Connecting flight delay and declined flight to alternative airport

A.N.Other · 26 October 2019 at 2:07PM

I was flying from San Diego to Leeds via LAX and LHR, but the flight left LA late because they had to let someone off the plane ‘because they weren’t feeling so well’ (announcements words not mine). Coupled with few loops around London before touching down at LHR meant we touched down an hour late. This meant I missed my connection to Leeds. There were no other flights to Leeds that day, but they offered me a flight to Manchester 4 hours later - I live near Leeds, not Manchester. I declined this and got the train home for £140.

I asked about compensation and refund of train ticket but BA refuse, saying they offered alternative flights.

Should I be eligible for compensation, train ticket refund and/or refund of flight from LHR to Leeds?

Thanks in advance.

Nick_C · 26 October 2019 at 2:15PM

Assuming you were ticketed from SAN or LAX to LBA, then BA owed you a duty of care and an obligation to get you home. You could have said you wanted a taxi home from Manchester, or a train to Leeds, or overnight in a hotel at LHR and a flight home the next day.

Unfortunately, you declined BAs (inadequate) offer and choose to end your journey at LHR. You lost your right to compensation when you abandoned the journey.

Its tough having to make decisions like this when you don't know what your rights are. Hopefully others will learn from your experience.

Tyzap · 26 October 2019 at 2:45PM

A.N.Other wrote: »

Should I be eligible for compensation, train ticket refund and/or refund of flight from LHR to Leeds?

Thanks in advance.

Put in a claim for your costs via the BA website, they should pay what it cost you to get home as your solution was better than the offer from BA.

They would normally look upon this favourably but not necessarily at the first ask.

Good luck.

A.N.Other · 27 October 2019 at 1:53PM

Thank you both for your advice - ticket was from SAN to LBA. I'll try again with messaging BA. I'll be doing a lot more transatlantic flights over the next year with work - will be a shame to avoid BA at all costs in future... Although maybe not that much of a shame given the state of BA.

For future reference, as the ticket was SAN to LBA if I was only an hour late to LHR, but 5 hours late to Leeds (or Manchester) would that count as a international flight being late (SAN to LBA) or a short haul flight being late (LHR to LBA) as it obviously has a great difference on the compensation. In hindsight I should have got the flight to Manchester and got a taxi back and pocketed the compensation - although after such a long flight and a week away from the family I just wanted to be home.

I'll update if I make any progress (or not) - as Nick_C says, hopefully a learning exercise for anyone passing by.

Nick_C · 27 October 2019 at 3:03PM

A.N.Other wrote: »

... as the ticket was SAN to LBA if I was only an hour late to LHR, but 5 hours late to Leeds (or Manchester) would that count as a international flight being late (SAN to LBA) or a short haul flight being late (LHR to LBA) as it obviously has a great difference on the compensation. In hindsight I should have got the flight to Manchester and got a taxi back and pocketed the compensation - although after such a long flight and a week away from the family I just wanted to be home.

If you are ticketed from SAN to LBA, then if you are an hour late getting into LHR and that causes you to be 4 hours late getting to LBA, then you could be in line for €600 compensation. But it depends on the cause of the delay.

With your recent journey, it sounds as if compensation might not have been payable anyway if it was due to a passenger being ill on the plane. Even if compensation is not payable, BA still owes you a duty of care. They have to provide you with food and (non alcoholic) drinks while you are delayed, and overnight accommodation if necessary.

I would stick with BA when flying home from the US. If an AA flight from the US to the UK is delayed, there is no statutory right to EU compensation. Using AA westbound is fine though (and maybe better than BA, depending on class of travel). Flying home with BA also increases the likelihood of a delay (and compensation) as they don't have spare aircraft at LAX. And if you book a flight operated by the A380, you chances of a delay are also increased as BA only have 10 of them. I was delayed 5 hours coming back from LAX a couple of years ago, because a problem on the A380 delayed the outbound flight and they didn't have a suitable spare plane. I was notified of the delay hours in advance and wasn't inconvenienced in the slightest, but BA paid up €1200 for the two of us without an argument.

(Interesting choice to fly from SAN to LAX. You can drive it in two hours. Also, BA fly direct SAN to LHR. More Tier Points routing via LAX though.)

leylandsunaddict · 27 October 2019 at 5:57PM

I asked about compensation and refund of train ticket but BA refuse, saying they offered alternative flights.

You wouldn't be due any compensation. A passenger being ill is outside of the airlines control.

Connecting flight delay and declined flight to alternative airport

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