Flight booking cancellation because of MCT - MInimum Changeover Time, without any notification to me

KapilPatil

Travel Agent - Southall Travel
Airline - British Airways
Travel dates - 19 August 2022 -  return on 10 September 2022
Travel from - Manchester > LHR -> Bangalore,INDIA and return Bangalore,INDIA -> LHR -> Manchester
Traveled with - Family with two girls(9 years old and 7 years old)

Travel from the UK to INDIA was all good no issues. 
My return flight booking(INDIA to LHR, UK) was  cancelled on 1 September 2022, with MCT(Minimum Change over time) and I was not informed about it by the airline or by the travel agent. Ironically the BA Flight BA0118 landed at LHR, 21 Minutes ahead of scheduled arrival, which defeats the very reason that was used to cancel my booking.

I was unaware of the booking cancellation until early morning 9th September 2022, while trying to check-in online. To my shock, there were no flights available to check-in. That's when I called the agent and airline, none had any clue why the booking was cancelled and re-sold to someone else. 

If I would have know on 1 September 2022 about that booking cancellation, I would have 9 days to sort out things. 

I was forced into a situation to book(£6429 + Transfers + Food on the way) a one way flight to the UK. Lots of hassle, frustration and emotionally & physically draining.

After coming to the UK, I again tried to raise my concerns with Agent and Airline.  Dealing with agent and airline is a nightmare, poor customer service and going in loops. None of them take responsibility and put blame on one another. Agent says they have not received any notification about my booking cancellation.     
The Travel agent has given me in writing that they have not received any notification on 1 September 2022 or after that my booking was cancelled by Airline. 
The Airline says, since its agent booking, I have to deal with the agent. I am asking the airline to share proof of notification of my booking cancellation, which they are not providing and giving me random answers. Agent gave me the refund that was given by the airline for the cancellation of the return leg of the flight booking. But who is responsible for putting me and my family in the situation and forcing me to spend more to complete my journey? 

I am not sure what is the best way forward to get appropriate compensation. Please give me some advice. 

Thanks

eskbanker

Are you saying that a Bangalore to LHR flight was rescheduled and that as a result of this, a through booking from Bangalore to Manchester was cancelled entirely, rather than simply rebooking the travellers onto the next available LHR-MAN flight?  What was the booked MCT and what would the changes have taken it to?

If the airline has belatedly (?) changed their schedule to prevent your booking from being honoured then morally they should accept responsibility to get your journey completed at no extra cost (in the way they'd have to if they cancelled the flight itself or denied boarding once you were at the airport) rather than simply refunding, but I'm not sure that there is a legal obligation as such - happy to be corrected on that though....

onashoestring

KapilPatil said:

Agent says they have not received any notification about my booking cancellation.     
The Travel agent has given me in writing that they have not received any notification on 1 September 2022 or after that my booking was cancelled by Airline. 

……Agent gave me the refund that was given by the airline for the cancellation of the return leg of the flight booking. 

The Agent are giving you conflicting information.. they state they didn’t know about the cancellation but have also stated that they have been refunded by the airline for the cancelled booking.

My return flight booking(INDIA to LHR, UK) was  cancelled on 1 September 2022, with MCT(Minimum Change over time) and I was not informed about it by the airline or by the travel agent. 

Where has this information come from and when ?

 Usually when a booking is cancelled because of MCT an alternative flight is offered by the airline. What was the original time between the scheduled flight arrival at Heathrow and departing flight time LHR-MAN ?  

Westin

It would be good to have answers to the questions posed above.

If a rescheduling of one of the two segments mentioned meant MCT was compromised then normal process would be for you to be simply booked on to a later LHR_MAN flight.  This is done automatically by a computer system.

Did BA’s OLCI prevent you checking in for the BLR-LHR sector or you did not do so as there was no LHR-MAN option showing at the time?

With an OLCI issue, when you instead went to BLR airport what did BA’s agent tell you? Did they stop you travelling on BLR-LHR.

KapilPatil

1. 
As per original booking - MCT was 60 minutes
Bangalore - LHR => 6:50AM(IST) - 1:00PM(GMT)
LHR - Manchester => 2:00PM(GMT) - 3:05PM(GMT)

On August 21 - There was 5 minutes delay notification was sent to agent and agent forwarded to me. There was no warning/mention that my booking will be cancelled. 
Bangalore - LHR => 6:55AM(IST) - 1:05PM(GMT)  -----> New MCT 55 minutes
LHR - Manchester => 2:00PM(GMT) - 3:05PM(GMT)

The initial MCT was of 60 Minutes for connection from LHR to Manchester. There was a 5 minutes delay in departure from Bangalore, that left only 55 minutes of MCT for change over. My complete booking (Bangalore - LHR - MAN)was cancelled. But the flight BA0118 landed at LHR 21 minutes ahead of schedule on 10 September. While I was in India neither agent nor Airline informed me about the reason for booking cancellation and there was no notification about the booking has been cancelled. Airline was reluctant to talk and share details, since this was an agent booking. 

2. I came to know about the MCT related cancellation and related details only after returning to UK and by asking agent and airline to provide me the exact details. So the 5 minute delay in departure breached the MCT and BA's computer system automatically removed my booking from the system on 1 September and no cancellation notification was given to me and agent claims to have not received any cancellation notification. My argument is - If my booking is cancelled, I should be informed immediately, that did not happen.

KapilPatil

Westin said:

It would be good to have answers to the questions posed above.

If a rescheduling of one of the two segments mentioned meant MCT was compromised then normal process would be for you to be simply booked on to a later LHR_MAN flight.  This is done automatically by a computer system.

Did BA’s OLCI prevent you checking in for the BLR-LHR sector or you did not do so as there was no LHR-MAN option showing at the time?

With an OLCI issue, when you instead went to BLR airport what did BA’s agent tell you? Did they stop you travelling on BLR-LHR.

1. On 9 September 2022(24 hours prior to departure), BA online check-in system prevented me from checking in with an error saying 'Flights have already flown'. So for my booking reference there was nothing showing. 

2. So I called BA and my agent. Both said that my booking has been cancelled. BA was reluctant to talk to me in detail, as this was an agent booking. So, I was left with the option that agent asking me stay in India for 3-4 weeks in order to get a BA flight. But I did not had the time as kids schools starting and I had to report to work.

KapilPatil

onashoestring said:

KapilPatil said:

Agent says they have not received any notification about my booking cancellation.     
The Travel agent has given me in writing that they have not received any notification on 1 September 2022 or after that my booking was cancelled by Airline. 

……Agent gave me the refund that was given by the airline for the cancellation of the return leg of the flight booking. 

The Agent are giving you conflicting information.. they state they didn’t know about the cancellation but have also stated that they have been refunded by the airline for the cancelled booking.

My return flight booking(INDIA to LHR, UK) was  cancelled on 1 September 2022, with MCT(Minimum Change over time) and I was not informed about it by the airline or by the travel agent. 

Where has this information come from and when ?

 Usually when a booking is cancelled because of MCT an alternative flight is offered by the airline. What was the original time between the scheduled flight arrival at Heathrow and departing flight time LHR-MAN ?  

1. Regarding MCT - After returning to UK, I spoke to Agent to get more details about the reason for cancellation and if there was any notification was received by them. That's when agent informed(took 2 weeks' time to get back with answers) me that my booking was automatically cancelled by BA's computer system because of 5 minutes delay in departure breached MCT .

2. That's when agent said they can ask airline to provide refund for the cancellation and which they eventually got after 8 weeks.

But my arguments are:
 1. even if it is agent booking Airline should have offered me new bookings automatically and notified my self and agent. That did not happen. May be its a business arrangement between Agent and Airline, where Agent will try to get more from customer.
 2. Upon Cancellation 10 days prior to flight date, there was no notification to my self and agent(agent claims to have not received any information). I have paid for the flight and completed half of the journey, I should be notified if the booking is cancelled.

Westin

Assume you were due to arrive and connect at Heathrow on Sunday 11 September?

Sunday's due have fewer frequencies LHR-MAN that weekdays or Saturday, but I am surprised BA's system did not automatically rebook you on to the 20:50h service. That said, perhaps this only other service on 11/9/22 was cancelled as I believe BA were reducing some flights in September.

" 1. even if it is agent booking Airline should have offered me new bookings automatically and notified my self and agent. That did not happen. May be its a business arrangement between Agent and Airline, where Agent will try to get more from customer."
*>  I honestly don't think this is a case of "may be its a business arrangement between Agent and Airline, where Agent will try to get more from customer". I don;t buy the conspiracy.   I think what is more likely that either BA's system did not offer an alternative LHR-MAN option (perhaps due to the 20:35 flight not operating, or just a system bug) or the revision went to Southall and was not actioned correctly or in a timely manner. This might then result in the whole BLR-LR-MAN segments being cancelled and refunded.

Sunday schedules LHR-MAN are limiting and you may well of not been happy with waiting 8h35m at LHR for the later connection. I know I would not especially after a long flight from India.  During disruption BA can and do offer passengers the option of a rail connection LHR-LON-MAN on LNER.  This probably would have been better for you but would have meant a 'person' to offer rather than an automatic BA system change.

"2. Upon Cancellation 10 days prior to flight date, there was no notification to my self and agent(agent claims to have not received any information). I have paid for the flight and completed half of the journey, I should be notified if the booking is cancelled."
*> Yes, you should. I guess however it is finding out who dropped the ball. BA or Southall.

To your other points;
"1. On 9 September 2022(24 hours prior to departure), BA online check-in system prevented me from checking in with an error saying 'Flights have already flown'. So for my booking reference there was nothing showing."
*> This indeed suggests the booking by this point had been cancelled.  

"2. So I called BA and my agent. Both said that my booking has been cancelled. BA was reluctant to talk to me in detail, as this was an agent booking. So, I was left with the option that agent asking me stay in India for 3-4 weeks in order to get a BA flight. But I did not had the time as kids schools starting and I had to report to work."
*> Mystified that BA/Southall could not offer you an alternative flight back for 3-4 weeks. 

KapilPatil

Westin said:

Assume you were due to arrive and connect at Heathrow on Sunday 11 September?

Sunday's due have fewer frequencies LHR-MAN that weekdays or Saturday, but I am surprised BA's system did not automatically rebook you on to the 20:50h service. That said, perhaps this only other service on 11/9/22 was cancelled as I believe BA were reducing some flights in September.

" 1. even if it is agent booking Airline should have offered me new bookings automatically and notified my self and agent. That did not happen. May be its a business arrangement between Agent and Airline, where Agent will try to get more from customer."
*>  I honestly don't think this is a case of "may be its a business arrangement between Agent and Airline, where Agent will try to get more from customer". I don;t buy the conspiracy.   I think what is more likely that either BA's system did not offer an alternative LHR-MAN option (perhaps due to the 20:35 flight not operating, or just a system bug) or the revision went to Southall and was not actioned correctly or in a timely manner. This might then result in the whole BLR-LR-MAN segments being cancelled and refunded.

Sunday schedules LHR-MAN are limiting and you may well of not been happy with waiting 8h35m at LHR for the later connection. I know I would not especially after a long flight from India.  During disruption BA can and do offer passengers the option of a rail connection LHR-LON-MAN on LNER.  This probably would have been better for you but would have meant a 'person' to offer rather than an automatic BA system change.

"2. Upon Cancellation 10 days prior to flight date, there was no notification to my self and agent(agent claims to have not received any information). I have paid for the flight and completed half of the journey, I should be notified if the booking is cancelled."
*> Yes, you should. I guess however it is finding out who dropped the ball. BA or Southall.

To your other points;
"1. On 9 September 2022(24 hours prior to departure), BA online check-in system prevented me from checking in with an error saying 'Flights have already flown'. So for my booking reference there was nothing showing."
*> This indeed suggests the booking by this point had been cancelled.  

"2. So I called BA and my agent. Both said that my booking has been cancelled. BA was reluctant to talk to me in detail, as this was an agent booking. So, I was left with the option that agent asking me stay in India for 3-4 weeks in order to get a BA flight. But I did not had the time as kids schools starting and I had to report to work."
*> Mystified that BA/Southall could not offer you an alternative flight back for 3-4 weeks. 

We reach on Saturday(same day if starting early morning from India) itself, as GMT is 4.5 hours behind IST. There are other options for BA to re-schedule on a Saturday. I don't know if the auto re-schedule is only for flights you book directly with BA/Airline. If its an agent booking you need to be in touch with agent.

Well Agent has given in writing that they have not received any cancellation notification. 
I am yet to receive proof of cancellation notification information from Airline. 

A good learning for future, book directly with the airline, so that you deal with one party for any issues. Otherwise they keep passing blame on one another and leave customer hanging. 

Is there a way I can complain this issue to someone?  

KapilPatil

Thanks all for your replies and greatly appreciate your time and energy in going through my case. 

Westin

Both Southall and BA will detail their complaints procedure.

Have a look at section 11 of the Southall t&c’s here - https://www.southalltravel.co.uk/terms.aspx

BA’s process is here - https://www.britishairways.com/en-gb/information/help-and-contacts/complaints-and-claims

I would keep the body of the complaint factual and to the point.  On the BA one perhaps indicate that Southall have told you that they (the airline) did not get notified of the schedule change.