Flight cancelled - missed event I’d travelled for - compensation?

CGPenguin

Newbie - advice appreciated.
Booked BA flight to Newark 22/09/23 to attend family funeral in New Jersey Sat 23/09/2023. Would have left LHR 11am and got to NJ hotel around 4pm on Fri - in time to attend pre-funeral family gathering. BA cancelled flight at 08.36 am on Fri 22/09/23 and rebooked us to JFK. Travel agent unable to find alternative into Newark but found earlier BA flight than the one they had offered, so took that to JFK. Arrived at NJ hotel at 21.45 and missed family event. Have claimed for cancellation and extra costs but can’t find anything on whether I can claim for the upset of missing one of the two things for which I had travelled. Any thoughts from Forumites please?

eskbanker

No, there's nothing in the regulations that would allow a claim for 'upset' from the airline.

Travel insurance might be an option, if your policy covers such eventualities.

elsien

I’m pretty sure that travel  insurance would not cover upset at missing a family get-together, whatever the reason for the occasion. 

eskbanker

elsien said:

I’m pretty sure that travel  insurance would not cover upset at missing a family get-together, whatever the reason for the occasion. 

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6482439/flight-delay-insurance is a current thread about a policy paying out for flight delays, rather than the consequences of these, so if OP had something similar (fitting the actual rebooking scenario) then there could be some compensation....

CGPenguin

Thank you for advice. Seems wrong somehow that there’s no moral obligation when the situation was more than just “missing some time” in NY but I’ll be interested in BA’s response. To add insult to injury, the outbound travel date was my birthday and not at all the stress-free day I had hoped for! Thanks again for the replies.