Flight cancellation - BA refusing to transfer my booking

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itstommyb
itstommyb Posts: 1 Newbie
in Overseas holidays & travel planning
Hello :)

I'm having a bit of a nightmare with BA and getting them to transfer my flight booking and was hoping someone could shed some light on my rights in this situation.

I had booked outbound flights to Split on the 26th April but unfortunately BA has cancelled the route until the end of May due to commercial reasons. There is no way of getting to Split on that date now and due to this I'm no longer able to use my return flight with another airline (I didn't have travel insurance - silly me, but lesson learnt).

I've called BA to transfer my booking to a different date but this is where they're being difficult. The next available date I'm able to travel due to work is the 15th June, there is availability on the fight but they're refusing to transfer my booking. They claim that they're only able to transfer the flight to a new date within 14 days of the original departure date (I can't see this anywhere on their website) - however this isn't physically possible as they have no flights within that 14 day period due to cancelling the route until the end of May.

Where do I stand legally on this? Do they have to honour the original booking and transfer me to my chosen date (I have done this before with RyanAir with no problems), OR can they just force a refund on me?

Any help would be greatly appreciated :)

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  • bagand96
    bagand96 Posts: 6,102 Forumite
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    edited 27 January 2020 at 11:14AM
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    Even if you did manage to transfer your outbound BA flight to June, it is unlikely the airline for your inbound flight would be willing to move that (they have no obligation to).

    easyJet have direct flights to Split from both Gatwick and Luton on 26th April.
  • leylandsunaddict
    leylandsunaddict Posts: 1,923 Forumite
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    You are entitled to be re-routed to your destination as soon as possible but not to a date change of 1.5 months. Ask them to put on than Easyjet flight that goes on the 26th.
  • Westin
    Westin Posts: 5,942 Forumite
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    Options include a reroute on another carrier on your original OB date which BA should initiate or a refund. There is no passenger right to move the reservation to June, only a gesture of goodwill by the airline which it seems they have refused.
  • richardw
    richardw Posts: 19,458 Forumite
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    Article 8 (c) of EU reg EC261:2004 says Re-routing at a later date, subject to availability of seats.
    Posts are not advice and must not be relied upon.
  • bradders1983
    bradders1983 Posts: 5,684 Forumite
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    richardw wrote: »
    Article 8 (c) of EU reg EC261:2004 says Re-routing at a later date, subject to availability of seats.

    What, by 1.5 months? Surely that is stretching the definition of "later date" here.
  • richardw
    richardw Posts: 19,458 Forumite
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    bradders1983 wrote: »
    What, by 1.5 months? Surely that is stretching the definition of "later date" here.

    Where does it say a timescale in the regulation?
    Posts are not advice and must not be relied upon.
  • bradders1983
    bradders1983 Posts: 5,684 Forumite
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    Well from your reply I am guessing it doesnt. But how far do you stretch "later date"? 6 months? A year? A decade?
  • richardw
    richardw Posts: 19,458 Forumite
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    bradders1983 wrote: »
    Well from your reply I am guessing it doesnt. But how far do you stretch "later date"? 6 months? A year? A decade?

    Perhaps ‘reasonable’ later date applies.
    Posts are not advice and must not be relied upon.
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