upon arrival for any due transport hotel etc. It saves on hassle if they say yes and puts you in a much stronger situation to be reimbursed if they are not able to organise it directly (« but that’s an expensive taxi fare » - « I gave you a chance to do it but you asked me to sort out my own transport, now here is the bill »). They know they owe you transport to the contractual destination anyway, not to any co terminal.
Jul 23, 2018, 5:32 am
#21
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: UK
Programs: BA GGL, Marriott Ambassador
Posts: 371
Eventually made it back to LCY - £61 Uber which I thought was good. Yes met EE for a quick chat in the lounge. Top bloke. I’ll even excuse him getting the Op-Up to CE instead of me :-)
BA were a shambles and proves why it has its critics.
Spoke to CC and they said Yes BA has a responsibility to get you back to the original airport and a taxi at this late hour wouldn’t be unreasonable. Suggested I speak to customer services in T3 baggage and they will give me specifics on claiming etc
So in T3 I spoke to a very uninterested lady who said why do you expect BA to provide you with a taxi? That’s your responsibility. I disagreed and she said phone customer services. I did. They were closed
I then phoned the Gold line. Very helpful lady from India apologised and said yes of course BA would pay for a taxi. I asked specifics about max amount, proof, procedure and she didn’t know. 10 minutes later she came back and said she was mistaken, I can’t get a taxi. I asked to speak to a supervisor
Now the supervisor was very cheery, apologetic and said yes of course BA would pay - just submit through the website. He then said as a loyal GCH he’d desposit 5k Avios into my account within 7 days - which is going to be worth more than any taxi fare I paid for. I said I’m not interested in extra compensation, just my reasonable taxi fare refunded
He then went into small talk mode which was unusual, how’s the family, good holiday etc. He then said he will shortly send me a survey to ask how good his service has been. He explained scale of 1-10 and asked what score I’d give him, I said pardon, and he said well I’ve given you 5k points so I should get a good score, or words to that effect. I was lost for words, BA supervisor tying to bribe me for a good score. I declined to answer and eventually had to put phone down. Incredible!
BA were a shambles and proves why it has its critics.
Spoke to CC and they said Yes BA has a responsibility to get you back to the original airport and a taxi at this late hour wouldn’t be unreasonable. Suggested I speak to customer services in T3 baggage and they will give me specifics on claiming etc
So in T3 I spoke to a very uninterested lady who said why do you expect BA to provide you with a taxi? That’s your responsibility. I disagreed and she said phone customer services. I did. They were closed
I then phoned the Gold line. Very helpful lady from India apologised and said yes of course BA would pay for a taxi. I asked specifics about max amount, proof, procedure and she didn’t know. 10 minutes later she came back and said she was mistaken, I can’t get a taxi. I asked to speak to a supervisor
Now the supervisor was very cheery, apologetic and said yes of course BA would pay - just submit through the website. He then said as a loyal GCH he’d desposit 5k Avios into my account within 7 days - which is going to be worth more than any taxi fare I paid for. I said I’m not interested in extra compensation, just my reasonable taxi fare refunded
He then went into small talk mode which was unusual, how’s the family, good holiday etc. He then said he will shortly send me a survey to ask how good his service has been. He explained scale of 1-10 and asked what score I’d give him, I said pardon, and he said well I’ve given you 5k points so I should get a good score, or words to that effect. I was lost for words, BA supervisor tying to bribe me for a good score. I declined to answer and eventually had to put phone down. Incredible!
Great to meet you in the lounge - thanks for coming by for a chat. No op-up for us (we were booked in CE as my girlfriend needs the AA EQDs), but I think at least 2-3 others were upgraded. I was hoping you would get lucky!
Last edited by Europeanexplorer; Jul 23, 2018 at 5:37 am Reason: Spelling
Jul 23, 2018, 5:36 am
#22
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: UK
Programs: BA GGL, Marriott Ambassador
Posts: 371
You can get this information from Expertflyer under "Flight Status". As to what the specific codes like CCRN mean, that requires some insider knowledge...
Jul 23, 2018, 5:47 am
#23
Moderator, Iberia Airlines, Airport Lounges, and Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Feb 2010
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Posts: 63,821
Well yes, but I have to say that I don't understand your course of action here. From what you said (and did) you were going to take a taxi anyway, so why get yourself in an unnecessary delay on arrival? The painful reality is that the advice of regulars here is more accurate - generally - than you will get from two groups of people who do not have responsibility for this area, namely ground agents and Delhi based sales agents who may never have been on an aircraft in their life. Customer Relations only works weekdays from NCL, and they are the only people who can rectify this. What is the point of asking for advice here? Now this certainly doesn't excuse the strange and unacceptable response from the supervisor, but for the time you spent on this you could be well past Hammersmith by whatever form of transport, so I don't see the point in volunteering yourself for the shambles. The whole point of FT is to make your life easier, there is advice upthread on what to do, and a very detailed thread on EC261 and how to process it.
Jul 23, 2018, 6:19 am
#24
Join Date: Sep 2012
Posts: 2,575
Looks like BACF had some issues over the weekend - quite a few cancellations yesterday - Paris, Amsterdam etc
The Saturday Bristol-Florence flight had an unscheduled overnight in Bristol (on G-LCYE) causing that schedule to run multiple hours late on Sunday (with one rotation taken out of the schedule to get it back onto time by the evening looks like) and G-LCYD I would have expected to position from Stansted to Paris Orly to operate into London City (and then on to your Prague flight) but instead only made it the few miles over the Essex countryside into London City before retiring for the day (so perhaps your crew were in Paris sans aircraft?)
They run an impressive but quite complex operation at the weekends with aircraft temporarily "based" at Manchester, Bristol, Birmingham, Florence and Stansted - as well as multiple out of Scotland (where I believe crew are based though) - so it's no wonder if things go a little wrong it impacts London City getting back to normal business on a Sunday afternoon
The Saturday Bristol-Florence flight had an unscheduled overnight in Bristol (on G-LCYE) causing that schedule to run multiple hours late on Sunday (with one rotation taken out of the schedule to get it back onto time by the evening looks like) and G-LCYD I would have expected to position from Stansted to Paris Orly to operate into London City (and then on to your Prague flight) but instead only made it the few miles over the Essex countryside into London City before retiring for the day (so perhaps your crew were in Paris sans aircraft?)
They run an impressive but quite complex operation at the weekends with aircraft temporarily "based" at Manchester, Bristol, Birmingham, Florence and Stansted - as well as multiple out of Scotland (where I believe crew are based though) - so it's no wonder if things go a little wrong it impacts London City getting back to normal business on a Sunday afternoon
Jul 23, 2018, 7:24 am
#25
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: UK
Programs: VS LT Gold 1MM, BA Gold, M&M Frequent, Hilton LT Diamond, Hyatt Globalist, IHG Plat
Posts: 81
Well yes, but I have to say that I don't understand your course of action here. From what you said (and did) you were going to take a taxi anyway, so why get yourself in an unnecessary delay on arrival? The painful reality is that the advice of regulars here is more accurate - generally - than you will get from two groups of people who do not have responsibility for this area, namely ground agents and Delhi based sales agents who may never have been on an aircraft in their life. Customer Relations only works weekdays from NCL, and they are the only people who can rectify this. What is the point of asking for advice here? Now this certainly doesn't excuse the strange and unacceptable response from the supervisor, but for the time you spent on this you could be well past Hammersmith by whatever form of transport, so I don't see the point in volunteering yourself for the shambles. The whole point of FT is to make your life easier, there is advice upthread on what to do, and a very detailed thread on EC261 and how to process it.
Aug 7, 2018, 8:14 am
#26
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: UK
Programs: BA GGL, Marriott Ambassador
Posts: 371
An update on the EU compensation fun with BA. Both EU compensation and taxi claim have been denied. BA argues that the cancellation is due to crew sickness which is outside their control and that I chose to fly to a different airport so they cannot pay for a taxi... You really could not make this stuff up! What a disgrace. Time for a robust response.
Aug 7, 2018, 2:37 pm
#28
Join Date: Jul 2014
Programs: Mucci de l'Arbitrage
Posts: 927
An update on the EU compensation fun with BA. Both EU compensation and taxi claim have been denied. BA argues that the cancellation is due to crew sickness which is outside their control and that I chose to fly to a different airport so they cannot pay for a taxi... You really could not make this stuff up! What a disgrace. Time for a robust response.
Was the inbound LHR PRG also cancelled or only PRG LHR? Either way I don’t think they have a leg to stand on, but it is a tad more understandable in its idiocy if the crew became ill in PRG where there are no standby crew.
Aug 7, 2018, 2:48 pm
#29
Original Member
Join Date: May 1998
Location: London
Programs: BA Gold, ex-BD Gold, SPG Gold, HH Gold
Posts: 2,040
An update on the EU compensation fun with BA. Both EU compensation and taxi claim have been denied. BA argues that the cancellation is due to crew sickness which is outside their control and that I chose to fly to a different airport so they cannot pay for a taxi... You really could not make this stuff up! What a disgrace. Time for a robust response.
After several rounds of letters I was so annoyed I took it to mediation. In mediation, BA admitted that it was within the Directive, but claimed as LGW and LHR were both in London, they had fulfilled their duty of substitute transportation, and no compensation was payable--notwithstanding that I had deliberately elected LGW as it was more convenient, and as a result I had to completely reschedule my day and incur additional transport costs. The mediator agreed with BA, and they would not even reimburse transport costs. So, YMMV.
Aug 7, 2018, 3:13 pm
#30
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: UK
Programs: BA GGL, Marriott Ambassador
Posts: 371
I had a similar experience last year. My LGW-JFK was cancelled and rebooked as LHR-JFK, within the EU Compensation period. The arrival and departure times of the new flight were within 15 min. I was originally told no compensation was appropriate.
After several rounds of letters I was so annoyed I took it to mediation. In mediation, BA admitted that it was within the Directive, but claimed as LGW and LHR were both in London, they had fulfilled their duty of substitute transportation, and no compensation was payable--notwithstanding that I had deliberately elected LGW as it was more convenient, and as a result I had to completely reschedule my day and incur additional transport costs. The mediator agreed with BA, and they would not even reimburse transport costs. So, YMMV.
After several rounds of letters I was so annoyed I took it to mediation. In mediation, BA admitted that it was within the Directive, but claimed as LGW and LHR were both in London, they had fulfilled their duty of substitute transportation, and no compensation was payable--notwithstanding that I had deliberately elected LGW as it was more convenient, and as a result I had to completely reschedule my day and incur additional transport costs. The mediator agreed with BA, and they would not even reimburse transport costs. So, YMMV.