British Airways Grrr

leylandsunaddict

amyjaxon2002 wrote: »

If I was to take out the international flight and just look at it as an internal flight costing around £120, do you think I would pay the £550 or just not turn up? They have me over a barrel on refusing me entry to the international flight if I don't pay the ridiculous fees to cancel a very cheap internal flight. Hardly seems fair, would expect an admin fee to be around £50. they will be saving lots on fuel, baggage handling and in flight services etc.

They're not charging you to cancel the flight. They're repricing the ticket to the correct price for flying from LHR.

The fare rules of tickets make it very clear what change fees there are, so you would have known about it when you booked. You can't just cancel part of a ticket and get a refund for that bit less an admin fee. You didn't buy the flights priced separately on 2 tickets. They're priced as an indirect flight from EDI-MIA on one ticket. Dropping the first leg means it's repriced as a direct flight at the current cost, plus change fee (which depends on the fare rules) when the change is done. If you wanted a fully flexible ticket you would have had to have booked one, and paid handsomely for the privileges that go with a fully flex ticket.

BA aren't bigging themselves up. They offer a discount to service families to show support. They don't advertise 'book with us and you can cancel and get refunds for tickets when you change them'.

jpsartre

amyjaxon2002 wrote: »

They have me over a barrel on refusing me entry to the international flight if I don't pay the ridiculous fees to cancel a very cheap internal flight. Hardly seems fair, would expect an admin fee to be around £50.

Again, your expectations are really quite irrelevant. Costs to change a ticket are not determined by what the passenger feels is a fair price to pay but by the terms of their ticket. Most likely the bulk of the cost is a fare difference. And your choices are not limited to paying the cost or losing the international flight, simply make your way to Edinburgh and take the flights as booked.

dickydonkin

Kim_kim wrote: »

If they aren't doing anything wrong they won't be worried about being challenged.

They're not - and they won't be.

OP - Having to start the journey from the original departure point is not ideal, and it is important to state that BA is doing nothing wrong here as most airlines apply similar terms and conditions to non-flexible flights.

Could you not start your trip by visiting friends/family in Scotland prior to your departure?

I accept this will incur additional costs of getting there, probably much less than the £550 change fee, but this is better than letting this episode spoil your trip. You can also drop the last leg of your trip - provided you do not have checked luggage as this will almost certainly be checked through to your final destination.

I can understand your annoyance, but that is how cancellations work on a multi-sector flight.

You still have plenty of time to organise transport to and from your departure/arrival points and try not to let this spoil your holiday.

tocsin

leylandsunaddict wrote: »

I can't see any nasty replies. Just honest ones.

So talking about "the modern airman heroically kills villagers in Afghanistan while sitting in comfort" in this thread is not nasty? Honest? Relevant?

dickydonkin

tocsin wrote: »

So talking about "the modern airman heroically kills villagers in Afghanistan while sitting in comfort" in this thread is not nasty? Honest? Relevant?

More ignorant than nasty - and yes, that post was totally irrelevant and unhelpful.

zagfles

OP ignore all the nasty posts from the usual know-it-all's. Yes flight pricing/ticketing is weird, it's not like other forms of public transport eg trains where you can usually just skip legs you no longer need. In fact sometimes they structure the prices to make it cheaper to get a connecting flight!

If you've only spoken to a call centre agent it might be worth writing to BA customer services and explain the circumstances, it's possible they'll offer you a good-will gesture such as cancelling the connecting flight for no charge. It's worth a try.

If they do, be sure to come back and tell us!

Sicard

Op why didn't you go to a clairvoyant before booking to see exactly when the posting was going to take place?

Murphy_The_Cat

zagfles wrote: »

If you've only spoken to a call centre agent it might be worth writing to BA customer services and explain the circumstances, it's possible they'll offer you a good-will gesture such as cancelling the connecting flight for no charge. It's worth a try.

Amy

If you do write/contact BA and they do accommodate you, then happy times. But don't get your hopes up to high, as they don't have any obligation to do it for you.

dickydonkin

Sicard wrote: »

Op why didn't you go to a clairvoyant before booking to see exactly when the posting was going to take place?

Why didn't you have a quiet word with yourself before submitting a pointless, puerile and useless post?

I despair at times.

Murphy_The_Cat wrote: »

Amy

If you do write/contact BA and they do accommodate you, then happy times. But don't get your hopes up to high, as they don't have any obligation to do it for you.

And to add, BA's customer services can be hopeless a lot of the times, however, give it a try, but be prepared to be disappointed.

Sicard

dickydonkin wrote: »

Why didn't you have a quiet word with yourself before submitting a pointless, puerile and useless post?

I despair at times.



And to add, BA's customer services can be hopeless a lot of the times, however, give it a try, but be prepared to be disappointed.

Your American characteristic nature of not understanding irony depairs me too. And for you to point out your childish and useless post in reply to mine (and yes I know I'm guilty of it too and I'm sure you'll stop having your exciting life to point this out) despairs me even more.

I was taking the !!!! out of all the posters who seem to think that the OP should have known that because her OH works in the RAF he'll be posted after she'd booked the flights which to me is absolutely purile and pointless.