Avis is leaving Heathrow Terminal 5 next week

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• Doc says:

  26 Mar26 March 15:34

  SLIGHTLY off topic but I’d like some advice. I have a BAEC AMEX Premium. I HAD an Amex EURO card too but the fees were crazy considering how much I spent on it but I was chasing Avios. I now have the free blue card and my Spanish bank debit card. I’d really like an Iberia Plus Mastercard so I can earn Euros but the website is pretty confusing. The question is, if I’m not a resident but own a home in Spain, with an NIE but not residency, are there any € cards out there which offer rewards? I’m upgrading to a bigger property which needs money spending on it so I’d like to derive some benefit. Thanks all.

  • Lady London says:

    26 Mar26 March 15:51

    So this would mean that calling on your rights under EU261 / UK261, if BA switches their operating carrier to Iberia Express or another carrier, then you have 2 useful rights:-

    1. Demand and receive a full refund which is technically payable by BA to you within 7 days, or
    2. To choose to do the same travel at a later time of your choice. Practically speaking this would be on BA unless BA was not flying from where you needed at the later travel date you choose.

    This also blows out of the water BA’s attempts to restrict you to what? 3 days before or after, as they are trying for people who don’t want to be on the operating criteria BA is switching their booked flight to? As statute overrides contract, ie EU / UK 261 rights outrank BA’s ts and cs and basically anything BA says.

    The EU261 right you also have, to fly on same day as you booked even if a near reasonably close timed alternative is on a different carrier, is obviously not the option you’d choose here. As that’s the option BA is offering. But EU UK 261 says the choice amongst the oprions of refund, travel on a later date of your choice convenient to yourself, or travel as near as readonably possible to your original travel timings, is your choice not the airline’s.

    We had better keep an eye on case law here.

    • meta says:

      26 Mar26 March 21:36

      Yes, this is a ruling from 2018. I also remember once when BA switched to Titan Airways for one of my trips a while back (certainly much before 2018) and they absolutely did offer full refund or re-route or re-booking at a later date. BA used to be much more proactive regarding EU261 rights.

• Lady London says:

  26 Mar26 March 15:38

  Excellent. Thanks @meta

• GJS says:

  26 Mar26 March 16:39

  On the topic of BA changes, arrived in Luxembourg on Thursday and the first text we received was a notification that the return flight would be landing at City rather than Heathrow. Travelling with a six month old and two year old, and our car is at Heathrow. Am I right in thinking that any compensation is limited to the transfer between airports in a taxi? Flight is the same time. Going to be a faff! Thanks.

• Peter Taysum says:

  26 Mar26 March 20:51

  So another BA Gold advantage lost too; your car waiting for you at arrivals! Mind it’s never happened. Avis didn’t retain any loyalty during Covid; so to be honest good riddance.

• Sunburnttongue says:

  27 Mar27 March 03:13

  I would always use Avis now because of Avis Preferred. Book through BA and you always get a cheaper rate and then when you arrive at the rental location your name should be on the screen and you just go straight to the vehicle and drive away. Used it multiple times in the US Miami LA etc.
  Thoroughly recommend it and the rental agents are very professional and friendly.

• ChrisC says:

  27 Mar27 March 09:16

  To be honest given how little – if any difference – there is between the BA and I2 seats on short haul and given everything else other than the crew will be the same – lounge / luggage / food – I’m not going to bother trying to change my flight next month from AMS (the out bound is still BA).

  For the vast majority of passengers they won’t care about this as long as their flight is still running.

• DS says:

  27 Mar27 March 10:53

  Strange that the Avis T5 shuttle doesn’t go to the main station on Northrop Rd., where their shuttles from the other terminals go.

  • B2Btraveller says:

    27 Mar27 March 12:08

    Perhaps they want to offer an enhanced service for BA customers that use T5 still

• Jack Taylor says:

  28 Mar28 March 11:45

  It looks like ZipCar is leaving T5, I raised a support request with them over the weekend about it and an announcement is expected in the new few days

  • Rhys says:

    28 Mar28 March 11:49

    No surprise given the partnership with Avis Budget. Very annoying!

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