MarcusU

Hi all,

I took advantage of one of the BA business class sale fares ex-Europe that I found on flyertalk last year, and booked CDG-DUB-LAX -- (open jaw) -- SAN-LHR-CDG over Easter. The DUB-LAX leg was operated by EI, with a BA code share. EI has since suspended their flights from DUB to LAX until mid-May (I received a cancellation directly from EI but the flight still shows as operating in BA MMB), and the LHR-CDG leg operated by BA on the return has also been cancelled. Two questions:

(1) What are my likely chances of being able to drop the sectors to and from CDG and have BA rebook me onto LHR-LAX/SAN-LHR instead?

(2) Is it best to get it rebooked now given I imagine flights to be busy over Easter, or wait until closer to the departure date to maintain flexibility or in case there are further schedule changes between now and then?

Thanks for the advice, as always!

FlightDetective

On point 1 - I did change mine for this Easter (probably the same sale!) but not sure if you can do it as yours is CDG-DUB.

I had CDG-LHR-SEA-HNL-SEA-LHR-CDG booked and when I had flight cancellations, I called up and while rescheduling, requested that I start and end at LHR. It was done without them batting an eyelid, as it's within 300 miles. I was delighted when the cancellation came through as it saved me having to get to and from Paris, not to mention the time saving.

On point 2 - As soon as I receive a flight cancellation, I always call and rebook immediately. I'd do it online myself, but BA IT. It has meant I've had further cancellations and so on, but then it's just call again and change flights again. That's my personal preference anyway.

Good luck!!

corporate-wage-slave

So at the moment CDG-DUB is still operating? If so then you options hinge around that flight operating, so you can't get rid of that at the moment. You somehow need a CDG-LAX route, which can be via London or using AA via DUB or something similar. For the return as things stand you can drop LHR-CDG and get a small refund on that component.

Generally speaking I would advocate you only now make a change when you are forced by circumstances, such as the aircraft being at risk of sell-out (somewhat unlikely at the moment), otherwise stick to changes that you are 99% sure will work for you. And no "maybe" arrangements made in haste. If you instantly rebook you instantly lock yourself in, at least potentially into the new arrangements at the airline's charity, as opposed to what works best for you. However. There may be an argument to make this CDG-LHR-LAX/SAN-LHR now, since there will be some chance of CDG-LHR being dropped and thus you are in a position to take advantage of that, which you can't do if still booked on CDG-DUB-LAX. However if that CDG-LHR sticks, then you need to travel from CDG.

You could simply FTV the lot and rebook from fresh, but I would only do that about a month from departure and only if you were pretty sure CDG wasn't possible.

mikeyfly

Is it flight only or BA Holiday?

MarcusU

Thanks for the quick response and the sage advice, FlightDetective. I'm reassured knowing I should be able to start and end at LHR (as given how quickly border restrictions are changing at the moment, I'm keen not to make travel any harder on myself than absolutely necessary!). I'll also follow your recommendation and get onto BA asap to rebook.

Thanks again, and have a great weekend!

NickB

The way I understand it is that you cannot be sure that you will be able to start from LHR at the moment. You would need the leg starting from CDG to be cancelled, to enable you to rebook from a starting point up to 300 miles away from CDG, including LHR. That is why, I think, CWS was suggesting that there might be an argument for rebooking CDG-LHR-LAX/SAN now if your preferred outcome was to start from LHR and you think that the CDG-LHR might be cancelled or that the CDG-LHR is more likely to be cancelled than the CDG-DUB. The downside is that, if you get rebooked onto CDG-LHR-LAX/SAN now and the CDG-DUB leg is cancelled later but not the CDG-LHR, you would not be able to rebook from LHR whereas you would still be able to if you had sat still and not yet locked into a replacement routing.

So, ultimately, if I understand BA rebooking policies correctly, if you want to start from LHR, the question is whether you think the CDG-DUB is more likely to get cancelled than the CDG-LHR you might be rebooked onto. If it is, sitting still and waiting is best If it is not, then perhaps rebooking via LHR now is best.

FlightDetective

Are you sure?

For me, it was BA services from London Heathrow to Seattle and back that were cancelled and replaced with new flights at different times. It had nothing to do with the LHR-CDG-LHR part of my itinerary, which were still operating without change.

When rejigging the itinerary, having to go out via LAX to HNL on AA as SEA was out due to the timings, I just asked if I could start and end in London instead of Paris and he said yes. I did chance my arm first and asked for Dublin as my starting point, but it was outside the 300 mile rule, so that was a no. London was without a quibble, he just did it and that was that.

doug091363

Pick up the phone. Last month, due to the quarantine restrictions, we decided to cut out part of our vacation. I called and asked. The agent told me, that they were being given "lots of leeway". She made the changes we wanted at no cost

NickB

The issue was discussed in the main covid19 cancellation-rebooking-refund thread, where it was reported that BA had tightened its policies on change of gateway last summer and now required the flight from the gateway (or to the gateway as appropriate) to be cancelled to allow a change a of gateway within 300 miles (see, in particular, this post by KARFA). Whether BA has relaxed its policies again or whether you have just been lucky, I do not know, but I would personally be prudent in the OP's situation.

lcylocal

If the OP has the time and inclination then I think this one is worth a call to see if an agent would do it. Either because they aren’t totally across the policy change or feel that they have some flex here. But I don’t think they can make a fuss if the agent says they can’t.

corporate-wage-slave

Yes, pragmatically you may be right, though my core message was to delay unless you fancy the CWS gamble. Agents generally do see the bigger picture, not least that a re-routing is preferable to a cash refund when cash is king. But in this case the ticket is CDG to LAX. It has to be changed due to DUB-LAX not operating, the 300 mile rule won't apply to CDG-DUB since that's operating, so the ticket is still CDG to LAX and other routes between those locations would be allowed, most agents would perhaps suggest an AA service out of CDG to USA, which is what, um, most people would want. But best to wait since who knows what will happen.

MarcusU

Thanks, everyone, for weighing in.

To respond to your questions, it’s flight only, and as I got a great deal when I booked it and (pending no further travel restrictions in the interim) fully intend to travel on it, I would like to keep the booking rather than convert it to an FTV and rebook (especially as LHR-LAX/SAN-LHR is now selling for more than double what I paid).

While the EI-operated CDG-DUB flight is currently still operating, with EI suspending the route from DUB-LAX, there are now no direct flights between DUB and LAX for my dates; AA operates with a stopover. In going into MMB and clicking on the “rebook my flights” option, it gives me the option to change my flights to CDG-LHR-LAX on the same day, but my preference would still be to drop the CDG-LHR leg and originate from LHR. Rather than insist I preserve the CDG-DUB leg, which would serve no useful purpose, as it would then require BA to route me CDG-DUB-LHR-LAX (albeit good for the TP balance), could I reasonably assume that common sense would prevail (never a guaranteed assumption, I know), and suggest I start from LHR instead?

I should also like to hope that with the LHR-CDG sector cancelled on the return leg (although I was offered the helpful suggestion from BA’s HAL that the best alternative would be to book me onto an alternative flight from LHR-CDG that departed 5 minutes before my flight from SAN-LHR arrives), I should be able to drop that sector with minimal protest and instead terminate at LHR.

Thanks again - any thoughts / random speculation welcomed!

FlightDetective

Thanks for that information - either they've changed it or I got lucky.

My flight change was done on 10 December 2021, so just over a month ago.

Whatever the policy is, it worked for me, and recently.