corporate-wage-slave

Yes, the BA aircraft is still on the ground at Woolsington, and it is now 3 hours past departure time, so there is no way it can get to London within the original schedule + 3 hours. If BA had better technical back-up in NCL - as they do in GLA - then the delay would not be this long. So to my mind you are ok to claim the Ł220 and get the original flight rebooked to another time / refunded. The alternative that was open to BA was to rebook everyone on to the train service and thereby save themselves some or all of this compensation, but that would not have happened.......

dyerc

As expected, received a follow up response citing COVID.

I have responded stating simply citing COVID is not acceptable. They must state the exact reason they cancelled the flight and what changed between the date I booked and they date they cancelled it.

Ive also stated they knew full well the COVID restrictions that were in effect at the time I booked. I cannot see that anything changed between then and the date of cancelation. Therefore it is erroneous to claim the could not have predicted they would need to cancel the flight. It was entirely their choice to take my booking under the prevailing conditions at the time and can only cite COVID if something specific had changed to their detriment (government regs for example).

”Thanks for coming back to us about your claim for EU compensation.

Your claim's been refused because flight BA0875 on 02 September 2020 was cancelled as a result of the global pandemic caused by COVID-19.

The COVID-19 pandemic is an external factor, which is beyond the control of the airline and is an “extraordinary circumstance”. It is not inherent in the normal activity of the airline and could not have been anticipated.

Since the cancellation of the flight was caused by restrictions imposed as a result of a global pandemic, in accordance with the provisions of EC Regulation 261/2004, I'm afraid this means you are not entitled to receive EU compensation on this occasion.

Thanks for contacting us. If I can help with anything else, please contact me directly using the blue link below.”

Ive asked them to confirm if this is their final response. And if they provide another generic excuse I will take that as their final response as they are not acting in good faith.

corporate-wage-slave

Yes, keep this short, Customer Relations hands are tied (or they think they are tied probably) and therefore you need this in the hands of the small number of paralegals not furloughed, and the sooner the better. It's a great letter actually: it amazingly stops short of the rest of the sentence from the Regulation which says "could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken". I'd be tempted to go MCOL since the timeline is fixed, with CEDR there is scope to delay the process due to staff being on furlough, there again if you go CEDR you have a good chance of success if you are patient. See some of the quotes above, and in any submission try to echo some of CEDR's rulings, to save everyone too much work. Mind you, after a year and a bit, longer than the airline booking cycle, I am not sure this pandemic is even extraordinary any more.

DYKWIA

If I have a paid J class that is upgraded to F using Avios, what would happen if I was subsequently downgraded back to J due to an aircraft change? Would it be 75% of the J fare, or would there be no entitlement other than getting the Avios back?

Apologies if this has been answered before (I'm sure it has somewhere!), but I can't see this scenario in Post 5.

Thanks

corporate-wage-slave

Before travel BA should refund, usually without quibble the Avios and any cash component to the UuA. After completion of all travel you can claim any shortfall on the 75% (if over 3,500 km) of the price of your ticket that got you into First. So 75% of the Avios, 75% of all the cash, J plus UuA, but using the Mennens rule mentioned in the wiki.

DYKWIA

Thanks!

dyerc

Thanks, is this MCOL?

https://www.moneyclaim.gov.uk/web/mcol/welcome

Im not in a particular hurry, so would gladly go with whichever is easier.

It’s there rolling T -3weeks cancelations tactic (this summer) that has annoyed me and prompted me to file the claim. They really are behaving in a ridiculous manner, grossly hypocritical given their CEO cries fowl every time the government makes a change. Yet they are adding even more uncertainty.

corporate-wage-slave

Yes, that aspect is trying my patience too, and I've got gallons of patience. The airline's own actions aren't helping the travelling public and are making matters worse. I note the difference with easyJet, which essentially is sticking to their schedule more rigorously than BA. But to answer the question, yes that is the link to MCOL. If you aren't in a particular hurry then CEDR would be better since the tough timelines on MCOL also apply to you too and if it goes to a hearing - almost impossible I would say in the current circs - then you have to attend or come up with a very good reason for not attending. Ditto for BA.

dyerc

Thank you again for the advice, I’ll give CEDR a shot first in that case. Will report back (probably in several months) how it goes.

I appreciate it’s difficult for BA so accept there will be more cancelations then normal. But what they are doing is cynical and opportunistic. I’ve been watching LHR -> BUD/VIE since July. They’ve kept their schedule the same, then at t -3w (to avoid compensation) cancelled the entire week. Then offered us the following week. Which they then cancelled by the time my wife got hols. At that point we were forced to accept their offer of flying out via HEL (making a 12h journey end to end). And then their rolling cancelations hit our return. So we were forced to accept the return via HEL aswell.

Speaking to Finair rep at checkin, he said they’ve been doing this for months on multiple
routes. And aren’t even bothering to operate their CS properly, so Finair have to help on BAs behalf.

Essentially they are taking the bookings, rolling the dice incase regs change significantly. But knowing full well the overwhelming likelihood is they won’t fly any of those flights. I presume they either hope a proportion of customers take a voucher. Or they get a small slice of the fare, but Finair/etc do the actual flying.

adrianlondon

BA's "It's Covid, stupid" responses don't work with CEDR and assuming nothing extraordinary, they'll eventually award you the €250 as they did me. As BA always lose these cases, to me it's simply spite that they make us go the CEDR route. That, coupled with the rolling cancellations is why I've not flown with them for almost a year. Other airlines are currently much more reliable for short-haul.

ChemicalWoody

Two quick questions from me. I'm submitting an EU261 claim to BA for reimbursement for flights I had to buy, after BA’s flights were cancelled and they wouldn't allow re-routing on any airline at all (despite 5 direct flights running with other airlines).
The flights are later this month (Aug).

1) Should I submit the claim now rather than after I make the trip? I'd rather do it sooner.
2) I've written a case to explain why compensation is due. But I can't work out which web-form to use to contact Customer Relations and submit the receipts. The one for cancelled flights is for EU261 compensation only, and it doesn't let me add any text to explain that the claim is for re-imbursement, not compensation. Do you know the best way to contact Customer Relations in this instance?

Thanks!

SteveinA2

BA downgraded me from F to J on an Avios booking. LHR to US non stop. It was a one way. 100,000 avios and about $700 (taxes and carrier surcharges)

From this thread, if I take the flight, I believe I'm entitled to 75,000 Avios and about $300 as taxes are ~$300 - So ending with a J flight to USA for 25K adios and $300 - not a bad deal.

Is this compensation impacted by the fact BA want me to "Accept my downgrade" on Manage My Booking. I could wait to day of departure to accept but I don't want to lose the seat selection I can do in advance for free.

corporate-wage-slave

Formally Customer Relations operate post event in this area. I guess you could send it in, but I guess it gets complicated by if you end up not flying at all for one of many possible reasons in the current circumstances. So it may be best to wait. It's important that you gave BA a chance to fix the problem, which it seems you did, but if not sending in the claim early gives CR one last opportunity to replace your flights. You should be able to find a general comments / complaint webform if you fiddle about with the subject options, and this gives an open text box. Make sure you copy this / screen print it before sending since these things have a habit of vanishing. Note that there is not an absolute right to re-routing on another airline, but it may be that there was no other option in your circumstances. I know of cases where BA have just paid up, and BA would be mad if they wanted this tested by an appeal court, but I would caution against thinking this is definitely going to be paid out.

corporate-wage-slave

No, that doesn't make a difference, the wording of the Regulation talks in terms of BA placing you in a lower class, which they are clearly doing here. BA sometimes try to argue this relates to day of travel changes, but (a) it doesn't say that in the Regulation and (b) there are plenty of CJEU judgements which make it clear this Regulation applies at any point in the process. So if BA try to make that point, just point that out or ignore it, while still pressing on.

ChemicalWoody

Thanks so much - yes, BA re-confirmed twice that there were no options on my dates, as BA has no agreement with any of the 3 airlines running flights.

I also specifically requested the option that I am now booking myself.

So it should be clear cut fingers crossed, but agree - it may need multiple escalation steps.