British Airways pilots strike – what you need to know for Monday, Tuesday and 27th September

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• H says:

  24 Aug24 August 10:52

  I can’t get through to the ba gold number and although I have managed to find an alternative set of flights to rebook to online, their rebooking system doesn’t complete the changes.

  I keep getting the error “Could not update booking. Unknown Error.” After confirming the new itinerary. Not sure how they expect us to sort our lives out if the call centre is down and the online rebooking system doesn’t work!

  • Roger Scarlett says:

    24 Aug24 August 11:48

    I also received the flight cancelled for our return from Gibralter on the 10th September both as an email and text message (both links in that msg fail:-( and I also get the dreaded “Could not update booking. Unknown Error.” !! Come on BA IT give us more of a clue what this means!!
    I did get a response from BA’s Twitter feed at 2:05 am asking for my full name and passport number but of course I wasnt able to reply till this morning, which I did but have heard nothing since. I have now booked a fully flexible (refindable)return on the 12th and given the Twitter contact the details asking thet transfer the booking and refund the £1140 cost!
    Anybody know if this is a viable way to overcome the problem??

    • Lady London says:

      24 Aug24 August 13:25

      Are you saying BA;s Twitter team asked you to put your passport number onto Twitter for them? is that secure? I would not want to do that.

• richard thomas says:

  24 Aug24 August 11:32

  I have flown (or tried to fly) 6 times with BA this year. The email I received this morning now means 5 of those 6 flights have been cancelled.

• Alex Sm says:

  24 Aug24 August 11:33

  Phew… Nearly escaped as we are flying on the 12th and the 15th to Paris and back

• AHCL20 says:

  24 Aug24 August 11:34

  My flight from HKG to LHR is in red ‘subject to possible action’ and not cancelled as per email I got. I can’t get through to them on the phone (not getting connected at all), and the website comes up with error message when I try to rebook. What a waste of time.

  So I will just travel out to HKG and if the strike indeed goes ahead then they will have to sort me out a flight to come home.

  What a shambles.

• Roger Scarlett says:

  24 Aug24 August 11:50

  I also received the flight cancelled for our return from Gibralter on the 10th September both as an email and text message (both links in that msg fail:-( and I also get the dreaded “Could not update booking. Unknown Error.” !! Come on BA IT give us more of a clue what this means!!
  I did get a response from BA’s Twitter feed at 2:05 am asking for my full name and passport number but of course I wasnt able to reply till this morning, which I did but have heard nothing since. I have now booked a fully flexible (refindable)return on the 12th and given the Twitter contact the details asking thet transfer the booking and refund the £1140 cost!
  Anybody know if this is a viable way to overcome the problem??

• Cof says:

  24 Aug24 August 12:01

  Like others, I’ve had an email to say my flight on the 11th is cancelled, but MMB seems to show the flight is NOT cancelled.

  Is this a ploy by BA, so that in the event the disruption runs into the days after the strike, and BA have to cancel the flight, they can say they have given more than 14 days notice and don’t have to apply the EU261 rules?

  They are still selling tickets for the flight, tho only v expensive ones, which also implies it’s not cancelled yet.

  • Lady London says:

    24 Aug24 August 14:12

    Regardless of whether it’s a ploy or not personally id phone them and get it moved out of thé strike date zone if my travel plans could allow this.

    Re any flight cancellation for the strike around 27 Sept i would expext British Airways to vive no clear answers until nearer the 14 days ahead. They’ll be hoping it wont happen.

    I hope the pilots announce further dates of strikes into october soon. They’ve been pretty decent in not striking in August holiday period which has probably saved them from a lot of bad publicity but lost sime leverage. Looks like getting BA to be fair unless they are forced to on this, is like trying to open a tin without a tin opener.

• e.thomas says:

  24 Aug24 August 12:18

  We are flying back from Budapest on a strike day in Club on avios.
  I have now held on to BA for over 4 hours getting cut off twice.
  Because it is avios redemption it apparently cannot be changed online.
  I have spoken to 2 x BA agents who insist that BA will not pay the £200 hotel expenses if we have to take a flight later than our scheduled departure date , (before then saying they have to transfer me and I hold on for 2hours each time before being cut off)
  We don’t have time pressures to get back but I dont know what to do!
  Help please!

  • Joan says:

    24 Aug24 August 12:35

    Maybe do what I did and book a homeward flight with another airline and when you can finally get through to BA – try to get them to pay .
    I had no alternative as we do have time constraints – ( we were on club with avios too )

  • Rooster says:

    24 Aug24 August 14:02

    Well you should be able to change Avios redemptions online and cancel them if needed.

    • Mikeact says:

      24 Aug24 August 20:20

      You cannot change Avios redemptions on line…it needs a phone call . Any changes have to be in the same zone, with same passenger details etc. Even a date change incurs the telephone charge, but maybe not under the circumstances.

  • Lady London says:

    24 Aug24 August 14:16

    If you can fund it and find a seat then make another Avios booking online. Then when you can get through to BA explain and ask them to sort it out including putting you in a cost neutral position ie refund you the ‘taxes’ of the extra booking you made to hold the seat.

    • e.thomas says:

      24 Aug24 August 16:17

      But if I find another flight and change my booking, (would have to be 3 days later at least ) presume I would forfeit the £200 per night hotel allowance and have to pay for a hotel myself?
      Can anyone clarify please?
      Thanks

      • Lady London says:

        24 Aug24 August 18:48

        You can’t have it both ways.

        If you can’t get through to BA or if they won’t book a suitable alternative flight then you either make other arrangements yourself with a plan for what you can recover under s75, travel insurance if in place and if terms include strikes, or from the airline, or if advised of cancellation less than 14 days before your flight add EU261/compo to thr no above list of things you can claim on, or, if you are not finding acceptable alternatives yourself, then wait and see what BA offers in which case BA is responsible for any extra days hotel costs under EU261/duty of care even with more than 14 days notice as they chose the date to bring you home.

        If you choose to fly on a different day yourself and that is not provided by BA then you are responsible for the costs of any extra days and prob for flight costs unless you can negotiate that you’re not.

        If you’re that worried about cost of hotel and not worried about travelling 3 days later then wait and see what BA comes up with .

        • ELT says:

          25 Aug25 August 08:14

          Thanks. But flight has to be changed by speaking to avios and avios insist that they are not BA and cannot advise on hotel costs.
          They tell me to speak to BA and 2 BA agents have said hotel is not covered.
          It.s unclear on BA faq whether you hav3 to be abroad already, when strike announced to be repaid hotel.
          We are still in uk but fly out early sept.
          More help appreciated.
          Thanks

    • Mikeact says:

      24 Aug24 August 20:21

      Exactly.

      • Shoestring says:

        24 Aug24 August 20:24

        hard work, practice & dedication from Lady London

• Simon says:

  24 Aug24 August 12:21

  lloyds voucher via avoid phone line: will only look for ba flights. won’t put me on another one world. basically refund only and lose voucher.

  • Lady London says:

    24 Aug24 August 13:19

    @Simon if BA insists they will only rebook you to BA flights following their cancellation of your flight, and if no BA flight they can offer you is suitable (e.g. you are required by work to return using a flight on the date you had booked) then if you paid by credit card s.75 will cover consequential losses i.e. your cost of replacing the flight elsewhere that would meet the requirements / replace the flight you originally booked.

    However faced with their refusal to even consider booking you on another airline, whether inside Oneworld or outside, I would personally say that’s fine but my insurer will want to see something from you that says you are only willing to rebook me onto a BA flight and we’ve agreed there isn’t one. I would then ask them to confirm in writing to you that they can only rebook you onto a BA flight and that has not been possible.

    At that point I’d go and book a replacement flight and claim off credit card under s.75.
    But so as not to let British Airways get out of their flagrant refusal to comply with EU261, which it has been established many times does include them being obliged to book you on a suitable flight operated by another airline and not just by British Airways, I’d claim under EU261 as well.

    I think if you ask for it in writing, British Airways might mysteriously refuse or not actually do it. I’d there make notes about dates and times of calls, number dialled and who I spoke to, plus any long wait times etc. involved (to show you really made an effort to work with BA so they could fulfil their EU261 obligations). You could actually sue with just your notes, or even a phone recording if you can be bothered, but it would be so nice if British Airways would also provide you evidence of their refusal in writing.

    • Simon says:

      24 Aug24 August 13:47

      Thanks for your suggestions. will follow up.

  • Andy Young says:

    24 Aug24 August 13:54

    Not true, I’ve just got off the Avios line and they have re-booked me on AA for the 9th.

    • Simon says:

      24 Aug24 August 19:26

      Gutted. Was that with an lloyds voucher? That was why they told me I couldn’t have an AA flight- due to the terms of the upgrade voucher. They then looked for a an award flight up to the 20th(!) with no luck. After a bit of complaining they opened up a non award space on the 7th – not ideal as it’s a fairly early flight the day after a wedding – I’d have much rather had an AA flight on the 8th.

      • Shoestring says:

        24 Aug24 August 19:30

        you didn’t know your rights or insist on getting them

        • Shoestring says:

          24 Aug24 August 19:31

          always good to get informed before you deal with these people

        • Simon says:

          24 Aug24 August 19:54

          I still don’t know whether it was correct or not!

        • Alex Sm says:

          26 Aug26 August 12:10

          The biggest problem here is that BA staff don’t know them or pretend not to know…

      • guesswho2000 says:

        25 Aug25 August 03:23

        I was using a Lloyds voucher ex-HKG, they rebooked us on QR via DOH, which I’m happy with. So they can do it.

  • Mikeact says:

    24 Aug24 August 20:28

    No no no……Rebook at the expiry of your voucher, anywhere in the SAME Zone..important. So you now have breathing space without losing your voucher for a future trip. And you can then change it again if you fancy a different destination. I’ve just changed another one of mine to Larnaca next May, 2 days before the expiry. Whether or not we go there remains to be seen, but there are many other options in that Zone, albeit incurring small change fees.

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