Delayed Vancouver Flight

Sobeboy15

So we recently had a flight from Vancouver to Madrid via LHR and then the following morning from Madrid to LHR.

We were aware that our flight into Vancouver was running a couple of hours late so this meant our connection for the Madrid flight would be tight.   About 7 hours prior to the flight we had an email from British Airways and they had rerouted us to Amsterdam a flight leaving LHR @ 20.55 pm arriving Amsterdam @ 23.05 pm with a further flight from AMS @ 06.55 pm the following day to Madrid so that we would get our original booked flight back to LHR later that day.

We were due to arrive in Madrid @ 19.30 pm on the 19th Oct.  Using their flight via Amsterdam we would have arrived in Madrid @ 09.35 am on the 20th Oct, ie 16 hours later than planned.

This email did not contain anything else about hotel accommodation and transfers or any other arrangements.  We called BA and said that as we are both in our 60's the thought of losing a nights sleep on the transatlantic flight and then a second night of traveling late in the night and an early start was not something we wanted to do.

They said they could reroute us and our bags to London which meant we lost the last day of our holiday visiting friends.

Are we entitled to any compensation of any sort as Im not really very well versed in these things.

Any Help would be appreciated.

eskbanker

The reason for the initial disruption is the first aspect to consider, i.e. the extent to which it was within the airline's control - if it was "caused by extraordinary circumstances which could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken" then there's no liability to pay any compensation.

Assuming the delay to the transatlantic flight was within BA's control, the issue then comes down to how late it landed at LHR, if that was as far as you travelled - was it within three hours of its scheduled arrival time?

If you decided that the proposed change to your itinerary was unsuitable (and it does seem strange for them to have suggested an overnight in Amsterdam on a LHR-MAD routing) and chose not to travel to Madrid at all, then you're entitled to a refund of the cost of that leg.

Was the return trip from Madrid the following morning (which does seem an odd schedule if you're resistant to extended travelling hours) part of the same booking?

Sobeboy15

The flight from Vancouver arrived 2 Hours late which meant our connection to Madrid was not achievable.  

Our original destination was MAD and we should have arrived at 19.30pm (19th) we would have arrived 09.30am (20th)

The return trip from Madrid was on a separate booking.

We were seeing friends who ordinarily we can't see easily hence the extended trip.  We were not keen on arriving in AMS at 11pm and then having a flight at 6.55 am the following morning with no chance to organise anything in AMS as we were just about to get on the flight from YVR to LHR.

eskbanker

Returning to the earlier point, there definitely won't be any compensation due if the underlying reason for the original delay was outside BA's control.

If it was deemed to be within their control then it's unclear to me whether your scenario would actually qualify for compensation, as the regulations were written on the basis of compensating passengers when flights are cancelled, rather than delayed.  It was subsequently determined in a court case that a delay of three hours is to be regarded as equivalent to cancellation, but if you didn't actually complete the itinerary and chose not to proceed to your booked final destination, then it's debatable as to whether they have any liability to pay compensation, if the only flight that you did take was delayed by less than three hours.

Separately from any compensation, you're entitled to a refund of the LHR-MAD leg that you didn't use.

BA should have arranged overnight accommodation had you proceeded, but that's academic now really, unless you plan to lodge a formal complaint with them, alongside the refund/compo claim.

Your separately-booked return flight from Madrid wouldn't be reclaimable under the EU/UK261 regulations, so you'd need to establish whether there's any refund available from the airline, based on the fare class you booked in.

The other angle to consider is the extent to which your travel insurance covers some or all of the above, have you raised the matter with them yet?  They'll typically exclude costs that can be recoverable from other parties such as airlines.

Sobeboy15

Thankyou so much for your help I appreciate your input and advice.