Flight cancellation - complicated

ceritos

There is no manage my booking on Avianca's site. That would have been great but the Avianca flight was bought without a username and password for the site - it isn't  a very comprehensive website.

As there was no mention of self rebooking online in that BA email (just "we've done it" or the contradictory "we've done it but you need to do it if you used a travel agency') I doubt plugging our e-ticket number into the BA website would have done anything. 

My main issue with this is that BA simply lied in that email: they hadn't rebooked us on the next available flight from LHR to EDI.

Add to this that the email is confused. The first two flights' new and old entries are basically the same. The first of the flights had  already been taken and the last  should either have had the next next flight details (if they had really rebooked us), a TBC or an "act now".

Thinking about it, BA must know we booked with Avianca so there should be no dubaity on what we should do depending on where the ticket was bought. 

Thanks, everyone for the comments. Hopefully we'll get the £500 or so we spent on a hotel, taxis and trains back from BA.

Just for clarity's sake for the future, have I got this right.....?

1

If a cancellation is made by airline A on a ticket bought from airline B. Then it is always the duty of airline A to rebook / sort things out. (This is what should have happened with us)

2

If there is a cancellation made by an airline and the ticket was bought from a travel agent (the likes of Last Minute, Expedia etc) then it is the purchaser who must contact the travel agent to get this rebooked. I assume it is the travel agent who should notify the travellers of the cancelled flight.

bagand96

ceritos said:

There is no manage my booking on Avianca's site. That would have been great but the Avianca flight was bought without a username and password for the site - it isn't  a very comprehensive website.

As there was no mention of self rebooking online in that BA email (just "we've done it" or the contradictory "we've done it but you need to do it if you used a travel agency') I doubt plugging our e-ticket number into the BA website would have done anything. 

My main issue with this is that BA simply lied in that email: they hadn't rebooked us on the next available flight from LHR to EDI.

Add to this that the email is confused. The first two flights' new and old entries are basically the same. The first of the flights had  already been taken and the last  should either have had the next next flight details (if they had really rebooked us), a TBC or an "act now".

Thinking about it, BA must know we booked with Avianca so there should be no dubaity on what we should do depending on where the ticket was bought. 

Thanks, everyone for the comments. Hopefully we'll get the £500 or so we spent on a hotel, taxis and trains back from BA.

Just for clarity's sake for the future, have I got this right.....?

1

If a cancellation is made by airline A on a ticket bought from airline B. Then it is always the duty of airline A to rebook / sort things out. (This is what should have happened with us)

2

If there is a cancellation made by an airline and the ticket was bought from a travel agent (the likes of Last Minute, Expedia etc) then it is the purchaser who must contact the travel agent to get this rebooked. I assume it is the travel agent who should notify the travellers of the cancelled flight.

It took me less than 15 seconds on the Avianca site to find "Manage My Booking"  which lets you log in with a booking reference and passenger surname, same as every other major airline.

I think you were naive in your interpretation of the wording on the BA email. The other flights showed new flight details whereas the LHR-EDI didn't.

Anyway its all academic as it doesn't change BA's obligations. And I do sympathise in that BA's ticketing systems are a shambles and their customer service a largely uncontactable.

To answer the questions:

1) If you make the booking through airline A then they "own"  the booking even if it is operated by airline B.  So airline A would normally be responsible for sorting schedule changes. 

2) When booked via an agent the agent should contact the passenger in the event of a schedule change. The airline will notify the agent who then contact the passenger. Some agents are much better than others though and there's no harm in a passenger being proactive!


Your case is strange as I'd have expected Avianca to notify of the schedule change given it was an Avianca booking. It's unusual that BA contacted you directly. But it may be a quirk of the Avianca/BA codes hare and ticketing arrangement. If you'd contacted BA when you got the email I wonder if they'd have helped you directly or directed you to Avianca.


For cancellation/delay compensation and expenses claims it is the operating airline that you must deal with. So in this case BA. Your case seems pretty straightforward and can't see why they should refuse. 

tightauldgit

My only slight doubt on the getting your expenses back thing is that BA may say that you were informed of the cancellation (the email) in plenty of time and took no action. I appreciate that the email is slightly ambiguous but they may try that one anyway and then I think you would be left to argue that the email suggested you'd been rebooked on the next flight (despite it not showing this)

ceritos

@bagsnd96 - Not sure about the 'naive'.If you're told (at the start of an email from an airline) that they rebooked you then I think most people would take that as gospel......


"To help get your travel plans back on track, we've rebooked you onto the next available flights."


 Furthermore, we didn't book with a 'travel agency' so logically assumed we'd end up getting a later flight and didn't have to do anything. Again, I think that would be what most people would do.

I didn't know you could log in to airline websites with a surname and e-ticket number but it did  take me an hour (10 days or so ago) to put a query into Avianca's web site - doesn't open the page in Safari - I had to call them. They are (bizarrely) asking us to contact BA to find out why the flight was cancelled

BA should at least look at rewording the email (and leave out past flights)..

The case has been in (with receipts) with BA for 12 days now and have yet to get anything other than a reference number 

ceritos

A happy ending!

BA rejected the claim in early January saying that they sent the email in time (in accordance with international regulations). They ignored by repeated reminder  from me that they renaged on their written promise to book us on the the next available flight and it was this that caused us a significant financial outlay and hassle.

I got in contact with CEDAR (Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution) in late January who agreed with me. After forwarding all relevant paperwork and correspondence from BA, I was offered full compensation yesterday.

It took BA 4 and half months before I heard anything from them despite 6 phone calls, two letters and multiple web form submission. It is a shame I had to use a third party. The next plan was going to be the small claims court.

tightauldgit

ceritos said:

A happy ending!

BA rejected the claim in early January saying that they sent the email in time (in accordance with international regulations). They ignored by repeated reminder  from me that they renaged on their written promise to book us on the the next available flight and it was this that caused us a significant financial outlay and hassle.

I got in contact with CEDAR (Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution) in late January who agreed with me. After forwarding all relevant paperwork and correspondence from BA, I was offered full compensation yesterday.

It took BA 4 and half months before I heard anything from them despite 6 phone calls, two letters and multiple web form submission. It is a shame I had to use a third party. The next plan was going to be the small claims court.

Good stuff! Always good to see BA taking a beating haha