Avios booking cancelled (non BA)

[Katy]

Hello,
Can anyone shed any light on this?
Booked Avios ticket, Business class, Qatar Edin-Canberra (via Doha) months ago.
Flight is a week today.
I had wanted to book on from Canberra to Perth via Qantas, but at the time I was on phone to BA for ages and ultimately they said the computer wouldn’t let them do that and so I’d have to to book two separate tickets – Edi – Canberra and then CBR – PER as another ticket. Which I did.
This morning, Qatar have cancelled the flight to Canberra and the system is offering me a flight to Melbourne instead. Melbourne is no use – my flight to Perth is via Canberra. Why would anyone who was due to fly to Canberra be satisfied with flying to Melbourne instead?!
I’ve phoned up BA six times today and they keep telling me there is no Avios availability left so that they cannot amend my booking in any way to get me to Perth.
However, as they/Qatar cancelled my flight to Canberra for ‘operational reasons’ – surely EU261 means they have to book me on a commercial ticket to get me where I want to go? Melbourne is just no use. If I did take that ticket, I’d have to fork out £400 for an economy seat to Perth the next day and pay for an overnight.
When I phoned back and mentioned Conditions of carriage/EU261, they said that because it was a Qatar flight, they were not obliged to book me on commercial ticket – and that would only be the case if it was a BA plane.
Is this right? Can BA try to send me to a random Australian city and leave me stranded there? And does it make that much difference that they are not the operating carrier in this case? I need to go visit my auntie as she is not well and I just don’t know what to do now. I am well versed in straightforward EU261 compensation but this one is stumping me because it’s Qatar metal on the BA Avios ticket.

[JDB]

Qatar has an ongoing issue about Canberra and its willingness to serve the city as a condition to allowing more flights to Australia. You do have EC261 rights, but only to get you to Canberra, not Perth. I’d be quite surprised if QR, following the cancellation of the flight to CBR wouldn’t reroute you to Perth, but with BA as the intermediary that’s more complicated. You need to look at the QR options from Doha to Perth and push that with BA. It doesn’t fit within their 300 mile policy but… unfortunately whatever your rights are, the issue is enforcing them.

[Lady London]

Legally as @JDB says you are stuck with Canberra. QR is supposed to get you there as the operating airline.

@SamG isn’t there some sort of OneWorld service desk through which an approach could nbe made to QR to chabge destination to Peeth not Melbourne. Technicalky if QR won’t play ball then they have tp gey you to Canberra even if it’s ob someone else s flight if they don’t have q plane goibg there themselves. Like JDB without BA in the way QR has done such things bwfore.

QR have recently anmounced some sort of tie-up with Virgin Australia too. I wonder is there something you could use thete.

This mess has onky come about because BA couldn’t put all your flights on the sane ticket which seems odd.

Try to find a way to get Qatar to help. Technically if they refuse you could buy or reserve your own tickrt on another airline to Canberra (not Peeth) and sue QR and BA jointly as you do have the right but would be nessy and expensive.

Whatevet you do don’t let BA push you ibto a refund as that loses all your rights and ticket prices are now sky high

[Lady London]

PS again the BA bollocks that after a cancellation they can’t book you into a revenue seat – you have the right to any seat available in same cabin.

Just that deals between airlines for route-sharing, codesharing etc always seem to operate to benefit the airlines only. BA should be able to select a revenue seat on Qatar’s plane after your flight was cancelled, at no extra cost. Or there should be a manual procedure. Who knoes, there may be, abd BA agebts may be too tired and stressed, m or untrained to apply it.

As ticketing airline they should be able to move you to any seat same cabin and then memo Qatar that it shoukdn’t be charged and why. I’m pretty sure IATA systems have that capability

QF is a much worse airline to fly on than QR but have you thought of asking BA to ticket your journry on QF or anyone else instead? I believe QF recently opened more flights to the US, so could be a routing there and no, avios seat not needed although practically of coursr… but ib this case if airlines realky were providibg people’s rightd I don’t see why BA shouldn’t be able to bill QR for that. We can dream I suppose.

[Katy]

Thanks all.
Yes @ladylondon I had a long long chat where I said I would take any route in on any airline instead, including Qantas, Qatar, whatever! And they just kept saying that they could only book me an Avios ticket (but no availability Obvs!) because they couldn’t offer me a revenue ticket due to Qatar’s code of carriage as they were the operator and this was under special rules because it was a Qatar Avios flight.
I phoned Qatar first actually. I asked them about it all and they were quite rude and insistent that I couldn’t talk to them about it and that I had to speak to BA as they sold me the Avios ticket.
Time is running out and I just don’t know what to do. Can I accept the Melbourne ticket and then pay cash for a hotel then a Mel-Cbr ticket? This would get me in in time for the CBR-Per flight on Friday 7th at night time.
Could I then CEDR/Scottish small claim court the cost of the Melbourne hotel and the Mel-CBR ticket?
There is a crazy OW routing (50 hours) that goes from Edinburgh to Canberra, business class, if I leave the day before (Tuesday 4th Oct). It would get me in to CBR in time to get the Friday 7th night flight to Perth. It’s about £4500 though and I don’t really have that cash spare at the moment!

[Lady London]

Really QR ahould agree to MEL hotel and onward ticket to Canberra as this is duty of care part of EU261 for whicu they are responsible as the operator. As a matter of interest is MEL-Perth very much more expensive than MEL-Canberra.

The thing is, it would be great to get a change to Perth or even change to different travel dates using rerouting rights. But Qatar is doing an ANA and basically refusing to accept their responsibilities. My worry is that jusy luke mow any ticket that does not end in Perth is going to leave you in the lurch if, say, there are more delays in your landing time.

[meta]

Have you paid surcharges on a credit card? You could phone up the credit card provider and initiate S75 claim for the replacement ticket. You need something in writing from BA (or recording of the call) though to prove they refused.

I’d also try at least one more time to speak to another agent as they might have a different view, although chances are slim. I’d also ask to speak to a supervisor, that sometimes yields results.

[Lady London]

I can see you being forced to accept MEL and then having to sue for hotel and ticket to Canberra. If you do, might as well name BA as a defendant as well.

[Lady London]

Good idea meta.

[Katy]

Hello!
Thank you @meta and Lady London for all your help so far.
So – I booked a cash ticket from MEL – CBR and had to pay for a hotel to overnight in MEL also as the flight from Doha got in really late.
So – now I just need a wee bit of advice on what to trigger with each airline and in what order, if that makes sense.
The first thing I would do asap would be the EC261, to get that out of the way. But, I’ve never had to do this when the operating carrier and the ticketing/marketing carrier were not the same. So, my first question is – who do I EC261? BA, who sold me the ticket? Or Qatar, who operated all the flights and cancelled Canberra at a week’s notice? I am about to fly to Canberra in half an hour and when at the airport I will try to get more information about why all the MEL- CBR flights were cancelled until December, in case that information should help my claim.
Next, I will have to try to claim the CBR- MEL cash fare + hotel (£800 for the flight!). I am obviously expecting this will be knocked back and then I will have to try arbitration and then Scottish Simple Procedure (small claims court).
Again, I am not sure – who should I be putting in an airfare+hotel compensation claim to? Would it be BA or would it be Qatar?
Any advice would be much appreciated.
K