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Does Italian law let you book a cheap British Airways ticket from Milan but get on in London?

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We cover ex-EU flights deals (cheap flights which start in a European country, not the UK) now and again on Head for Points, although they are not for everyone.  There are two types of ex-EU deal if you live in the UK:

saving money (not on BA) by starting your trip outside the UK, which is usually cheaper because you avoid long-haul UK Air Passenger Duty (up to £160) and because other markets generally have fewer corporate travellers willing to pay full fare

saving money on BA flights by starting your trip outside the UK, which involves flying back to London and then onwards to your final destination.  This is cheaper because you avoid long-haul APD and because BA has to price these indirect trips cheaply to compete with direct flights from the same cities. 

British Airways A320

As a random example of the latter, take a look at this article we ran last week showing £1,150 British Airways Club World return flights to Cape Town, as long as you start in Amsterdam.

Of course, flying to your European starting point costs time and money.  I did a few trips like this when I was single, because I was happy to trade the time for the money saved and the extra Avios and tier points earned.  There is no way, however, that I would drag my wife and children around Europe on a similar route.

You MUST take the first leg of your flight.  If you book Amsterdam – Heathrow – Cape Town and just turn up at Heathrow, you’re stuffed.  Your entire itinerary will have been cancelled when you failed to board the flight in Amsterdam.

But has Italian law thrown all this into disarray?

Take a look at this article.

In June 2017, British Airways and Etihad were each fined a whopping €1 million for not telling customers that they would NOT lose their entire booking if they missed the first leg when flying from Italy.

It appears that Italian law does not allow airlines to cancel the rest of your journey if you fail to take the first flight.  The article makes it clear that this applies both to multi-leg outward trips and return trips.

Italian law does not give you, the passenger, carte blanche however.  You must notify the airline of your intention to fly the subsequent parts of your ticket within 24 hours of the original departure time (two hours for a round trip same-day ticket).

If you do this, and your ticket was sold in Italy, the airline is obliged to let you continue your trip.

Here is an example in practice

Take a look at this page of the Qatar Airways website.

It tells passengers who have bought tickets in Italy that they can ring a specific number, or email a specific inbox, within 24 hours of their original flight and have the rest of the ticket reinstated.

What does this mean?

I am not a European aviation lawyer.  Let’s get that clear from the start.

However, the implication here is that you could potentially book a cheap Milan – London – XXXXXX business class ticket on British Airways, and not bother to take the first flight.

All you would have to do is call BA after the departure of the first leg and insist they reinstate the remaining flights.  You could then turn up at Heathrow and jump on as usual, having made a substantial saving.

One potential risk is the definition of “a ticket sold in Italy”.  Flights booked on ba.com from Italy will probably be ticketed locally but can you be certain of this? Is there a way of knowing where the “sale” took place?  You could, of course, use an Italian travel agent or Italian website to make your booking which would ensure it was “sold” in Italy.

Let’s be very clear ….

I am NOT recommending you go out and try this.  I am simply highlighting the fact that Italian law seems to imply that it should be possible. 

However, I am NOT going to be taking a risk here and I don’t recommend that you do either, unless you are brave (or on a fully flexible ticket.  I’m sure at some point we will find out one or the other whether it is possible.

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Category

British Airways and Avios, Etihad and Etihad Guest, Qatar Airways and Privilege Club

Comments (106)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • Paul says:
    10 Sep10 September 12:20

    I would prefer to fly Y than mess about like this when I travel long haul. Without a doubt, its very nice to fly in J. But adding an extra day to an already long drag is certainly a no for me.

  • Jonathan says:
    10 Sep10 September 12:22

    OT – my sister had a 5* summer holiday with TUI this year. For 5 of them for 10 days all inclusive was around £8k. The hotel was meant to open about 1 month before her arrival and she expected some minor teething problems. But it ended up opening about 3 days before her arrival and there was some major problems like the indoor swimming pool not filled. Not all the restaurants were open. Electrical sockets hanging off the walls and not screwed in. The fire-doors would only be opened from 1 side etc. Does she stand any chance of getting some money back from TUI for it not being up to scratch and as advertised 5*?

    • Anna says:
      10 Sep10 September 13:16

      It’s definitely worth a shot – your sister should do some online research about similar cases and how they were resolved, consumer websites are full of such things. There are also various legal firms who will act on her behalf but they would obviously take a cut of any monies refunded.

    • Crafty says:
      10 Sep10 September 13:19

      Well of course… What did they reply to her complaint?

      • Jonathan says:
        10 Sep10 September 13:50

        TUI fobbed her off saying they hadn’t had any other complaints (despite Trip Advisor saying exact opposite!!) and numerous people queuing up every day to speak to the hotel rep and general manager.

        • meta says:
          10 Sep10 September 14:10

          If paid on a credit card, she could initiate a chargeback with credit card provider. It could be even partial chargeback if it just a service recovery. Ask for final letter/email they are not refunding/compensating and contact credit card provider to ask for a refund. You need to provide provide proof. Photos, other reviews, etc. will do.

  • Anna says:
    10 Sep10 September 13:25

    OT – just used my 3rd and 4th (and probably last) Lloyds upgrade vouchers to book what’s become our annual CW jolly to GCM thanks to HFP. It was good while it lasted. LHR to GCM is a 12 hour flight (plus regional connection) so we feel we get tremendous value out of 100,000 avios and £600 in taxes each, which is less than the cost of a World Traveller seat. We were on the beach at dawn when a nest of baby turtles hatched this year so our memories are just fantastic.

    • AndyGWP says:
      10 Sep10 September 14:19

      How does accommodation stack up (price-wise) over there?

      Any recommendations for time of year to go etc?

      • Anna says:
        10 Sep10 September 21:45

        Expensive, we use timeshare units to keep costs down. But the lack of mass tourism is one of the reasons we go. We’ve been at all times of year bar the height of hurricane season (Sep to Nov). My personal preference is to escape the British winter, however we’re stuck with school holidays at the moment and have found August to be very convenient with good weather and lower prices.

        • Tom1 says:
          10 Sep10 September 22:40

          Any timeshare resorts that you can recommend?

        • Anna says:
          11 Sep11 September 07:19

          There’s the Morritt’s Tortuga Club where we own and the Wyndham Reef which is the next door property. You can buy or rent at both of these, have a look at their websites. They’re both at the quiet end of the island, which again we like but it depends on your preferences.

  • FlightDoctor says:
    10 Sep10 September 14:37

    I’ve used ex-EU flights over the last 3 years to fly in J on family holidays to the US and Middle East. The cost has often been no more than Y direct from London for the same flights! The savings have easily covered the cost of the extra positioning flights to a European city, one or two nights in a hotel and all the sightseeing costs, meaning that my kids have experienced such diverse cities as Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Dublin and Paris. In addition all family members have earned 360 TPs and a ton of Avios, and all of my family members have attained Bronze status as a result, as well as helping me to keep my Gold status.
    The only pain to be frank is the return leg, when you arrive at LHR tired off a long haul flight and, instead of driving home, have to hang around and take another flight back to the original European city. On three occasions we have then collected our bags and immediately checked them back in again for the final flight back to LHR – this proved VERY tiring and this year we elected instead to stay a night at an airport hotel before flying back.
    It does mean 6 flights in total but I feel the family have really benefited from the additional “city breaks” and only once did a checked bag not make it bag (it arrived 3 days later!)

    • Mikeact says:
      10 Sep10 September 15:34

      Not sure I understand. You arrive at Heathrow, and carry on to your original departure point ? Why not collect your bags and drive straight home ?

      • ChrisC says:
        10 Sep10 September 16:59

        because in general your bags are tagged through to the final destination. BA generally won’t short check and it can be a palaver to get your bags back. Other airlines have different policies but there does seem to be a reluctance to short check.

        At AMS and CDG respectively KL and AF do have it in their terms and conditions that they will charge something like €250 per bag to retrieve bags that have been tagged through to final destination.

        Also if you want / need the tier points then you need to fly.

        But there are ways to avoid having to to the final 2 flights immediately after a long haul

        • Mikeact says:
          10 Sep10 September 17:38

          Yes, i know that, but he said on three occasions checked bags back in. Should have routed Gatwick back.

      • Credit says:
        16 Sep16 September 00:55

        Collect your bags at final destination.

    • ChrisC says:
      10 Sep10 September 16:54

      You don’t have to do the final leg immediately. Schedule it for a few weeks or months later which is what I recently did when I did an ex-EU to JFK in July and ‘completed’ my trip last week with a long weekend in AMS using the return leg of my initial positioning flight and the last leg of the ex-eu trip.

      It did increase the cost slightly of the ex-EU trip but it was worth it not to do extra flights when all I wanted was my bed.

  • Nick says:
    10 Sep10 September 14:55

    I’m another one who’s happy to spend a day faffing round to get a cheaper trip, no issues at all as long as it fits my schedule.

    BA is already wise to this Italian thing though and is working to change Point of Sale to Point of Commencement precisely because of it. It’ll take time to make the IT changes but what it’ll mean in practice is that your contract will be for carriage from a particular country.

    • Will says:
      10 Sep10 September 21:47

      Isn’t that still illegal to cancel the next flight though? Ie a layman’s interpretation of the law is that if they contract the point of commencement as binding that in itself is breach of Italian law.
      Would be an interesting case to take.

  • Phil Gollings says:
    10 Sep10 September 17:46

    It is worth flying to any European destination not to fly BA.
    Every other business class product i have been on is far superior (American, delta, Qatar, Emirates, Cathay) and much cheaper. Some also have staff that want to provide you some service too, not just sleep all night

  • John says:
    10 Sep10 September 19:57

    On the vaguely related subject of law and airlines…

    I think media organisations will simply have to buy a share for each reporter, and O’Leary will have to let them attend the AGM.

    So this is just messing people around.

    https://www.rte.ie/news/2018/0910/992896-ryanair-media-ban/

  • Will says:
    10 Sep10 September 22:08

    It would be extremely brave for BA not to honour this.
    A successful challenge in court for denied boarding for a family holiday could easily see them held liable for very substantial costs, potentially full cost of holiday voided plus cost of buying back another x days holiday in order to reschedule to another time. Easily tens of thousands just for one family.

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