Section 75 - BA Strikes

Jakerrs

Good afternoon everyone.

I will try and explain the situation as clearly as I can in as few words as possible.

In August 2019 we had flights from Boston cancelled due to the BA pilot strikes. We were returning from Boston on the 9th of September, and only the return flight was cancelled.

BA had a system online where you could change the dates of your flights, however, none of the alternatives were suitable (one day shorter cut into plans on the holiday, and one day later 1. was also a strike day, and 2. would have meant needing more time off work that we didn't have). BA did not have a way of cancelling just one flight, only both, so we spent the next 2 days trying to get through by phone. After finally getting through to BA, they cancelled the return flight only and said we could book with someone else, stating on two occasions that we would be OK to claim the difference. The new flights cost (without checking) £510 between two of us. The original flights with BA cost approximately £650 between us, and they refunded us £65, stating that most of the cost was taxes and this was all on the outbound flight.

Without wishing to take the p, we booked the absolute cheapest flights we could find on the same day. This meant returning to a different airport and, therefore, changing how we would get to and from the airport on the day we flew out. It also meant substantially reduced luggage allowances etc.

On returning from holiday, we submitted a claim through BAs online form and they have said no to refunding us the cost.

I will state now that, stupidly, stupidly, stupidly, we did not have insurance in place at the time of the cancellations. The stupid stupid reason for this is that we were staying with family, so our only cost was the flights, which, while expensive, we could afford to just not go if required.

When BA refused our claim, we also got in contact with American Express as the original and replacement flights were booked on the Everyday Cashback card. On the first call, Amex spent half an hour taking all of my details for a Section 75 claim, however, I did not hear anything back, and on a second call said that the initial claim had never been lodged, and refused to take any further details as BA had refunded us and therefore had fulfilled their obligations.

The issue with insurance aside, I suppose my main question is whether we have a claim to make, or if BA and Amex are both right, and it's our fault for getting a refund for the flights and doing our own thing. We have not yet escalated to CEDR.

Any help would be massively appreciated, please let me know if anyone needs any further information and whether I need to cut some of story down / out.

dazza.mk

Without confirmation that BA would cover the cost you might struggle, as when you cancelled the original return flight it released their obligation to get you home with another carrier, although note UK Departure taxes on the original outbound flight were probably £342 (2 x £172) so questionable how they came up with a figure of £65.

Jakerrs

Hi dazza.mk,



This is from the email we had once we purchased the original tickets - fares are shown as being £102.

The original tickets were: £628.24
The refund was: £65.20
The replacement flights were: £509.80
Leaving us £444.60 worse off

It's a shame we didn't know what to do at the time, difficult to think straight when you've managed to get through to BA after 3 days of trying and need to sort something relatively urgently. If they'd let us know at the time we'd have just cancelled the flight and not gone.

I suppose for the future the answer is always insurance.

As it stands we've decided to risk the £25 fee and have escalated it to CEDR.

Thanks,

dazza.mk wrote: »

Without confirmation that BA would cover the cost you might struggle, as when you cancelled the original return flight it released their obligation to get you home with another carrier, although note UK Departure taxes on the original outbound flight were probably £342 (2 x £172) so questionable how they came up with a figure of £65.

Penelopa.Pitstop

It took me about 2 months to get successful resolution and few days to get money from BA.

Jakerrs

Just to follow up, we have had a response and BA are going to pay us what they owe.

They have essentially said that they don't have to pay for alternative travel with other airlines, but as we were told by one of their agents that we could claim this, they are going to pay.