Flight delay and cancellation compensation, BA ONLY

DrChrisG

I'd be very grateful for your thoughts/comments on this situation, and how best I should move forward.

I had booked flights to/from Bali for my honeymoon. These were booked through skyscanner, and were listed as flights with BA, although operated by Qatar. The flight in both directions involved a brief change in Doha, but without collecting luggage/ re-booking in.

On the return journey, after the listed departure time, the flight was cancelled, due to technical issues. We were put onto a subsequent flight, roughly 18 hours after we were due to depart, and after a longer change in Doha, arrived back in the UK roughly 21 hours after our scheduled arrival time.

British Airways have declined my request for compensation, stating that the flight was operated by Qatar and I should approach them. Qatar have stated that are unwilling to offer reimbursement of costs. My travel insurance does not cover delays and cancellations.

What would be my best route forward, or should I just accept this as a road to nothing?

I have told BA that they were the marketing airline, and therefore my contract is with them. Also, since neither Bali nor Doha are in the EU, does the flight count as one (Bali -> London), or two separate flights (Bali -> Doha, Doha -> London)? I appreciate I have two flight numbers and travel on two planes, but I booked to fly from Bali to London - perhaps I'm wishful thinking.

I look forward to your comments, and many thanks for your time in advance.

Chris

Caz3121

DrChrisG wrote: »

I have told BA that they were the marketing airline, and therefore my contract is with them.

Incorrect for delay compensation....EU261 is against the Operating Airline. In your case Qatar..As they are a non-EU airline and the delay was outside the EU, EU261 is not applicable
Travel insurance would be the area to look at here...you probably want to look for a better policy for next time you travel

devnull

Flight - Boston Logan to Manchester (via Heathrow) - Wed/Thu 30/31st May.


We (a couple) were travelling on a single ticket from Boston to Manchester with a flight transfer in Heathrow. There was 1hr 5 mins stopover.

The Boston flight landed in Heathrow ontime and we left the plane in a timely fashion, making our way straight onto the gate transfer train and straight through passport security (as it was our first point of entry into the UK).
Upon getting to the pre-gate boarding card check, our boarding cards were declined on the scanner, at which point we were told that we (along with a bunch of other people on our flight) were too late to meet the connection. I check my watch and there was about 40 minutes until the flight was due to depart.

We were taken back land-side and directed to the ticket desk who gave us £10 food vouchers (£5 each). They told us the only flight we could be guaranteed on was an 8pm flight that evening (it was currently about 07:30 in the morning) as all later flights were full. They put us on standby for the next flight in 2 hours time, which we waited for, but when the time came we couldn't get on.

As the guaranteed flight was such a long wait I asked for our bags back (and for them to make a note on our ticket that the guaranteed flight wasn't until 8pm) and then we made our way into London and got the train back to Manchester Airport - which got us there about 4pm. This cost us around £250 in total.

Am I entitled to compensation for the missed connection? There literally isn't anything we could have done to be any quicker. Speaking with the ticket desk they said they had a lot of problems that morning with people missing connections, being delayed etc, so I suspect they closed the flight as early as they possibly could to get some of that sorted out. Speculation of course.
If I am entitled to compensation, is it classed as short-haul (i.e. just the Heathrow to Manchester leg) or long-haul (because the ticket was booked from Boston to Manchester)?
Am I entitled to request a refund of my train ticket as an expense?
Am I entitled to my ticket cost back because the delay would have been so long had we waited until 8pm so we chose not to travel?
Are the above mutually exclusive?

Many thanks in advance for any help.

jpsartre

I can't answer your question but if you pursue the case, please do come back to update with the outcome. I have been off-loaded a couple of times by BA between flights even though I could have easily made my connection. It's a real pain in the you-know-what.

legal_magpie

Speaking personally, Iwould never book flights with such a short connection time.

Caz3121

/dev/null wrote: »

Upon getting to the pre-gate boarding card check, our boarding cards were declined on the scanner,

Conformance in T5 is set at 35 minutes....34 minutes and 59 seconds before scheduled departure, boarding passes will no longer work - last time I went through connections, I made a point of stating to staff that I had very little time to make conformance (inbound flight had been late) to they got us to the front of the queue so we could be seen and get through before the T-35 and make the flight...it can pay to be proactive if you book a short connection...eg asking to being moved forward on the flight before landing so not to end up at the back of the immigration queue

devnull

Apart from the few minutes on the plane waiting for people to get off before us, we literally couldn't have done anything any quicker. We walked very quickly to the train and there was one pulling up as we arrived there so we were straight on. Then we were straight into an electronic booth at passport as we were already at the front of the queue. If we were less than 35 minutes then it must have been literally seconds because I did a quick reckon and it was about 40 mins - which could have been 5 mins out I guess, having just changed it for the time difference; however I can't see any way we could have physically got there sooner. I've done ~1hr connections in Heathrow before without a problem.

I agree it's a short connection time, however as I have never had problems previously with 1hr connection and my inbound flight wasn't delayed at all, then I took it. If it's physically not possible to transfer in 1hr 5 mins then BA shouldn't let you book such a flight.

Is a missed connection classed as our fault then?

jpsartre

/dev/null wrote: »

I agree it's a short connection time, however as I have never had problems previously with 1hr connection and my inbound flight wasn't delayed at all, then I took it. If it's physically not possible to transfer in 1hr 5 mins then BA shouldn't let you book such a flight.

Obviously it's possible if you have made 1 hour connections before. Comformance can be overridden at connections but BA will usually refuse to do so if you have already been off-loaded.

devnull

Ok, so I submitted a claim to the airline, but they are denying any responsibility, claiming that the flight landed late (it was literally a few minutes late) because of ATC. So I can accept that, however am I still entitled to a refund because I chose not to travel? If I can get the £250 back I paid for alternative travel then I'll be happy to forget the rest.

jpsartre

/dev/null wrote: »

So I can accept that, however am I still entitled to a refund because I chose not to travel? If I can get the £250 back I paid for alternative travel then I'll be happy to forget the rest.

I think you'll struggle to get that back but put in a request with BA. Keep in mind that if you aren't reimbursed for your train travel you will be entitled to a refund of the unused leg from LHR to MAN. It's difficult to say how much that will be and it will require a manual calculation by BA.