Delay claim to original airline or replacement.

discountdude_123

I had a look at other posts but couldn’t see this situation. 

My wife’s parents booked a flight from  their home city in the US to Heathrow (with a connection in the US). This was booked  with American Airlines. 

The first leg of the return journey was on a BA flight that got cancelled 24 hrs in advance. The email that told them this said they had been rebooked on an alternative flight with United that got them to their final destination at around the original time, so it seemed all ok. 

Once at Heathrow, it turned out they didn’t have seats on this United fight.  Eventually BA got them on a different United flight that went via a different hub and would require an overnight stay. This flight’s take off ended up being delayed by 5 hours.  Eventually they got home the next morning after 3 hours in a hotel at the connecting airport (this was provided by United). 

I’m uncertain who they should claim from. BA cancelled their flight and the replacement they provided was going to get them home more than 12 hours late. 

United was the airline they actually flew on (which was also late!). 

Any advice would be appreciated, so I can pass it on to them. 

mdann52

I'd claim against United here, but others may disagree.

Technically speaking, this sounds like Involuntary Denied Boarding (IDB) by United, as long as BA booked them an actual ticket, rather than a "standby" seat. Just because BA sorted out the rebooking, doesn't mean they have to compensate under UK261 in this case

If BA rerouted then with a scheduled arrival time of less than 1 hour before, or less than 2 hours after, their original arrival time, then they aren't due anything separately for the cancellation.

discountdude_123

Thanks. That makes sense. They were content with the initially rebooked flight (though I’d need to see their email to check it actually said they had a ticket/seats). It was only at checkin for United that they got told they didn’t have a ticket and were sent back to BA. They had to get a BA staff member to come to the United terminal to sort it out. 

JPears

Nightmare for the in-laws!

There is an arguement that they are due 2 amounts of compensation each.

The first for the cancelled BA return flight.  But this all depends on whether BA actually did provide them with seats/tickets on the United flight.

And  the actually time difference between arrival of the cancelled BA flight and the supposedly rebooked but non existant seats on the AA flight.

The second for the delayed flight by United from a UK airport.

And I think you might get away without because it is highly unlikely that BA will talk to AA/United and vice versa.

discountdude_123

Ha, that was my thought too but it seemed I a bit cheeky! I think the claim for the delayed United flight they actually were on is the most obvious case, so I’ll get them to start there. 

Agreed that the BA one is more complicated. Even if the second replacement United flight (the one BA eventually got them on) had left on time, it would have meant an overnight delay before reaching their final destination. If they weren’t provided with a proper ticket for first  replacement flight (making it BA’s screw up, not United’s) trying for a refund via BA makes sense too. 

Ethically I’m not sure of advising them to do both but it was such a disaster they probably deserve it (the taxi initially took them to the wrong hotel when they were forced to stay at the connecting airport overnight.  When they did get there it was after midnight and the person at the hotel front desk didn’t know how to process the voucher United had given them!). 

mdann52

discountdude_123 said:

Agreed that the BA one is more complicated. Even if the second replacement United flight (the one BA eventually got them on) had left on time, it would have meant an overnight delay before reaching their final destination. If they weren’t provided with a proper ticket for first  replacement flight (making it BA’s screw up, not United’s) trying for a refund via BA makes sense too. 

The regulations just say they need to be offered rerouting to arrive within a window for BA to get out of compensating, it doesn't matter if the flights are subsequently cancelled or delayed. If United overbooked and BA were unaware, and the flights were at similar times, it's only one lot of compensation unfortunately 

discountdude_123

Ha - I just found he put in a claim to all three airlines. Seems like a bit of a waste of time!