British Airways rebooking without paying the difference

charlie_cornwall

We booked flights with British Airways in Oct 2020 to fly in August 2021. In July 2021 the flights were cancelled by BA.  I knew we'd be entitled to rebook for a later date, at no extra charge, but we couldn't be sure of our holiday dates as my husband is in the Forces, so we didn't make any contact with BA.  I left it until December to call them, when we could be sure we'd have leave to travel, and asked to be rebooked for the same route, same time of year in 2022, same passengers.  They told me that because the booking is 'purged' i.e. its past the travel date, I can't be rebooked without paying the difference in fare.  The CAA rules don't say anything about a timescale to rebook.  I know we left it a long time to inform them of our intention, but they made no contact with me whatsoever after the cancellation email, and certainly no expiry date or deadline was stipulated.  To be fair, they have offered to refund me in full, but the fares are so high now, that I'd be looking at paying an extra £1500. Can anyone offer any insight, is it worth me fighting for them to honour the rebooking?

silvercar

I thought the same as you, that the airline cancelling would mean the choice of a refund or rebooking to a date of your choice.

For all things BA, the experts hang out here: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/british-airways-executive-club-446/ so it would be worth having a search and/or posting on there.

eskbanker

The regulations clearly state that, as well as refund or re-routing at the earliest opportunity, airlines are obliged to offer "re-routing, under comparable transport conditions, to their final destination at a later date at the passenger's convenience, subject to availability of seats", without any visible qualification to this in terms of dates.

I can entirely understand why an airline wouldn't appreciate this being an open-ended commitment, but can't see any legal basis on which to refuse to comply with this regulation, so worth pushing back IMHO....

sheramber

Did  the email not advise you to access the  'manage my bookings' to select your option  for a voucher or refund?

It sounds like you did not take any action.

Thrugelmir

eskbanker said:

The regulations clearly state that, as well as refund or re-routing at the earliest opportunity, airlines are obliged to offer "re-routing, under comparable transport conditions, to their final destination at a later date at the passenger's convenience, subject to availability of seats", without any visible qualification to this in terms of dates.

I can entirely understand why an airline wouldn't appreciate this being an open-ended commitment, but can't see any legal basis on which to refuse to comply with this regulation, so worth pushing back IMHO....

Re-routing at the earlest opportunity appears to negate the suggestion that the committment is open ended and cost free to the passenger in the event of non action as @sheramber points out. 

eskbanker

Thrugelmir said:

eskbanker said:

The regulations clearly state that, as well as refund or re-routing at the earliest opportunity, airlines are obliged to offer "re-routing, under comparable transport conditions, to their final destination at a later date at the passenger's convenience, subject to availability of seats", without any visible qualification to this in terms of dates.

I can entirely understand why an airline wouldn't appreciate this being an open-ended commitment, but can't see any legal basis on which to refuse to comply with this regulation, so worth pushing back IMHO....

Re-routing at the earlest opportunity appears to negate the suggestion that the committment is open ended and cost free to the passenger in the event of non action as @sheramber points out. 

No, they have to offer three options - the 'earliest opportunity' re-routing is a different option from the 'later convenience' one, but the airline is obliged to offer both, as well as a refund, i.e. three choices for the passenger:

Where reference is made to this Article, passengers shall be offered the choice between:

(a) - reimbursement within seven days, by the means provided for in Article 7(3), of the full cost of the ticket at the price at which it was bought, for the part or parts of the journey not made, and for the part or parts already made if the flight is no longer serving any purpose in relation to the passenger's original travel plan, together with, when relevant,

- a return flight to the first point of departure, at the earliest opportunity;

(b) re-routing, under comparable transport conditions, to their final destination at the earliest opportunity; or

(c) re-routing, under comparable transport conditions, to their final destination at a later date at the passenger's convenience, subject to availability of seats.

Grumpy_chap

eskbanker said:

The regulations clearly state that, as well as refund or re-routing at the earliest opportunity, airlines are obliged to offer "re-routing, under comparable transport conditions, to their final destination at a later date at the passenger's convenience, subject to availability of seats", without any visible qualification to this in terms of dates.

I can entirely understand why an airline wouldn't appreciate this being an open-ended commitment, but can't see any legal basis on which to refuse to comply with this regulation, so worth pushing back IMHO....

There must be some qualification as to how long the passenger's convenience can simply remain a liability on the airline.

Many years ago, I was on a business trip and, for some reason, diverted so landed late Friday evening in Madrid.  The BA desk offered an onward flight to Heathrow later that evening but via Frankfurt which would have arrived at some silly early hour in the morning, or a hotel plus an early direct flight the next morning.  I asked to take the hotel but the latest direct flight back on the Saturday evening, thus gaining a day sight-seeing in Madrid.  That was all before the current rules came into being, but the "passenger's convenience" was with a certain "immediateness".

In the OP's case, should have flown August, flight cancelled in July, but the customer made no contact until December.  With no contact, the airline is entirely unsighted as to how to proceed.  Potentially, the airline should put a date to make contact or automatically refund the money but they can't just wait open-ended.  How were BA to know that the OP would make contact in 6 months?  or a year?  or two years?

That is not to say it is a comment on the rules, but simply that there is a position of "reasonable" from the airlines perspective also.  Perhaps the OP is best to follow the complaints escalation route with BA to achieve a better outcome than £1.5k penalty for delay.

eskbanker

Just had a rummage around over on FlyerTalk and found an interesting and (to my mind) relevant case in which BA refused to honour the 'passenger convenience' obligation (albeit on ticket validity grounds) and when the matter was referred to the dispute resolution service, CEDR found in favour of the passenger:

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/british-airways-executive-club/2044931-eu261-cedr-upholds-right-rerouting-outside-ticket-validity.html

Furthermore, Regulation 261 is designed to protect the rights of air passengers, and I find that imposing limitations on when the Passenger is able to re-book a flight at his convenience would contradict the ethos of the Regulation.

[...]

The parties should note that should the Passenger choose option C, the Airline cannot limit the Passenger’s choice of an alternative flight to any particular date, providing that the flight is available and has available seating.

It's not a binding legal precedent but the thread includes details of the lines of argument used by the passenger and the airline, which OP may find useful....

sheramber

I think the problem with the OP's booking is it appears they did not contact BA to advise what option they wanted to take.

 They told me that because the booking is 'purged' i.e. its past the travel date,

eskbanker

sheramber said:

I think the problem with the OP's booking is it appears they did not contact BA to advise what option they wanted to take.

 They told me that because the booking is 'purged' i.e. its past the travel date,

Yes, I'm sure that didn't help, but in itself I don't believe that this negated any statutory rights - there is undoubtedly an argument that it was unreasonable for OP not to make any contact or nominate their preferred option for many months, but OP is adamant that "no expiry date or deadline was stipulated" (the regulations are silent on this so again any such deadline could be open to challenge).

The cancellation was only notified the month before travel, which could be a period of anywhere between one day and two months, so IMHO BA should have a process that accommodates option selection after the scheduled travel date, rather than just asserting 'tough luck'....