corporate-wage-slave

Yes, for all the comments about EC261 and delays, actually the Regulations don't provide cover for delays! But judicial intervention then spread the Regulation's protection to include delays. So you would be in the frame to get the half rate of 300€/£210 due to not being the full 4 hours late.

corporate-wage-slave

There has long been some prioritisation in that those Gold or above get faster responses. Also they seem to triage complaints. So short complaints where there is no dispute that BA needs to pay tend to get faster responses. Some complaints are more complex, or possibly made unnecessarily complex, so it's not surprising that these get held up. At least some people are simply recovering hotel bills only, and not seeking compensation, and these will be dealt with more quickly.

peter3102

On 17 March I went to St Lucia with BAH returning on 31 March and landing at Gatwick on 1 April with a connecting flight LHR to MAN BA1394 due MAN 15.15. On 26 March I received an email from BAH informing me and fellow 3 PAX, J class, of the cancellation of BA1394. As instructed by MMB I telephoned the given number only to receive a recorded message telling me to email instead. After an exchange of many emails we were rebooked on BA1406, arriving MAN 23.15, 8 hours later than originally booked. I submitted a 261 claim on 3 April receiving an instant auto response. Since then I have received weekly responses similar to scottnp above basically saying we are busy do not chase a reply to your claim. It looks like I could have another month to wait.

csutter

In the exact same boat (hilariously on the same route and flight as Newbtravelle). Fourth trip to Vienna in a row that had at least one leg cancelled, maybe it's me?

Due to travel on the last flight of the day (BA705 at 1940), cancelled 9 days ahead, only alternatives offered on the same day were BA701 at 1330 (over 6 hours earlier), or two even earlier flights. This meant we had the option of a) taking a flight on the next day and missing work commitments, or b) losing effectively an entire day of our holiday taking the earlier flight (which we begrudgingly opted for).

Currently they refuse to pay out, full stop, giving the same "Heathrow is so busy, woe is us" nonsense others have received upthread - but I'm confident CEDR will sort that out. What I'm worried about is that CEDR will rule in my favour only for BA to then pay me the half amount and me having to start another arbitration process!

Is the best way to prevent that just making sure I'm crystal clear in my CEDR submission that I'm looking for precisely EUR250 per pax? Or should I be more verbose (e.g. reference Azurair)? Or does your reference to MCOL above mean that's the best course of action here (instead of CEDR)?

corporate-wage-slave

There is certainly scope to mention Azurair in your CEDR application and to specifically mention that you don't believe 7.2 applies. CEDR isn't a dialogue body, they will make their ruling and that will be it. However you are allowed to go to MCOL if you believe they are wrong in law. MCOL has the advantage of probably being faster at the moment, but it comes with the need to do a more structured application and more research. There is also an upfront set of legal fees to pay. which is recoverable from BA if you win or they concede.

MARTYM8

Mine is a bit more complex I suppose as I booked with Iberia and there were no Club europe seats the next day so I got downgraded to economy. So its an expenses, cancellation and maybe can I have a few avios points as I couldn't fly in business class case!

Iberia (who my first leg was with) wouldn't help me at all - so sent me landside to visit the BA desk in Madrid. The desk was of course staffed by someone from Iberia(!) - I didn't feel quite as aggrieved as the person next to me who had missed his connection for his first trip to Australia in 2 years. But he luckily got rebooked on Qatar!

asimlut

What’s the current BA rebooking policy for cancellations? Is it within a year of outbound travel or within a year of booking?

I booked a flight from LHR to DXB on 22/5/21 to fly out on 12/8/21 which was cancelled.

I want to rebook for 1/8/22. Would I be able to without having to go down the MCOL/CEDR route.

corporate-wage-slave

Unless the rules have changed again, you need to start the first flight within 1 year of initial ticketing, and the last flght within 1 year of the first flight. So that doesn't look like it's within company policy.

asimlut

Thank you for the quick reply. I was afraid that might be the case. I’ll try HUACAing a few times but if not, it’ll have to be MCOL, on the basis that I need to travel during summer holidays.

Lurker_01

What would your view be on the following:
Booked LHR to SYD in Dec 2020, for travel in April 2021
The next week, April 2021 cancelled. Switched to December 2021.
Then in August 2021, all LHR / SYD flights cancelled until 27 Mar 2022.

- CEDR told me that the ticket was only valid until December 2021 (Despite no LHR / SYD flights during March 2000 to 27 March 2022).

corporate-wage-slave

A lot is going to be based on who did what, and what was said at the time. CEDR have taken a narrow view of this in some cases, and if a rebooking was offered - clearly it has here - then BA are seemingly off the hook.

But it's possible to argue this without the history. Namely, your last cancellation was December 2021, and you would like a rebooking according to EC261, irrespective of what has happened previously. That would suggest going to MCOL. Now there seems to be 2 ways to look at this - one that CEDR has made a mistake in their reading of the law - and without reading all the the submissions and their summary then I can't comment much about that. Alternatively there was a factual detail which CEDR has got wrong - same comments apply. So in short CEDR isn't necessarily the end of the road, MCOL still exists after that, but clearly there needs to be significant attention to detail, and a strong line of argument, to prevent BA trying to pass on their legal costs to you.

petez

Just had a LHR - ATH flight on Tuesday 10th May cancelled today (Wed 27th) - am I correct thinking that EC261 will apply as its 13 days notice or will BA find a way of saying its 14 days ..... ?

stefan_nl

Did a EC261 claim for my flight(s) on 27th april:

Original flights:

• BA429 AMS-LHR, departure 10:00, arrival 10:25
• BA93 LHR-YYZ, departure 13:10, arrival 15:55

Got a cancellation of flight BA429 on the 16th of april. In the cancelation I was rebooked on BA2825 to LGW departure 10:55, arrival 11:15. Obviously a impossible connection to BA93 at LHR.

So rebooked onto the early morning flight BA423 departure 07:50 and claimed a compensation because of a > 2 hr earlier scheduled departure time.

Today received a mail from BA:
Now I have a hard time believing the cancellation was out of the control of BA. Is there anyway to check?

corporate-wage-slave

That's not your responsibility, it's over to BA to prove extraordinary circumstances etc. See some of the last 30 or so of the most recent data points, flights are being cancelled because BA has not got sufficient staff to run the whole schedule, so BA are selectively cancelling services to keep the show on the road. They are not moving people to other airlines like KLM to minimise disrupton. As per the other data points, send a short note saying "kindly confirm your answer will not change" and then take the matter to CEDR or the small claims court.

raunow

Seems BA now claims COVID is a waiver for all disruptions. Suggestions on how to proceed ?

“Your claim's been refused because flight BA392 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.

Throughout the pandemic, every one of our destinations has been impacted as a result of constantly changing restrictions, immigration controls, country closures, crew entry requirements and factors relating to the health and safety of our crew and of our passengers.

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have had to implement reductions in our schedule resulting in cancellations. Unfortunately, your flight was one such flight that was cancelled.

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. We appreciate your support as a Gold member of our Executive Club and hope to welcome you on board again soon.”