EXCLUSIVE: British Airways cancels return to Kuala Lumpur with four weeks notice

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• Ryan says:

  15 Oct15 October 08:53

  Hi we had Gla-kul booked in Feb on an amex 241 voucher. I called last night and was initially told only the avios team could deal with it and the office was closed.
  Anyway called again and rerouted on the flights we wanted which was edi-kul with QF. We’ve also extended a day, as our seperate airasia flight doesn’t allow us time to fly on the original day as it gets in too late for the qf flight. The agent said we could try and claim a hotel for that night.

  • Mike says:

    15 Oct15 October 10:04

    Interesting to know whether they booked you into award space or used commercial space – as i believe if its the later this shouldn’t be happening as policy is award space only on QR. and my vested interested is that I’m in the same situation, but travelling next month

    • D says:

      15 Oct15 October 10:32

      The ‘policy’ is irrelevant as is whether its award or cash.
      I know this doesn’t help with a computer says no agent. But as an example I asked for QR and was booked into I class business, count myself as fortunate after reading the nonsense from the replies here.

    • Numpty says:

      15 Oct15 October 10:37

      My 241 booking was rebooked onto QR as ‘R’ class, which is consistent from past experience the last time the route was cancelled during covid.

      As others have mentioned, on QR it needs to be R (at least) and not Business Class P, as P doesn’t give lounge access.

      For those out of EDI – QR doesn’t provide security fast track, was told by staff QR wont pay for it. However, multi storey car park bookings include fast track.

  • Bobby says:

    15 Oct15 October 13:37

    QF or QR?

• Lady London says:

  15 Oct15 October 09:42

  Thanks fot responding JDB.

  Just to make clear, I’m sure you’ll agree that BA is allowed to fly someone whose KUL flight they cancelled, just to SIN but *only with the agreement of the passenger*.

  The passenger is not obliged to agree, as BA’s offer to consider flying someone tp a mutuslly agreed different destination, is only at contract level = it’s part of their oen t’s and c’s as a voluntary option to be potentially *mutually* agreed.

  The UK EC 261 protections protect the passengers right to be rerouted fully at no extra cost to their destination (here, KUL) as booked and BA’s preferrenve, BA’s own situation and not even sny ts and cs of BA the passenger may have been made aware of : Nme of these things can legally override BA bei g legally responsible under the statute for transport all the way to KUL if that’s what the passenger booked.

• Muskysman says:

  15 Oct15 October 09:52

  Tried calling , chat and via X( the artist formerly known as Twitter) to get them to provide on ward connection to KL from SIN but they still didn’t budge….the plot thickens this morning though as it was a booking on my wife’s 241 voucher and refused to speak to me this morning. Now saying I should not have been allowed to change booking as not lead passenger even though I usually talk to BA on all our bookings as I am GCH whether ir not my 241. On hold 30 mins whilst seems decision made this has to go into a GDPR investigation with call recordings examined.

  Still not further positive outcome to get to KL but agent seemed to indicate there will be a positive outcome because of above and interestingly said that any reroutes on QR on reward bookings so far are a mistake and still “no policy” in place and the only option at moment is SIN or refund.

  • tomahawk says:

    15 Oct15 October 10:00

    I had this. You can set yourself up as a nominee on your wifes account by logging into her exec club account and filling in a short form then they will talk to you. Takes 2 minutes. Probably no help on the historical issue though.

    • Muskysman says:

      15 Oct15 October 10:15

      Thank you and I will do that. I think my point is that BA just seem to making it up at every opportunity and using every trick in the book although it seems refusing to speak to me all of a sudden having already already agreed changes with me may have backfired.

  • Mark says:

    15 Oct15 October 10:29

    I had an interesting chat interaction late yesterday which backs this up. Asked for a reroute on Qatar with specific flight details and was presented with a couple of options that had a shorter connection time than I ideally wanted. When I pushed for a slightly earlier departure from Heathrow, the agent checked and then all of a sudden none of the options were available except Singapore with BA, refund or (seemingly) downgrade.

    Under the circumstances the refusal to offer anything on redemption bookings that complies with their UK261 reroute obligations appears to align with the standard rebooking policy (as the options allowed for in the policy don’t exist to KUL) which is a large part of the reason that so many are having problems. Where anyone has got a redemption reroute involving QR or MH so far, it’s been done outside of the standard rebooking policy – hence the stories of people having had reroutes revoked with a call back after the event, or been left in limbo where family groups on separate bookings have only been partially successful.

    Once a specific reroute policy is in place for KL that will change. That’s not to excuse BA’s incompetence / deliberate obfuscation in not having agents advise people to wait for that to be in place rather the fob them off with restricted options that don’t comply with their legal obligations.

    Apparently a conversation with MH at least couldn’t commence before the cancellation (postponement) was publicly announced due to competition regulations. I’m sure others have said this in the mass of comments, but it’s also explained in the Flyertalk thread https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/british-airways-executive-club/2174846-lhr-kul-relaunch-postponed-until-1-april-2025-a-11.html

    • meta says:

      15 Oct15 October 11:12

      There are no competition rules that prevent discussions between BA and MH who are both part of OW. Whoever said that doesn’t know anything about competition. Discussions happen all the time.

      • Mark says:

        15 Oct15 October 11:26

        I’m no expert, but the specific reference from the Flyertalk thread is here: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/36592548-post151.html

        • meta says:

          15 Oct15 October 16:08

          Yes and that is incorrect assumption. Misunderstands completely competition law. Competition law is there the benefit of consumers, there is no collusion.

          Also decision to pull the route certainly did not take months, maybe 2-3 weeks. This was probably a last resort decision.

• Jon says:

  15 Oct15 October 10:36

  I had a business class Avios booking for 2 people using an Amex Black companion voucher (08/02 – 28/02). After numerous calls I got through to someone today that re-booked us onto Qatar flights LHR-DOH-KUL and return on the same dates we were originally flying.
  Don’t be put off by anyone in BA still trying to fob you off with SIN.
  Incidentally our new bookings are in C and J class. When I checked the booking in the Qatar app, seats had already been assigned and could be changed to any other seat free of charge. Nice, considering we are due a refund of close to £400 from BA for seat selection costs on the original booking.

  • babyg says:

    15 Oct15 October 11:28

    Good luck getting a seat refund from BA… they typically dont refund seat selection.

    • Mark says:

      15 Oct15 October 11:44

      They do where they have cancelled the flight, just not where the customer cancels (including where the booking is otherwise refundable).

  • Jenny says:

    15 Oct15 October 18:10

    @Jon, that’s very interesting to read that the seats already assigned and free of charge to change, when I asked via ‘chat option’ about seat selection- “ you have to do that yourself on Qatar site”. I did with £274 charges- Q Suite.
    I had already completed BA refund form online ( b4 this cancellation issue was reported) as our SIN-LHR leg cost us £318 for selection in PE and we upgraded to F using offer in MMB. The £318 has been refunded ( quickly!), I raised the issue of having to pay for ( I) class with QR ‘chat’ but they redirected me back to BA as their tickets. Sent online query via Exec Club but not hopeful?!

    • Kwab says:

      16 Oct16 October 05:18

      Next time. Tell them you’ve hurt your leg playing rugby and save yourself £400

      • Jenny says:

        16 Oct16 October 07:31

        My husband said I’m not built for rugby!
        Apologies, to clarify my post, the £318 was total for seat selection in business/ PE.

• Diydegsy says:

  15 Oct15 October 12:42

  Hi I’ve just noticed my 241 CW redemption to KL now rerouted via Doha is ticketed as J what does this mean, it’s not something I’ve looked at before only from reading some of the comments on here? Will I still have lounge access?

  • Mark says:

    15 Oct15 October 13:05

    Yes, J maps to Business Elite and is one of the fully refundable business fare classes. So yes, includes lounge access, maximum earned Avios (in theory) and should include seat selection.

    • Diydegsy says:

      15 Oct15 October 13:57

      Thanks but mine is a redemptions fare so don’t know why it would be classed as business elite fully refundable but I wonder if I might get some avios???

  • Darren says:

    15 Oct15 October 13:06

    https://www.qatarairways.com/tradeportal/en/NewFareFamilies.html

    This shows the eligibility, looks like your elite.

  • Numpty says:

    15 Oct15 October 13:22

    Note related to the current rebooking issues but does anyone know whether an avios redemption, booked through Qatar, as U class, gets access to Al Mourjan lounges? I see conflicting experiences.

    Have got access before when it was on a BA issued ticket, but never tried on a Qatar redemption ticket, and different rules can apply.

    • Mark says:

      15 Oct15 October 13:38

      It does, so long as it is a straight redemption and not an upgrade. We flew with Qatar last year on an Avios redemption booked directly with Qatar – no problem with long access.

      • Mark says:

        15 Oct15 October 13:38

        Lounge access even 🙂

  • babyg says:

    15 Oct15 October 14:29

    Well thats a good win for Jon if true – result.

    • meta says:

      15 Oct15 October 16:11

      All redemptions and any cash ticket booked via OW airlines on QR metal get full lounge access. Booking via OW airline only prevents you for paying to upgrade to Al Safwa First Class lounge.

• Confun says:

  15 Oct15 October 13:07

  Latest explanation on the chat (re Avios & CV booking):

  I would like to inform you as per policy either I can downgrade and you can claim refund, or else you can take refund for the booking, or you can take flight from Singapore instead of KUL.

  • sigma421 says:

    15 Oct15 October 14:52

    That’s pretty much a readout of what the standard policy would allow for I think. It may be that we don’t get anything specific in the end (although I’d really hope we do!)

    • Mark says:

      15 Oct15 October 15:16

      They’ll have to or people can rebook themselves and will win reimbursement at CEDR/MCOL, so long as they can present evidence of deadlock in BA’s refusal to reroute as per the legislation.

      • JDB says:

        15 Oct15 October 16:07

        @Mark – the simplistic idea that “deadlock” allows people to rebook themselves and they “will win reimbursement at CEDR/MCOL” is too ridiculous for words. The chat wording above is actually quite clever and a million miles from “deadlock”. Any self rebooking would need to meet the three stage “necessary, appropriate and reasonable” test (per CJEU and CAA guidance).

        • Mark says:

          15 Oct15 October 16:20

          @JDB, I’m not suggesting that the above wording does constitute deadlock…..

        • Mark says:

          15 Oct15 October 16:27

          Are you seriously suggesting that the option of reroute to Singapore, downgrade or refund would be an acceptable final position in this situation and a reimbursement claim based on the outcome of a formal complaint that refuses to deviate from it would not succeed?

        • JDB says:

          16 Oct16 October 00:44

          @Mark – You used the word “deadlock” directly under the paste from chat, so the clear inference is that you applied that word to that post. I referred to the careful wording. A refund is an acceptable option, a downgrade is permissible (on payment of the relevant compensation) and actually relatively likely in the case of PE bookings and the Singapore option is being offered not imposed. So, yes that’s an acceptable even if not good position. I think this idea you are putting forward that somehow CEDR (with its single PNR can limit) or MCOL are easy solutions is ridiculous because a) “deadlock” isn’t going to happen but rather solutions people don’t like but which are nevertheless reasonable and b) if a pax can’t negotiate something suitable with BA, how do you think they will navigate CEDR/MCOL. Why would you suggest that high wire approach in this particular situation?

        • Mark says:

          16 Oct16 October 10:28

          @JDB – If you reread what I said, you’ll see I was saying that BA will have to improve their offer – most likely through a specific policy as has eventually happened in similar cases – and therefore such action will not be necessary. But ultimately if that does not pan out, I still believe that a reimbursement claim (approached in the right way of course; I’m not making any judgement on people’s ability to do that) would be successful.

          At this stage, the options being presented to many with redemption bookings (except where the agent has gone off-piste) do not comply with the requirement to offer “re-routing, under comparable transport conditions, to their final destination at the earliest opportunity”, nor do they comply with the CAA guidelines to which you, yourself, refer. We’re not talking about offers that could be reasonably interpreted as meeting that requirement but are suboptimal or “solutions people don’t like”.

          To be clear, those options (in our case, at least as Club World customers) are reroute to Singapore, downgrade of the whole route (with Qatar) or refund. Those options are not acceptable to us, and I doubt they would be to you under the same circumstances.

    • Confun says:

      15 Oct15 October 16:35

      And my latest call in gave me the same answer. Asked them to double check so the agent went away, talked to the commercial and came back with the same. No policy / agreement to book non-cash fares on partner airlines. Was of course offered going to Singapore with BA and finding my own way to KL

  • Mark says:

    15 Oct15 October 15:19

    Downgrade and a full refund is not what they mean of course – I can see some people going for that were it on offer 🙂

• JB says:

  15 Oct15 October 16:02

  Getting increasingly nervous about holding off further for a policy to be announced. I have paid F seats booked between Christmas and New Year. There is no availability in F on the same date from LHR to SIN with BA otherwise I’d happliy change. The fact I booked through Expedia is adding to my anxiety although on the same booking, my return from DPS-HKG-LHR was reprotected onto CX in F for the HKG-LHR leg with minimal fuss when BA cancelled BA27 despite CX not being detailed on the policy for rebooking.

  With this and EU261 rules in mind, are we not within our rights to press BA via Expedia for a solution today rather than wait for the policy to be formulated? Ultimately, they are obliged to get us to KUL in F at our convenience rather than theirs. Currently, there is availability with MH on the direct service, with EK via DXB, CX via HKG, and SQ or QF via SIN with the connecting flight on MH. Am I therefore within my rights to push for this to be resolved now rather than wait longer whilst availability dries up only to find that the policy doesn’t meet my needs anyway? Does anyone have experience doing this?

  • JDB says:

    15 Oct15 October 16:13

    You can press for this and I would expect YouFirst to be relatively helpful but you have added the complication of Expedia into the mix. You need to remember that BA doesn’t necessarily have access to all the F seats you say are available. While BA is obliged to rebook you, those airlines have no obligation to accept their booking and as a matter of practice/practicality often won’t. In terms of timing, plenty of people are getting rebooked onto new flights they are pleased with and while a formal policy may open up new options, seats are going fast for the holiday period.

  • meta says:

    15 Oct15 October 16:27

    If there are no F seats available they can’t get you in F.

    It’s not unreasonable to expect a downgrade in this case. If that happens, you’ll be able to claim 75% back once you’ve flown.

    You booked via OTA. It’s all at their discretion. Hope you’ve learned the lesson never to book plane tickets with OTA.

    • JB says:

      15 Oct15 October 16:36

      Let’s see – there was no issue changing the return leg of this same booking when BA27/28 was cancelled despite there being no availability with BA. And I got rebooked onto CX F despite it not being within policy. All assisted by Expedia.

      So I will you know whether I have learned my lesson… but either way, I couldn’t book the original itinerary directly with BA otherwise I would have done. It was only possible with an OTA.

      • Numpty says:

        16 Oct16 October 07:36

        I’ve found Expedia to be ok to deal with for changes, but they are a bit slow as their advisor has to then phone the airline themselves. But at least with Expedia they are 24/7 which can be important if away somewhere on long haul, i wouldn’t chance it with any small OTA.

        • JB says:

          16 Oct16 October 14:26

          Yes, just had a great experience with the Expedia flight change team and whilst I was on the phone for an hour, I seem to have got the resolution I wanted (with the replacement flight now showing in the booking). I’ll give details once it’s actually ticketed though as I suspect that Expedia are still waiting for BA to approve the change which may be a stumbling block – let’s see…

    • JB says:

      16 Oct16 October 18:01

      Great experience with Expedia – you should give them a go! Flight change team were brilliant 😁 Rebooked onto MH and ticketed/fully confirmed

  • SNM says:

    17 Oct17 October 11:13

    Same with me, I have a paid F seat LHR-KUL on Boxing day. Tried to change it to LHR-SIN with BA in F and SIN-KUL in J but F seats are fully booked between Xmas and New Year. All they could offer me was LHR-DOH in F and DOH-KUL in J on QR. So I took the offer, I don’t mind using the Al Safwa lounge in Doha 🙂

• Travelguy says:

  15 Oct15 October 19:58

  Wow -just amazed at some of the comments /experiences – ex BA so here’s my go:
  As said duty of care all stand- alternative routes etc fairly straightforward problem is this: they go rapid – so customer on phone faffing about re class/route etc go to hold flights gone ! It’s a roulette when things go wrong – and don’t pap on about eu or uk reg this or that that all takes time and is also played by the company. There you go simple

  • sigma421 says:

    15 Oct15 October 20:36

    Which is fine in theory – except they are currently unable to offer me a way of getting to where I want to go (KUL) in the class I have booked (premium economy). I’ll give it until the end of the week and then start pushing harder.

    • JDB says:

      16 Oct16 October 01:06

      @sigma421 – BA can’t magic up PE seats on airlines that don’t operate that cabin. BA does usually offer (within its standard rebooking guidelines) rerouting on LH group airlines which add further PE options.

      • sigma421 says:

        16 Oct16 October 08:29

        But at the same time there are two sensible options that they could offer but so far don’t which are CX through HKG or BA to SIN and then MH Y to KUL, both of which seem reasonable enough.

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