flarmip

I was booked on BA922 LHR-STR this Friday evening. No connections at either end - just a simple one-way cash ET booking, albeit discounted using 500 Avios for £5 off.

Unfortunately, I've just had an email to say that this has been cancelled and that I've been rebooked onto BA918 the following morning, arriving 10:05. That doesn't work for me, as I have booked to stay overnight at the airport and had onward travel plans involving meeting up with friends and departing Stuttgart at around 8am.

It looks like there is a strike affecting all major German airports on Friday, so I presume there is no realistic option for flying to STR or any other German airport, whether on BA or on another airline. However, there do still seem to be flights to BSL or ZRH with plenty of free seats on the Fri eve, which would allow me to catch up with my friends en-route on the Sat morning.

My questions are:

1) Will BA let me rebook to BSL/ZRH without too much hassle, and if so, what is the easiest way of doing so? Phone? MMB? I cannot leave London much earlier than 6pm due to work commitments and don't want to miss out on my plans on the Sat morning so these are the locations with the most viable flights (BA720/756).

2) Will BA pay for my overnight accommodation in BSL/ZRH, either on the basis that they have to do so as part of re-routing (not 100% sure whether this is the case, given that this would be a 'voluntary' re-route in a sense), or on the basis that they would otherwise have to pay for accommodation at LHR if I took the rebooked flight on the Sat morning (more confident on this front, as this is what they have rebooked me on)? Unfortunately my STR hotel is non-refundable and non-changeable.

3) Does anyone know who exactly is striking? Presumably this is security staff or similar (likely meaning no eligibility for UK261 delay compensation)?

TIA!

corporate-wage-slave

1) You need to call up, you can't change route via MMB, but agents will allow you 300 miles distance, which covers ZRH and quite a few other places.
2) That looks like a consequential loss to me, so that's for travel insurance rather than BA.

flarmip

Thanks CWS. Out of interest, surely BA would at least be liable for a LHR hotel if I stuck with the suggested flight?

corporate-wage-slave

Yes for London, if returning home was judged to be necessary as opposed to desired. But that doesn't transfer - to my mind - to other places if you choose a new route.

above the clouds

Apologies, I don’t fully understand this wording.
I am in same situation as OP and based in London. Booked now on the early Saturday departure to STR instead of FRI night. In theory I could make my way to the airport from home in the very early AM but but would much prefer the Sofitel. Does BA have a duty to pay this if regardless of my home location, if I put in a claim?

corporate-wage-slave

The Regulation says "hotel accommodation in cases where a stay of one or more nights becomes necessary" (9.1.a), it doesn't say "at the customer's preference".

above the clouds

Ok, thanks for clarifying.

flarmip

Regardless of which option I go for, an unplanned hotel stay somewhere will now be necessary. I don't live in London and therefore couldn't get from home to LHR in time for a 07:25 flight on the Sat morning.

Therefore I'm still struggling to see how this wouldn't be "necessary"?

Incidentally, currently on the phone with the "US" number. First they insisted that if I change the booking to ZRH, I will forfeit any right to recover hotel or other costs. Now the story is that they cannot rebook to a different country - even though BA (and presumably other airlines) aren't flying to anywhere in Germany on the booked date.

I may HUACA tomorrow and see if the UK-based team can offer more sensible alternatives, but at the moment it looks like I'm going to be facing some out of pocket expenses which I'll have to claim back. Oh well, at least I'll get a bit nearer to my CC spend targets this way!

above the clouds

Btw, Stuttgart is only 3h by train from Paris.
Tickets are not cheap but if you have travel insurance this may be an option:

Fri 17 Feb,

12:31 London St-Pancras
15:59 Paris Gare du Nord
2h 28m
ES 9024

1h 56m to change stations

17:55 Paris Gare de l’Est
21:04 Stuttgart Hbf
3h 9m
TGV INOUI 9579

corporate-wage-slave

Which I believe I said in my reply to your post. The other reply was in response to a poster who clearly said it was their preference.

The "give up all other costs" is standard but meaningless messaging for all location changes, agents are obliged to say it and to note it on your PNR. There may be circumstances when this is correct but EC261 provides for going to other airports and the extra charges as per Article 8. So by all means state that you believe Article 8 applies and could they add that into the note. See the main EC261 thread introduction posts for a further discussion of this. The "not another country" is incorrect for the 300 mile allowance, not least because BA usually only serves one airport in a given country, but I've heard of agents inventing that non-existent rule.

flarmip

That is indeed one option I had considered. It would, however, require me to take half a day's annual leave which I would like to avoid if at all possible.

flarmip

Ah ok, I was just confused there for a minute. It looks like my PNR now has both LHR-ZRH (17th) and LHR-STR (18th) sectors in it, so I've no idea what will happen there! I will make sure to ask them to note Article 8 in my PNR.

Thanks!

SilverChris

The agent (or someone behind the scenes) must have added the ZRH segment, but my guess would be it's not ticketed. Until they remove the STR segment and reissue, it won't be good for travel. Someone may well be working on it, but if nothing changes after a few hours I'd call to get it fixed.

flarmip

Cheers. Any advice on what sort of hotel I might book at ZRH?

Hotels at the terminal itself are around the £200 mark. Cheaper hotels are available, but only further afield, which I'm disinclined to do with a 22:25 scheduled arrival time. ISTR £200 being around the maximum that BA are likely to reimburse? In which case I guess I should book that and hope they pay up.

vegasbased

For ZRH, if the on-airport hotel prices are high, I'd recommend the Hilton. Not sure what elite status you have, but I had a great stay there in 2021 and would highly recommend it. If not, for Friday night, it looks like the Raddison or Holiday Inn are both 83.20 GBP.