Flight delay and seat booking

waamo

Hi flight guys. I have a question and am hoping folk on here can help. I was part of a party of 4 recently flying from Manchester to Heathrow then on to New York.

The internal flight was with BA then the transatlantic stretch with American Airlines. This was on a shared flight agreement so the AA stretch was technically BA.

There was bad weather at Heathrow meaning our plane was delayed and we missed our connection. We got straight on the next one which was fine however we didn't get the seats that we had paid extra for.

We paid for extra legroom etc so it wasn't cheap. We ended up in standard seats as the ones prebooked had already been taken on the replacement flight.

Now the question is are we entitled to a refund on the prebooked seats or is it tough luck we missed it? If we are due a refund then who from, BA for being late or AA for not providing them?

jpsartre

Have you checked the terms and conditions of what you booked? Who did you pay for the seat? I would expect any refund would come from them.

waamo

We paid AA direct for the seat. I will check the t&c's but off the top of my head I recall it says non refundable hence my question are BA liable?

If it's a case of bad luck fair enough but it doesn't hurt to ask.

legal_magpie

I would pursue it. You paid extra for a special seat which you didn't get. Either there was a breach of contract (I.e. the contract for the seats, not the flight) or the contract was "frustrated". This is a legal doctrine which means that the contract was incapable of being performed. Either way, you are entitled to a refund as otherwise the airline has benefited, "unjust enrichment". You may have to sue them, though. Their terms and conditions would also have to satisfy the reasonableness test.