BA Cancelled Flight - Reasonable expenses not fully paid due to 'approved budgets'

Driftedbyte

Hi all,

My partner and I recently flew to Nice from LCY and were expected to fly home on 03/07. Unfortunately, due to French Air Traffic Control strikes our flight was cancelled and rebooked by BA for the evening of 05/07, albeit returning to LHR rather than LCY as originally planned.

I understand that as the cancellation was out of BA's control, we are not due any compensation in this case, however, we have put a claim in for expenses to cover our extra 2 days in France. We were not given any guidance on expenditure limits and only that 'reasonable expenses' would be covered - fair enough. We were staying in an airbnb which had a firm check out date, so we had to book a hotel for the extra 2 nights. We chose a 3-star hotel close to where we were staying, this was not a fancy or upmarket hotel and we chose the smallest double room option. We know this was a 'suitable' hotel as the receptionist said they had been inundated with calls from multiple airlines trying to book rooms for other stranded travelers that had been affected by the cancellations. With 75% of flights out of Nice airport being scrapped, hotel prices obviously increased, and ours was £491.45 total for the two nights. We also claimed for meals/drinks as well as taxis.

Once home, we submitted our receipts and expected no issues with getting our expenses fully approved, however, we have today received an email stating our claim has been only partially approved. The agent has cited on the email that "We've approved and processed a payment of £593.60 to your original method of payment. While we understand there were additional costs, the remaining expenses were not eligible for coverage as they exceeded the approved budget limits. The approved amount includes: 

Hotel expenses: £400 (for two nights)
Meals: £100 (for two days)
Transport: £93.60

I have several questions regarding this response from BA, including how these budget amounts are calculated? I have searched forums to find people in similar situations and without fail the term BA use is 'reasonable expenses' rather than having set amounts. If indeed BA do have set amounts in place, why were these amounts not communicated to us before we booked our hotel? Given that hotels were more expensive in the area, why is our hotel booking not deemed reasonable? We arguably could have booked a hotel for the "approved amount", but it would have been far out of town and therefore at the time, we did not consider it 'unreasonable' to book a hotel near to where we had previously stayed.

Furthermore, the £100 reimbursement for two days worth of meals seems incredibly low, considering there were two of us. Trying to eat in Nice for £25 a day seems very unreasonable. We ate out at McDonald's one of the nights, so again, we were not trying to live it up at BA's expense here, rather just spend a reasonable amount on two extra days in the French Riviera...

This is an incredibly frustrating situation for us, and I would like to know whether it would be worth pursuing a further claim to try and reimburse the whole cost of the hotel & meals, and if so, what would be the process of doing so. I'm concerned that the response we received and any future reply may purely be down to the customer service agent at the time, so is there a more formal route to go down to ensure our concerns are properly relayed to relevant teams?

Thank you all in advance!

DullGreyGuy

Presumably the taxis were paid in full.

Hotel claim was £491 but they are paying £400 so £91 down. Was this room only or B&B?

You dont say how much you your total food was?

I'm sure you can appreciate it from the other side too, BA fly to over 200 destinations themselves plus more with codeshares or flights with layovers to other airlines. Their contact centre agents won't have knowledge of the going rate of each place nor any peculiarities that may cause a spike and you can't use hotels.com or such to see what last months prices was. As such it's not unreasonable for them to have a system that gives their staff a ball park to work with. When I travel for business it's similar, employer/client says they pay up to £X with X varying depending on country/city. 

Did you gather evidence of what the prices were like at the time when you selected the hotel? Eg a screenshot of the website/app you used? 

pramsay13

I think you've probably done alright and you've ended up with another 2 days holiday at a reduced rate. 
The airline isn't obliged to cover expenses caused by a strike so it sounds as though it's a goodwill gesture. 
You'll need to check their terms and conditions to see what the process is for arguing, but I don't think you'll get far. 
You could claim off your travel insurance for the difference if you feel you've been hard done by. 

Voyager2002

pramsay13 said:

I think you've probably done alright and you've ended up with another 2 days holiday at a reduced rate. 
The airline isn't obliged to cover expenses caused by a strike so it sounds as though it's a goodwill gesture. 
You'll need to check their terms and conditions to see what the process is for arguing, but I don't think you'll get far. 
You could claim off your travel insurance for the difference if you feel you've been hard done by. 

There is a general obligation to provide "care" while passengers are delayed: does this not apply in the case of a strike?

Voyager2002

Driftedbyte said:

Hi all,

My partner and I recently flew to Nice from LCY and were expected to fly home on 03/07. Unfortunately, due to French Air Traffic Control strikes our flight was cancelled and rebooked by BA for the evening of 05/07, albeit returning to LHR rather than LCY as originally planned.

I understand that as the cancellation was out of BA's control, we are not due any compensation in this case, however, we have put a claim in for expenses to cover our extra 2 days in France. We were not given any guidance on expenditure limits and only that 'reasonable expenses' would be covered - fair enough. We were staying in an airbnb which had a firm check out date, so we had to book a hotel for the extra 2 nights. We chose a 3-star hotel close to where we were staying, this was not a fancy or upmarket hotel and we chose the smallest double room option. We know this was a 'suitable' hotel as the receptionist said they had been inundated with calls from multiple airlines trying to book rooms for other stranded travelers that had been affected by the cancellations. With 75% of flights out of Nice airport being scrapped, hotel prices obviously increased, and ours was £491.45 total for the two nights. We also claimed for meals/drinks as well as taxis.

Once home, we submitted our receipts and expected no issues with getting our expenses fully approved, however, we have today received an email stating our claim has been only partially approved. The agent has cited on the email that "We've approved and processed a payment of £593.60 to your original method of payment. While we understand there were additional costs, the remaining expenses were not eligible for coverage as they exceeded the approved budget limits. The approved amount includes: 

Hotel expenses: £400 (for two nights)
Meals: £100 (for two days)
Transport: £93.60

I have several questions regarding this response from BA, including how these budget amounts are calculated? I have searched forums to find people in similar situations and without fail the term BA use is 'reasonable expenses' rather than having set amounts. If indeed BA do have set amounts in place, why were these amounts not communicated to us before we booked our hotel? Given that hotels were more expensive in the area, why is our hotel booking not deemed reasonable? We arguably could have booked a hotel for the "approved amount", but it would have been far out of town and therefore at the time, we did not consider it 'unreasonable' to book a hotel near to where we had previously stayed.

Furthermore, the £100 reimbursement for two days worth of meals seems incredibly low, considering there were two of us. Trying to eat in Nice for £25 a day seems very unreasonable. We ate out at McDonald's one of the nights, so again, we were not trying to live it up at BA's expense here, rather just spend a reasonable amount on two extra days in the French Riviera...

This is an incredibly frustrating situation for us, and I would like to know whether it would be worth pursuing a further claim to try and reimburse the whole cost of the hotel & meals, and if so, what would be the process of doing so. I'm concerned that the response we received and any future reply may purely be down to the customer service agent at the time, so is there a more formal route to go down to ensure our concerns are properly relayed to relevant teams?

Thank you all in advance!

In your situation, I would now issue a Letter Before Action and commence court proceedings. The airline should have arranged accommodation during your delay but did not do so (presumably to reduce staff costs), and now it is seeking to pass on part of the cost that it is obliged to pay to you, the passenger.

Hoenir

Voyager2002 said:

The airline should have arranged accommodation during your delay but did not do so (presumably to reduce staff costs),

Presumption is never good. Getting facts right before going to court is essential. 

Driftedbyte

DullGreyGuy said:

Presumably the taxis were paid in full.

Hotel claim was £491 but they are paying £400 so £91 down. Was this room only or B&B?

You dont say how much you your total food was?

I'm sure you can appreciate it from the other side too, BA fly to over 200 destinations themselves plus more with codeshares or flights with layovers to other airlines. Their contact centre agents won't have knowledge of the going rate of each place nor any peculiarities that may cause a spike and you can't use hotels.com or such to see what last months prices was. As such it's not unreasonable for them to have a system that gives their staff a ball park to work with. When I travel for business it's similar, employer/client says they pay up to £X with X varying depending on country/city. 

Did you gather evidence of what the prices were like at the time when you selected the hotel? Eg a screenshot of the website/app you used? 

Hi DullGreyGuy,

Taxis were not quite paid in full, but I can let this one go. Despite flying back to a different airport which was further from home, it was ultimately our choice to use Taxis rather than public transport and they have been fair in paying for most of the taxi fares.

Yes, £91 is the difference on the hotel and hotel included breakfast. We did take screenshots of the prices on booking.com.

DullGreyGuy

Driftedbyte said:

DullGreyGuy said:

Presumably the taxis were paid in full.

Hotel claim was £491 but they are paying £400 so £91 down. Was this room only or B&B?

You dont say how much you your total food was?

I'm sure you can appreciate it from the other side too, BA fly to over 200 destinations themselves plus more with codeshares or flights with layovers to other airlines. Their contact centre agents won't have knowledge of the going rate of each place nor any peculiarities that may cause a spike and you can't use hotels.com or such to see what last months prices was. As such it's not unreasonable for them to have a system that gives their staff a ball park to work with. When I travel for business it's similar, employer/client says they pay up to £X with X varying depending on country/city. 

Did you gather evidence of what the prices were like at the time when you selected the hotel? Eg a screenshot of the website/app you used? 

Hi DullGreyGuy,

Taxis were not quite paid in full, but I can let this one go. Despite flying back to a different airport which was further from home, it was ultimately our choice to use Taxis rather than public transport and they have been fair in paying for most of the taxi fares.

Yes, £91 is the difference on the hotel and hotel included breakfast. We did take screenshots of the prices on booking.com.

£25/head/day isnt so bad if you've filled your boots at breakfast that isnt coming out of that budget. Ultimately it's not intended to be an extra 2 days holiday.

Ultimately I'd register a complaint following https://www.britishairways.com/content/en/gb/information/help-and-contacts/complaints-and-claims and provide the evidence that the booking was commensurate to the rates at the  time which whilst maybe higher than normal for the area is ultimately likely the result of surge pricing due to the volume of folks seeking last minute hotel rooms. 

The website also references the ADR scheme they are signed up to if you arent happy with the response to the complaint. 

Driftedbyte

pramsay13 said:

I think you've probably done alright and you've ended up with another 2 days holiday at a reduced rate. 
The airline isn't obliged to cover expenses caused by a strike so it sounds as though it's a goodwill gesture. 
You'll need to check their terms and conditions to see what the process is for arguing, but I don't think you'll get far. 
You could claim off your travel insurance for the difference if you feel you've been hard done by. 

 Airlines aren't obliged to pay compenation due to strike action. However, my flight was cancelled and regardless of the reason, the airline has a legal obligation to pay for expenses - not a goodwill gesture.

bazdvd

the airline has a duty to provide care and assistance. They do not have to cover expenses that are above and beyond what is reasonable.
Had you booked accommodation only the price without 4 breakfasts included may well of been completely covered by the airlines offer.

Voyager2002

bazdvd said:

Had you booked accommodation only the price without 4 breakfasts included may well of been completely covered by the airlines offer.

Irrelevant, since the "care" that the airlines are obliged to provide includes meals appropriate to the time of day, and that includes breakfast as well.