No IST-LHR route until the 17th May - what are my rights?
 

Morning folks.

Currently in IST and supposed to fly back to LHR on 10th April (one-way Avios booking in J). I just tried to move this booking to the 5th April and realized BA has cancelled the IST route until the 17th May.
Called the GGL line and they advised they have indeed cancelled the route however they have "special interline agreements" with both LH and QR in case routes are cancelled for such a long time.
What are my rights in this case? My booking is still live on my account however the customer service agent confirmed she can see my flight is cancelled at her end.

Am I entitled to be re-booked on a different airline free of charge or can they just cancel and refund the Avios I used for this booking?

Thanks!

Definitely roundabout the houses routing wise but if they're offering to rebook you on QR in J I'd bite their hand off.

You may want to have a look at the main EC261 thread, where at the end there are a number of similar examples, and also the main Cancel/Rebook thread. In brief you can choose between:
- a refund (EC26)
- an FTV (BA policy)
- a rebook on the next BA flight (EC261)
- realistically a rebook on Lufthansa via FRA or MUC.(BA policy).

Thanks corporate-wage-slave

She just called me back after having spoken to her supervisor and you are right, these are the options indeed.
The only problem is the rebook with LH would not be in line with their policy by then, as this expires on the 31st March (but they are looking into extending).

...and the LH option would mean a 3:30am wakeup call as well as nearly 6 hours layover at FRA (lounges are open but no food/drinks consumption allowed).

In the circumstances, I think these are only minor inconveniences.

Are they offering QR as an alternative for IST if BA flights are canceled?

They are no longer offering QR rebookings for IST. Lufthansa IST-FRA-LHR or IST-FRA-LHR-XXX is what they offer but as mentioned above that policy is currently for flights until 31 March.

By the way, I also have IST-LHR flights zeroed out in 3 March but still didn't get the cancellation e-mail so I could rebook.

What BA is offering (as it will almost certainly extend its LH scheme) is well within what EC 261/2004 would require, should OP wish to be rebooked.

The schedule may be sub-optimal, but this is the nature of travel these days. Lower demand = fewer frequencies = fewer alternatives. At least there is a viable routing available.

Plus some Star Alliance miles to boot as they won't know you were booked as a redemption in the first place. Presuming you collect those too.

Another thing to remark in this case would be that the OP is intending to change his travel date as well. If he would like to be rebooked on another airline ( in this case LH ), he should fly the at the closest available date from his original departure date.

BA might refuse the OP to be rebooked on 5 April on a LH flight, when there is a 10 April option as his original cancelled itinerary with BA was on 10 April.

Or take the Avios refund and rebook on TK in economy for £108 for the dates you want. I agree it's not ideal, but there's no 3.30am start and no 6 hours without eating in FRA (and you can pick to fly whichever day you want).

Yes - I saw that, thanks! Also saw exit rows seats for sale at additional £38.

Pre-COVID a TK flight on a widebody in Y in the exit with IFE, hot meal, free wine etc was pretty much comparable to BA CE and perfectly pleasant way to spend what is a pretty short flight. These days there isn't the hot meal or bar but I would still absolutely be doing this instead of messing about with connections, just take a decent sandwich on with you!

Note on the exit payment - if you change flights you lose the money. So only pay once you are sure it's the flight you'll be on.

Agree - even the exit row on a 737 or Airbus equals/beats CE. A comfy seat, IFE, loads of space.

Having done a lot of IST over the years on BA, and more recently TK, no way would I go back to BA.

Had a call back advising they are more likely going to extend the Policy with LH. In the meanwhile they offered to rebook me on the ATH/LHR service however I would have to arrange the flight to ATH myself and take it to Customer Relations :rolleyes: