MaxFlyer

I recently completed an AA ticketed itinerary which had a mixture of AA and BA flights.



AMS-LHR-JFK-LAX-JFK-LHR-AMS (all in business and crediting to my BA account)



5 of the 6 flights in the itinerary did not go to plan due to cancellations, reroutings and rebookings due to re-timed connections.



For the first sector AMS-LHR on BA the original flight was cancelled and I was put onto the next flight but I was downgraded to economy. I didn’t receive a notification from either BA or AA and only noticed when I arrived in AMS on my positioning flight. This was around midnight. The flight from AMS-LHR was due to leave at 07:50 the next morning.



Also, due to the cancellation there were no workable same day connections from LHR-JFK which would then connect me to LAX so I was put onto the direct LHR-LAX flight with BA. This got me into LAX an hour later than originally planned even though I had a much longer layover in LHR. I also lost out on my prebooked special meals due to the cancellation and rebooking



I lost out on BA Tier Points which I need for requalification. I have asked BA to reimburse due to IRROPS.



Next cancellation was the return LAX-JFK with AA as for some reason they didn’t have a captain to operate the flight. The flight was rescheduled from 11:59pm to 11:00am the next day. This resulted in a new JFK-LHR flight. I just about had time to make the LHR-AMS connection.



As the LAX-JFK flight was cancelled about an 1.5 hours before departure there were no hotel choices nearby. AA’s system wanted to send me somewhere out of town and only up to $100 per room (hotels were full and those with rooms pricing out at over $300) and didn’t want to have to fight AA for reimbursement.



I decided to stay in the Flagship Lounge until it closed at 1am and then pass the time in the terminal until it reopened at 4:30am to then shower and have breakfast before the 11:00am flight to JFK.


I’m not sure if I would be due any compensation of either money or miles (would prefer Avios than AAmiles). I am assuming that as this is an AA ticket that I need to raise all this with AA and not BA?


I did post this in the AA flight disruption sticky but I haven’t received any replies so hoping the BA community can advise.



Thanks

jmr1190

Hi everyone, just after some advice.

I was on BA2595 from Catania on 2nd April. There was some discussion of the outbound dependency on this forum actually and what accommodation allowances pax were entitled to, and our flight was delayed by approx 23 hours and ended up departing more or less the same time the following day. We were informed that the operating crew had no more hours available to work, and so this was the reason the LHR-CTA outbound was pushed to the following day, and so a series of knock-on factors.

I presumed this was a slam dunk for EU261 as there doesn't seem to be anything remotely extraordinary about this. And yet, BA have replied this morning refusing our claim with the following:

"Thanks for contacting us about your claim for EU compensation. We're sorry it was necessary to delay your flight to London Heathrow on 02 April' 2022. Your claim's been refused because BA2595 on 02 April' 2022 was delayed due to operational reasons, which required immediate attention.We take all reasonable measures to avoid disruption to a flight and we always consider if there are any other alternative solutions before we make a decision. The delay was out of our control and caused unforeseen disruption to our schedule."
Am I going mad? I imagined this was going to be an open and shut case as far as EU261 goes. The explanation seems very wooly and an extremely generous interpretation of what is considered to be 'extraordinary circumstances'. How do I even begin to construct a reply to that?

corporate-wage-slave

The AA sectors on the return from LA would be out of scope for EC261, so it's down to their customer relations policies. I doubt this would be anything than some AA miles, or perhaps an AA eVoucher. Just one of the perils of not using European airlines.

For the outbound, it sounds like you were not late getting to LAX, and left AMS slightly later than planned. So there isn't a delay there within EC261, unless I've missed something here. By cutting out the longer turnaround in LHR and also the stop in NYC, the trip was more or less rebased to the original schedule, arguably this is EC261 doing its job. You would be able to claim something for the downgrade to EuroTraveller, but it will be a tiny amount, unless I am much mistakem, given the distances involved. So you may want to ask for some Avios instead of pursuing for the downgrade sums, which depend on your ticket but it wouldn't surprise me if it's under £10.

corporate-wage-slave

Welcome to Flyertalk and welcome to the BA forum. No, you are not going mad, what happened was that flight - and I remember the back story to this - went down on the system as OPER rather than OPEY and because of that you ended up with the incorrect reply. They are not investigating circumstances, it seems to me, they have too many complaints to handle. You have some options open to you. -
- have a dialogue with BA which forces them to look into this in more detail. I don't advise this, it will take a long time and they may still not budge
- ask for BA to confirm their answer will not change. Nothing else. Very short. Then use this to go to CEDR. This forces the first stage and I suspect they will pay up after a few weeks before it gets adjudicated
- ask BA to confirm their answer won't change and then start MCOL without further notice. Likely to get the fastest reply in your favour, but is a certain amount of hassle and cost, which you should recover.

sayling

Can someone elucidate what hassle and costs are involved in going via MCOL as opposed to CEDR, please?

Ta

paul21

Thank you for your reply!

Regarding proof, I can see on the BA site the flight is cancelled. In MMB and AAs site there is nothing yet. Is this with a screenshot and my current ticket itinerary (with AA codeshares) sufficient or do you think I need to wait for another trigger or get more evidence?

https://www.britishairways.com/trave...ightNumber=867

corporate-wage-slave

That screenshot will do. Sometimes people get the impression a flight is cancelled when it is not, but Flight Status is ok for this.

corporate-wage-slave

It's spelled out in the main EC261 thread but CEDR is free (despite what is suggested on their website) and has a reasonably user-friendly step by step input process. MCOL involves a fee that depends on the amount claimed, but £30 to £40 is typical, and a series of court papers which aren't entirely user friendly and for which some care and attention is necessary.

drkaboobi

Looking for some clarity from the knowledge base in this forum please.

I booked a short return trip EDI-LHR-JFK, outbound business and return PE, in cash. I then upgraded the return leg with avios. For myself and my partner.

We are mid trip in New York and have been notified that our return connection from LHR to EDI has been cancelled. We have been moved onto a later service (lands 70 mins later) but we’re downgraded to euro traveller.

My question is around what compensation may be due for the downgrade on this last leg. It seems complicated given the combination of cash and avios used in the booking. Any help kindly appreciated.

corporate-wage-slave

The downgrade reimbursement is as per the Mennens formula in the wiki. Because it's proportionate to the distance, it won't be very much, at a guess I would say £10 or so. In fact BA's fare difference will almost certainly be a bit higher, maybe in the £20 area per person. So my usual advice on short distance downgrades is to ask for some Avios instead of requesting a formal downgrade reimbursement. You will have to wait until the trip is over before claiming.

Anvil1984

Sorry guys for the newbie question but never had this happen before and confused myself with the Ec261s T+Cs (somethings two hours, some three etc)

I was booked NCL -LHR-OSL on BA1325 connecting into BA766 next Thursday but I was informed yesterday that BA766 has been cancelled and I’m now on BA360. This arrives into OSL 2.5 hours after my original plans, if it doesn’t miraculously make up time would I qualify for a claim?

again apologies for what’s probably a easy one

aviosasw

How long have people been having to wait to hear from BA after submitting a claim?

corporate-wage-slave

So you were told more than a week before departure, but less than 2 weeks. In that scenario it would need to be 4 hours based on the cancellation, so that would not get compensation. There are some different timing relating to delays which is why it's confusing.

george77300

Cancelled 10 days out on LHR-LUX:

• As between 14-7 days prior is this half rate? So €125?
• If we cancel for refund do we still get that?
• If we decide to rebook onto a LCY-LUX (identical timings so not late) - does this void the comp?
• if we decide to rebook to later in the day LCY-LUX (6 hours late) does this then get the full rate of €250?

I think that’s my understanding but I’m slightly confused as it’s a cancellation but then also a potential re route. Sorry for being a bit slow!

corporate-wage-slave

The half rate applies to the new schedule compared to the original, not to when it happened. The cancellation allows a full refund, and potentially compensation but it depends on the timings.If you rebook to LCY then any compensation still depends on the timings before and after. If you chose a different schedule to BA, then you cannot derive extra compensation by doing so unless there is a clear reason why the new timetable would not have worked.