Flight delay and cancellation compensation, BA ONLY

Justice13075

Is there anything in your contract regarding this. Saying that it would not trump EU Law which is clear that compensation is paid to the traveller who is inconvenienced not the person or company that pay for the ticket.

jpsartre

Quality of airlines is a fairly subjective. I think you will find many frequent flyers that would prefer Malaysian over BA.

jpsartre

Yes, you need to check the travel policy of your employer. My company has (on paper) pretty restrictive policies since any benefit obtained as part of company travel (be it frequent flyer points or compensation) befalls the company (although in practice I have no idea how they administrate this, I've never been asked to hand over either). Whether it's reasonable or not in your case seems to me highly dependent on whether you are considered "on the clock" during the delay. E.g. were your hours delayed counted as overtime? If you were effectively paid during the delay, it's easier to see why your employer would feel any compensation paid should go to them. However, if you effectively spend your free time waiting around in a hotel, you should get the compensation (IMO).

EveryWhere

Sounds like nonsense. MH crew service is exemplary. The product A350-900 is two years newer than the BA product and the seats slightly wider.
The OP is barking up the wrong tree. No one here is going to believe that the MH product is inferior to the BA product.

File this one under https://twitter.com/middleclassprob

photome

I have never flown with malaysian but have flown long haul with BA and wouldnt do it again it was so bad.


You werent forced on to a different airline you could have waited for a BA flight ( not ideal of course)

waamo

photome wrote: »

I have never flown with malaysian but have flown long haul with BA and wouldnt do it again it was so bad.

That mirrors my experience too. Last time I flew long haul I was sat next to a couple who also made the same comments about BA.

They seem to have morphed into a budget airline with a level of service at the lower end of budget these days.

JPears

Interesting new reason for a valid claim :
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-47691478.
Claims against BA or WDL airline?

edd_from_london

Dear Experts --



We missed a flight directly because of BA and Heathrow assistance for my mum who has mobility issues. We would like to claim on the grounds of being denied boarding unreasonably. The text below was posted in BA's claim portal. Below that is one response from Heathrow Airport and one from BA. Basically they're saying we're not legally entitled to compensation and offering some voucher for much less. Am I best accepting their offer or have I grounds to take this further?



Many thanks,
Edd from London

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ISSUE AS LOGGED

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ISSUE 1) My mother, <MUM>, requires a walker (like a zimmer-frame) which we added to the booking and brought to the airport. We arrived in good time around 0710. We checked in by 0720. The lady at check-in, seeing <MUM> using her walker, advised us we would find it quicker to get through security if she called assistance for us and a wheel-chair. We trusted her opinion and waited over 5 minutes for someone to arrive. The assistant took us upstairs to an assistance waiting area, not to the security queue where we could have capably queued. <MUM>'s boarding card was examined and we were left to wait over 10 minutes before anyone came. We trusted those helping us. We were then taken directly to the front of the security line where the lady from mobility assistance was told we could not go through (presumably because of the time). I believe she was told she needed a BA representative and she could not get hold of someone from BA. She took us back to BA assistance-desk downstairs (near the check-in desk). From the conversation between her and the BA help desk certain facts emerged: (a) The original person escorting us did not have the required pass to take us through security; (b) the lady now assisting us had been struggling to contact someone from BA when upstairs. The man on the BA assistance-desk tried to contact BA people at the gates and found the phone numbers not registered in the system when, as he noted, "they should have been". Therefore, he could not ask for their help. Another BA representative, a lady responsible for dispatching the flights, told us there was now no way to reach the gate on time and she could not delay the flight for us. We pointed out that we were only in this situation due to the advice of BA and due to the mobility assistance that was provided, i.e. left to our own devices we would have cleared security in time. BA then organised alternative flights, which I've listed under issue 2. Note there was no other direct flight that day. You also provided us each a food voucher for £5 at Heathrow during the waiting period. On leaving the BA assistance desk, the man on the desk wanted the blame solely the mobility assistance people ... and then the assistance person wanted to blame BA because of problems contacting someone from BA when required. The truth lies in-between: The person summoning the assistance could have communicated the priority of getting through security ... and could have seen the assistant was lacking a pass ... and could have advised that <MUM> was capable of walking. Likewise, BA could have correctly published the phone numbers of the staff at the gate to make them contactable.


ISSUE 2) The alternative flights meant that we left 2 hours after the original scheduled departure time and we arrived more than 4 hours later than the original arrival time. Therefore, we would like to claim compensation for the delay for all passengers for the maximum entitled amount (as advised by the CAA website). We are also claiming for reasonable refreshments for all of us in Barcelona airport, as per the attached receipt.

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RESPONSE FROM HEATHROW

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[FONT=&quot]Please extend our sincere apologies to <MUM> that she had such a negative experience when travelling through Heathrow and fully appreciate this was a very stressful and upsetting situation. We would like to assure her that as she only made herself known to us 42 minutes before her flight was due to leave, the team did everything possible to assist her as quickly as they could. The first available agent was dispatched to assist her within 5 minutes and the team rushed her to security, however, the security officer made the decision that it was too late for <MUM> to proceed to the gate. The airline also felt that there was not enough time for her to board the flight.
[/FONT]


(EDD: Notable points: The assistance offered by BA was about 1hr before the flight; There's no explanation of lack of pass; There's no explanation of why we were left in the assistance waiting area without being told there was an issue when we could have queued like anyone else. I'm yet to respond.)

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RESPONSE FROM BA

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[FONT=&quot][/FONT]I'm sorry to hear you missed your flight because of the problems you had waiting for a wheelchair. I can appreciate how frustrated you all must have felt. While I understand your reasons for asking, you're not entitled to EU compensation as your flight wasn't delayed. I know this isn't the answer you were hoping for and I'm sorry to disappoint you.

You mentioned <MUM> could walk with the help of a walking frame, and you missed your flight because staff at the airport offered assistance when it wasn't required. I've checked your booking, and I can see <MY_PARTNER> called us on 17 March and requested wheelchair assistance for <MUM>. When you arrived at the check-in desk, my colleague would have seen the request for assistance, and contacted the wheelchair handlers as requested by <MY_PARTNER>.

After a change to EU legislation, it’s been decided that the airport authority and their service partners are now responsible for customers with reduced mobility. I’ve sent a copy of your email to London Heathrow Limited so they can reply to you once they’ve looked into your complaint and they’ll contact you directly.


I absolutely agree that you shouldn’t need to wait for your assistance, after you’ve requested it. I acknowledge we could have handed the problems you had more effectively by having access to the correct telephone numbers, and communicating more effectively with the airport security team. As a result of the problems you had, you missed your flight, and you were rebooked via Barcelona at considerable inconvenience. I know this isn’t the service you expect when you travel with us and I apologise. As an apology for the issues you've had, I’d like to offer you an eVoucher for £50.00 per person, in one eVoucher totalling £150.00 as an apology.


(EDD: Notable points: We booked a wheelchair slot for the zimmer-frame on the flight but not assistance; We told the lady at check-in we could walk through OK; We had 1hr until departure and would have got through OK without their intervention. I'm yet to respond)

[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]

jpsartre

It's hard to follow exactly what happened (or what went wrong) but if you feel you have a claim for compensation you can either open a case with alternative dispute resolution (BA uses CEDR) or MCOL (money claim online).

JGBallard15

Hi,

I have a query based on the response I have received to my initial request for compensation for a cancelled flight and was wondering what you all thought?

Details as follows:

Original flight was Las Vegas to Gatwick, depart 15:25, arrive 9:20am
Flight was cancelled on the morning of the flight, and we were offered alternative flights on the day which were:
Vegas to Los Angeles, departing 14:44
Los Angeles to Heathrow, arriving 12:05

Have gone through the compensation process, and BA have said we are entitled to €300 per person, but I am of the opinion that we are due €600 per person as they did not provide us with alternative flights to our original destination (which was Gatwick and not Heathrow). Where do I stand with going back to them and requesting the full amount I believe we are owed?

Any help you can give towards this would be welcomed.

JGB