Connecting Flight Missed Due to Airline

Phill311289

Hi All,

I'm seeking clarification on a recent issue I had whilst connecting in Heathrow and whether or not I have grounds to make a claim, as it was the airline's fault.

My partner and I were flying with BA from Manchester-London, London-Dallas, Dallas-Denver and missed the London-Dallas flight. When checking-in at Manchester, we were told that we had to collect our bags in London and check them back in again as we were not able to check-in online due to some technical glitch, bear in mind the connecting time for this was 1hr20m. We questioned if we would have enough time but the employee was adamant that BA guarantees that 1 hour is enough and refused to track our bags through. It was 06:00 on Boxing Day and, up to 2 days prior, BA staff were supposed to be on strike so it felt like the employee just didn't want to be there.
After spending time collecting the bags, failing to check-in with the electronic check-in screens and queueing up to a check-in desk, we had 50 minutes left until the flight. We were not able to check-in due to their "1 hour rule" for international flights, which was the first we had heard of this.

The helpdesk rerouted us on a flight leaving 2 hours later to Chicago and then a 5 hour wait until the flight to Denver. The employee at the helpdesk's immediate response was that the Manchester employee should have checked us and our bags all through way through. The Chicago-Denver leg was also delayed by 90 minutes, so overall we should have arrived in Denver at ~17:30 but arrived over 6 hours later at ~00:00.

TL;DR - British Airways refused to check us in to all of our legs, so a transfer in London was missed because we had to collect our bags and queue up to check-in to the second & third flight.

So my question is, as the airline guarantees a transfer time of 1 hour and the employee refused to check us or our bags in, are they at fault for a 6 hour delay in arrival time??

This is my first time posting, any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you,
Philip

Caz3121

were all your flights on a single ticket or was the MAN-LHR a separate booking?

Phill311289

Hi,

They were all booked together but they do have separate airline references, so presumably a separate booking code. As follows:

Flight Route; Flight No.; Airline Reference
MAN–LHR ; BA1385 ; ZJDRDD
LHR–DFW ; AA6154 ; LXBMKQ
DFW–DEN ; AA369 ; LXBMKQ

The first leg was BA operated by BA; the second was BA operated by AA and the third was AA operated by AA.
Thank you.

PeacefulWaters

Why didn't you book them on one ticket? Who made the bookings?

(BA staff were following their correct policy by the way. Had it all been one ticket your bags would have gone straight through).

blindman

PeacefulWaters wrote: »

Why didn't you book them on one ticket? Who made the bookings?

(BA staff were following their correct policy by the way. Had it all been one ticket your bags would have gone straight through).

BA stopped interlining baggage for separate tickets Nov 2016


However the burning question is as PW has asked :cool:

At least you got to Denver.

[Deleted User]

blindman wrote: »

BA stopped interlining baggage for separate tickets Nov 2016


However the burning question is as PW has asked :cool:

At least you got to Denver.

Finally

Blue264

PeacefulWaters wrote: »

Why didn't you book them on one ticket? Who made the bookings?

Agreed that the most important question is...Who made the booking?

If you booked through an agency, that is where you need to take this complaint.

MCT = Minimum connection time, varies from airport to airport and from flight to flight even at the same airport.

Phill311289

Thanks for your responses.

It was through an agency called TravelUp, via SkyScanner. We just paid the once fare to TravelUp who then issued us with the two booking references but all on one e-ticket. I'm going with the employee in Heathrow who saw our full booking, agreeing with us that we should have been checked straight through. Maybe that was just her opinion but we had contradicting statements from two BA employees..

gingerdad

With it being on two bookings you need to take it up with your travel agent.

If you had through tickets then it would be BA. In the circumstances BA look to have gone above and beyond what they needed to do.

photome

Phill311289 wrote: »

Thanks for your responses.

It was through an agency called TravelUp, via SkyScanner. We just paid the once fare to TravelUp who then issued us with the two booking references but all on one e-ticket. I'm going with the employee in Heathrow who saw our full booking, agreeing with us that we should have been checked straight through. Maybe that was just her opinion but we had contradicting statements from two BA employees..

its strange that the agency didnt book it on one through ticket, unless of course that was cheaper and they wanted to extract more cash from you

it does look like BA were correct

If it had been on one ticket you would have been entitled to compensation, think its 600 euros each for over 4 hours late.

Dont think the agency will cough up that amount though

leylandsunaddict

Travelup strike again. Just a standard shonky OTA, and best avoided like most. Better to book direct with the airline. Some OTAs do cobble two seperate tickets together, and make it look like its all on on. Usually because its cheaper, which makes the price more attractive.

You need to speak to Travel up.