Moved flight but now no meal?
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2017
Programs: BA Exec Club - Gold
Posts: 171
Moved flight but now no meal?
Hi everyone,
Did a search but cant find anything even though Im sure this has been discussed before. (Perhaps Im not using the correct search phrases!)
Booked in CE on the 7:30 DUB-LHR on a reward flight. Unfortunately aircraft went tech and ground staff started moving people to the next flight - no problem as its only an hour and a half later. Get moved to another seat in CE on the later flight with no drama. However, when boarding then get the news that theres no meal or catering for me (which I understand due to unexpected passenger numbers etc.)
Do I have any options to reclaim some of the avois used or anything due to the service or product expected/paid for not available? In my mind Id assume the difference in avios between a Y and J ticket?
Any thoughts or words of wisdom from those much more knowledgable than me?
Thanks all!
Did a search but cant find anything even though Im sure this has been discussed before. (Perhaps Im not using the correct search phrases!)
Booked in CE on the 7:30 DUB-LHR on a reward flight. Unfortunately aircraft went tech and ground staff started moving people to the next flight - no problem as its only an hour and a half later. Get moved to another seat in CE on the later flight with no drama. However, when boarding then get the news that theres no meal or catering for me (which I understand due to unexpected passenger numbers etc.)
Do I have any options to reclaim some of the avois used or anything due to the service or product expected/paid for not available? In my mind Id assume the difference in avios between a Y and J ticket?
Any thoughts or words of wisdom from those much more knowledgable than me?
Thanks all!
#2
Join Date: Feb 2004
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Personally I wouldnt try to claim compensation for this as it is a very short sector and you got the next flight. Rather unfortunate that there was no prior warning of no meal but as you were in CE I assume that you were ok to have food in the lounge during the delay.
#3
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Given it was BA that caused the issue, and not by the OP instigating a free Same Day Change, I’d absolutely be wanting something back - however you dress it, this is a service failure and the advertised package wasn’t delivered.
CE to ET difference in Avios is a good starting point - and I expect, given it’s a small number, CS will come close enough to this if a claim is submitted as to it not being worth pushing further.
CE to ET difference in Avios is a good starting point - and I expect, given it’s a small number, CS will come close enough to this if a claim is submitted as to it not being worth pushing further.
#4
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You should have been offered some free food from the M&S On Board menu, I'm surprised the CSM didn't actively suggest that. If it happens again, and the SCCM is unaware, then I would still buy a few items off it, ideally pay in Avios, and then make a claim for it. There would not be a formal EC261 entitlement to that food, which would only kick in on a 2 hour delay on that sector, but I would hope a modest purchase would receive a matching refund of the Avios.
#5
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I totally would. Everyone to their own but OP was affected by an undesired 1h30 delay through no fault of their own, which he was willing to accept gracefully without compensation (none was due in regulatory terms). He is then additionally not offered any food which is one of the main differentiators between ET and CE which he received, so I personally think that it would be entirely reasonable to ask to be refunded the difference between the EC and CE fares (ie probably 4,000 avios) as a gesture of goodwill as a result of the combination of the delay and the lack of food.
#6
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You should have been offered some free food from the M&S On Board menu, I'm surprised the CSM didn't actively suggest that. If it happens again, and the SCCM is unaware, then I would still buy a few items off it, ideally pay in Avios, and then make a claim for it. There would not be a formal EC261 entitlement to that food, which would only kick in on a 2 hour delay on that sector, but I would hope a modest purchase would receive a matching refund of the Avios.
Honestly, this is where BA service really lets them down. It would have been such an obvious (and entirely appropriate) thing to do. Mind-boggling that someone could think that it was acceptable not to provide an advertised CE service like this in the first place, with such an easy solution available.
#7
Join Date: Dec 2009
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I'm also baffled that something like this wasn't proactively offered. Seriously - how? How, in the delivery of bad news to a customer that their standard CE meal isn't available, can the next words from that crew members mouth not be "But we'd like to offer you something from the BoB selection with our compliments"?
Honestly, this is where BA service really lets them down. It would have been such an obvious (and entirely appropriate) thing to do. Mind-boggling that someone could think that it was acceptable not to provide an advertised CE service like this in the first place, with such an easy solution available.
Honestly, this is where BA service really lets them down. It would have been such an obvious (and entirely appropriate) thing to do. Mind-boggling that someone could think that it was acceptable not to provide an advertised CE service like this in the first place, with such an easy solution available.
#8
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I seem to recall reading somewhere that the "accounts" from BoB are taken rather seriously by the penny makers at BA hence discrepancies of ANY nature are accountable by the cabin staff. In other words they cannot offer anything free from BoB...no latitude I am suspecting...even if they wanted to.
#9
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I seem to recall reading somewhere that the "accounts" from BoB are taken rather seriously by the penny makers at BA hence discrepancies of ANY nature are accountable by the cabin staff. In other words they cannot offer anything free from BoB...no latitude I am suspecting...even if they wanted to.
#10
Join Date: May 2017
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I think that you should look at contract law instead. BA promised food, but didn't offer food. Accordingly, some compensation is due, although probably not more than what it would cost to buy some food.
#11
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Neither situation is acceptable. In the end, I think that the lady got a meal as there had been refusals by other passengers for whatever reason.As for dealing with a cabin full of people in ET with nothing to eat or drink is a nightmare. Why can they not carry fresh stock in the hold? Is that too complicated to implement with tight turnarounds?
#12
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I seem to recall reading somewhere that the "accounts" from BoB are taken rather seriously by the penny makers at BA hence discrepancies of ANY nature are accountable by the cabin staff. In other words they cannot offer anything free from BoB...no latitude I am suspecting...even if they wanted to.
Not only that but - lets be serious here - BA's margins on the BoB selection must be pretty healthy judging from the prices. Certainly enough to stretch to allowing their staff some small degree of flexibility to feed a passenger that was, after all, promised some food as part of their ticket price.
#14
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The earlier aircraft went tech. Wouldnt catering have been nightstopped in chillers on that aircraft as first flight of day? During the 1h 30 hiatus couldnt that catering have been moved from the broken aircraft to meet the next departure? Presumably those meals were eventually thrown away.
#15
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Of all the logistical challenges to fix when a flight goes tech, likely handling the catering issues is the least significant for a not merely short, but micro-haul. The BOB alternative is perfectly fine on a flight such as this.
The simple answer here is that the crew forgot to tell OP that he could have something off the BOB menu and thus he did not. That is a service failure which BA can easily remedy with a few avios. No need to turn this into a massive contractual dispute.
Better training also helps at the gate. When OP was told on the ground that there was no meal, it should have been accompanied with a, "but you may have something off the BOB menu as well," thus allowing OP to decline the rebooking and wait for the next available flight with a meal if that was his primary concern.
The simple answer here is that the crew forgot to tell OP that he could have something off the BOB menu and thus he did not. That is a service failure which BA can easily remedy with a few avios. No need to turn this into a massive contractual dispute.
Better training also helps at the gate. When OP was told on the ground that there was no meal, it should have been accompanied with a, "but you may have something off the BOB menu as well," thus allowing OP to decline the rebooking and wait for the next available flight with a meal if that was his primary concern.