My wife and her friend have been on a girlie holiday in Florida for the last week.
They should be over the Atlantic on the way home as I type but British Airways cancelled their flight at the last minute.
Apart from booking them on the next flight tomorrow night, BA have been pretty appalling and have offered them nothing at all. They've had to find and book their own hotel for the night, book and Uber to get them there and obviously all other expenses incurred they've had to foot themselves.
Oh, and of course, there will be more expense when they get back to Gatwick as their onward travel arrangements home will have been missed, too. Not to mention she will also lose income from having to miss at least an extra day at work.
Should they not be entitled to compensation? When America South West cancelled my flight some years ago which caused me to mss a connection home, they put me up in a hotel and arranged food and transfers.
Google seems to suggest that they should be entitled to cash, a rebooked flight, hotel and other expenses, but I'm not sure if that's applicable to the US.
Does anyone have any insider knowledge or experience of these things who can advise whether they can hold BA to account for expenses incurred?
The wife does have travel insurance but I expect they will first tell her to take it up with the airline?
TIA
There is no 'H' in Aych, you know that don't you? ~ Wife
Turns out there is an H in Haych! ~ Sporky
Bit of trading feedback here.
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hopefully yours will be as easy.
The airline should cover her costs, hotel etc. plus I think she should be entitled to some compensation depending on length of delay and distance etc.
The BA page https://www.britishairways.com/content/information/delayed-or-cancelled-flights/compensation
I wasn't familiar with UK/US-specific rules, but whenever I've had an overnight delay with Etihad (only twice in 10 years and a shitload of flights, to their credit) they've given us a hotel and food voucher, etc.
Also check any insurance you have (because I really hope noone's going to the US without comprehensive medical cover at least...) - you can usually claim something for any delay over 6 hours or so.
I went via LastMinute, which I now know is no longer a normal UK firm, it's an offshore call centre.
They cancelled some of my flights, ignored every contact. Eventually got redress via credit card clawback - be aware it's only possible within 2 or 3 months
There is no 'H' in Aych, you know that don't you? ~ Wife
Turns out there is an H in Haych! ~ Sporky
Bit of trading feedback here.
There is no 'H' in Aych, you know that don't you? ~ Wife
Turns out there is an H in Haych! ~ Sporky
Bit of trading feedback here.
Really shit though. She was texted, flight cancelled don't bother coming to the airport there's nothing we can do etc, but in the end they rocked up at the airport and got a standby seat on a flight that day, having already booked to come back to London via Glasgow at a cost of £400+
I did offer to drive down and collect her but she and her friend are travelling together to a point so she wanted to make sure her friend also got on the right train etc.
Should be collecting her from Temple Meads mid afternoon.
There is no 'H' in Aych, you know that don't you? ~ Wife
Turns out there is an H in Haych! ~ Sporky
Bit of trading feedback here.
The reason for the cancellation was definitely classified as "extraordinary circumstances", so there was no additional compensation due, but BA retroactively paid for our hotel, airport transfer expenses, and food which ranged from cafe snacks to a couple decent but not ridiculous meals (no alcohol is compensated, obviously/unfortunately!) Took about five months from submitting the claim to receiving the payment.
In your case you'll want to know the reason for the cancellation because there could be additional compensation due. But at the very least, all of her (reasonable) expenses should be covered. Put a few hours aside ASAP to go through the receipts and fill out the forms online.
I think the flight was cancelled simply due to bad weather. I don't know if it was equipment or staff, or possibly both that weren't available but an incoming flight was diverted to Tampa due to weather conditions which then had a cascading effect on my wife's flight causing it to be cancelled.
There is no 'H' in Aych, you know that don't you? ~ Wife
Turns out there is an H in Haych! ~ Sporky
Bit of trading feedback here.
I had a flight travelling from Rabat to Paris to London via Air France. 1 ticket.
Due to the first leg being delayed, I missed my connection and Air France put me in a hotel for the night as it was 9pm and first flight out in the morning, with £15 airport voucher to spend on food.
I put a claim in and was approved, claimed the taxi cost going from hotel to airport too, about 6 weeks.
I think the Legislation is call EU 261 and it covers flight in and outside the EU, operated by an EU/non-EU airline.
I also do have travel insurance should the claim failed.
Supreme Court finds pilot illness not 'extraordinary circumstance' for cancelled flight compensation refusal | Law Gazette
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