We'd like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum... Read More »
📨 Have you signed up to the Forum's new Email Digest yet? Get a selection of trending threads sent straight to your inbox daily, weekly or monthly!
Flight cancelled months in advance but no similar priced alternatives

united4ever
Posts: 530 Forumite


Planning a family trip to Japan at Xmas. Flights booked direct with BA for £850 about 6 weeks ago.
Got email to say the flight is cancelled. Seems like just one if the 3 flights cancelled from Manchester to Heathrow so the whole journey is cancelled. They asked us to call up to rearrange or we could get a full refund.
Trouble with refund is that flights are over 1k each now so as a family we are talking over £500 increase to get a refund and book elsewhere. Going to call BA soon to try to Redbook with them but I suspect they are going to say that I have to pay the price of tickets today and may ask for an extra £500 or more.
Question is, how do I play the phone call with BA? Is there any way I can get them to honour their original price to put me on a very similar schedule. The flights are regular between all points so I don't see it like there is only one flight a day or less between these places. Especially the Manchester to Heathrow leg.
Got email to say the flight is cancelled. Seems like just one if the 3 flights cancelled from Manchester to Heathrow so the whole journey is cancelled. They asked us to call up to rearrange or we could get a full refund.
Trouble with refund is that flights are over 1k each now so as a family we are talking over £500 increase to get a refund and book elsewhere. Going to call BA soon to try to Redbook with them but I suspect they are going to say that I have to pay the price of tickets today and may ask for an extra £500 or more.
Question is, how do I play the phone call with BA? Is there any way I can get them to honour their original price to put me on a very similar schedule. The flights are regular between all points so I don't see it like there is only one flight a day or less between these places. Especially the Manchester to Heathrow leg.
0
Comments
-
Were the other flights as cheap 6 weeks back? I know when I'm looking to book flights there's a lot of variety on prices for the same destination - might be expensive at 8 am but cheap at 2 pm etc.I’m a Forum Ambassador and I support the Forum Team on Debt Free Wannabe and Old Style Money Saving boards. If you need any help on these boards, do let me know. Please note that Ambassadors are not moderators. Any posts you spot in breach of the Forum Rules should be reported via the report button, or by emailing forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com. All views are my own and not the official line of MoneySavingExpert.
"Never retract, never explain, never apologise; get things done and let them howl.” Nellie McClung
⭐️🏅😇0 -
BA canned my flights to Oslo a few months before we were due to fly. Just got an email out of the blue saying "we've cancelled your flights" and they refunded the money.
I immediately looked for alternatives and as you say, they were similar flights but much more expensive.
When I checked back a couple of weeks later, everything had more or less settled down to similar prices. In fact the ones I rebooked were actually a little bit cheaper.
so it might pay to wait and see - but there's no guarantee of course.0 -
united4ever said:Planning a family trip to Japan at Xmas. Flights booked direct with BA for £850 about 6 weeks ago.
Got email to say the flight is cancelled. Seems like just one if the 3 flights cancelled from Manchester to Heathrow so the whole journey is cancelled. They asked us to call up to rearrange or we could get a full refund.
Trouble with refund is that flights are over 1k each now so as a family we are talking over £500 increase to get a refund and book elsewhere. Going to call BA soon to try to Redbook with them but I suspect they are going to say that I have to pay the price of tickets today and may ask for an extra £500 or more.
Question is, how do I play the phone call with BA? Is there any way I can get them to honour their original price to put me on a very similar schedule. The flights are regular between all points so I don't see it like there is only one flight a day or less between these places. Especially the Manchester to Heathrow leg.0 -
As @eskbanker has said you are entitled to choose between a refund or an alternative flight to your destination- ( this can even be with another airline if the original airline doesn’t have availability )
Before making the phone call - do some research and find an alternative flight that will meets your requirements -then when you phone BA tell them that you do not want a refund but you are requesting that they book you onto these alternative flights . If necessary quote the UK/EU 261 regulations.0 -
Might an idea be to accept the LHR > HND > LHR routing and look at train/coach options between Manchester and LHR? You would have to let BA know in advance if missing the MAN > LHR sector, don't just skip it on the day.1
-
BA will likely be able to rebook you to fly from Heathrow, not Manchester.
I think Flybe are flying to LHR from MAN this winter, but a better alternative is likely to be by bus or train.
I've also noticed a lot of variation and the £10 flights to many places have long gone now, but it's still possible to pick up a sub-£50 return to most of Europe if you're not picky about dates and happy to book a few weeks out.💙💛 💔0 -
Thanks all. Called up and they booked me onto Finnair flights for part of the journey (operated by JAL) via Helsinki. The times are fairly similar and no extra charge so it's worked out fine really.6
-
This is the bible http://publicapps.caa.co.uk/docs/33/Re-routing Guidance (CAP2155).pdf
BA CC staff have virtually no knowledge about it
Para 33 on page 12 makes for interesting readingPrivate Parking Tickets - Make sure you put your Subject Access Request in after 25th May 2018 - It's free & ask for everything, don't forget the DVLA0
Confirm your email address to Create Threads and Reply

Categories
- All Categories
- 350.4K Banking & Borrowing
- 252.9K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
- 453.3K Spending & Discounts
- 243.4K Work, Benefits & Business
- 598K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
- 176.6K Life & Family
- 256.5K Travel & Transport
- 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
- 16.1K Discuss & Feedback
- 37.6K Read-Only Boards