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Rebooking beyond the 12 month validity - should I bother?

Rebooking beyond the 12 month validity - should I bother?

Old Jul 31, 2022, 4:17 am
  #1  
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Rebooking beyond the 12 month validity - should I bother?

I have an itinerary that was cancelled months ago. Flights were for May but it was booked about 12 months ago or so.

I might be able to rebook now for new dates on October, but clearly BA won't let me without a fight.

Can I be bothered with fighting? New flights are definitely more expensive, so the change would go at my advantage.

That said, there is always the risk that those flights are going to be cancelled as well as they'll be last few rotations from LGW to CAG. My other option is to fly with LH via MUC or FRA.
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Old Jul 31, 2022, 4:52 am
  #2  
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It's happened to quite a few of my bookings this year, and in recent months, BA have been inflexible with me on this (GGL, GfL, etc) so unless you really, really care, I personally won't even try any more. I need to pick my fights.
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Old Jul 31, 2022, 5:08 am
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If you only spoke one or two agents then you should try to call them back perhaps different time, etc. some agents still willing to change the ticket whilst others wont.
mid BA still refuses then you can take them to MCOL which will take about 8 months at least. So you need to buy a new ticket and claim that through the court. Kind of low effort but you have to make sure you keep the deadlines. If its a few hundred pounds maybe (big maybe) BA wont defend it and could settle before the first hearing. So its up to you how you value your effort and time.
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Old Jul 31, 2022, 5:20 am
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Originally Posted by Krisz
If you only spoke one or two agents then you should try to call them back perhaps different time, etc. some agents still willing to change the ticket whilst others wont.
mid BA still refuses then you can take them to MCOL which will take about 8 months at least. So you need to buy a new ticket and claim that through the court. Kind of low effort but you have to make sure you keep the deadlines. If its a few hundred pounds maybe (big maybe) BA wont defend it and could settle before the first hearing. So its up to you how you value your effort and time.
Thanks. Are the chances of success almost guaranteed if I take them to MCOL?

Itll be a couple of hundred pounds - the original ticket was booked with a pay with avios promo. I think I used 10k avios for quite a lot of value. Itd be a shame to lose that.
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Old Jul 31, 2022, 5:29 am
  #5  
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Originally Posted by ringingup
Thanks. Are the chances of success almost guaranteed if I take them to MCOL?

It’ll be a couple of hundred pounds - the original ticket was booked with a pay with avios promo. I think I used 10k avios for quite a lot of value. It’d be a shame to lose that.
No, not guaranteed, a lot depends on very precise aspects of the Regulation and the precise details and chain of events in your case. BA have to offer a rebooking option, if they never did that at all then they would have a difficult time to convince the court. But if they cancelled and did offer some alternative(s) in the rebooking area then it gets more murky. If you are inclined to go this route, you must not ask for a refund, or accept one if offered, since that's a legitimate remedy and alternative to a rebooking option.
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Old Jul 31, 2022, 6:51 am
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Originally Posted by ringingup
I have an itinerary that was cancelled months ago. Flights were for May but it was booked about 12 months ago or so.

I might be able to rebook now for new dates on October, but clearly BA won't let me without a fight.

Can I be bothered with fighting? New flights are definitely more expensive, so the change would go at my advantage.

That said, there is always the risk that those flights are going to be cancelled as well as they'll be last few rotations from LGW to CAG. My other option is to fly with LH via MUC or FRA.
The regulation says

1. Where reference is made to this Article, passengers shall be offered the choice between:

(a) - reimbursement within seven days, by the means provided for in Article 7(3), of the full cost of the ticket at the price at which it was bought, for the part or parts of the journey not made, and for the part or parts already made if the flight is no longer serving any purpose in relation to the passenger's original travel plan, together with, when relevant,

- a return flight to the first point of departure, at the earliest opportunity;

(b) re-routing, under comparable transport conditions, to their final destination at the earliest opportunity; or

(c) re-routing, under comparable transport conditions, to their final destination at a later date at the passenger's convenience, subject to availability of seats.
So you're saying you're choosing option (c) [my bolding]? And re-routing at your (and not the airline's) convenience means during half term? All seems fine so far - the restriction is "availability of seats". I don't see how the 12-month ticket validity BA speaks about has anything to do with "availability of seats" - and if they want to enforce their 12-month rule then they need to issue you a new ticket to comply with the regulation.

There's a world where you book e.g. EasyJet to CAG, paying what you would be happy to spend out-of-pocket. Then any successful legal action against BA is a bonus.
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