Two delayed connecting flights

Sam.Poults

Hi, I wonder if anyone can help me, as I've read through the guides and am still a bit confused whether I can claim.


I booked a return British Airways flight through an agency, London - Maui, via Las Vegas. The return flight was cancelled, however after a lot of complaining at the airport, we managed to get on an American Airline flight to Texas. However, this flight was delayed by 4 hours and 8 minutes due to a faulty plane. When we then landed in Texas, we found that flight was also delayed, this time by over 2 hours (due to our expected plane being struck by lightning, and them needing to replace with a plane from Beijing or somewhere, which was then delayed due to extensive security checks).


I get the feeling that because both were operated with American Airlines, and because it was a connecting flight, I can't claim? Or, could I still try to claim for the original cancelled flight, even though we didn't board this plane? (Which ended up flying more than 24 hours late from Maui). I have photos of the departure boards showing delays as well as the boarding passes of all flights, and I have emails from BA informing me of the original flights (although not the boarding passes as these were replaced when we changed to the Texas flight).


I paid £1,800 for two flight, and purposely spent that little extra to fly with British Airways over other airlines as I thought it would be a better service for such a long-haul flight, yet with a cancellation and almost 8 hours delay, I'm really not happy with having paid so much money! Put a huge downer on a trip of a lifetime.


Any help regarding whether or not I'm eligible to claim, and which application to make would be great, I understand it's not your normal circumstances.


Thanks in advance guys.
Sam

Caz3121

I am not sure which guides you read but it is very clear in the "Read this First" thread that it is the operating airline that claims are made to
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5173888

flight from Maui (non-EU) operated by non-EU airline (AA) - no EU261 applies
flight from Texas (non-EU) operated by non-EU airline (AA) - no EU261 applies
no claim against BA as the delayed flight was not with them.
maybe speak to your travel insurance

Alan_Bowen

If both your flights were with AA even though they may have been sold with BA flight numbers, CAZ3121 is absolutely correct, EU261 does not apply to either flight. Insurers usually pay out after 12 hours but it tends to be small amounts and not the 600 Euros you may have been hoping for.