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My daughter’s flight back from Switzerland today has been cancelled ‘due to a technical issue with the aircraft’. BA invited her to rebook onto a flight tomorrow which she has now done. They’ve made no mention of their obligation to provide accommodation and meals due to this delay.
What are people’s experiences in these circumstances? I’ve claimed compensation for a delay before but I’ve never had to claim reimbursement for the cost of an overnight stay. I’ve booked the Radisson Blu at the airport for her. Can I expect a battle in getting this reimbursed as it was not the cheapest option?
(Sorry if his has been asked before, btw, I did try google searching the thred)
There are forms on the BA website to claim for these expenses; BA usually pays out without quibble as long as the claim is reasonable (which is relative, I imagine accommodation in Switzerland at the last minute isn’t cheap and they should take this into account).
For a technical issue she’s probably also eligible for cancellation compensation. IIRC, the claims can all go on the same submission.
BA is on the hook for hotel and food and drink as well as potentially for the cancellation. There is no official statement of how much they will pay for hotels but anything up to £200 for a night per person seems to be paid without quibble. They will pay more than that but it’s just a case of being reasonable.
Food and drink excluding alcohol will also be paid if it’s reasonable ie don’t expect to automatically get refunded if you spend £150 on a meal for one. I take the attitude how much would I like to spend and not be refunded and spend below thar.
As above. It is believed that these forms are processed using AI so anything simple and reasonable with properly scanned receipts should sail through.
As an example Mrs Froggee submitted a claim for £219 for the Sofitel yesterday (for two passengers so well within the £200 per person) after her flight was cancelled and got the approval email back shortly after.
If all reasonable hotels are ridiculously priced, take a screenshot of what’s available in case you need to escalate it further.
Thanks all. Very reassuring. Some availability has come up on Swiss Air from Zurich so we are now looking at that. She really wants to get back today if possible.
I feel your pain, we recently had to stay overnight in Valencia when our evening flight when tech.
It was a very easy process to claim, https://www.britishairways.com/content/information/legal/flight-cancellation-compensation gives all the links and advice.
Lots of pax waited at the airport (until 2.30am for some we later found out) hoping for BA to provide accommodation. We opted to book our own, jump in a taxi and had a few drinks in the bar before bed. We didn’t get the new flight time until we woke at 6am.
We were on two separate PNRs and being a married couple only claimed for one hotel room (EU200) and a light snack (as it was late in the evening). We claimed for the taxi to the hotel and back again the next day (EU60) – both taxi drivers provided a receipt. We also claimed for a consequential loss of a hotel room which was prepaid in Heathrow for our original arrival night which they also paid (£100).
As the return flight (original aircraft) was stuck in Valencia when we did eventually return at noon the next day, there was no food or drink. We submitted a separate claim for the lack of CE service onboard and were each given 6000 Avios.
The EU261/UK261 filed with the claim was £220 each.
As far as timelines – claims filed on Monday, email confirmation on Tuesday and payment confirmation on Wednesday. Funds received Friday. Avios separate claim took about a week – this was initially closed as resolved without any resolution and I emailed to have it reopened.
In summary our four claims:
Passenger one – 1 x UK261 of £220
Passenger one – 1 x non supply of CE service (no food or drink)
Passenger two – 1 x UK261 of £220
1 x hotel in Valencia
2 x taxi (to and from airport)
1 x hotel in LHR (for the original night we would have arrived)
1 x meal (light snack as past midnight)Passenger two – 1 x non supply of CE service (no food or drink)
Avios separate claim took about a week – this was initially closed as resolved without any resolution and I emailed to have it reopened.
This is my favourite BA trick – how many people forget and never pursue them further…!
Thanks all. Some availability has come up on Swiss Air from Zurich so we are now looking at that. She really wants to get back today if possible.
@LuckyJim if she needs to get home today and BA hasn’t offered a flight today then if there is a flight on a different airline she/you absolutely MUST give BA the chance to rebook her on that or another flight that gets her home today. Strictly speaking it’s still BA’s choice which other flight or airline too if she can succeed in contacting them to rearrange today but of course if she”s found a suitable flight she can suggest it.
You “have to be seen” to give them the opportunity before booking a different flight and paying for it yourself especially if it’s another airline’s flight. Also beware of selecting different airport at either end – have why explanation ready – as this may be challenged.
So contact them and ask. If it’s proving hard to contact them due long phone queues or no phone and no staff at airport etc keep an exact record with timings of all attempts. Make sure MMB won’t let you switch to another flight today and take screenshots.
Of course if you don’t want to be reimbursed for alternate flight costs don’t bother 😉
@marshy11 – it’s good BA paid you promptly and in full. They are better than many about this, as long as your claim is straightforward and succinct. It’s especially positive that they paid the consequential loss of your hotel in London, something they had no obligation to pay; even most insurers wouldn’t pay that.
Marshy11 that is a masterclass in how to get paid. It warms my heart when people kindly post that they get refunded or paid the compo they are due and you shared your actions and method which was great.
I agree with JDB that you were lucky getting the hotel at landing end paid out. As BA did accommodate you for the night so strictly speaking it wasn’t a loss, as your reimbursement for the hotel BA accommodated you in was greater.
Thanks all. Some availability has come up on Swiss Air from Zurich so we are now looking at that. She really wants to get back today if possible.
@LuckyJim if she needs to get home today and BA hasn’t offered a flight today then if there is a flight on a different airline she/you absolutely MUST give BA the chance to rebook her on that or another flight that gets her home today. Strictly speaking it’s still BA’s choice which other flight or airline too if she can succeed in contacting them to rearrange today but of course if she”s found a suitable flight she can suggest it.
You “have to be seen” to give them the opportunity before booking a different flight and paying for it yourself especially if it’s another airline’s flight. Also beware of selecting different airport at either end – have why explanation ready – as this may be challenged.
So contact them and ask. If it’s proving hard to contact them due long phone queues or no phone and no staff at airport etc keep an exact record with timings of all attempts. Make sure MMB won’t let you switch to another flight today and take screenshots.
Of course if you don’t want to be reimbursed for alternate flight costs don’t bother 😉
Thanks lady london. She was initially offered (and accepted) a flight for the following day. I got on the phone and argued that they should have made more of an effort to get her back on the same day as flight with other airlines were available. They eventually gave in and put her on a Swiss Air flight to Heathrow. Still got home much later than planned to a different london Airport.
Thanks @marshy11. Her only additional expense was a Burger King meal at the airport! I told her to have a nice sit down meal but she wasn’t convinced she would get the money back.
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