British Airways goes OTT and gives 2 years of status to last weekend’s passengers

There have been a few developments since I wrote my (well-received, I think) article last Tuesday on BA’s IT melt-down.

The good news is that British Airways is starting to back-peddle on its initial intentions to refuse to compensate passengers.

BA will now consider refunding passengers who bought alternative tickets on other airlines

BA has accepted that it will have to pay EU261 compensation, despite initially telling claimants that they would not be paid

BA will now consider claims for incidental expenses – the current issue is over whether it will insist you claim from your travel insurance first, which is likely to lead to you incurring an excess

The only issue where I don’t have any clarity is whether BA is still insisting that passengers who booked 2 x one-way flights instead of a return ticket will not be compensated for the return tickets they can no longer use.

That said …. if you read the comments under this article, you will see that the reality about what BA is offering to pay seems different (worse) to what they are telling the press.

A surprise gift for Executive Club status members

Some – but not all – travellers last Saturday, Sunday or Monday with British Airways Executive Club status received a pleasant surprise last night.

(Perhaps not as pleasant as being on holiday, which is where many of them were hoping to be but aren’t …..)

BA is extending the Bronze, Silver or Gold status of members travelling last Saturday, Sunday or Monday for two years.  This is a decent gesture and is the first genuine sign of attempting to ‘make good’.

In fact, to be honest, it is a bit OTT.

I can perfectly understand doing this for anyone travelling on Saturday.

On Sunday, however, 2/3rd of Heathrow flights departed – albeit some with long delays.  However, every single flight from Gatwick got away.  Almost all flights on Monday departed as scheduled from both airports.

We are now in a slightly odd situation where there are people who may still be left out of pocket – such as those with 2 x one-way flights booked – whilst many others who were not disrupted at all have had a very generous early Christmas present.

For some reason not everyone who should receive it is receiving the email.  I know of couples, both with the same status, where one has been sent it and the other has not.  Anika also hasn’t had it despite a flight last Monday.  Hopefully BA is not randomly picking out people to receive this, because if it is then there will be even more PR issues coming down the line.

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