BA flight cancellation - compensation claim advice

queenmedusa

My (now ex) partner and I went to New York a couple of weeks ago. We were due to travel home on Thursday 12th but on the morning of Wednesday 11th he thought it would be a good idea to check the flight info as we'd had snags with the flight out (we'd been moved to a later flight without notification). We discovered the flight home was cancelled. He spent half an hour on the phone to BA trying to sort things out only to find that they couldn't get us home at all on the Thursday, we had to leave a day early. We were due to see a Broadway show on the Wednesday night and also had to pay for new train tickets home as we couldn't use the ones we already had.

Having spoken with BA this evening (have been waiting for a response from their customer services team via the internet for days) they've informed me they're not obliged to cover the extra costs or loss of enjoyment/missed events. They have offered to give us £100 each in a BA travel voucher for a flight that we have to book directly with them (i.e. no discount websites!) and suggested we claim back off of our insurance for everything else. I haven't accepted this offer yet as I wanted to speak to my ex first, I musst admit I'm not happy being obliged to spend more money with BA when I probably won't be taking another holiday abroad for a while. The insurance will cost us £120 excess for a claim of around £250.

Any suggestions?

richardw

Did they offer you anything for Friday?

Ich_2

I know BA had huge problems those days with 2 departures from JFK being cancelled on the 10th

j.i.p

EU 261/2004 applies as you were flying in to an airport in the EU. Do NOT accept BA's offer, they are trying to pull a fast one with you. Unless BA can prove the cancellation was due to extraordinary circumstances and all reasonable measures had be taken by them before cancelling the flight, you can claim 600 Euro (£500) per passenger compensation.

Article 5 - Cancellation

1. In case of cancellation of a flight, the passengers concerned shall:
(a) be offered assistance by the operating air carrier in accordance with Article 8; and
(b) be offered assistance by the operating air carrier in accordance with Article 9(1)(a) and 9(2), as well as, in event of rerouting when the reasonably expected time of departure of the new flight is at least the day after the departure as it was planned for the cancelled flight, the assistance specified
in Article 9(1)(b) and 9(1)(c); and
(c) have the right to compensation by the operating air carrier in accordance with Article 7, unless: (i) they are informed of the cancellation at least two weeks before the scheduled time of departure; or
(ii) they are informed of the cancellation between two weeks and seven days before the scheduled time of departure and are offered re-routing, allowing them to depart no more than two hours before the scheduled time of departure and to reach their final destination less than four hours after the scheduled time of arrival;
or (iii) they are informed of the cancellation less than seven days before the scheduled time of departure and are offered re-routing, allowing them to depart no more than one hour before the scheduled time of departure and to reach their final destination less than two hours after the scheduled time of arrival.
2. When passengers are informed of the cancellation, an explanation shall be given concerning possible alternative transport.
3. An operating air carrier shall not be obliged to pay compensation in accordance with Article 7, if it can prove that the cancellation is caused by extraordinary circumstances which could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken.
4. The burden of proof concerning the questions as to whether and when the passenger has been informed of the cancellation of the flight shall rest with the operating air carrier

Article 7 - Right to compensation
1. Where reference is made to this Article, passengers shall receive compensation amounting to:
(a) EUR 250 for all flights of 1 500 kilometres or less;
(b) EUR 400 for all intra-Community flights of more than 1 500 kilometres, and for all other flights between 1 500 and 3 500 kilometres;
(c) EUR 600 for all flights not falling under (a) or (b).
In determining the distance, the basis shall be the last destination at which the denial of boarding or cancellation will delay
the passenger's arrival after the scheduled time.

I had a similar situation with Ryanair and have just received a cheque for £666.00 for 2 people ( 2 x 300 Euro each)

queenmedusa

@ J.I.P

Thanks for the info. I had read about the EU regulations but thought that would only be if we were flying within Europe? I guess it could be worth a shot since it won't cost anything. BA have sent through confirmation that the flight was cancelled but as the cancellation was due to technical reasons (they couldn't get a plane from LHR to JFK the day before) so I don't know if they can get away with it under "the cancellation was caused by extraordinary circumstances that could not have been avoided by any reasonable measure."

We were home by the Friday, we were due to land that morning. We were held up at border control tho!

queenmedusa

BTW - to add insult to injury my ex has been charged twice for the hotel (once by the hotel and once by eBookers who we went through). Drama drama!

j.i.p

This Regulation shall apply:
(a) to passengers departing from an airport located in the territory of a Member State to which the Treaty applies;
(b) to passengers departing from an airport located in a third country to an airport situated in the territory of a Member
State to which the Treaty applies, unless they received benefits or compensation and were given assistance in that
third country, if the operating air carrier of the flight concerned is a Community carrier.

A technical issue is not extraordinary, BA could have fixed the plane or sub charted a replacement aircraft instead of cancelling the flight , but they chose not to, probably because of cost. It's cheaper to pay a couple of EU261/2004 claims then sub charter an aircraft and crew. BA know only a hand full of people on that plane will claim but will not hand it to you on a plate. Go for it, you have nothing to lose. At worst they possibly could reduce the compensation by 50% as you arrived home before the schedule flight that was cancelled, but don't tell them that, claim for full 600 Euro x 2 and they will have to pay a minimum of 600 Euro. BA will convert the Euro on the day and issue a sterling payment to you.

Let us know how you get on !

queenmedusa

You're a star. I decided to go for it when I read:

"The airline is also required to pay cash compensation as described below, unless one of the following conditions applies.....the airline notifies the passengers less than one week prior to departure, and re-routes passengers so that they can:

• depart no more than one hour earlier than scheduled, and
• arrive no more than two hours later than scheduled"

Their re-routing meant that we had to depart more than a day earlier than scheduled. Also, even though I had changed our information on BA "Manage my booking" to show my email address (being the one who would be checking their emails while away!) the email was sent to Lastminute.com (who we'd booked through) and LM.com emailed my ex who would never check his emails when on holiday (and couldn't access them on the hotels computer as it turns out, due to their software limitations).

He and I have both completed the claim form which we will be sending off promptly. I have fingers firmly crossed although they say it could be 90 days before they process our claim :-/

queenmedusa

j.i.p wrote: »

Let us know how you get on !

We both sent our claim forms off on Monday but in seperate envelopes. My ex received an email from BA today to confirm that he will be sent a cheque for 600 Euros. I am waiting to hear back about my claim so expect not to hear until the beginning of next week as his was obviously nearer the top of the pile! Fingers crossed

bcl999

Sorry if I have missed it above but where did you find the claim forms, please?

j.i.p

That's grate news Queenmedusa.

BA have no reason to decline your claim, so I expect you will have some good news in the post very soon.