Advice needed re missed coonections ... Thanks

JF001

Hello All
Just looking for a bit of advice from a more seasoned traveller.
GOOD news ...10 members of my family are booked to fly to Australia to see my brothers family on Sunday .... yipee!!
BAD news .. We have a connection at Terminal 5.
We booked with Virgin - Heathrow to Sydney and they booked us a flight with BA from Manchester to Heathrow to make the flight. It is all on one ticket issued from Virgin with the BA an Virgin flights listed.
Problem is that as far ahead as Wednesday the BA flight to Heathrow is cancelled. If God Forbid it is cancelled on Sunday what do we do?
Do we go to BA or Virgin?
Virgin have told me to ring BA on Sunday morning, I have asked to change to BMI or for train tickets but they will not do anything.
Any advice greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance.

Strapped

Personally, I would seriously consider changing plans to hiring a car (probably x2 for 10 people ) and driving down the night before. However, to do this you'll need to get Virgin to change your ticket or you won't be able to check in at T5.

hammy_the_hammer

as things stand i wouldn't take the chance of my luggage joining the other 20000 bags at heathrow ....i'd look at other arrangements for getting to LHR avoiding ba like the plague (from someone who likes flying with them)

JF001

Great idea about the cars ... funny how simple things never come to mind in a panic!!
Spoke to BA today who remain optimistic for the weekend. I am checking out cars and trains anyway as I can get a refund on the BA flight.
Checking in for the Virgin flight at Heathrow seems favourite as that goes from Terminal 3.
Many thanks

mad_rich

JF001 wrote: »

Checking in for the Virgin flight at Heathrow seems favourite as that goes from Terminal 3.

Remember that you must must must make sure that your ticket has been correctly changed to reflect the fact that you will be checking-in at LHR. If you don't get it changed (or Virgin don't do it correctly) you will be deemed to have missed your first flight and forfeit your reservation. Being a pessimist, I would build in a bit of extra time for queueing at the customer service desk at Heathrow....

Strapped

Remember, you may be able to check in the night before with Virgin too, thus avoiding the "normal" check-in queue. But as mad_rich stated, get that ticket changed properly to avoid any issues.

JF001

In November 2007 I made a group booking through Virgin Atlantic for a party of 10 to fly to Sydney on 06/04/2008. The booking included a flight from Manchester to Heathrow with BA to catch the Virgin flight from Heathrow to Sydney. I confirmed with Virgin at the time of booking that this was a through flight and that our luggage would be checked through from Manchester to Sydney

When the problems with Terminal 5 came to light I immediately made contact with both Virgin and BA. I was advised that as this was a through booking should there be any problems with the BA flight from Manchester to Heathrow; BA would be responsible for rerouting us to Sydney. I called BA again on 05/04/08 and was advised that all flights were now running as normal but should there be any problems BA would “look after us

We checked in at Manchester and were told our 18.25 flight to Heathrow was not delayed. The check in assistant said that she could not check our luggage straight through as arranged as it was not a through flight. I did argue the point but at this point we were not too worried as we envisaged having plenty of time at Heathrow to collect our luggage and check in again for the Virgin flight at 22.30.

By the time we reached the departure gate some 30 minutes later the flight was showing as delayed to 21.25. I immediately spoke to the BA Customer Service Desk within Terminal 3. The assistant said we would have plenty of time to make the connection. I explained that there was no way we could collect our luggage at Terminal 5 and get to Terminal 3 to book in for the Virgin flight as the gate closed at 22.00. He asked why we had not had our luggage checked through and I explained what had been said on check in regarding it not being a through flight.

He made a phone call and said it was indeed a through flight but he could not arrange to reroute us as we had not officially missed the flight yet. He advised us to fly to Heathrow and collect our luggage. He said we should then visit BA Customer Services at Heathrow to arrange rerouting. He gave me a screen print out to hand over showing it was a through flight as he explained it was not clear on the system. He also gave me a list of alternative flights from Heathrow to Sydney

We continued to wait for the 21.25 departure as arranged but the flight was then cancelled. We were directed to collect our luggage and return to arrivals where BA Customer Services would assist us. We waited in a queue until 10.30 where we met the most unhelpful young lady. She simply told me she could not reroute us as it was not a through flight! I explained that it was indeed a through flight and showed her the print outs provided but she said the assistant was not a booking clerk “and did not know what he was talking about”. I showed her our E-Tickets but she said that although they said they were tickets they weren’t..... They were itineries.


She said BA was only responsible for getting us to Heathrow. I asked what would happen about our missed Virgin flight and she said we would need to speak to them. I asked her to phone Virgin at Heathrow on our behalf but she said she did not have a number. I had a number on the ticket and asked her to phone that. We had now been at the Airport for 10 hours, it was 11.00 at night and we were being told that because BA had cancelled the flight and would not accept it was a through booking we could lose our holiday!

She reluctantly agreed to call Virgin but sat texting on her mobile phone while she made the call. She was very sulky and most perturbed that I had insisted she called. She said that Virgin had agreed to put us on the 22.30 flight the next day. However the only Manchester to Heathrow Flight BA could offer was at 10.15 in the morning meaning that we would have an 11 hour wait at Heathrow. At this point we had no option other than to agree.


I asked if BA would put us in a hotel at Manchester for the night so she called another lady who agreed to sort that for us. This lady was much more helpful. She looked at the tickets and the system and advised us that we DID have a through flight. However the original assistant would not agree and said the system would not allow rerouting and “anyway the Virgin flight is booked”. The older lady apologised and said she would book us into the Crowne Plaza with dinner for the night it was now nearly midnight.

We arrived at the Crowne Plaza and said BA had booked us rooms and dinner. The receptionist told us that the dinner had finished but we could get food at the bar. When we got to the bar they said the chefs had finished at midnight and there was no food available. I returned to reception where the Manager told me BA had sent us too late and there was nothing he could do. He then complained about how “BA are always doing this”. To be honest I didn’t care we just wanted some food! He said the best he could do was “some lemon and mayonnaise sandwiches” as that was all that was in the kitchen. Surprisingly after 20 minutes of discussion a chef appeared and agreed to cook for us!

We made the flight to Heathrow the next morning and went to the Virgin desk as arranged. To out horror the BA Assistant had only booked 5 of the party on that day’s flight. Virgin could not understand why we had not been rerouted by BA and confirmed it was DEFINATLY a through flight. They kindly agreed to get the other party members on the flight although we were seated apart.

To confirm the issue on check in on our return from Sydney, Virgin confirmed we had through flights and checked our entire luggage straight through to Manchester without question. I have retained proof of this should it be needed.

As a result of this fiasco we lost a full day of our holiday. We had paid for car hire and accommodation which we could not get back. We had booked a through flight but due to the Customer Service Assistant incompetence and indifference we spent the best part of 2 days in airport lounges.

I have put in a claim for compensation and would be grateful for any advice on what i should expect.

Many thanks again

Jen