bowlingformatt

This route doesn’t seem to ever be getting off the ground as it appears to have been pulled again.

Subsequently I’ve had my MAN-LGW flight cancelled for March next year. I’ve been rebooked on a LHR flight departing same time instead but still need to get to LGW to get to Tampa.

There’s currently a 4 hour window to get from landing at T5 to departure at LGW which quite frankly I doubt will cut it even with fast track etc. as I’m reliant on getting my bags etc.

I know I can claim for expenses to and from LHR and LGW from BA but -

1. Would a change to a night before departure to LHR be considered reasonable?
2. Would a LGW hotel stay be covered as a reasonable expense covered by EU 261 if I went the night before?
3. Should I book a hotel and transport myself then claim retrospectively or try get BA to sort in advance?

If anyone has experience in this (I’m sure there are) I’m keen to know more. Haven’t had to to do the LGW/LHR switcharoo dance before with BA before and I don’t want to be out of pocket.

Thanks!

bisonrav

1. Yes
2. Probably BA would argue you've had enough notice and they've provided an alternative flight within MCT.
3. Might be worth a speculative claim for a hotel, I'd move the outbound using BA though, no reason not to.

Four hours certainly isn't impossible from LHR. It's about a 50 minute ride and costs about £100 in a car which stacks up quite well against National Express for a family (I have a recommendation for a firm I use if anyone wants it, DM me, no connection except being a satisfied customer over many years). But as you're risking delaying the start of your holiday if you miss the flight, I'd go the night before.

sammyg901

I'd go the night before, stay somewhere I'd be happy to pay for myself and put in a claim to BA and consider it a bonus if they pay out

If it's just you then National Express is the way to go, otherwise I'd do an Uber / prebooked car . I used to use BA Transfers (no connection to BA!) but my friend told me they've really hiked their prices recently

I don't know if they'd offer it as an option but another idea is to ask for the Aer Lingus Orlando direct flight?

gw76

So cancellation of route brought forward from Oct go July. Think it was a W-mainline routing? Wonder if GLA will face chop being the oddity left, though seems to do well and a useful LHR overflow.

booogle

I'm in the same boat as the OP except BA have not rebooked me on any Man-Lhr flights as yet , probably because there aren't any on a Saturday meeting MCT . I have booked a night at Hilton Gatwick for now so can go night before, but I am going to call and see if they will reroute Man-Lhr-Mia-Tpa instead.

DeathSlam

There are probably better options than this to get to TPA from where you are starting, many of them missing LHR entirely.

booogle

I'm on an Amex 241 so presumed would need to do BA on the long haul. Will ask when I call.

bisonrav

Swiveling a little off topic, but I've been sitting on a LGW to MAN since October last year, a ticket well off the end of validity, booked for tomorrow. The return flight on the booking - to Heathrow - was cancelled just outside the 14 day limit, and so I was waiting to see if the LGW leg got cancelled too late on for some EC261 action.

As there were no signs of this happening, I decided to see if I could have some fun with it. I was told I had a +14 day window for rebooking, so have pushed it out to the 29th. No suitable returns available, so I suggested a BA coded Loganair to Aberdeen, and thence to Heathrow, not expecting for a moment it would be allowed. In fact I was expecting to be told the ticket was out of validity and I could go whistle.

But they agreed it, and I'm ticketed. Very surprised, and really looking forward to the Loganair ATR72 in a couple of weeks time. Now of course the attention focuses on the ABZ to LHR leg, and whether that runs. Any flights you can actually manage to fly these days seem like a major victory.

chris1922Mk2

I hope not. I was on LGW - GLA yesterday (15/07) and it was completely full. From what I could see it was exclusively Scots returning from various overseas holiday trips, like me. In fact, I overheard it was oversold, one poor family only got on because someone else's connecting flight was delayed and they would miss it. The poor woman was livid, she said to the gate agent she had booked the flight a year ago, and wanted to know why she was the one to be put on standby when other pax who had presumably booked much later were not the ones to be bumped.
I hope we get several daily GLA/LGW rotations like we used to, rather than the single one we have at present.

bowlingformatt

Thanks for all replies and help.

After approx. 30 mins on Silver line the agent moved me to the night before LHR flight and booked me into the Hilton at Gatwick foc no questions asked.

On the matter of transport between Heathrow and Gatwick the agent said she couldn’t guarantee the cost being compensated but that I should submit a claim anyway. I’m hopeful this’ll work given that it specifies this exact type of expense under the legislation.

Having never claimed for comp from BA before I likely won’t be splurging!

onlynik

Good luck with that. Recently so many flights have been cancelled. So much so I've given up flying BA from ABZ and take the train the EDI. The shame is security at Aberdeen is a breeze and it's not a bad wee airport now aside from the bizarre location of the domestic baggage.

booogle

Hi, I called BA today, they said they wouldn't pay for a night in Gatwick for my TPA connection. My booking was an Amex 241 voucher. Was yours cash or BA holidays maybe? They will allow me to change flights and go via Miami on BA or AA metal if I choose so though.

Tobias-UK

The airline is responsible for hotel accommodation if a hotel is “necessary”. In other words the airline must cover your expenses if they are unable or refuse to reroute you without an overnight stay.

bowlingformatt

It was a BA Holidays Booking. I considered trying to get a different route but none could get me into TPA as early as I liked.