aviosasw

I received an email from BA on the 28th April stating that they would refund me and my partner €250 each for our delayed flights to Berlin plus the expenses for rebooked flights etc. as of our cancelled flights on 31st March.

However, to make things confusing they have now done the following:
1) have sent me 3 emails following this email stating that they are sorry they are still dealing with my claim and haven’t responded yet (even though they clearly have?)
2) I received a payment of £314 into my bank account today but this doesn’t cover the expenses plus the €250 we were promised each - the £314 roughly covers the expenses, do you think I will receive the latter in a separate payment?

would appreciate any insight - I don’t really want to call BA if I don’t have to!

thanks in advance

corporate-wage-slave

I have no insight into this, but I don't think calling will work anyway since it's another department that handles this. I would wait another 2 weeks then reply either with the link in one your existing emails, or via a new webform referencing the incident number and PNR.

hshs

I'm just preparing a CEDR application form for a claim that's now 10 weeks old and I see that CEDR have updated their adjudication rules in respect of application forms received after 1 May 2022. I've not gone through them word by word, but see they've changed various references to EC Regulation 261/2004 to the replacement Air Passenger Rights Regulations. Most significantly, though, they have added a new rule 4.1.8: "In exceptional circumstances, and with the approval of the Civil Aviation Authority, CEDR will have the discretion to vary the timescale at Rule 4.1.5 above."

4.1.5 is the rule that gives the subscribing party 15 working days to respond. So, their previously informal practice of giving BA extra time to build their defence is now formalised and, it would appear, the CAA has approved of the practice.

LSunbury

Could some-one please give me a clear answer, as I don't think I am smart enough to fully grasp the correct scenario of a claim that is currently approaching 8 wweks with BA, before I potentially take it to CEDR?

Our itin in March was OGG-LAX-LHR-CDG, one PNR, less than 24 hours at each connection. LHR -CDG leg was due 0720 on Friday and we got notification of cancellation at 1730 on the previous Friday. Alternative flight offered later was 1100, so more than 3 hours later, but less than 4. We cancelled this leg and made other arrangements.

So, reading the first post in this thread it seems clear that as the delay was 2 hours plus so 250eu each is due BUT
post 3 suggests that if more than 7 days notice has been given and the delay is less than 4 hours no compensation is due?

I have re-read a couple of times but these seem contrary so need help!

Thanks in advance for advice

corporate-wage-slave

It is a confusing area, but I think you've got it mroe or less right. I don't think you have a valid claim because if more than a week's notice was given, BA can delay you by up to 4 hours without compensation. This does look odd versus the usual 3 hour delay cut off but the reason for the inconsistency is the different legal histories that cancellations versus delays have had. Hopefully the refund on the last sector is useful, but that's as far as it goes.

LSunbury

Thank you for the advice c-w-s!

It does seem counter-intuitive. A cancellation caused the delay, then the compensation is based on the delay, not the cancellation, if I understand correctly!

corporate-wage-slave

Well you could argue it both ways. But the slightly longer answer is that EC261 does not give compensation for delays. You will not find one word about compensation for delays in the Regulation, and yet 95% plus of compensation is in fact for delays. This came about due to the Sturgeon case, where the CJEU ruled that airlines had to give some degree of equal treatment to passengers placed in very similar levels of travel hassle, But it wasn't completely equal, Sturgeon came up with the 3 hour rule for delays, and it's doesn't fully dovetail with the bit that is in the regulation, namely compensation for cancellations. And that flows from the compensation for cancellations has a 3 stage timeline involved, whereas delays typically you only find out on the day of travel. It's easy to point out the flaws to this. So let us say someone in AMS plans a short break in HNL - as a real holiday not a TP run - staying 4 days. If they are told at 15 days to departure that they can only have say 2 days in HNL, their hassle factor is enormous, whereas someone told at 13 days could potentially get 600€ per person for the hassle.

GoingForGold1500

Hi all

my family and I were downgraded from WTP to WT on a BOS-LHR due to change of aircraft. We were notified at the check-in desk and not offered an alternative flight.

long story short; BA have offered a refund amount that by my reckoning is not 75% of the one-way fare I paid. However, my E-ticket does not breakdown the fare, taxes and charges. Is there any way of checking their maths in this case? Or, since 11 weeks have passed, should I just go straight to CEDR and have them work it out?

total was £4414 (round trip) and refund offered is £925.

also, concerning taxes and charges; as the downgrade changed the tax I would have paid, should this form part of the calculation?

lastly, concerning surcharges; is there any precedent for surcharges being part of the refund? Could we find ourselves paying a £1 fare with £500 of carrier imposed surcharges and only being entitled to 75p refund? An extreme example but I’m interested in your views.

many thanks

corporate-wage-slave

Welcome to Flyertalk, GoingForGold1500.

The wiki has links to the Mennens formula where in conjunction with some searching you can work out the correct calculation. You need to include in your 75% for the carrier surcharge, but allow BA to the necessary taxes for WT travel, which from the USA will be all of them. If you dig out the e-ticket and break down the taxes (maybe estimating and looking at dummy bookings if necessary) you should be able to work out whether they got it approximately correct. WT to WTP can give low reimbursement, but usually that's in UK to USA rather than the reverse.

SK AAR

£4414 for a round trip WTP LHR-BOS?

sayling

For a family...

GoingForGold1500

Thanks for the replies. I’ll have a look at the formula - that’s very helpful.

Yes, a family of 5 and that included £440 of tax and charges for 5 x Avios upgrades outbound to CW (which I had forgotten was an extra cost that’s probably not part of the calculation).

pazza2000

What is the response time for complaints right now, EU261 claims or otherwise?

docdee

We had a last minute cancellation back from Geneva on 26th Feb. We were offered next day flights (>24 hours later, no offer of a hotel etc.) but we needed to be back sooner as our dog sitter couldn't stay an extra night. We therefore booked ourselves back on Swiss that evening (cost ~£1200) . BA have finally come back to us and awarded compensation for the cancellation but refusing to pay for the new flights claiming this to be a consequential loss and to claim on our travel insurance. The compensation does not cover the cost of the Swiss flights. Do I have a case for CEDR or MCOL and if so which path would be better?

sayling

Very much varied - some advise a week or two, some have heard nothing for many months