lorkers

What do BA consider to be my final destination when there are irregular operations?
This should be easy to answer, but with a complicated exEU flight, gets seriously complicated indeed.
To put it into context, I knew the risk of booking an ex EU on separate PNRs and deliberately put a buffer of no less than 18 hours between them.
It turned into a perfect case study of how badly an exEU can go, particularly when you pick an oversold destination with one flight a day, using three back to back PNRs. Don’t do it folks!
However, everything on the LHR to GOT flight seemed to be fine, lovely lunch in CX First lounge, BA flight boarded on time, even if heavily oversold (music festival in GOT apparently, biz back to row 9) until we were stuck on the stand for an hour. In the first row the temperature wasn’t too bad for me (front row), but at the back the temperature rose as the pilot tried to get the APU to fire up. It failed, and there was no ground power available at T3, so in the end a starter drove over from T5. Then only one engine would turn, before we got both alight, and 90 mins later push back… until we came to a juddering halt at the end of the taxiway leading to the runway. The pilot explained he had multiple errors on the cockpit computer, so to clear the check lights we’d go to a remote stand, and park while an engineer drove over from T5.
Sadly, after 5 hours of sitting in the plane, then busses, then being hurded into the main terminal, and finally seeing BA’s famous ‘delay snack bar trolley’ in action (it’s basically a catering truck with biscuits, tunnocks tea cakes, crisps and bottles of water. Plus custard creams), we were told that the plane was fixed, but the crew was out of hours.
I was going to fork out for the late night SAS to GOT, or even CPH/ARN then onward to GOT to ensure I picked up my outbound connection to SIN the next day, but the crew refused to let me go landside until they had gone through the delay recovery process.
This, as a point of reference, was fascinating.
The staff then told everyone to sit down and they would attend to them in order. What this meant was first announcement was BA at T3 only had the old agreement with hotels at T4 (I guess from pre T5 days). Families first, and they would be put up with dinner and breakfast at the Crown Plaza. Families only forward. Then those in Business and told they would get the T4 Holiday Inn Express, but as a Gold member in Club I deliberately asked for the last remaining Crown voucher, and got that. Then the vouchers ran out, and the rest of the pax were told to just find a Premier Inn and claim it back.
To exit there is a funny little door if you go left from the concourse, down to transit, and then there is a border guard who checks everyones boarding cards and lets you out to make your own way on the train.
Second Point is the dinner offered isn’t dinner, it is the ‘Delay Buffet’ in a side room at the Holiday Inn express for all. Let’s just say it makes the Galleries tray of slops look like the height of sophistication.
And then, there is the rebooking process. Staff at the terminal refused to help in person, and when I called the BA gold line, they were only interested in rebooking the GOT sector, not the ongoing, and said they just couldn’t help. I got my link via text at nearly midnight, and it offered flights starting on Sunday! That’s quite some delay.
However, and this is the crux of the matter. I have separate PNRs to get me from GOT to SIN and then a redemption from SIN to SYD in Club World.
BA staff refusing to help with the ongoing sectors despite being a Gold in Business, and there is only one flight today to GOT, totally oversold despite being upgraded to an A321.
BA say my final destination is GOT from LHR and they won’t help me after that point. My argument is that it is SYD, and BA caused the delay, causing me to miss my BA frights.
Oh what a complicated mess ex EUs can turn into!

Dave Noble

Is there a cut down version that has the relevant info and quesiton? If the question is what is your destination - that is very simple , it is Gothernburg and that is all that BA would be expected to sort out

The flighst to Singapore and Sydney are nothing to do with it and it is up to you to reorganise

This is the risk you run with booking separate tickers for one journey

VictorSierra

Your final destination for the booking above is GOT.

scottishpoet

You have multiple contracts. The contract in dispute has a final destination of GOT.

steveholt

Unfortunately, even though you left a fair amount of time for your ex-EU, these are separate tickets and would be treated as such. There's always a chance of landing an understanding agent, especially as a Gold member, but BA's obligation on this first ticket extends to GOT.

acerockstar

Very unlucky situation but I guess that is the risk one takes

Were you deplaned into the departures area at T3? I think given the stakes of your trip I would have just gone landside on my own accord and tried to get the SAS flight but it is frustrating they wouldn't let you go landside

IntVic

I too thlink your final destination is GOT.
However, if you miss your next flights you might have recourse to the Montreal Convention 99 for recovering new flight costs. I have seen posters on other forums mentioning it but that is as much as I know. I suspect it could be a long and protracted legal route if it can work.
I have done 2 ex DUB this year, arriving the afternoon before but identifying other airline and airport options to get me to DUB.
Best of luck.

Life is like a box of Sharklets

"BA say my final destination is GOT from LHR and they won’t help me after that point. My argument is that it is SYD, and BA caused the delay, causing me to miss my BA frights".

I'm sorry you missed your BA frights. Plenty of frights to be had on other airlines/routes - don't worry!

SxMan

i’m not sure I would know how to do that at terminal three – at terminal five. It would be easy to just go on the train, stay on the train and come back to arrivals. But at terminal three? Would it not need some assistance from staff?

orbitmic

Sadly for you, it doesn't. Your destination was GOT, and you missed the departure of your ticket from GOT to SIN or from SIN to SYD. Your "argument" that your destination is SYD has simply no merit and is a non-starter and by trying to suggest it as an argument/a right, you close the door to any gesture of good will and enter a path of certain failure because the contractual situation is entirely unequivocal. The fact that you were in J, Gold, etc makes sadly no difference either.

As you rightly say, it seems like a very unlucky run of event and arguably frustrating handling of the delay by BA when they would not allow passengers to leave. I'm curious whether your GOT-SIN was changeable? Most tickets are, and hopefully you should have been able to call and change that particular ticket (with no reference to the other) to save at least something? And of course, since the source of the cancellation is mechanical, you'll be eligible for UK261 on the LHR-GOT flight (though of course, that will be a small amount due to distance).

But the short story is that whilst you were very unlucky given you had planned a significant buffer time, your example sadly exemplifies the risks associated with third airport itineraries (as others know, I hate the wording ex-EU! ) and also serves as a reminder that if you are going to do one at all, there is a certain advantage in doing it from a major airport which gives you additional last minute options should your positioning flight be cancelled for any reason.

Personally, I think that the other lesson here is to know your rights - and their limits. It is absolutely fine to push for one's rights, but if you push for something which is not within your right, in my view, you simply kill your own chances of getting any resolution. In this case, my recommended conversation with the gold line would be something along the lines of "I know those are separate itineraries and I have absolutely no right with regards to the itinerary from GOT to SIN which I am now going to miss, but is there anything at all that you can propose to limit the damage?" The answer might have been "nothing", but equally, if there is any chance of getting the sympathy and creativity of agents onboard, that will only work if you acknowledge the situation as it is as opposed to wasting energy on trying to push for an argument which is bound to fail and will entirely change the spirit of the conversation.

Beyond that, all we can do is send our commiseration, but to be clear, any hope of "sharing" the risk of the third airport itinerary with BA is a non-starter and they will - quite rightly too - only take responsibility for the failure to get you to GOT.

Ldnn1

At T3 you simply go to the exit from security and ask the staff to open the exit door for you. They’ll offload you if not done already. You then simply go through to the egates.

lorkers

Yep,
Three PNRs
1. LHR GOT
​​​​​then 18 hours wait
2. GOT LHR SIN
3. SIN SYD

LHR to GOT yesterday failed, and I couldn't get landside for my backup options to GOT.

BA will help me get to GOT but no further, hence have I just burnt my ticket to Australia?

Answer seems to be yes.

scottishpoet

Yes, unless you find a sympathetic agent. Perhaps your travel insurance would cover this but would depend on what you are covered for in terms of missed departure

Dave Noble

Your change for GOT-SIN is a voluntary change and you need to contact reservations / use an online manage booking tool and rebook or cancel as per the rules of the ticket purchased
For the award flight from Singapore to Sydney, unless there is award availability, then you can cancel that for the small penalty and then rebook on another flight - there are numerous options - unless of course there is award availability and you can change the booking

VictorSierra

When is/was your GOT-LHR leg? And for further clarity, when is your LHR-SIN leg?